Shepherding takes passion, dedication and a support network

Spring is a busy time on any farm. Here at Havencroft, where we raise Jacob sheep, dairy goats and angora goats, we know we won't get much sleep the end of March. But even planning on that, this week was a little extreme.

First time mom Greta does a great job with her little ram lamb

.

During lambing season, we check everyone well at evening feeding. If no one seems to be in labor, we only do a two a.m. check on everybody. But, if a ewe or doe is close, then we check every two hours, especially with the first-time moms. Lena and I switch off on these checks, which helps.
Greta, a two-year-old Jacob sheep ewe labored hard to have her rather large ram lamb (by Canoe Lake Sonic Boom) about 10 p.m. Sunday night. He did fine and is now debating with Hocus's Incantation about who rules the sheep pen.

Then, Tuesday evening, Lena's very special Demi sheep, (and the sheep who grows those incredible dark gray, silver tipped fleeces for my best Fleecyful Wool Rugs), went into labor. By 9:00 it was obvious she needed help and by 10:30, I knew that I couldn't handle the problems. We found our new vet in the middle of the night. Dr. Jill Baird in Clinton is a god-send!

Dr. Jill Baird of Van Buren County Vet Clinic labored for more than two hours in the middle of the night Tuesday to save Demi and her lamb.

She labored more than two hard, physical hours to save Demi and one of her beautiful lambs. Lena and I had driven Demi over to the vet in Lena's car. Clinton is more than an hours drive, over some pretty twisty roads, so we made it back home with Demi and baby by 3:00 a.m. for a bit of sleep for all of us.

At the 6:00 a.m. check, Demi was in trouble. I tried our local vets, hoping to save Demi and lamb the stress of the drive, but by 10:00 a.m., I was headed back to Clinton, after arranging for many wonderful friends to cover things for me at work!

Dr. Jill gave Demi IV fluids and did surgery to patch things up inside. The wonderful staff at the clinic helped hold the lamb, who cried if she was put in a crate. After all was finished, we tucked momma and lamb together to wake up. Demi was so happy to see her lamb when she came to.

Demi and baby resting after surgery on Wednesday.

 In an hour or so, she was up and wanting to know where they kept the food in this joint. Demi does love her feed. She helped clear the chickweek and a weed tree out of the livestock yard at the Clinic. I tried to thank Dr. Jill, and we were on our way!

Demi after surgery, ready to head home with her ewe lamb.

Demi and Ipswich (Jill) home after Demi's surgery.

 Then, after Spring came dancing in last weekend, it blew back out with a big snow storm Thursday night. We got about 6" of snow here at Havencroft, before it started raining on top of it at 3:00 a.m. Luckily it was just warm enough that the rain cleared the roads, instead of icing them. It also washed away some, but not all of the snow.

The sheep and goats were all tucked in their shelters, except for Henna, one of our Lamancha dairy goat yearlings, who was in labor and insisted on being outside. Every two hours, I went out and put her back in the barn. I tried to move her to the milk shelter, but the entire herd broke out of the gate I hadn't locked tight (at 2 a.m.) and so I did good just to get everybody back in the goat pen.

The goat kids playing in the barn after Thursday night's snow.

Spring in the Ozarks

Mouse, Bones and Dapper Dan want breakfast.

Our mountain, shrouded in fog on Friday morning.

 Finally, at 8:07 a.m., when I had called in late to work for the 2nd time this week, Henna had a lovely little doe - in the snow bank. Lena and I penned her in the barn and I went to work. When I got back home at lunch to check on everyone, I found the second little doe. Mom and both babies are fine.

Henna, our Lamancha dairy goat yearling and her twins, born Friday morning about 8 a.m. (after I checked her every 2 hours all night long!)

Shepherding takes passion, dedication and a whole village of folks to support the effort. I want to thank Dr. Jill and Dr. Ben; Lena; Shawn; Missy Epperson; Josh; Melody and the whole rest of everybody who helped out this week!
We have 2 more angora goats and 6 more jacob sheep left to have babies. Last year, two of them had lambs at our Shearing Day open house. Who knows what will happen this year? This year's Shearing Days Open House here at Havencroft Farm is March 30 from 10 a.m to 4 p.m. Leave a comment if you need more details.

Dr. Jill saves Demi-sheep

Demi, our lovely Havencroft Farm crossbred ewe, who grows those incredible silver tipped gray fleeces for my best Fleecyful wool rugs, went into labor last night around supper time. This is her fourth set of lambs, all sired by Dapper Dan. While we cover most health care items on our farm, this day showed how important a good vet is to the sustainability of any livestock enterprise.

By bedtime it was obvious Demi was in trouble. I checked her out-and it was beyond me. So, at 10:30 pm, we put calls out and found a wonderful young vet in Clinton. We arrived there before midnight. Dr. Jill Baird of Van Buren County Animal Clinic labored intensely with Demi for more than 2 hours and managed to save her and one of her babies- a huge white ewe lamb.

Demi and her lamb resting comfortably after surgery.

This morning Demi needed help again, and after calling our local vets, it was back to Dr. Jill. I told her I hope she likes sheep, because she's obviously our new vet. She just smiled, but she did have a glow about her (and she did take lots of pictures with her phone of little Jill lamb).

Busy night on the Farm

Fantasia's twin doelings by Herkimer. I think we'll
call them Imagination and Inspiration?

Do you see the baby goat?
Who do you think spent an hour searching for her at 1:00 a.m.?
Luckily, Shawn's feelingbetter, because I got him up to help me
find her. He's the one who spotted her. This barrel
was in the sheep pen.

