The Bellwether

The most frequently asked question we get from visitors to the farm is "Why does that sheep (Andy) wear a bell?"  

That's a very good question (they all are).  I originally put bells on Petunia and Graham.  I picked Petunia because I knew she liked bling.  I picked Graham because, well, I had a feeling the bell might be a bit irritating to most sheep and if I was going to irritate one, it might as well be Graham.  Bless his heart, I think he loved it.

The bells were primarily just for fun.  I loved hearing the tinkling bells on sheep at a friend's farm. Turned out, having Graham belled was helpful because you could always hear where he was and usually quickly figure out what he was up to.  It wasn't uncommon to hear him out grazing in the middle of the night.  

One night I heard two bells and was surprised to find the whole flock out.  Up until that point, I'd believed the majority of the flock (aka everyone except Graham ;-) stayed in for the night.  Without the bells, I might still think the kids were all safely tucked into bed each night.

Another reason I think the bells are helpful is the difference in sounds they make and what that might mean.  Tinkle tinkle tinkle - moving around grazing quietly.  RING RING RING - they are running. Running could mean just racing back to the barn, but it could also mean something was chasing them. We can hear them from the house...if it would cool down enough that we could open the windows :-o.

I was sitting out on the porch this morning surrounded by fog.  I could see the martin house, but not much further.  One lone sheep was grazing down by the creek, Blossom.  Normally one sheep out by itself would be a red flag, but not Baba.  She frequently marches to her own drum.

Do you see her?

I was surprised though that no other sheep were headed down the hill to join her.  Seemed plenty light enough.  And then I heard it, Andy's bell.  Where was he...  I had to listen for a few seconds and then pegged him out in the lower small paddock.  They were out there and I just couldn't see them

 From Wikipedia: A bellwether is one that leads or indicates trends.  

The term is derived from the Middle English bellewether and refers to the practice of placing a bell around the neck of a castrated ram (a wether) leading his flock of sheep. The movements of the flock could be noted by hearing the bell before the flock was in sight.

You'll have to listen carefully, but it's there.  More towards the end, but I love hearing the doves and other birds waking up while I wait.  It's Andy, wearing Graham's bell.

Do you see them?

Interestingly, I'm not the only one listening for Andy's bell.  The other night I was walking in the front field with Bullwinkle, Kate, Tilly, Hank and Comby.  It was pretty dark and we were about halfway up the far hill when a group of late grazers (trying to beat the heat) meandered down to the creek.  Bullwinkle heard Andy's bell and took off running.  

Bullwinkle loves Andy and I think Andy considers him a funny kid brother.  They play fight at the water trough almost nightly.  Bullwinkle jumps on the shade cover, which puts him right at Andy's level and they taunt each other and butt heads.  When he got down to Andy that night, he looked back at me as if to say "Andy's here!  Look, Andy's here!"  

I wouldn't be surprised if Hank listened for the bells as well.

Yarn Along - Are You Ready To Make Some Yarn?

Other than taking care of the "live" fiber, there has been very little "fiber" work done here lately.  Am I just not good at prioritizing my time?  Probably.  Is there really just not enough time in the day? Surely I could Find Five somewhere.  Am I just lacking some inspiration?  Uh, I'm surrounded by inspiration every day :-o.  

Well, guess what!  It's Tour de Fleece time...again...seriously... is it almost July already...again?!?   Time to prioritize my time, Find Five (why do I have to keep fighting the same battle over and over?!?) and get ready to be inspired.  Hopefully this will be just the kick in the pants I've been needing.

I did actually finish skirting all the spring fleeces the other day.  Well, almost all the fleeces.  Right after I took down the skirting table, put away all the sheets and bags, cleaned up the discarded wool...I found two huge bags of wool from Baaxter's cousins at Foxglove Farm.  Sigh...

As I was skirting, I started washing fleeces headed to the mill next month.  Boudreaux was his usually messy mess, Ford is so old and frail that I wasn't sure his fleece would even be salvageable, and Graham...  I'd taken some fleece off him before I took him to the diagnostic lab.  I'd not saved any of his adult fleeces, thinking he'd live forever :-(.

My dear old guys...  Three of my fanciest and favorite-est fleeces over the years.  How did it get to be so many years.  I knew Graham would be okay.  Ohio Valley Natural Fibers always does an amazing job cleaning up Boudreaux.  Ford...I wasn't so sure.  I decided to dig out my wool combs and see what I had.  

