Nilly's newest present

Nilly had this beautiful little ewe lamb at about 5:15 tonight.

She's a beautiful little girl with long, long legs.

The end of August, Nilly-bit talked Dapper Dan into jumping the fence. After that incident, we built a stronger fence between Dan-man and the main flock, but we knew Nilly was expecting.

This evening, as I was pulling in the driveway after work, Lena called me to say that Nilly had her baby. I took towels up to the barn after I'd changed into wellies.

Lena dried off the little girl who is all legs and a pretty face. The lamb was up and toddling in less than 15 minutes. She was nursing right away.

Some of you know Nilly. She's been part of our flock since she was born in 2003 and one of the most special sheep we've ever had.

I'm thinking maybe we'll name the lamb Hannah.

Weekend highlights

 This weekend was a sunny warm end to January. I had Arkansas Craft Guild board meeting most of yesterday. We planned events for this 50th anniversary year and worked out details for the March 10th annual meeting.

Emma, half sheared

In the morning before the meeting, Lena and I sheared Emma-sheep. She had a huge girl lamb on Thursday and the lamb was having trouble nursing due to her mum's fleece. We named the lamb Hippo. I don't think I've ever seen a newborn jacob that big.

Lisa says the new mohair throw is divine.

Last night I finished a mohair throw out of Fantasia's fleece. Lisa has graded it "divine" and she is certain that it is hers. We'll see.

The new mohair fleeces are coming along well. The wethers Glitch and Gizmo are still steely gray. I had planned to sell them after this spring's shearing, but we'll wait and see how the fleeces look.

This morning we sheared Frannie and Amyrillis. I think in that flock Elizabeth will lamb first. She's already sheared and then the other two, but it was just better to get the shearing done while the weather is good. I think Nilly will be the next ewe to lamb, and Geo-goat is not too far out, maybe another month. Spring is certainly on the way, but we haven't had winter yet. Not that I'm complaining, mind you.

Shawn's out in the shop making me a pretty pecan size P crochet hook so that I can finish my next 52-things-to-do-with-an-old-shirt project. I'm shopping online for a used front load washer to finish felting my rugs. So many projects to finish and things to do. Life is good here.

Glitch does his pelican pose. 

Peach baked cheesecake cups and more lambs

In the first news of the morning, Emma, one of the wild sheep, is lambing. She's had one so far and may just have a single. I re-bedded their shelter and left them alone. I'll try to catch the baby and iodine it's navel and check it over when it gets to be daylight.

Yesterday, I went to Mountain Home to promote the OFC Cooking Classes on the 726 Show, a hometown talk show about the area. I created and baked up a batch of Peach baked cheesecake cups, that we are going to be making in the February Sweet Treats with whole grains and fruit class. They were good! The cast ate one on air and the crew loved theirs behind the camera.

Oats, butter, honey and muffin pan

Peach Baked Cheesecake Cups

2 cups War Eagle Oats
1/4 cup butter
1 T honey

Melt the butter. Stir butter and honey in with oats. Pack in bottoms and sides of cups in a 12-cup non-stick muffin pan.




 Filling Ingredients

1- 15oz. can of peaches packed in fruit juice, store bought works just fine.
2 eggs, farm-fresh preferred (of course!)
8 oz. of neufchatel or fresh creamy goat cheese

Blend the eggs, cheese and peaches 'til smooth.

Blend these ingredients in a blender until smooth. Leave the juice in with the peaches, but do take the shells off the eggs!

 Pour the cheese mix over the oats in the muffin pan.

Bake at 350 for 40 minutes. Test with a knife to make sure it comes out clean.

Cool on a rack for 10 minutes or more. Sprinkle with cinnamon.

Serve with slices of fresh peach or a diced peach preserve and a few curls of dark chocolate for accent.

Let cool for at least 10 minutes.

Top with sliced fresh peach

Remember to sprinkle with cinnamon

I created these in part because New York baked cheesecake is one of my all-time favoritest foods. .And peaches... and oats.

Try this recipe and enjoy! Let me know if you have any comments

Treat or trap - the purpose of a catch pen

The new flock in the catch pen around their grain feeder.
This small space enables us to handle the sheep with
a minimum of stress on both sheep and shepherd.

At 12-years-old, Thyme is rarely fooled by any trap.