It was a busy night here on the farm, with new baby angora goats after a day of shearing. Fantasia's fleece was short, but I could tell she was close to kidding. I want to back up the angora goat's shearing shedule any way, so that will mean short fleeces this spring. Shorter mohair still spins up into beautiful yarn.

Fantasia had these beautiful twin girls about 11:00 p.m. I'm so glad Shawn is up and around again. He's also getting his sense of humor back. He wanted to name them Isabell and Isnotabell. I nixed that. I came up with Isa and Imnot... but I didn't like those either. At midnight, Lena just said she doesn't like angora goats anyway and she didn't care what I named them.

I think, since mommy is Fantasia, they need to be Imagination and Inspiration? What do you think.

We also had a baby goat hunt last night... the baby is fine. I'm wondering if this is inspiration for a picture book...

Vlogging, or how to shear a sheep

Today we are trying something new on here on Havencroft Farm, I am going to show you how easy it is to shear a sheep, one of my first steps in making the high quality yarn you can buy at Common Threads.

This past week, I was lucky enough to be able to spend an hour with Stephanie Crampton Buckley, one of the founders of Arkansas Women Bloggers and owner of The Women Bloggers. She went through my connections - my blog, my Facebook account and my etsy store and gave me some advice for a tune up.

One of her suggestions was start vlogging (video blogging) some of our How-to's. Shawn was feeling well enough today to come outside and film this "How we shear our sheep" here on our farm; this is our first attempt.

My etsy store, Common Threads, has been doing ok this winter, but I'd like to increase my reach. I have been advertising on Facebook, and on etsy. I saw a spike in hits after the great article in the Three Rivers Edition of the Arkansas Democrat Gazette by Emily van Zandt and photographed by Rusty Hubbard. But, I'm still looking for ways to spread the word about the wonderful yarns and rugs that my sheep and goats grow the wool and mohair for.

Also, Stephanie said, as a craft person, I just had to do Pinterest. I haven't felt like I had the time for one more thing, but she showed me how to make it easy to at least update my boards and keep things fresh. So, I did some of that last night.

She suggested that I come up with 5 words or phrases that describe what I am/do to focus my efforts and then to use one of them in the first paragraph of everything for SEO  (that's "search engine optimization" mom). I've come up with YARN, FARM, WOOL RUG and I'm looking for the other two. Wool rug might not stay, but yarn and farm definitely do. What suggestions do you have for words? What words would you use to search and find out about our products.

And then, she pointed out that how-to's get the top hits. If you look on my stats for this blog, the two top articles are "How to build a sheep feeder," and "Hoop houses for sheep shelters".

So, as you saw above, I started Vlogging today. And I combined it with sheep shearing, which is one of the major foci of my life right now here on the farm. Keep tuned for more how-to video blogs. Maybe we'll start a Common Threads YouTube channel.

Spring arrives on the Farm

Spring arrived this week. It was nothing gradual, Spring came on Wednesday, like a person walking in through the door.

Suddenly, I did chores without my Carhartts for the first time in months. I didn't need my gloves to hold the frosty metal grain bucket handles, because they weren't frosty.

Yellow, purple and blue poking up in the front pasture.

I could get in my car and drive to work, without having to scrape the frost off the window.

The front pasture suddenly turned purple and yellow and blue.

Suddenly, I just had to make a gallon of peppermint sun tea.

Hundreds of robins flocked to City Park as I drove by on my way to work.  I saw cardinals as I did morning chores.

All of a sudden, on Wednesday, Spring arrived.
                                                               

Harley's little doeling

Then, on Thursday, my little yearling Lamancha diary goat Harley had her first kid. This little girl will be going to live with Linda P. when she is a bit older.
Suddenly, I had to remember to santize the milk pail for the first time since November. And the dishes left on the counter became part of my morning routine, along with milking. On Tuesday, goat milk will go back to being the mainstay of my diet. Ah, Spring.

 And then my favorite little yearling ewe presented us with her first little ewe lamb. Hocus Pocus is a sweet, friendly darling of a sheep. I think her wee little Incantation will be as sweet as she is adorable. She has a tight little curly coat and I love rubbing my cheek over her soft side.

Suddenly, Spring arrived on the farm this week. I hope your week was delightful.

Harley's little doeling a few hours later, all cleaned up.

Hocus Pocus and her little ewe, Incantation

Incantation's better side. Boomer is her daddy.

Finally, shearing really begins

We planned to start shearing well over a month ago. But that weekend it snowed, and in spite of the all reasons, I just couldn't bear to give the girls haircuts when it was that cold. Weather and life kept getting in the way of shearing.

Demi doesn't mind being sheared. Shearing comes with back scratches!

Hocus Pocus in her new spring short coat.

But, as much as I hate the spring time change, this week it gave Lena and me the hour every evening to shear a sheep.
So, now Hocus Pocus is sheared, and Demi, and Cowslip and Greta and Basil. So far, these are all nice, big, full rug fleeces. Which is great, because I need to make rugs!
How do you shear your flock? One sheep at a time.

Chicken counting

One of our Silver Laced Wyandotte hens waits
for Hester, a Jacob Sheep yearling ewe to
finish her breakfast. 

The grass is getting greener.

They say... maybe it was a Cornell study I read, or maybe a USA Today article... that most animals can count to three. I've seen examples of that, in sheep and goats. I do think some animals have better math skills than others.
I thought of that factoid when I heard myself counting chickens before I locked them in the coop last night. "Three hens, three hens - and a rooster."

