A Sheep's Tail

2012-01-29T09:14:00.000-08:00

Well, we are on Facebook now. And, I can hardly wait to show you what I've been doing.

I will be posting some of the things that are for sale on here during the next few days and I think I'm going to start with some rovings. A roving is wool that has been made into a thick "rope" from a wool processing company, that can be spun into yarn. I have some from Shetland sheep ( several different colors), Border Leicester sheep (very nice shiny black), Perendale sheep (I have a small amount of this in a light brown "tweed" like pattern), along with some bright sparkly white kid mohair. I also have some yarns spun from some of these I will post, too.

I have a few scarves and a shawl or two to be posted.

So, I better get busy and get these done.

This N That

2012-01-16T08:53:00.000-08:00

Hi All,

Just a few things as an update:

I am spinning some white Shetland roving into a sport-weight 2-ply yarn. I did a few (maybe 4) skeins late last year to see if I liked it enough to make more and I do like the way it turned out.

I have put the Shetland roving into 4-oz balls, that way I don't have to get the entire box of roving out and fight with the hounds as to who is going to work with it (you'd be surprised which hound likes to get into the roving and who doesn't want to touch it) and it's easier to pick up and put away in small batches than the entire big box. If I remember right, I have about 10-15 balls of white roving, an enitre unopened box of Shetland white roving, 1/2 of a box of dark moorit roving, 2 boxes of black Border Leicester roving, 2 boxes of a marled-type brown Perendale roving, and 2 1/2 -3 boxes of silver Border Leicester roving that needs to be spun and made into skeins. This is what I'll be doing this winter along with spinning some previously hand-dyed rovings. After I get this done (if my hands haven't fallen off) I will dye some of the white Shetland, and over dye some of the silver Border Leicester. (All of this roving came from my sheep before they were killed in the summer of 2009).

It seems like its been forever since I last spun some roving into yarn but the muscles in my hands/arms remembered it very well and it is coming along nicely. I will post pictures of the yarn as soon as possible.

In other areas, Chloe has talked me into helping her make (read: I sew what she thinks up) things for her blog. I told her I'd help make some quilts to begin with along with a sweater and snood for her and Gracie. They were satisfied until they thought about it and wanted it started in the middle of Christmas. We then had a discussion, and I won, so I will be starting the quilts this week and finish Chloe's sweater and snood and then do Gracie's. I told Travis he could have a quilt but he wanted to pick out the fabric, something about the girls not knowing what he liked, so that will be coming a little later, also.

Well, better close for now and start working on things before the girls decide I'm not doing it fast enough and come in to help (sometimes they are not as "helpful" as they think).

Until later,

Benita

2011-08-01T06:31:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I've been downloading some clip art to use as a business card and on the website and have not been able to find them today.

I did find this one (<-) and thought I'd try it out. I like it because it's colorful and shows quite a bit of things I'm interested in - knitting, sewing, and quilting, so I may use this one.

I have been busy trying to finish up some of my UFO's (unfinished objects) and spent quite a bit of time yesterday afternoon blocking a shawl I made out of Noro Taikyo (sp?) and got all of it blocked but for 1 corner which I will finish today. I love the colors and it will go with anything. I have started another triangular shawl out of a 4 ply yarn that has 3 plies of a chocolate brown and 1 ply of white wool spun together, so far it looks really nice. I hope to post some pictures of these on the website and maybe on Facebook, if my camera decides to play nice (tempermental thing that it is).

Am waiting for it to cool down enough so I can work in the spare bedroom to finish making it my office/knitting/quilting/sewing room. I don't have a window A/C in there so right now it's closed off from the rest of the house which means it's more than likely very "warm". If I can't get in there until fall, then I will try to get more UFO's done.

Am seriously thinking about ordering some BFL (blue-faced Leicester) yarn from Wool2Dye4 and doing some dying or I might spin some more of my Shetland roving and dye it. Decisions, decisions.

Well, better go for now. Have some errands to run in town.
Til later.

2011-01-26T09:12:00.000-08:00

Have you ever wondered why we like to knit? It's almost as if it's imperative that we handle the yarn and needles on a daily basis or we have withdrawal symptoms.