We record weekly body and eye scores, as well as any
work we did with the flocks in this simple manner.
This book has the flock records back to 2009.

Catch pens - Treat and Trap

I am a shepherd. I am many things, but if I had to use one word to describe myself, it would be that one “shepherd”. I have raised sheep and goats for more than 30 years and have loved critters all my life.

As a shepherd, it is my job to care for my flocks and give them what they need to have comfortable, productive lives. Sometimes, I have to do things with my sheep that they don’t particularly like. They don’t much like the process of being sheared, but they love the result. It feels so good to them to get rid of that itchy winter wool. And, if I did not shear them, they would die in the summer heat. Sheep do not shed. Of course, I get that wonderful wool to spin and dye and felt and crochet and weave with, but the sheep could care less about that. It isn’t part of their world.

After so many years of living closely with my sheep and goats, I have developed a language for their reactions. Sheep are very curious, as opposed to goats, who are more self-centered.
Sheep love watching humans and the things they do, though as long as the humans stay out of the sheep space, the sheep are perfectly happy to just observe the silly humans we go about our farming and garden chores. Sort of like humans watching television.

However, when we enter the sheep’s space, they observe carefully and classify our behaviour in one of two ways (sheep are simple, they can only count to three). It’s either “Treat” or “Trap”. If our behaviour says Treat, their heads go down and they come over to us looking for the treats. However, if our behaviour says Trap, their tails go up, their heads get high and they trot away as fast as their legs will carry them. Ideally, we’d always be able to enter their space with treats, but that’s not always the most efficient or effective way to manage the flock.

We have a hands-on, organic way of managing our flock, which involves checking each individual sheep or goat on a weekly basis. Since we live by a human schedule of work, projects, deadlines and more work, we do this every Sunday morning and we do it as smoothly and quickly as possible. That means we Trap the sheep in a catch pen. You’d think after all these years, they’d relax about it, but, it is still a trap situation.

Sweet treats - a recipe creation journey

I'm in the process of creating the recipes for my Sweet Treats cooking class at the Ozark Folk Center on February 4. I love teaching these cooking classes, and eating my way through creating the recipes is part of the fun.

My mom's a good cook. No matter where we were in the world, she kept us fed, good food, day in and day out. But the creative side of my cooking comes from my dad. As a kid, Sunday breakfasts and some dinners were exotic, one-of-a-kind flavor treats. With a bit of this - and a dash of that - he cooks up fantastic pancakes, delicious broiled salmon or colorfully wonderful vegi dishes. To this day, he cooks like this, without recipes. If you ask him right after a wonderful meal, you might get the gist of what is in it. I write some down to try to recreate them, but it will usually take several tries to get close to the same dish. There's a level of artistry in this form of cooking that doesn't translate into recipes.

I cook like that, though maybe not as successfully. Luckily, Shawn is not a picky eater. And I like to write down what I'm throwing in as I do it, so maybe I can make the good dishes again.

When I create a cooking class, I set the parameters for the recipes. This one in February is sweet treats with whole grains and fresh fruit. No sugar...

About a year-and-a-half ago, I made the personal choice to not eat processed sugar or concentrated sugar. I also don't eat "sugar-free food". There is lots of natural sugar in my beloved goat's milk. I eat lots of fruit. I love carrots, corn and peas. Dates are a divine sugar-high. But I am a whole lot healthier staying away from the multiple forms of processed sugar. Probably in part because it makes me and my family cook most of our food from scratch. Did you know it's almost impossible to find a canned chili, store-bought bread or frozen dinner that doesn't contain sugar. Watch your salt and spices, too!

Ok, enough ranting. I love apples and oats and walnuts. So, last night I made these. They are good, but could be a bit better. There's a bitter edge on the back of the taste. Maybe the nutmeg, maybe too much cinnamon, maybe the baking powder, perhaps pecans would be better. These bars are good, but not quite ready for class yet. I'll keep tweaking the recipe.

If you are a creative cook and would like to recipe test for me - I'd love to have you try your version of this recipe and send me a comment about what you changed, or how it worked for you. If you'd like to submit a recipe for me to use in the Sweet Treats cooking class, leave a comment and I'll get in touch with you. Of course, I'll give you credit in the class hand outs.