Getting a drink out of the sheep's water pan.

Sustainable

"Sustainable, that's your word for the year," said my boss when we were having a discussion about park programs. Cool, that's easy, I've been using that word in conjunction with homesteading and agriculture for decades. I can do that.

And then I worked to apply it to work. Basically my understanding of the concept:
Inputs need to meet or exceed outputs.
All aspects need to be covered.
The goal is the betterment of the organization (land); community (flocks), etc.

and then I went back to the definition: (Merriam-Webster.comand the definition for non-English speakers was easier to understand )
1 : able to be used without being completely used up or destroyed 
▪ sustainable energy resources ▪ a sustainable water supply

2 : involving methods that do not completely use up or destroy natural resources 
▪ sustainable agriculture/farming/techniques

3 : able to last or continue for a long time 
▪ sustainable development/growth

And then I began to question equivalencies -
If we create a great program that allows us to advertise something cool going on at the park, is it a good thing that when all the money shakes out, this program - that possibly brought new awareness of the park to X number of people - only cost us $42? Or is it a bad thing that it did not have a positive cash flow? How do we rank outcomes?

On the farm, my sheep will never make money, especially in a drought or wet or... year. But, my sheep and goats, the wool, fiber, milk, offspring, manure and mowing they provide are a vital part of our farm and our lifestyle. Through the stories I write about them, they promote our crafts and our products. The friends we have found through these stories, shows we do and online communication have enriched our lives and help support the sheep and goats through their caring, support, comments and purchases. These relationships don't have a dollar value.

And there are the unknowns. How much is my goat milk saving me on health care? How much is being outside with my animals and garden worth?

Through having a variety of fleeces, textures and combinations, I  continue to improve and create in my fiber crafts. Through hours of practice, I gain the skills to teach others these arts. Dollarwise, the flocks are never going to show a profit, but by just being there for me to care for them, they are worth what ever I can afford.

And we are back to Sustainable. What does a real balance sheet look like? Yes, there is your dollar income and outgo, but with all of life, there is more than that. How do you define Sustainable?

Textures and teaching - fiber arts classes

I am a texture person. I judge things by how they feel. I was asked yesterday why I don't like to wash fleece. "It feels icky," was my honest reply. Wet, dirty, loose fleece clings to your hands in a way I do not enjoy. Once it is spun into yarn, woven into a rug or otherwise structured, it is easy and enjoyable to wash.

The last skeins of this year's Thyme
wool and Fantasia mohair yarn.

When I shear a sheep or goat, I grade the fleece by touch into a spinning or a rug fleece. I write my choice on the bag, along with the shearing date and who grew the fleece.

Spinning fleeces feel so good on my hands that I want to touch them for the 20-30 hours it takes to spin up a full fleece. Rug fleeces are pretty enough to make wonderful rugs, and I'll enjoy their unique texture for the time it takes me to weave them into a rug. Some very nice spinning fleeces end up as very, very nice rugs, because I just don't have time to spin all the fleeces that I'd like to.

Because I am so kinesthetic, I learn by doing. When teaching, I sometimes find it challenging to work with students who need verbal explanations. I work hard to find the words to use to communicate my actions. I write up hand outs and test teaching techniques on friends. It seems to work, my students come back and take more classes and many of you have become friends.

Right now I'm putting together my fiber arts classes for this season at the Ozark Folk Center. I've got a locker hooking class set up and am considering Rigid Heddle weaving, needle felting, Triloom weaving. These fiber classes are in addition to my spring greens cooking class and the cheesemaking class. I'm also considering coordinating a fiber arts retreat, similar to the Ozark Quilt Retreat.

What fiber classes would you like to take this year?
And do you have a clever name for an Ozark Fiber Arts Retreat?

Call him Ishmael

Ishmael, the first baby angora goat of 2013. Born 2-22-13.

We had our first baby of the 2013 season born while I was shepherding the Ozark Quilt Retreat on Thursday. Lena texted me pictures. We shared the news with friends via Facebook. And I put out a call for "I" names. Ichabod was Lena's favorite name among the more than 17 submitted. But, when I got to meet the little guy on Friday night, I knew he was Ishmael.

Ishmael is the center of everyone's attention. He sleeps between his Mama-mama and his Mama-llama. His daddy thinks he's really cool. And even the dairy goats are intrigued by the little guy. With all this attention, he's going to grow quite the attitude.

Luckily, his mom and dad are both gentle and sweet, so I expect the same from Ishmael.

Ishmael and his Mama-mama and Mama-llama

The whole flock seems to adore the little guy.

My friend Maureen, the incredible Hat Lady

 My friend Maureen used to be one of my nearest neighbors when we lived in Meadowcreek. She was just three creek crossings away, about a half-mile further down the holler. Now that we live in town, I don't see her quite as much as I used to, but we stay in touch on that modern party-line, Facebook.

Maureen Brennan Skinner models one of her crocheted hats

The gorgeous hat that Maureen made out of one
of my handspun and dyed skeins of mohair,

T-rex by Maureen Brennan Skinner

Maureen is a multi-talented, creative, wonderful all-around awesome lady. (I admire her, a lot!) She's a mom and a has a career -  and right now, she focusing a lot of her creativity on crocheted hats. She runs her hat business on Facebook. Hatsy, no longer on etsy is her shop.