I was looking in Interweave Knits magazine last night searching for a sweater pattern and came across an article written by Vicki Square, the author of the Knitter's Companion, and it's like it hit home. Below is her article I found in the winter of 2008 issue of Interweave Knits and decided to put it here.
"WHY DO WE KNIT?

Why do we knit? Well, of course, we knit for fun! We knit because it is rewarding. We knit to enjoy the process. We knit to see the product of our hands. Good reasons all, yet they merely skim the shallow surface of the incredible depth that describes every knitter's life.

We are a diverse human population, to be sure. We come in a lovely selection of sizes, shapes, and colors. We also come in an expansive age range and feature a wide spectrum of skill levels, from pre-knitters (have you invited your friends to learn?) to a walking encyclopedia of knowledge. Consider all the following reasons why we knit, and you'll see our common bond. We knit to learn. We all want to pass Go and collect $200, but we have to get in the game first. Basic rules are simple: cast on, knit, purl, bind off. Remember what a thrill it was with the first success? Each new project opens the opportunity to learn something new and experience that thrill again. Knitters are intelligent lifelong learners.

We knit to relax. Once we have learned a set of skills, we practice them until they come naturally. Learn, practice, relax, repeat. I love to have a project at hand that requires little concentration so that I can absolutely "settle in" and enjoy. Every knitter has a favorite place: one of mine is on my back desk in nice weather enjoying the view. We also have a willingness to try a new place with new faces. Knitters are a personable lot, meeting and making new friends. As long as our knitting is in hand, we're good to go.

We knit to think. It can be alone time, knitting. We all need time to reflect on happenings, conversations, and relationships. We need to meditate on life's truths. We may pray, for ourselves and for one another. It is a time to simply think things through. Schedules, appointments, activities, to-do lists, places to go, and things to accomplish all conspire to steal some measure of personal peace. Knitting helps us to get it back, and it realigns priorities so we can choose the important over the simply urgent.

We knit to soothe. Life is messy, as anyone on this planet can attest, with paved and rocky paths full of twists and turns, hills and valleys. If everything in your life is spectacularly smooth, bask in it! Inevitably, around the bend will be a speed bump, or a road block, or a bridge out. Small somethings can be handled with nary a rise in blood pressure. Large and tragic somethings can be so painful we don't know how we'll live through them. But we knit on. And we are somehow comforted in the soothing repetition of inserting the needle into each stitch, catching the yarn for a new stitch, back and forth, row after row. Knitting's quiet rhythm quiets the soul. We recognize that knitting can very well be a rudder that helps to navigate through life's storms.

We knit for companionship. Don't we love to gather together for long hours of knitting, visiting, knitting, eating, knitting, drinking lattes, tea, maybe fruit smoothies, and did I say knitting? Once done more out of necessity, today we knit mostly for pure pleasure. We experience the joy of seeing others succeed, reach goals, and celebrate victories. Sharing knitting time together is, in essence, sharing life.

We knit to give. Knitters are famous for spending hours and hours, perhaps over weeks and months, working on a gift for a special someone. Love and kindness go into each stitch that makes the whole. There is a deep well of generosity in every knitter I know.

We knit for mercy. I'm telling you, knitters know how to step up to the plate and get it done. They will swing for the fence every time because they are serious about meeting needs. Local groups, national goups, international groups- globally, knitters care for the plight of those in need. Cancer patients, new babies, natural disaster victims, the homeless, the grieving: needs are significant, and knitters meet that imperative. Like the invisible filament that strengthens the yarn it is paired with, knitters bring strength into their environments and their relationships.
We knit to create. In everyone of us is an artist, wanting to personalize our knitted creations. Expression can be as simple as changing colors for a given pattern, or it can be as involved as creating our own designs.

Today's knitting crowd is an all-inclusive club whose only prerequisite is to knit- or want to knit. Join us! We knit because we can. We knit for fun and for function, our reasons meshing together, just as in our knitting. The bottom line: We knit because we absolutely love it. We love it, we're passionate about it, and we are compelled to do it, just as we are compelled to breathe."

2010-11-18T09:01:00.000-08:00

This is one of the cowls I designed this past weekend.