Gray - Ford    White - Graham     Dark gray - Boudreaux

Beautiful, as I knew it would be.  I'm not sure how I'm going to spin this or what I'm going to make, but I'd like something to have and to hold from one of the funniest, most irritating, Why you little...! wanted to strangle half the time, dearest sheep ever.

Ford.  You can almost tell by looking this is a bit iffy.  Not only is the fiber maybe not as sound as it used to be, but he has some skin scurf in there that would not be fun to work around.  Combing is always the best bet for fleeces like this.  

The combs will catch most of the VM and it did take out almost all of the little stuff.  Yes, it does look like a lot of waste...

...but what is left is classic silky soft Ford :-).

Sheepmom - don't look at this next picture!

Boudreaux came from Nistock Farms and should have stayed there and been the superstar of the wool world that he could have been if he'd lived the life of luxury, wearing a protective coat and been meticulously maintained.  That's what it would have taken. Missing something?  Boudreaux probably has it stuck in his fleece somewhere ;-).

Luckily the big machines at Ohio Valley do a great job cleaning most of the yearly collection.  Combs would be my choice if I wanted to process it all at home.

Ooh!  Ahh!

And yes, I'm still using my trusty beer cheese lid diz.  Boudreaux and I are classy if nothing else ;-D.

Boudreaux's bird nest.

Have you ever tried to take a picture of dark wool or yarn (or other dark items) and had this happen? The color is correct on the pictures above this one.  Would you like to know why your camera does this and what to do about it?

A tiny gift basket, ready to kick off the Tour de Fleece Saturday.  

Once again we have a Punkin's Patch/My Favorite Sheep team started on Ravelry.  This is open to anyone!  You do not have to be a good spinner.  You could even use this event to LEARN to spin.  It's just for fun and to challenge ourselves to make yarn, maybe lots of yarn, maybe just a little each day, learn something new...actually get a wheel out, dust it off and see if you remember how to spin.  

Not to worry, it's just like riding a bike! ;-D

*      *       *       *       *

I have no books to share this week.  I started three different (very popular) ones and haven't loved any of them enough to keep listening.  Wait, I did listen to the latest Stephanie Plum mystery, Tricky Twenty-Two, and Bullwinkle and I powered through that.  

Any recommendations for something silly like that?

Technically It Ain't A Party...

...unless Keebler's there, but we're going to do our very best.  We are not bringing any sheep to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend :-(.  Well, any big sheep.  Little Baaxter is too small to leave at home, so he'll be tucked into the back of the booth.

Hershey was especially excited about going his first big party.  As soon as he found out he was getting his (first) Mug Shot, he was all in! 

Ewen had been recruited this year as he's the best hugger and would have been perfect for the Hugging Booth.

"I'm a kisser, not a hugger!"

"I'm going to a party? Is there gonna be lots of babas?"

As we were starting to shampoo the festival sheep the other day I noticed a fever blister type sore starting in the corner of one of their mouths.  Uh oh.  I checked the rest and a couple others did too.  Oh no!  Sore mouth in sheep is not that uncommon.  It's one of those things that you'll eventually run into if you keep sheep long enough, especially if you bring in outside sheep.  Still, I was horrified.

While it could be something that's just been lying dormant in the ground here until it warmed up, if I had to guess, it probably came in with Burrnie.  That's a risk you take when you rescue sheep, especially from deplorable conditions.  Burrnie had been stringently examined, tested and quarantined, but may have been carrying the virus with him sight unseen.  

I beat myself up for a good bit about bringing in questionable sheep, compromising the health of our flock (and ourselves, although it's more irritating than dangerous), but then Tim pointed out that if I had to do it all over again I would.  Sheep like Renny and Burrnie deserve better than what they'd been given and are important members of our family now.  We'll continue to be as careful as possible, but if someone needs a safe home, we'll all deal with the risks.

You can't really treat sore mouth.  It just has to run it's course, much like chicken pox with kids.  What you don't want to do in the meantime is let them have any exposure to other sheep and you definitely don't want to stick your fingers in their mouth, say feeding them cookies.  No festival party this year :-(.

Not to worry, there will still be sheep to hug at the festival.  Eleanor is bringing two of the Pancake Sheep!  Yes, her sheep eat pancakes.  Actually, the pancakes come from the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial going on down the hill.  The Boy Scouts cook breakfast every morning and it's open to everyone, so file that handy/yummy tidbit away and go get yourself some pancakes and watch some awesome dogs run before you come up to the fiber area.