Maureen used to buy our yarns on a pretty regular basis when we lived down in the valley. Now it seems to be more of a challenge to connect. She'd been asking me for more yarn for about a year when we finally got it together through Facebook, and she bought a beautiful blue skein of Tillie yarn from our Common Threads online store. We still live in the same county. Life just moves so fast now a-days.

Two days later, I found these pics in my newsfeed. on Facebook. I  went to Hatsy no longer on etsy
and found many more pics of Maureen's awesome hats. I really love her Lord of the Rings dwarves hats, full beards and all!

She can take anything you can imagine wearing on your head, and make a hat out of it. A few weeks ago, she asked for ideas. We had just been to see the grandkids and Mattie loves dinosaurs. Grandpa Shawn had even made him a snow Stegosaurus. Mattie loves to pretend he's a T-rex. So, I asked Maureen to make a T-rex for Mattie.

This morning, I opened up Facebook to find these awesome pictures. They are so incredible!

Let me say, this is not a sponsored post, Maureen buys my handspun, homegrown yarn at full price and I'll pay her full price for this amazing hat and the other two that I now want to think up for Lydia and little Shawn. This is just my amazed and wholehearted endorsement of one of the most talented ladies I know. If you want to order a hat from her (and she makes lots of plain and pretty caps, too) just click on the link to her Hatsy no longer on etsy store. There are lots of pictures of hats on her page, or leave her a message with your hat idea. I do know she's trying to get 500 likes on her Facebook, and she's doing a give away when she gets there.

Now, what hat challenge can I send her next...?

T-rex on a live Anna model

Diamond sunset

We had a glorious rain yesterday evening. It left the trees dripping light like diamonds in the crisp sunset. It was beautiful. 

I didn't think it would photograph, but Lena decided to try. 

Pequena at sunset, after a February spring thunderstorm. Taken by Lena

Enjoy the gift of this beautiful day.

Creativity in Black and White

I was sorting yarns in the freezer (a moth proof way to store yarn) and I came across this nice package of wool yarns that I had set aside for a shawl. My little loom needed a new warp, and I didn't want to dip into the Cast Iron colorway that I am dyeing up to warp the Newcomb for the new fleece rugs.

I'm mostly enjoying weaving shawls out of handspun right now, so I didn't feel like I needed to save that wool yarn any longer for a shawl. I warped up the little loom in this pattern with the black, gray, light gray and white wool.

Black to White warp with Tillie's white mohair

 Then I thought of the mohair I have left in the bag. Tillie's mohair - a nice, shiny white. Gizmo's mohair, a soft, glossy black. Should I mix them in one long rug?

Black to White warp with Gizmo's black mohair.

Maybe I should have, but I decided not to. I wove up the Gizmo rug on Saturday, and yesterday I started the white Tillie rug. They probably won't sell as a pair, but I'm having fun making them that way.

And I have this song stuck in my head now, "The ink is black, the page is white..."

Meet the flock - Yearling Politics

About a month ago, we separated the unbred yearlings from the bred ewes, who are now in their third trimester of pregnancy. The ewes are lumbering about like intemperate leviathans and the yearlings want to bounce and play. They also need different levels and types of feed at this stage.

Hailey wants Hester to follow them up to the woods. Camera-shy herd boss Hannah said they had to go.

So, the five little girls went to live in the pen between their moms and the old boys (Dapper Dan, Mouse and Bones share a pen). Hester spent two weeks improving our fence building skills, as she insisted that she needed to be back with her mommy. But we got the over and under spots fixed. Their pen is just outside the kitchen window, so I can watch them in the mornings as it gets light, and in the evenings as I fix dinner. It's been interesting watching them develop their independence and own flock pecking order.

Sometimes you can look to one ram's get as being more dominant than others, but in this small a sample, that doesn't stand out. Higgs and Hailey are both by Mona's ram; Hanna and Heather are by Dapper Dan; and Hester is Boomer's first lamb.

Higgs knows she's perfectly wonderful.

I thought Higgs would be boss, but, she declined the dubious honor. Higgs is, after all, a Higgs, she is not really a sheep, just ask her. The youngest of Elizabeth's triplets of 2012, Higgs has made her own way all her life. She loves her mommy and would still sleep with her if she could, but would nurse off any ewe as a baby and is the expert in conning treats from people. Higgs just takes care of herself, outside of the little flock's politics.

Hanna is the boss of the yearling pen.

The oldest yearling took the leadership role. Hannah is a total surprise. Most young sheep take their mother's status. Hannah's mother, Nilly, has no status. She is ignored by the flock and has to be fed separately to get any food. Nilly's other lambs have been outside of the regular sheepie politics, but Hannah developed self-assurance and status all on her own this past fall. She is a pretty, square built, four-horned ewe, who looks like she will be a good addition to the flock.

Heather looks just like her sis, Greta.

Next is Heather. She's very shy and has always clung to the skirts of her mum, Basil, and her older sis, Greta. But over the last few weeks, she's learned to stand up for herself at the feed pans. She is willing to stake out her own turf over dinner, but is happy to follow Hannah's lead for when to go up into the woods or go see the older ewes.

Hester is Boomer and Finesse's lamb

Hester and Hailey share the bottom of the flock. After a month, they are just beginning to settle down and eat next to the other three. They did buddy-up pretty early on, so that has made the transition easier for them. Hester will probably have status in the flock as she gets older. Her mother, Finesse, is high-ranking for as young as she is and her grandmother, Thyme, still has the respect of the other ewes. But Hester is the youngest yearling and very much a mommy's girl.

Hester and Hailey have buddied-up.

