November 5, 2010

Things are getting busy around the farm! For one, I am working hard to get ready for Arkansas Fiber Extravaganza at Mount Magazine State Park on December 4-5. This is a wonderful fiber show, and it will be our first year to be a vendor. Here are just a few of the rovings I have been dyeing.



We got all of the sheep situated last weekend, which would have been much easier if we hadn't had so many different breeds! Miss Oliva, who is a Border Leicester/Shetland cross will likely be the first to lamb this spring. (insert a shocked face here!) Don't ask me how I know - ladies are not supposed to discuss such things! Here is a picture of her after she was sheared this last spring. Her fleece is sooooo very thick! It is like digging your fingers into brand new, really expensive carpet.



And here are a couple of pictures of the newest sheep. I couldn't get very good pics because they are still skittish and wouldn't stand still very long, so I will have to post the other two later. This one is Joseph, the registered Shetland ram. His wool is soft, soft, soft, and white when you part it. For some reason, though, he is a magnet for everything that could possibly get stuck in wool. Yesterday he showed up with what looked like a bundle of 18 inch long sticks wrapped all in the top of his neck. Turned out they were sticker bush limbs. I have the holes in my fingers to prove it! I don't know where he found those.


Here is Rose. She is gorgeous, and I am surprised I was able to get a picture of her. She is wildest one of the bunch. And, boy, can she move lightning fast. I thought we were never going to get her in the lot the first night so we could lock them up. Problem with sheep is, when one runs, the rest decide they should follow. So we would get all of them in, only to have her run out and the rest of the gang with her. Shetlands gets spooked so easy. We finally got them all in, and she is getting better.