Apple Oat Bars

Apple Oat Bars

Preheat oven to 325

Combine in bowl
2 cups War Eagle White Whole Wheat Flour
1 cup rolled oats
1 teaspoon baking powder
1 tablespoon cinnamon
1 tsp nutmeg
1 tsp ginger
1 tsp salt

Stir in
2 eggs
1/4 c softened butter
1 cup apple sauce
2 finely diced apples
1 cup milk
1 cup chopped walnuts

Butter a 9X13 glass baking pan and pour in the batter. Smooth it around the pan.
Bake at 325 for 45 minutes. Cool for at least 10 minutes before cutting.

Now, I'm going to go have another Apple Oat Bar for breakfast... they're maybe better than I was giving them credit for at first.

Meet the Flock - Hyssop and Hildy

I've had several questions about Calliope's lambs that were born this past Sunday, 1-15-12. They are doing well, thank you.

"I don't want to stay in my crib anymore," says Hyssop

Hyssop

"I like it here in the fiber arts studio," says the lamb.
 "It smells sheepy."

 The little bottle baby finally developed a suck reflex about 4 a.m. this morning. She's been able to swallow what we put in her mouth, but until now, would not suck on a nipple. Life should get easier for everybody now.

Lena decided to name her Hyssop, in honor of the lamb's grand-dam Corriander. Corri was one of the foundations of our flock. Our dam lines all trace back to her, Marjoram, Pennroyal and Thyme. Now that Hyssop's figured out the eating thing, she wants to eat every hour or so. She likes to run around the house, too and is experimenting with the concept of gravity. With Lena's new puppy, Gibbs, only being 17-weeks-old, we are being careful about allowing him to have access to the lamb, so I am babysitting Hyssop in my office this afternoon while Lena runs errands.

"I think I can scratch my face without falling over."

"I don't know why the big sheep all run here
when the two-leggeds come out," says Hildy

Hildy

My dear friend Julia lives in Colorado, but she still has a profound impact on our sheep flock. She has purchased several of Thyme's fleeces and she named Thy's daughter Basil. In 2008, Julia and her husband visited us here in Arkansas. They saw Dapper Dan as a young ram and she really liked him. She thought she might want him when he was weaned. So, we kept him when we sold off the other lambs in the fall. And we kept him the next year, even though he stayed small. And then, in 2010, we started having beautiful, suprise Dan babies. He has matured into an even-tempered ram who grows a wonderful fleece and puts beautiful babies on the ground each year. I think I'll keep him here in Arkansas, even if Julia does make it back to visit.

Half-yearlings Gobi and Guthrie discuss the small sheep,
while Hildy pretends she's more interested in the salt block.

Julia suggested the name Hildy, in honor of Julia's grandmother, for the lamb that Calliope kept.
We don't know the sire of the twins, as Calliope came to the farm bred. However, the only sheep that were on the farm in Fox were the ones originally from our flock, so we are comfortable that they are purebred Jacob.

These twin girls are doing well and growing strong. A good way to start lambing season for 2012!

52 things to do with an old shirt - #1 Make a tshirt bag

Some of my favorite old tshirts have rips or paint stains.
But they still have memories, so they take up space in my
dresser drawer. I'll never wear this one again, because of
the green paint, and a thrift shop would just throw it out.

Start making your bag by cutting off the sleeves.

 All my life, we've had a "Goodwill" bag, or box, where you put old clothes that were still in wearable shape to donate to whatever thrift store was handy. It's wonderful that we live in a country where clothing is so abundant. But lately, I've been hearing this excess is causing serious harm in other countries, especially in Africa. I've researched it enough that I think it's not just an idle worry. If you google "used clothing Africa" you'll find this story and enough others to make you reconsider what you do with your old clothes.

Now, we still have two good local thrift stores, and I still donate my really nice stuff to them. And I've chosen to really limit my clothing purchases, following the old adage "Use it up or wear it out, make it do, or do without." but I still have lots of clothing that I don't wear anymore.

I'm going to start my own project right here. Once a week I'll post what I've figured out to do with re-purposing my old clothing under "52 things to do with an old shirt."

Leave me a comment here if you have any questions, my computer was not being terribly cooperative about loading photos this morning.

Cut off the shoulders and neckline as far above the
decoration as you can.

Cut the sleeves in a strip about 1-inch wide in a spiral, so
you have one long strip. Tshirt material will pull and coil. so
you don't have to finish the edges, unless you want to.