Hailey is Frannie's daughter. Frannie was low-ranking. We sold her this summer as part of the drought sell-down. Hailey was old enough to be on her own, food-wise, but sheep really are attached to their families and she has not thrived. Now that she's connected with Hester, she seems to be doing much better.

Who needs a television when you can watch sheepy politics?

To sale or not to sale - Sale!

Every night after work and chores I've been spinning and weaving. This week I've finished a nice little Fiona rug, a Booboo wall hanging and the last two skeins of Thyme yarn.

This Mardi gras wool wrap is for sale in the Common Threads etsy store

And then in the mornings I create the listings and put these items in the Common Threads store on etsy or the link is to the left on this page in most browser.
I sell the things I make because:
1. I like to share the soft rugs, unique yarns and fun wearables with other people.
2. My customers become my friends.
3. I like to make things and I don't need to keep all this stuff.
4. I need income to buy sheep feed.

I figure my costs, both direct and indirect and the market and marketing expenses and fees and... when I set my prices. I think the ones in the store are more than fair. But, I want to get people to spread the word about my items and share them with their friends, so I can connect with the people who want my yarn for their project and who would enjoy the comfort of my rugs.

As a manager of crafts people, I discourage people from discounting the prices on their work. For all the hours they put into making one-of-a-kind items by hand, they are too cheap at any price.
But, I know people are drawn to your site/shop/store by the word "sale" or coupon.

So, at least for this weekend, starting today, because Mountain View weekends are Friday and Saturday - and going through Monday at 6:00 pm, because Monday's a holiday, I'm having a 25% off sale in my Common Threads etsy store. Just enter in the sale code FBYARN25 at check out for your 25% off. Please share this with your friends, post it on your Facebook page, etc.

If this sale brings a lot of traffic, I'm trying to map out a yarn give-away in the next few weeks. Keep tuned and send your friends to Common Threads.

Forks in the Artistic Road

When our kids were teens, and we were in the "advice-giving" stage, we'd say, "When you come to a fork in the road - take it! We're always running short of forks." With four teenagers in the house, that was always true. I really don't know, and don't want to know, what they did with all my forks.

My artistic, creative, crafting road has forked many times. As a young person, I crocheted endless afghans and granny squares and edgings on blue jean skirts. When my kids were little, I created a line of animal capes and the story-telling business EsCapades. As my love of dance drew me, I designed first my own and then increasingly elaborate cabaret-style belly dance costumes for sale. I crocheted more than 15,000 Spirit Bells myself and had a business that allowed women to work from home crocheting thousands more. My woven shawls are traveling-on of that fork in the road.

This worked together with my sheep and goats and twin passions for history and farming to lead me into creating my Fleecyful rugs, over many years of experimentation. There've been many side trips over the years. At this very moment, I'm wearing a pair of foot-coverings crocheted from my sheep's unspun fleece. I have lots of one-of's in my closet and in boxes, and many unidentifiable unfinished objects that haven't even made it that far.

There are two paths that have been pulling at my attention for the last few years. One is making handbags with my handwovens. I've made several, tested a few myself, sold all of the nicer ones and have two in the works right now, with materials for many more in a box. I poke myself to work on them almost every weekend now, but haven't quite started yet. I guess I'm just not ready to take that fork in hand.

An unfinished fork in my artistic path

The other is needle-felting. I do it, most of you have one of my needle felted dryer balls. I've done a wee bit of embellishment with needle felt on the handbags I've made, or started. And I have an Unfinished Tapestry (yep, I showed it in a gallery under that title) that combines weaving, wood work, embroidery and needle felting. I have a chance to take a needle felting workshop with an excellent teacher this next week. I just don't know. Am I ready to take this fork?

Shearing begins - or - Why shear now?

Basil being sheared last year. We'll shear her again this weekend.

We always try to shear before our ewes lamb and does kid. There are several reasons for this - our sheep and goats are out on pasture. We will bring them into pens and shelters with their babies when necessary, but they mostly manage just fine on their own.
1. If the mamaas are covered up in the thick wooly coats that they are wearing now, they cannot share body heat with their babes when they lay down together.
2. Lambs and kids have very short coats. If their dams also have very short coats, they know when it's cold enough to take the babies into the shelter.
3. Lambing and kidding is stressful and causes a metabolic change in the ewe/doe. This causes a break in her wool/mohair. So, if we shear right before birthing, then we are shearing at a natural break.
4. We don't want fleeces to get dirty with birth fluids.
5. We want the babies to be able to find the udders.

So, why don't we wait until later in the year to breed, so that we don't have to shear when it's still cold? Again, there are many reasons.
1. Most breeds of sheep and goats are seasonal breeder, they will breed September - December for babies in February-April. In our flocks, we seem to have a few that push the boundaries on the late side, but nobody seems to start cycling early.
2. We live in Arkansas, where everything grows well (usually, last year's drought is an exception, I sincerely pray) - including pests and parasites. The barber-pole worm is just one of many that infects sheep and goats and is happiest at above 60-degrees and 60% humidity. We have a decent parasite management plan, but I want my kids and lambs to have a start before the parasites. The babies born in February and March grow better and are stronger and healthier than those born later.
3. Here, our first flush of green is starting right now. By the time our girls are dropping their babies, we'll have a bright new pasture, with all its good vitamins and minerals for milk production and healing.

So, enough lecture mode.

