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It is too early for the party yet, but work on the new barn has begun!
 While all the lambs born this year are thriving, we had a little Angora buck born that didn't fare so well. His Mama just wasn't in the mood to nurse a baby and was pretty cold and weak so we brought him inside. After warming him up and getting some of her milk/colostrum inside him, we took him back out and tried to reunite mother and son. Sadly, although the buck knew just what to do, Mom just didn't get it. So, we have a new addition to the menagerie INSIDE the house. MY human kid named the kid buck Lincoln, because he "has so many opinions". In other words, he's a noisy little bleeter! He is thriving- especially with the gentle care of our Australian Shepherd dog, Daisy. She's in heaven with a baby to tend.
Despite the cold rain and piles of snow still on the ground, we managed to get all the fiber animals sheared on Good Friday. William Cournoyer is a Champ and worked straight through all 14 sheep and goats. They are frolicking like the lambs now!
While we watched Bill work we got to talking about how much we were looking for those first sings of spring. The pussy willow tree in my front yard is sprouting "cotton" and soon we'll see some leaves and green grass, I just know it! Bill commented that those first green leaves will seem so special, then just a few weeks later we'll forget that there were just those little signs of green because everything will be budding. Of course this reminded me of the Robert Frost poem "Nothing Gold Can Stay". Nature's first green is gold, her hardest hue to hold. Her early leaf's a flower but only so an hour. Enjoy these early spring days, mud and all!  A co-worker commissioned me to make a scarf for her mother for Christmas. This is silk, mohair and wool, woven in a Swedish lace pattern. I used Auracania for the warp and a solid, tweedy green mohair for the weft.
I dyed some Lincoln locks. Used some in nuno felted scarves. Not sure yet what the rest will become.
These were some fall clip fleeces I sent to Fitch Fibers for processing into yarn. They are lovely - soft and lustrous. Planning to dye the white and leave the silver natural- too pretty, can't improve on nature. These yarns are blends from our Lincoln/blueface crosses, blended with some fine mohair from our goats. So soft!
Our Gotland flock has grown! Due to a most generous Christmas gift from my husband, our Gotland flock is now officially established. We purchased four beautiful bred ewes from Christine and Jeff Ahlseen of Tamarack Farm Gotlands in PA. That makes 6 ewes in all. The girls are settling in well and getting friendly.
Can't wait for the spring lamb crop and those fabulous fleeces!. |
AuthorAmy Corey is an English teacher and sheep farmer who loves spinning, weaving, knitting and anything fiber related..
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