Turn the shirt inside out and stitch the bottom edge together.
For those of you who don't sew, I suppose these sewing
steps can be done with safety pins or staples.

Roll one top edge down about an inch and stitch to make a
tube. Repeat on the other side.

Cut each sleeve strip into three pieces and braid the strip.
Thread each of the two braided strips through the tubes that
you've sewn at the top of the bag.

Now you have a bag with two handles that opens wide
enough to hold lots of things.

You can hang it up to put your old t-shirts in. That green paint
still bothers me, I think this one will be rag bag in my
laundry room, maybe a reminder to get an old shirt out
of the bag when I go to paint something!

Calliope's lambs and yarn tensioning

When I looked out the window this morning, Guthrie as very interested in the "wild sheep's" shelter. She was poking her nose in the back. I thought maybe she was stealing hay.

Then I noticed that Calliope Jane wasn't down by the fence with Dan and the flock. But after watching for a while, I saw her head move in their shelter.

After I had my first cup of coffee and while I was putting the marinade on the ribs for this afternoon's bar-b-que, I notice Pequena the llama looking in the shelter. There is nothing in this world that Pequena loves as much as babies. The I saw the sight below.

Lena had headed out already and I hollered, "We've got lambs!" 

Calliope is very wild, but we had just sheared her about two weeks ago. I knew she was expecting, but I didn't think she was this close.

Calliope is from Corriander's line. This line almost always has twins. However, many times the first-born of the twins goes wandering off while mom is having the second. Newborn lambs can get into all kinds of trouble. We've raised many of this line as bottle babies because of this tendency. This morning's first born lamb had was stuck in the fence, between the two shelters, right where Guthrie had been so interested. She was very cold and very weak.

We warmed her up a bit and got a little colostrum down her and put her back out with her sister. However, after an hour, it was very obvious that she was getting much weaker. 

So, I tucked her in my coat, finished chores and brought her in to Lena. Now Calliope has a nice little ewe lamb and Lena has a new bottle baby. Two hours later, they are both doing well. I think it will be fun to let everybody at this afternoon's barbeque name them. 

It's an "H" year if you want to contribute any names.

Yarn tensioning device.
My students ask me about the "right" way
to tension your yarn after spinning,
plying and  washing it. The right way
 is what ever works. Stretching it between
 two bungee cords on the porch
 is pretty typical in the summer.
However, this morning it was 19-degrees outside.
 I love cast iron!

Meet the flock - Cowslip

Cowslip

Cowslip was born February 14, 2003, on our Laffing Horse Farm outside of La Junta, Colorado. It was our second herb name year, two years before we went to the alphabet naming scheme.

Her mum is Corriander and her sire was Bergamont, both from the Downaire flock out of Texas.

That year, I wanted to do something special for my Aunt Jeannie, kind of a "thank you" for all the looms and yarn and support she's given me, all my life. So I sent her pictures of the ewe lambs and told her she could have one to keep in our flock. The sheep would be hers. She picked Cowslip because of the heart shaped patch on her shoulder and her matching birthday.

A fleeceyful rug from Cowslip's wool

Cowslip has twins every year. Her heart-shaped spot is
on the other side.

Cowslip grew up to be a gentle, quiet ewe. She grows a long puffy fleece each year. I wove a rug with a heart shaped spot out of Cowslip's first fleece for Jeannie. She keeps it in her bedroom. I spun Cowslip's second fleece for Jeannie to weave with. In 2006, Cowslip's fleece placed 3rd in her class at the National Western Stock Show in Denver, Colorado.

The last several year's I've woven rugs like the one on the left. These rugs have sold across the country and the income helps to feed the flock through the winter.

Every year Cowslip has twins. Babette and Faith were two of her exceptional daughters who went on to other Jacob breeding flocks. Because we have to keep our flock numbers down, we have not kept any of her daughters, yet. This year she is bred to Dapper Dan.

I'm glad Jeannie chose Cowslip for her sheep. She's been a wonderful ewe to have in the flock all these years - and she makes me think of Jeannie with a smile every day when I'm out feeding the sheep.

How to make a sheep grain feeder

One 12-foot sheet of tin, salvaged from a barn that came
down in the ice storm. Two 12-foot 2X4's from's. the same barn.
Several shorter 2X4 and yearling sheep to watch the construction.