When we did body score and FAMACHA eye checks on everybody this Sunday, we also checked udders. I have the dates when we put the girls with the boys this year, and it looks like in most cases, they got right to work.
I knew that Cowslip did not take on her first visit to Boomer in September, but she seems to have settled on the next go-around. Demi is bred to Dan for lambs the end of Feb., early March and Basil is bred to Boomer for his first lambs of the season. Tillie and Gamma seem to have worked it out with Herkimer for late February babies. He seemed so shy when we put him with the girls, but I guess they liked that approach.

This weekend we'll be shearing those four. If you are interested in fleeces, lambs or kids, give me a call, send an email, message me on Facebook or leave a comment here and I'll get back to you. We only bred 9 ewes this year and 5 angora does, due to the drought, but we will have some babies for sale.

Slips and Starts

The sweet potato project is well underway. This winter, my gardening has been indoors. I have the laundry room window full of hopes in the form of sticks in moist dirt. I hope they'll be elderberries and peaches and figs in the future. My kitchen window is blooming with sweet potato slips and Shawn's shop is full of sleeping front porch plants.

The two sweet potatoes creating the slips are ones saved from last year's crop, which was grown from slips given to me by Cynthia. I hope to grow a big crop this year, using strawbale culture for these plants, but it looks like I might have extra, if you need some, I'd be glad to pass along this gift.

Swatch test

After washing

Before washing

After washing

Before washing

I've learned, through experience to swatch test all the yarns I want to use together in a weaving project, especially if I'm putting them on the Newcomb. It takes 16 hours to tie and wind a warp onto the big old rug loom, and that's after I've dyed and measured the yarns. Then I can weave between 5 and 8 rugs on that warp, depending on the size of the fleeces, so I need to make sure the yarns in that warp play well together.

To do a swatch test for rugs, I take the yarn I want to use and crochet tem together. Then I just throw them into a regular wash load and see how they come out. I think this batch will make a pretty set of rugs. And I should have it on the loom by this year's Shearing Day, Saturday, March 30.

Seeds and hope and sleep

Despite the cold and gloomy weather, the CAAH! Seed Swap was well attended.

Yesterday started way too early. I was worried about some contract meetings and the first retail event of this new year at work. So, about 2:30 a.m. I gave up on sleep and went to work on the computer. That happens way too often lately.

Throughout the day, I saw many folks that I have missed seeing this winter. It is worrisome that many of them are not out and about due to poor health. I could relate, as health issues in our household have kept me from being out in the community. If you don't feel good, then little else matters and it affects everyone who cares about you.

"I don't have seed, would you trade for fresh eggs?" "YES!"

So, the contract meetings went smoothly, the retail setup was well covered by people whose job it was to do it and, I had a chance to go enjoy the CAAH! seed swap. This event amazes me every year. It is set up by young, college-aged people who are interested in preserving our agricultural heritage. Their energy and new eyes on issues makes me smile. I hope they can hang onto their dreams. At its root, their dream of preserving the rich diversity of food by connecting and sharing seeds is a hope for health.

Tina Marie Wilcox (R) shares herbs and seeds and inspiration.

Every year, I hear the best stories at Seed Swap. Stories about grandma's beans and grandpa's okra. Stories about preserving and eating and enjoying the hopes of a good harvest and a good year. Yesterday's rain boded well for this year's gardens. A gentleman promised me that we'd have good pasture this year. I told him I'd hold him to it.

I didn't stay long. But the energy of Seed Swap put a bright perspective on my day. I went home and finished Fiona's Fleecyful rug and started on Boo's. And last night, with the rain falling fast and hard, I got some more sleep.

Shearing Day 2013

Shearing Day 2013 will be Saturday, March 30. This is an informal, free event held annually here at Havencroft Farm. The farm and both Common Threads and Laffing Horse studios are open to the public that day. We'd love to see your smiling face.

Hocus Pocus and the girls would like to invite You to come visit!

Highlights of Shearing Day
9:00 a.m. - Open House begins farm, garden, spinning and weaving studio, broom and woodworking studio
10:00 a.m. - Shearing Demonstration on a stand
10:30 a.m. - Sheep and goat hoof trimming demonstration
11:00 a.m. - garden tour and open discussion
12:00 noon - bring a brown bag lunch and enjoy some of our herb tea, goat cheese and fresh greens with us.
1:00 p.m. - Farmer's Cheese making demonstration
2:00 p.m. - Shearing Demonstration on a stand
2:30 p.m -  Sheep and goat hoof trimming demonstration
3:00 p.m. - Spinning demonstration, and other fibery fun.
4:00 p.m. - Time to head home and Thanks for Visiting!

By that day, Lena and I will have most of the sheep and angora goats sheared, so we will have lots of new fleeces for sale. We will do one shearing demo at 10:00 a.m. and another at 2:00 p.m., with hoof trimming demos at 10:30 and 2:30. If all goes well, we should have lots of lambs and kids on the ground and many will be for sale. Last year, both Basil and Demi provided lambing demonstrations during Shearing Day. The year before Nilly gave us Gift on Shearing Day. Of course, we can't ever schedule anything like that, but it might happen again.

There will be lots of handspun yarn, handwoven shawls, beautiful brooms, fleeceyful rugs, fleeces and other farm-made items for sale.

Wow, 2013... hard to believe. I also think we did our first shearing day on Laffing Horse Farm in La Junta, Colorado in 2003. So this must be the 10th Anniversary of this fun open house. I do hope you can join us.

Leave a comment here or send me a message, email or even call if you have any questions. Carrier pigeons don't work, Kitty is a heck-of-a-good hunter.

One knot at a time

I am a weaver. I take fiber and make cloth - one strand at a time.