It's 10x24 inches in size and was knit on size 6 needles. It's a very easy pattern - it has "tumbling blocks" knit as the design. This design consists of simply knit and purl stitches - nothing fancy.

It is an easy pattern, so someone who is brand new to knitting could make this without any problem.

It is available for $20.00, which includes the pattern and enough yarn to make the cowl. The yarn is superwash sock yarn so the cowl can be put thru the washer and dryer when it gets dirty and will not shrink.

The next cowl, at the left, was designed and knit by me late last week. It is 10x22 inches and has a raised texture to the fabric. It is aslo easy enough for a beginner knitter to make.

This cowl comes in a kit with the yarn and pattern instructions for $20.00.

Let me know what colors you are looking for because I have a large stash of sock yarns and should beable to find what you want.

2010-11-02T10:12:00.000-07:00

This is what I did over this past weekend. I made some bright new sparkly roving.

I added some white Shetland roving and some undyed firestar for sparkle and pop and got the above ball of bling.

I can hardly wait to get the rest of the wool and firestar mixed together so I can spin it. The new roving is absolutely soft and it sparkles like crazy.

I did add some firestar to some dyed roving and spun it up but it wasn't as bling-bling as this roving. I will be doing more with the wool and firestar as I found a box with 2 pounds of firestar in it that I had forgotten I had ordered. I plan on dyeing more roving next weekend if I can work it into the scheduled programs.

2010-10-25T12:06:00.000-07:00

Well, after 4 days of work and almost 20 large trash bags of crap, the room is starting to look better. It still needs a good sweeping but my asthma is acting up today so all I was able to do was take out more trash bags to the road for pick up tomorrow.

I can actually get into the closet that holds all my fabrics now. I had forgotten what I had in there. It was nice to be able to close the closet door after I went thru it. I need to decide what fabrics will stay and what will go. Have tons of polyester which will go but have some knits I will keep. Looks like I'll be putting things on ebay this coming weekend.

I will be telling everyone what this room will end up being AFTER I get it fixed up. I'd like to get to that point by Turkey Day, but no promises. I have decided what furniture, from other rooms, will be moving into this room and what won't. I was going to move the love seat from the living room into here but then I found the twin bed frame I had bought quite a while ago. I think I'll repurpose it into a love seat - and hope that Chloe doesn't figure it out, she loves to snuggle on things with blankets and quilts on them.

Speaking of quilts, I found my antique quilt templates I bought over 7 years ago and the fabric that had been cut out. I also found an old cutter quilt I fixed (removed the destroyed blocks and put other block from the same quilt in their place) and I found 2 small quilts (wall size?) that I can quilt and display. One of these quilts has bright multi-colored blocks with jet black edging - talk about an eye-catcher. The other small quilt is made up of pastel baby-themed blocks edged in a deep royal blue - need to replace 2 of the blocks as some 4-legged rodent wanted to use it and chewed up the blocks. The bright colored quilt will definitely be put up on the wall, and the lighter one will probably be draped over my computer desk.

Well, better go for now, it's supposed to rain again and have possible thunder storms and I do not want to be on this computer during that.

Til later,

Bye.

2010-10-22T06:19:00.000-07:00

It was 36 degrees when I finally let the dogs out this morning and we had frost. Not the killing frost we need to get rid of the pollen so Gracie can get off the prednisone, just a light dust of frost.

Will be glad when I can take her off the prednisone, she's getting to be a real crank. I think if she beats up on Travis one more time, he may decide to pack up his bags and blankie and leave. She is a real holy terror with the prednisone.

2010-10-21T07:02:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

Just thought I'd introduce you to the site boss for the bedroom repurposing.

This is Vinnie. He is a 12 1/2 year old black Labrador retriever who moved back into the house after his kennel mate of over 11 years, and aunt, died in June of this year. Since he's been here he has learned to like pizza (his favorite is PapaJohn's The Works), to "talk" to his food pan (he started this when he was a baby - he scoops out some of his dog food out of the bowl with his nose, grabs the side of the pan and barks - of course this works better and gets more echoing if he has the pan backed into a corner), is trying to figure out the space heater in the dining room (when it comes on, he will stand there with his nose about 1 inch away from the outside mesh staring at it), and tries to keep track of me as I move thru the house. He does a pretty good job of all this except he keeps losing me at times.

