Baaxter's Stripe

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Baxter’s stripe 😀. #skirtingwool #kentuckysheepandfiberfestival

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on May 16, 2019 at 12:38pm PDT

Found it!

I've been skirting fleeces, getting ready for the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this weekend.  I've posted some pictures on Instagram/Facebook as I've gone along and almost forgot to look for Baby B's stripe this afternoon.

You can't see it on the top side of his fleece, but if you turn it over to the cut side, there it is :-D.  I don't think it will significantly show when whoever buys his fleece spins it, but I think it's kind of fun to know that it was actually there, just like the picture from the other day.

(screen shot from Instagram)

I'm bringing several pretty fleeces from Tring Farm and sixteen fleeces from our farm.  Most of the fleeces are in good order, but a few have a bit more VM in them than I'd like this year.  It was a super wet muddy year and we had to feed a lot of hay...  They are marked accordingly.

There will be plenty of pretty roving and the usual Punkin's Patch "swag" and unless we don't think we can safely manage them in the hot weather, three special sheep coming.  You'll probably never guess who!*  And of course 20 and he's bringing a friend as well!

Once again the festival coincides with the Bluegrass Classic Stockdog Trial, just down the hill from the festival (with free shuttles all day :-) and that's always a good time.  The dog trial is going on every day.  The fiber festival is Saturday and Sunday.

Come out and do some site seeing and shopping :-D

*Don't get too excited.  It's not Maisie ;-)

Because...

...there's obviously a shortage of grass in this field.  Boys...

There is obviously plenty of grass here.  So much so that I have spent much of this week sitting on a tractor or mower, trying to get back on top of it.  I am So Excited by the thought of another inch or two of rain forecast for this weekend :-o.  The obvious answer is I need more sheep, right?  Right.

I have no idea why Daniel and Baaxter are trying to eat the same piece of grass, but I love the dark gray stripe down Baaxter's back. I haven't skirted his fleece yet to see if the stripe shows through. To be honest I haven't skirted any fleeces yet...and the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is Next Weekend.

So guess what I'll be doing this weekend ;-).

Wool Work

"...is boring."

"So boring."

"If you'd quit taking pictures of me you'd get done quicker!"

The Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is this weekend!  I'm about as ready as I'm going to get.  I have a couple more things I'd really like to get done, but the fleeces are all skirted and weighed and the spindle kits are assembled and packed.  I've got some Punkin's Patch "swag" packed and, of course, Biscuit.  A few others will be coming as well, to work the Hug a Sheep pen.

I think we are going to bring the bottle lamb brigade - Biscuit, Bullwinkle, Liddy, Baaxter.  Or maybe Andy and Levi.  Andy's fleece is so pretty and Levi is a gorgeous color.  Not Maisie for sure although she's been on her best behavior lately.  You'll have to come see who ends up being dumb enough to get caught Saturday morning making the cut ;-).

Thanks for all the kind words about Keebler.  He was so loved by so many.  I remember taking him to the very first Lexington festival.  Kathy Meyer (who started the festival and where Keebler came from as a triplet lamb) couldn't believe the number of people who would walk past the sheep pen, look over to see Keebs and call him by name.  He was that sort of sheep, eh?

Sadly, if you start doing the math, there are a lot of old sheep in our flock.  We will treasure and enjoy everyone as long as we can.  Someone I'm especially enjoying right now is Jester.  If you haven't been following the Biscuit thread on Instagram/Twitter/Facebook you really should.  All I can say is Jester better live forever.  And it this point it looks like he might!

Because we can never have too many cute pictures of Biscuit and Jester ❤️. #Biscuit #Jester #jacobsheep #bottlelamb

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on May 17, 2017 at 6:31pm PDT

Come see us this weekend!  Buy wool!  Lots. Of. Wool. :-o

"What the heck is all this?" #fromthemouthsofbabes #Biscuit #wool #lotsofwool #gettingready #kentuckysheepandfiberfestival #thisweekend

A post shared by Sara Dunham (@thecrazysheeplady) on May 17, 2017 at 12:14pm PDT

Skirt Work

Best. Birthday. Gift. Ever.

Over the weekend Saint Tim cleaned out the first bent of the barn (also known as and easily recognized as "the trash area").  He moved my wool shelves down from the middle of the barn (aka "the dungeon"), added a set of shelves to the side, leveled the floor, put down rubber mats, installed two shop lights and moved my skirting table in from the previous locations of the barn aisle, driveway, utility trailer, wool house yard...

And now I have a permanent skirting area, out of the way, with plenty of light, no wind or rain, cushy rubber mats, supplies always at hand and everything easily accessed and not "out of sight, out of mind".

Monday and Tuesday Miss B and Miss L came over and help design and build a set of shelves (that are way bigger than they look in these pictures) to hold all the freshly shorn fleeces next spring.  I'll be able to pull out a fleece, toss it on the table, skirt it, discard the trash, roll it up, grab a bag and label from the shelf and move it to the back wall.

Yes, I realize I have a lot of work to do before next spring ;-).

 The barn swallow nest remains and as long as I get the top shelf of fleeces skirted pretty quickly (which I'll now be able to!), they'll have a clear flight path in and out.

I just love this.

I really love this :-).