As a weaver, I select my yarns, mostly by texture, creating my own colors in the dye vats. I wind each yarn into a ball, so that I can easily measure it.

One strand at a time, I measure my warp yarns. This current warp has 242 yarns, each one 8-yards-long. More than a mile of yarn, 5,808 feet. It's easy to snarl up a mile of yarn. You have to handle it carefully. One step at a time through all the processes.

I chain up my warp yarns as I measure them into loose braids. Then I lay them over the front bar of my loom. One strand at a time, I draw the yarn through first the reed, then its correct heddle and then I tie it on to the back beam. 242 knots, tied in sequence, one knot at a time.

I don't weave because I have to to cover my body or to stay warm. I live in the real modern world, and could buy things at stores. I weave because it feeds my soul. The rhythm, the regularity, the order, the whole body dance with the thread. I am a weaver.

And right now I see that I need to be a weaver with the rest of my life. The great snarls of projects on my desk, the tangles of things needing sorted, the bits of fluff that really belong somewhere... I need to take each piece of paper, one at a time, put it into a workable form and gather the forms into a chain of events. Then I need to thread them through my computer, my pen, my calculator and begin tying them into finished projects.

One knot at a time. I can do this, I am a weaver.

Relief and hope and rain

I can feel the drought hardened knot of tension in my gut begin to soften as the rain continues to plummet down. I adore warm winter rains. This one is a really gully-washer, up from the gulf coast. The warm clouds lumbered in, bellies full of rain, and they are dumping it here on the Ozark plateau.
That knot in my belly has been hardening and tightening these last two years. It's a knot of worry and fear. Worry that the drought is permanent. Fear that the green forests will wither and burn. Worry for my farm, my family and people as a whole. Water, water, water - of the three things needed to sustain life, it seems to be the most precious and threatened.
This worry will not go away. Even with 10-inches of snow on Christmas Day and a 6-inch gully washer this weekend, our lakes are still low, the land sucks up water like a sponge and the sleepy trees are not yet drinking. But the knot is softening.
I know worrying is not productive, and carrying tension is even harmful. I know all that we can really do about catastrophic climate change is be aware and adapt. In the long run, I want to be an advocate for water.Water is the most valuable treasure this earth has to give.

And right now, I'm just going to enjoy the rain and snow.

Digital dilution

I've been writing this blog since 2005, after I gave up my career as a journalist. In skips, hops and jumps, it chronicles our search for a home from our droughted-out farm in Colorado and our move to Arkansas. Some of the best writing is early in the blog, when I only came to it muse-inspired.
Since our move, I've viewed it mostly as a way to share our life with my friends and family we left behind. It covers whatever I think might interest them. This past year, I've tried to consider it as a way to connect with folks I don't know, to let them share our life on our farm. And for several years, I've used it as an adjunct to our flock book.
I write about sheep for sale, I take pictures of which ewes are in with rams, so people wanting lambs can consider them. I write when we start breeding season and when we pull the rams from the ewe pens. I love taking pics of my pretty Jacob sheep and I love sharing them. This year, we started breeding with Cowslip and Boomer in the sheep flock, and Herkimer and Yampa for the goats. I remember taking the pictures and writing... something.
So yesterday, when I wanted to start a lambing date calendar, I went back to look for those posts... nothing. I searched the year and considered. I knew it was September... well maybe October, we did breed late this year. I dyed some more warp yarn and washed the gorgeous Thyme wool yarn that I had spun on Saturday.
Then I remembered the Common Threads Facebook page.
Yep, there were the breeding dates (Sept. 19 and 25th) that I was looking for. And all the information I needed, "Cowslip loves Boomer."
As digital has become a more pervasive part of our life, I've gone from poetic writings of surreal moonlight nights to adolescent graffiti. Does it matter?

Counting Sheep and giving thanks for great friends

It takes a village, according to Hillary Clinton, and I sure know we get by with a whole lot of help from our friends.

This Thankgiving, our dear friends Wayne and Leesa Thompson pulled into the driveway from Leighton, Alabama, with 5 huge round bales of good, sweet, Alabama hay. That's more than 10 weeks of feed for the whole flock. And they wouldn't accept any more than a "Thank you."

Higgs and one of the hens say "Thank you!" for the yummy hay.

Thank you Wayne and Leesa, you are the most incredible friends!

This week, we made a trip to Little Rock to see a specialist for Shawn's headaches. Lena was taking a well deserved few days off, visiting her brother in Hot Springs. So some more dear friends, Josh and Missy Epperson came and fed all the sheep, goats and chickens in the middle of the worst weather we've had so far this winter. Thank you Josh and Missy!

While I was writing up the chore list for Josh and Missy, I was trying to count the number of animals in each pen. Most were easy, the chickens we count every night when we lock them in - 1 rooster and 7 hens. Dan's pen has 5 total sheep, Boomer shares his pen with just George, and we only have 8 goats. But the main ewe pen... I just couldn't figure out how many sheep there were in there (jokes about exceeding number of fingers not needed!). Finally, I wrote on the chore list - "lots."

So, yesterday, as Lena and I checked eyes and body scores, I determined I was going to figure out exactly how many sheep we had. We checked and wrote and counted. There were 12 on the list, but 14 sheep in the pen. We counted again. Still 14. We had checked everyone. The I realized that Higgs was at the top of the page, we checked her before we came into the pen. Higgs isn't really a sheep. And then Hocus nudged my leg. We had checked Hocus before we penned the sheep. She's a people, not a sheep. So that's 12 ewes, a Hocus in sheep's clothing and a Higgs particle (who is now rather large, but still goes where she wants.) That's how many sheep we have.