(For a how to build a sheep feeder, read the captions on the photos.)

 Lena and I have been wanting to get these feed troughs made for... a long time. Today, we finally just did it.

We also put out fresh salt blocks for every pen, putting them in tipped over water tubs. We used the water tubs that had leaks. Hopefully these will keep the salt blocks from dissolving.

We also weaned Little Brother and put him in with Boomer in the young sheep pen and moved Finesse back in with the main flock.

Twelve self tapping roofing screws, power drill and bit.

Attach the tin to the 2X4's, leaving a little wood at the top,
so that the tin doesn't scrape necks or pull wool.

We checked eyes, body condition score and feet on most all the sheep and goats - and trimmed some feet.

Cut two 2X4's 17-inches long. Pre-drill screw holes, bow up
the tin and attach them at each end of the feeder.

Cut six 13-inch long legs and predrill. Attach them to the
main side 2X4's.

 We re-tarped the hay stack, in anticipation of rain tonight and counted hay bales, about 100 left. Since we feed about 2 a day, we need to look for some alternative feed. I've checked a the Co-op about ordering some beet pulp.

We re-tarped the sheep tent with the bigger tarp from the hay stack and made sure the sides were covered.

We took the old tarp from the sheep tent and covered the junk pile.

It's a good thing I wrote all this down, because until I sat and did this, I thought I was having a lazy day today!

Put a cross bar 2X4 about 1" off the ground at each end, to
add stability and help keep grain from getting pushed out
the ends.

Calliope' Jane and Elizabeth discuss the new feeder. Note
the salt lick along the west fence. These tipped over tubs
work to keep the salt from dissolving in the rain, yet allow
the sheep access to the salt block.

What if I am the "They"?

Purple, orange and gold wool wrap in progress

I'm working on a new color series on all three of my looms. It's based on some space-dyed purple yarn and radiates out from there. Several of the pieces don't even have any of that yarn in them, but they are related in that I spun, dyed, purchased or pulled from my stash with that yarn in mind. Like last winter I worked off four different blue dyes that we used in many ways on yarns and fleeces, this winter, I'm working off this purple wool.

Olive green mohair, harvest gold and rust wool shawl 

Purple, blue wool and silver  thread tri-wrap and
 purple with red wool wrap. I'm also in a light
 and lacy phase, to go with the purple.

So, when I took the three finished purple wraps in to show them off to friends, I was surprised to hear several people say, "You're always so good at picking the colors that are in style."

Hmm... really? Me? I get to pick the colors that are in style? WOW!

Ok, so I know what they meant, but I was wondering how, in my isolated life here in the Ozarks, with no tv or malls, that I even have any awareness of the colors that are popular. After some thought, I decided it is a peripheral awareness from reading magazines (other than Sheep, which is printed mostly in black and white.), paying attention to etsy and a general awareness of what visitors to town are wearing. I don't do any deliberate research.

Or maybe I AM the anonymous "They" who gets to pick the popular colors. Somebody has to.

Look out world! I have a sudden craving for green.

Weaving dance through my life

I started dancing when I was young. I remember a little ballet and performing baton twirling. I remember taking a parks and rec belly dancing class when I was about 12-years-old and already almost six-foot-tall. I continued to study dance forms as a teen. I was totally fascinated with Korean fan dances when we lived in Pusan. I took more parks and rec belly dance in Huntsville, Alabama, where the first choreographed dance we learned was to the song "Don't it make my brown eyes blue" by Crystal Gayle.

I started dancing seriously after my daughter was born. I studied, worked out and danced some more. Our living room had only` a dance barre', a large mirror and a bare floor. My two little kids loved it. In 1987 I auditioned to perform at the Colorado Renaissance Festival as a belly dancer. I developed my dance style along with my character from the early 1500's. Rahamina Maya was the daughter of an English architect sent to the Holy Land to learn how to add their minarettes and towers to the English castles. I performed there and many other places in southeastern Colorado through the 1991 season, developing my costume design and creation business along with the dancing. I wrote articles about dance for Jareeda, Connections and other magazines.