He has been over-seeing the fix-up of the bedroom by lying in front of the door (one of his ways to keep track of me), snooping around in piles of junk to be thrown out (probably looking for a mouse) and just lying in the middle of the room in the sunlight.

He will be checking on things later today when I work in the room again. He's so helpful, in his own mind.

Now to go block a sweater.

2010-10-19T15:28:00.000-07:00

Hi All,

I decided, since I wasn't working at the time, it was about time that I did something with all this wool around here (besides using it as insulation). So, yesterday I started to clean up the 2nd largest bedroom and make it into a studio for knitting, sewing, spinning, and writing. BUT, this is how it looked AFTER I removed 7, count them, seven bags of *&^%.

This picture (above) is right in front of the door looking into the room. To the right are about 20 bags of fleece I plan of scouring and spinning into yarn - most of it is varying shades of Shetland, with an occassional border Leicester cross thrown in for good measure. The colors range from Shetland black to grey to different shades of moorit (brown, to the uninitiated) so a white with grey fibers.

This picture is to the left of the door and shows more fleeces in the black bags, some books I need to decide whether to keep or not and an old chest of drawers.

This picture is toward corner next to the big south facing double window. There is a lot of light in this room during the day, even in the winter.

I plan to take the entrance door to the room and make it into the desk/sewing table/knitting table. I also plan on moving the love seat from the living room into this room, painting the walls, and putting up a cork bulletin board.

So, come back often and see how this room is changing from a junk room into a studio where I can write and make yarns, and sew.

Til then,

BYE.

2010-09-24T10:02:00.000-07:00

Hi All,
I finally finished my nursing degree and have taken some time off to relax and recoop and now it's time to get back to work. Unfortunately, around here pickin's are slim so I decided to start up this blog again.

As of today, September 24,2010, I am knitting my fingers off to make some samples of the knitting I have to offer for sale. I will have kits for a scarf and/or hat which will contain the needed yarns (very very soft acryilcs), the pattern(s), and, if you just want the scarf, knitting needles will be included. The scarf pattern is very easy for a novice to handle. The hat kit will include the yarn for the hat and the pattern and possibly dpns (if I can find some I like). This pattern is also easy. There will be a number of colors - I think the varigated yarn makes the prettiest scarf and hat - but you can have it in solids if you like. The scarf kits will sell for $20.00 and the hat kit for 15.00.

I will be posting a picture of the scarf and hat as soon as I can convince this laptop to accept the pictures and I will give you a list of the colors I will have available. I was going to have the finished product to sell but things changed earlier this week making that idea difficult to manage, namely with everything else going on.

Starting next year, I will have patterns for sweaters, small shoulder shawls and a Shetland shawl for sale. I hope to have some hand-dyed yarns for sale also. There will probably be other things, so keep checking back.

So, stay tuned and come back frequently to see what is available. I hope to have the kits ready for November sales. That is if the Knitting Fairy will cool her jets and let me work on these in peace. Nothing like a cantankerous Fairy.

See you soon.

2010-01-07T07:03:00.001-08:00

Well, we are in the midst of a winter snow storm - unfortunately, my camera didn't like the new batteries I put in ( 2x) and now it just sits there and looks at me. So, I decided to use another pix of the snow falling here.

This picture shows how it looks when the snow is falling down the "lane" under the trees going toward the front pasture. It is really pretty ( even if the picture is almost 2 years old ).

When I got up and looked out the backdoor at about 6:45AM there was no snow anywhere to be seen, but when my alarm clocks got me up at 8AM, there was almost 2 inches of fine powder on back steps and, if it had been rain instead of snow, it would have been pouring ( you could just see to the front of the pasture ).

The pups ( Gracie and Travis ) have been out 2x already playing in the snow. You would have thought that this was Travis' 1st snowfall with the way he's been acting - running around like a wild thing with Gracie hot on his heels. I wish I could have gotten a picture of it - oh. well, maybe next time.