Head's up!  There is apparently a ton of road construction in front of Masterson Station Park right now.  And they took out all the big trees by the road (!) so you can't even recognize the place anymore.  So, allow for some extra time getting in and out this weekend...and go hug your favorite tree.

The Punkin's Patch Pumpkin Party

I took the Halloween/Maisie's birthday/Christmas pumpkin out to the barn lot yesterday.  It was a huge pumpkin so heavy I used the hay cart to haul it up from the house. 

I should have just left it on the cart.

A little interest from the nosiest sheep...and chickens.

And then Hank showed up.

So Chocula split.  Does the chicken photo bomb remind you of someone?

Hank left so Chocula came back.

And Renny walked over.  These are brown sheep, not really dirty white sheep.  Sort of like my kitchen floor does have a hint of brown...  Just sayin' ;-).

"Um, we like watermelon much better."

B. Willard did actually put some in his mouth.

And a couple Adventure Chickens gave it a couple tries.

But in the end...it was a bust.  

Note Chicken No's interest in the sledge hammer.  The Graham Lamb of the chicken world... 

The Christmas Eve Cookie Party

This is long and basically pretty boring, but there are some jewels in here and I decided to just let it run, rather than try to cut and piece the "good" parts.  Really, it's all good parts to me :-).  Some things to watch for if you are interested - Boudreaux and someone trying to fit through the side door at the same time (a classic), Maisie running around (still not eating cookies), Hank (always on duty) and Graham.  Graham, Graham, Graham...

More Merry Christmas

The Punkin's Patch Office Party

I turned my back for 5 seconds this morning.  And no, I didn't leave the door open.  Well, it was apparently open enough that Hershey could wedge his fat head in and push it open enough for his fat body.  That's all it took - a sheep flash mob in the hay stall... 

Chocula!

Oh, now Woolliam's in.

And here comes Graham.  Ain't a party til Graham shows up ;-).

Poor Daniel.  Always looking over his shoulder with a guilty conscience.

Oh, look!  A Jacob sheep (Heidi) thinks she's going to fight her way in that crowd of big bodies. HAHAHAHAHA

No room in the inn.  See ya, Heidi ;-).

Woolliam and Willard, bellying up to the open bar.

Hershey, way in the back.

"This party always has the best food!"

And the aftermath.

We got a dusting of snow last night (YAY!!) and I thought I'd be taking and posting pictures of that, but a  little impromptu fun wins out every time.  I have a cookie party planned for this evening and I'm taking my video camera.  If everything works, I'll post it before bed :-).

 

Merry Christmas From The Farmily

I was going to title this post "The Five Stages of Christmas Card Production" but once they hit the post office, it just doesn't seem quite so bad anymore and I'm pretty sure no one really wants to hear a bunch of whining about how hard it is to paint white sheep in white snow or how the barn looks like a big sucking black hole and how Eli and Claire Bear had to trade places halfway through the painting (black cat, black hole...) and Eli got crabby about that or how traumatic it was to paint Maisie and Blossom with gray faces and legs (white sheep, white snow...) instead of white faces with a pink nose or how I lost sleep over how huge Graham looks in relation to the other sheep or how hard Tim works to try to get the printed colors to match the painted colors or how I had to deal with a stray dog on my way to town and then half my teeth fell out...or maybe it was just half of one tooth...or maybe it was really just half a filling in one tooth...  It's all slowly fading into the past.

It's really not that bad of a card.  The boys did a great job on their snowman, Betsy's just looking at the birds this year and it was nice to include Peabody one last time as he was one of the reasons I painted that very first card TEN years ago :-o.  And, as Saint Tim (who has to listen to the hours of non-stop brain numbing whining year after year) was quick to point out,  the barn IS a big sucking black hole and Graham really IS that huge in real life.  True dat...  ;-)

Merry Christmas!!!

Sunday Stills - In Your Hand

Graham

Ewen McTeagle

Henrietta

For more Sunday Stills...

The Best Part Of The Morning

After everyone's been "checked in" and the chores are done. The sheep start to settle in for their (first) morning nap. In the summer Hank finds a cool, shady spot to take a nap. This time of year he flops down right in the middle of the barn lot. Maisie and Daniel stand next to me, one on each side, wanting a little extra attention...and their faces rubbed. Henri paws my knee cap so I won't forget her back scratches, too. Once my hands are free I grab what's left of my coffee and go sit on the Grahaminator and think about staying there all day :-).

Some scratch for the chickens...and the birds.

They all eat together for a bit.

And then the Welsommers head over to the sheep stalls.

The Americaunas clean up anything remaining and Hickory thinks about taking a nap.