And that might explain why I have trouble communicating with numbers people in manager's meetings :-).

Christmas Showcase 2012

The year of raising critters, working fleeces, spinning and weaving and felting and planning and dreaming all culminated in this weekend show in Little Rock. The Arkansas Craft Guild's Christmas Showcase is an elegant show in the grand ballroom at the Statehouse Convention Center.

This year it was especially grand, as almost every crafts person went all out in lighting, building and decorating their booths. Doug and Colleen Kraatz had their delightful stained glass renaissance booth set up to greet people right inside the entrance.

Stained glass and Christmas elves set the stage.

 Our booth was in the center on the corner. I had pushed myself weaving rugs this last month and had a table, chairs and booth full of them. Shawn designed great banners that highlighted what we do. Shawn and Lena had pushed to fill their section of the booth with very artfully stitched and plaited brooms in all shapes and sizes. The booth really did look good. And we both spent all the time, that we weren't up and selling, demonstrating.  Shawn tied many cake testers and mini-wings and I spun up most of Nilly's whole 2012 fleece.

This year, Becki Dahlstedt, show organizer and potter extraordinare, had put together a "Best Booth in Show Competition". This competition was judged by advertising reps from the Arkansas Times. In secret on Friday, they went around and judged the booths. I know I saw one of them, but I'm not sure who the other two were. First prize was booth fee paid for the 2013 show. Second and Third prizes were 1/2 of booth fee for the 2013 show and a guarantee of the same spot, if you want it.

Common Threads, my side of the award winning booth.

First place went to an incredible brass art booth feature in the back corner. It was a well deserved honor for a gorgeous booth, that I didn't get pictures of! And second place was us. Third went to a wood worker who carves bowls that are beyond works of art - and last year he just had them sitting on tables. This year he went all out and built a beautiful booth. I'll add names when I've had a little more coffee and the brain kicks in.

So, we'll be back in the same place next year, knock on wood and all the other sayings.

We've packed up the booth, reconciled the books and I am on to teach a workshop at Degray Lake Resort State Park. Shawn is heading home and Lena's been taking care of things there while we've been at the show.

Laffing Horse Designs, Shawn's side of our great booth.

I'm going to reopen the etsy store this week, I promised a few people at the show that I'd post what didn't sell there. As I get things listed, I'll let you know.

Safe travels everyone!

Continuity

I'm sitting here, this winter-dark morning, my fingers tucking, plucking and finishing the last little bits on the new batch of rugs off my Newcomb, waiting for it to be light enough to go pack the van for our trip to the big Christmas Showcase Craft Show in Little Rock.

Fantasia's newest rug.

As I measure, price and tag these rugs that I've woven from the wool and mohair grown by the delightful sheep and goats that share our farm, I'm thinking about the bills that we need to cover with the proceeds from this show. We need to pay our homeowner's insurance for the year, and set aside enough to cover the taxes, not only the property taxes, but enough to cover the rest of Shawn's self-employment taxes. He's had a good year selling brooms, and I don't think his quarterly payments have kept up. Even with the 5 bales of hay that dear Wayne and Leesa brought us all the way from Alabama, we need to set aside more cash to cover feed for the critters. My car needs tires and an alignment and we sure could use a new mattress. These rugs are beautiful, as are Shawn's brooms and the shawls that I've already finished and packed, we should be fine.

My mind begins to wander in the warmth of the fire, and I think about how very similar these thoughts and activities are to those hill folk who came before us. How many of the early women who wove rag rugs on my Newcomb in the 1930's sat while finishing rugs and thought about how the money they earned from selling the rugs they had woven would cover the money that was due in their farm and home. How many generations of folks from the Ozarks have worked to gather and shape the bounty of this land and then take  the things they've made down to the big city to trade for the dollars needed for taxes, if nothing else.

The time frame is different - we are going to load our van this morning, and then (Good Lord willing, cross your fingers and knock on wood) we'll drive the winding, but paved, roads and be in Little Rock this afternoon. We've managed to mechanize and shorten the travel time, but the process is still the same.

Well, back to measuring and tagging. Wish us luck, and maybe we'll see you at Showcase.

And the Winner is...

We have a winner in the Country Outfitter boot giveaway.

Morgan and Regina Alonso of Lady Lake, Florida won a pair of new boots. Congratulations. Enjoy them and keep in touch. I'd love to see a picture when you get them.

And, as far as my boots. I think I'm going with one of the last comments.

They only have two or three holes in them, the soles are still fine, inserts are replaceable... I think I'll just keep them and keep on wearing them. They aren't my fancy dress boots any longer, but the sheep don't notice what I have on my feet, unless it falls off. No sense in giving up something that still works...

Have a wonderful week!

Social media workshop - will it teach me focus?

I'm spending today in a social media workshop at the National Association for Interpretation annual conference in Hampton, Virginia. Lena and Shawn are assuring me the sheep and goats are fine at home.
My traveling companions are teaching me the fine arts of traveling in the big city... like you aren't supposed to pick the kale and chard in the highway median for dinner? Who knew?
The main think I am hoping to learn today is how to create a comprehensive, focused promotional campaign. Whether I use it for OFC, Common Threads, Laffing Horse, Arkansas Craft Guild or... doesn't matter.

oooh, railway interpretation...

Yeah, like I can really learn focus in a 9 hour workshop.