Gracie and Travis are getting along a little bit better as long as he does what she wants when she wants. She let's him know when he can eat, if he can talk to me, and whether he can talk in his crate. Bossy isn't a strong enough word for this littler girl. But, she isn't like this with the older girls in the house or outside, just with him.

Better go for now as Gracie has Travis pinned in a corner and I'd like to keep both of them alive to have a litter of pups in a couple of years, so .....

Bye for now.

2009-12-15T07:23:00.001-08:00

I finally finished this hat after 3 frogging sessions and trying to figure out how I could use the yarn from my scarf to make a hat that included them.

This hat contains a little over 2 skeins of Noro Kureyon yarn in 209 and 185 - this is the same yarn that I made my Noro scarf from. The hat is reversible with 209 on the outside form the very light blue stripe ( above the shaded pink stripesand below the purple and brown stripes ) and the rest is 185 ( I had more of this yarn - and now it looks as if Noro may have discontniued 185 because I can't find it anyplace ).

This hat is VERY warm. I wore it out this morning in 34 degree F weather when I came back inside I was sweating. I am anxious to see just how warm it is when the weather gets colder ( but Mother Nature doesn't have to drop the temps just for me, tho).

Will probably make another one in a different color after the holidays.

Bye for now.

2009-09-18T12:06:00.001-07:00

I decided that I needed a new hat to wear this winter that had the same yarns in it as the scarf I wear, so after stash diving I came up with 1 skein of Noro Kureyon 209 ( on the left ) and # 180 ( on the right ).

What I did was to hold 1 strand from each skein and knit them together so the hat would be warm.

I like to way the colors play against each other. Should have it done in a couple of days and will post a picture of it then.

Well, we have a new member of the family. She's been here for 2 weeks today and has taken over the place. I will let Travis tell you all about her on his blog ( he already thought the world revolved around him before he got his blog - now there's no living with him ). But I told Chloe she could say a little bit about her, so here's Chloe

Hi Everyone,

I wanted to tell you that I have a new baby sister and her name is Gracie ( MOM says her fancy name is Duegar's Say G'nite Gracie ) and Travis does not like her. Oh, he'll play with her but when he tries to stop her from getting near the food bowl when he's ready to eat and he growls at her, well Gracie stands up to him and gives her opinion about him hogging the food bowl. I just love it !!!!! If he plays with her and gets too rough and pinches her a little too hard - MOM has to come in and pull Gracie off Travis' face because she goes after him. It's absolutely wonderful to see him back down from someone else and be told he isn't the king of the world.

I'd better go for now because I don't want to have to listen to Travis complain that he was supposed to talk about the new baby and not anyone else. PPLLeeasseeee.

Bye for now - Chloe.

As Chloe said, it's been wild around her since Gracie came to live here, but I'll let Travis tell you all about that - just remember that he isn't happy she's here because she isn't afraid of him and he can't bully her around. It's interesting to see a 100 pound dog cower away from a 20 pound pup because she will rip him apart and is any thing but subtle about it.

Til later.

2009-08-10T06:32:00.000-07:00

Hi All

MOM decided that, since things had been bad around here during the last few weeks, that SHE wanted to change some things. So, she tried a new website and found out, after she had put a lot of work into making a new blog, that the website was under attack and had to close out that blog. ( I could have told HER it wouldn't work but you can't tell HER anything when SHE's like this ).

So, here we are. And MOM decided to let me tell you what's going on around here.

We will be changing a few things around here during the next few weeks and hope you will bear with us.

We are bringing back Chloe's Chlosett ( because Chloe has been driving everyone NUTZ about not being able to make pretty clothes for all her doggie friends. Girlie stuff, YUCK!!!! ) and we will also be bringing back Just My Stylle ( Stylle asked MOM, nicely, if she could start baking goodies again. YIPPEE, COOKIES!!!!! And I get to be the official taster. Life is GOOOOD!!!! ).

MOM will be selling some yarns SHE has in HER stash ( whatever that is ) and I get to help HER do that ( I'm a big boy now ) and SHE says that SHE will also be spinning some of the sheeps wool into yarns and selling them and making other things ( sweaters, socks, scarves ) for sale, too.

I still have my blog ( Duegar Kennels ) where I will keep everyone up to date on what I'm doing and all.