I had a small dance studio in Canon City in the early 1990's where I taught belly dance and yoga, which I had been studying since 1982. Life changes took me to Rocky Ford, Colorado, where I opened a dance studio in 1994 and taught until 1999. The style of dance I taught was based on Egyptian cabaret, mostly solo dance with a focus on isolations, body awareness and veil-work. Then, being a newspaper editor consumed my life. I kept my horses for my physical outlet, but mostly gave up dance, except for a very few festivals.

Fast-forward to Mountain View, Arkansas, 2012. Several people have been asking me to teach belly dance here for a few years. I now have studio space available to teach. I've been doing morning yoga and while my isolations aren't crisp and my body is much older and stiffer, I think this awareness would actually help me as an instructor. But I'm a shepherd and a crafter and a manager...

I guess I'll walk through the door, write up a class syllabus, negotiate with the studio for time and see where this path leads me. I'll let you know if the class happens.

Paralysis of analysis and other cliche's

My desk, 8 a.m. 1-4-12

In a reversal of my usual habit of making sure my desktop is nice and clean and neat before I leave the office for a few days, I deliberately dumped all my "do later" "for the future" and "to file" piles on my desk before I left for holiday vacation. Now, two weeks later, I'm facing the music.

My first day back to work was yesterday, but the whole day was spent in meetings, staff updates, craft village construction considerations and planning the 2013 calendar of events. So now, I'm looking at the pile (or actually, turned sideways to the pile.) My brain wants to make a plan to deal with this, or work around it. After all, I really need to make a to-do list and return 13 phone calls and find out if my Saturday class made and I have end of the month reports due .... I could justifiably avoid the pile for another day, or 6.

Or, I could "Just Do It" and really dig into the pile and have an energized fresh start this afternoon.

So....

Hugelkulture and vacation's end

Ice storm down logs from Foxbriar. 

The garden area to the east of the house

 My friend Summer sends me all kinds of cool sustainable living information. She recently emailed me a link about hugel kultur.

We have mud, we have lots of wood... and I'm planning a new garden in somewhat soggy area to the east of the house. I want to do all raised beds. So, I started this afternoon.

I got the first layer of logs from Foxbriar. Logs are heavy. While most of my reading said to pile the organic matter and logs 7 to 8 foot high, I figured I'd build it as high as I could with what I had. I got the first set of logs piled and started hauling wheel barrows of mud.

Mud, we have lots.

Mud is heavy. I took a break to re-tarp the hay stack. I hauled a little more mud. I finished cleaning my workshop. I hauled a little more mud.
I decided this would be a slow project that I would work on this winter until spring planting time.

Today is the last day of my two weeks of vacation. The last two weeks has been a nice time of visiting with friends and family, weaving, working with our animals, traveling and exploration. I'm ready to get back to work. Hopefully, I'll be able to keep up with this chronicle.

Mud ...

Have a creative, productive 2012

What an amazing way to start the new year!

I took a rich purple wool and silk wrap off the rigid heddle last night and the most delightful purple wool and silver lace shawl off the triloom this morning. Pics to follow once they are done soaking and drying.

Now I have two empty looms, a new box of sale wool yarn from Paradise Fibers that arrived yesterday and a whole day off to design, warp and begin weaving new projects.

I've been playing with my new prototype handwoven handbag and I like it a lot. I do see some design elements that need improving, but I am excited about my new handbag line for 2012.

My New Year's palette -
Handspun Glitch and Fantasia mohair yarns, single ply merino
warp yarn, Circus wool yarn and my new prototype handwoven
wool handbag,made with handspun wool from our jacob sheep,
 lined with silk, and supported by handcarved black walnut
handles that Shawn made from a local ice -storm downed
black walnut tree.

I've got several new skeins of mohair that I spun from Gizmo's, Eve's and Glitch's fleeces to work into these projects and more mohair, wool and alpaca fleeces to spin.

I have cooking classes to prep for - this Saturday's comfort food class made with folks coming from across the country for the class. Next Saturday's Locker Hooking class has 12 students and a wait list, so we'll likely be repeating that one soon. And, I just got word that my "Yoga of Interpretation" and "Sales and Interpretation go hand-in-hand" workshops were both accepted for the NAI Region 6 conference in San Antonio in February.

So, I'm off to ball up skeins of yarn, warp looms and plan classes. What a fantastic way to start the new year!

I wish you lots of energizing, creative fun this year. Happy 2012.