So, come in, sit a spell and chat - you never know what you'll find here at " A Sheep's Tail ".

Travis

2009-07-21T08:34:00.000-07:00

Well, it looks like it was a pack ( or at least 1 ) of dogs that got into the pastures and ran the sheep to death.
A friend and I went out last Thursday,7/17, to put down the last surviving ewe from the attack ( the other Shetland ewe and the border Leicester wether are still fine, but continue to look for the rest of the flock ), but we found her dead ( the last time I'd seen her was around 10 am and she looked bad then ). So we dragged her to the edge of the front pasture and the woods and " dressed " her for her killer(s). Can't say what type of " spices " were used as it's not exactly legal what we did but it's my property and my sheep and since the Indiana DNR is useless, it doesn't matter what we did.
After we took care of the ewe, we walked the fence row looking for ways the killer(s) could have gotten in. My friend had 2 rifles with him and had me carry 1 as he went across the back fence where we found a hole dug underneath it ( this hole was about 4-5 inches deep and had markings showing that the killer(s) had slid underneath the fence to get to the sheep ).
I walked the interior of the fence line and my friend walked the exterior and into the creek bed and found 2 foot prints that looked kind of like dog but the rain had washed part of 1 away and the other was on hard-pack and couldn't make a positive ID ( he decided that with everything else we found, there was a good likelihood that it was dogs that got the sheep ).
We found all of the missing sheep. One was a surprize, tho.
When I came out the backdoor to get things ready to go out back I heard a familiar voice calling from the neighbor's drive way. I looked over to the neighbor's and saw Lacie, my favorite Shetland ewe, standing there calling to me. I called her name and she ran to the gate and thru it , paused long enough to get a cookie/ handful of dog chow and then went to greet the other 2 sheep left. I just stood and cried because I thought I'd lost her in the killing spree and now she was home. Since that day, she comes into the backyard withthe other 2 every night and expects to have a cup of dog food or a cookie waiting for her - yes, she has always been spoiled and now even more so. I can hardly wait to breed her and Wen again to get more of their babies, but that won't happen until I get at least 1 Pyr to protect them - something I will be doing next spring sionce I won't breed them unti I graduate in the fall of 2010 from college.
As I have always said, I don't mind as much if a wild aminal kills one of my sheep as that's Mother Nature's way of keeping the species going BUT I do mind it my animals are killed by someone's pet dog - that's just pure laziness on the pet owner's side. My dogs are not allowed to run loose ( even tho Vinnie does like to get out and hunt along the creek bed for wood chucks and rabbits ), I expect others to keep their dogs under control or face the fact that if I catch them in my pasture chasing/killing my sheep, they will get their pet back with a bullet in the head ( I will let the state police do the delivering ).
Now, I can get off my soap box and just enjoy the sheep again.
Thanks for all the caring I received from everyone during this stressful time, I hope to never have to go thru this type of thing again.
Benita

2009-07-16T07:53:00.000-07:00

It's been a bad week here.
I came home Tuesday, 7/14, and found 2 of my sheep waiting at the gate to the front yard ( I had let them into the back yard because of all the clover growing there ) which wasn't unusual because TJ thinks he's the guard wether and Wennie is his back-up helper. But what was strange was that the dogs ( who are kenneled right next to this gate ) were in their dogs houses and never made a sound ( now these labs will bark if ANYONE pulls into the drive ) but not that day.
I went into the back yard and didn't see any other sheep, so I called to them, and banged on metal feed pans but no one came, which was strange but I thought they may have found something good to eat in the back pasture and were too busy to answer me.
So, I put the 2 sheep with me in the front pasture and were in to let the house dogs out to potty and came back out. Well, when Chloe and Travis hit the ground at the bottom of the steps Travis cowered to the ground on his belly and both of them tried to climb thro me to get back inside - I 'd never seen them do this before .
I went back out into the pasture to see if I could find the sheep - I found 1kat Shetland ewe hidden under a broken tree branch in the yard and just about never got her out - she had blood on the back of her neck and was walking funny ( Like she was hurt - no clue what had happened ).
I walked farther into the front pasture and found my other 2 year old kat Shetland ewe dead lying next to an old tree stump. She had 1/2 inch cuts on either side of her neck but no other injuries I could see. Something had chased her to death.
Walking further towards the woods, at the edge of the woods/ pasture I found my border Leicester ewe down with part of her rump eaten away. I'm thinking a coyote got in. So, I slowly walked farther into the woods looking for the other 3 ewes when I came upon my moorit Shetland ewe. She was lying in the middle of the path dead with no visible injuries but her wool was soaking went ( whatever got into the pasture had run her to death and tried to bite her but all it got was a mouthful of wool because I hadn't sheared them yet ).
I continued to look in the pasture and didn't see any other sheep - still missing a yearling kat Shetland ewe and a 5 year old AG Shetland ewe. As I was coming up over the hill between the pastures it dawned on me that if I had come across whatever animal had killed my sheep, I was unarmed and had no phone with me - just had the 2 unhurt sheep glued to me. Not a good situation to be in. Needless to say, I made a fairly rapid return to the house.
Last night, 7/15, I talked to the guy who lives up the road and told him what happened and he and his brother ( who lives next door ) drove around my property on their 4-wheeler and checked everything out. He said they saw a foot print but, because it had rained yesterday morning it was too distorted to id the animal.
The ewe that was walking around hurt was worse and the flies had gotten to her on Monday before I could. I looked at her the best I could and saw something " dripping " from underneath her and she was in a lot of pain. I decided that if she lived thru another night and was still as she was I'd have a friend of mine come over with his gun and put her down.
Whatever had killed my sheep also came back laast night and ate more of the border Leicester ewe but didn't attack the injured ewe.
This afternoon, 7/16, my friend will be over and we will put the injured ewe down and use her carcuss as bait for the killer after " fixing it up " for it. Can't say what we're going to do because you aren't supposed to do anything to stop a wild animal from killing your livestock or so says the Indiana DNR - but they want you to let them know what you did with its body - now, if you can't/won't help me get rid of a preditor that's killing my animals, don't expect me to tell you what I did with the carcuss - it ain't gonna happen that way.
I have been asked, since this happened, if I want more sheep. I can't give an answer yet, it's too soon. I'll have to let everyone heal from this ordeal before I do anything.
Hopefully, we can find out what type of preditor it was and stop it.
Benita

A New Year … Better Late Than Never

2009-03-20T08:41:00.001-07:00

It's been a while since my last post. Travis came to live here and has been to a dog show ( and didn't embarrass himself ), Chloe and Stylle are doing fine and continually try to train Travis on how to be a " good boy " ( an all consuming effort ), and I'm back in school for the spring 09 quarter.
I have been told that I will graduate with my bachelor's in nursing in the fall of 2010 (which is around the Turkey day holiday) and think it will be time for a PARTY!!!!!! In a way, I want to go on and get a law degree but then I think I will have at least another 3 years in school and I'm not sure I want to spend THAT kind of money (grad school is very expensive – even more than undergrad) and I'm not getting any younger (I'm not sure I want to possibly graduate from law school when I'm 60 years old and then try to find a job to pay off my education). We'll just have to wait and see what time brings. * sigh *

I'm still knitting. The sweater/ cardigan I was knitting on last summer/fall was changed to a sweater (it didn't like right as a cardigan) and now has changed again. Who knows what it will be by the time I get through with it. I am also knitting a fisherman aran sweater from Alice Starmore's collection in pure cotton. The pattern calls for Rowan's cotton yarn and it (the pattern) is worked so that each piece is washed BEFORE sewing together (along with some yarn to sew with) so that it will shrink ON PURPOSE and then is sewn together. The yarn is a little hard on the hands but works up nicely. I had to tink back on it a couple of times – once because I screwed up one of the diamonds and then when I was almost ½ way through the back I looked at it from a distance (more than arm's length) and I didn't like the way the ribbing looked and tinked back and started all over again with a tighter rib and it looks much better. It's slow going because you have to pay attention to the pattern because it's easy to mess it up but it's worth it. I figure if I get it done by this fall (in between going to school and showing Travis) I will be doing well. And a big plus for this sweater – it's machine washable!!! I even started ordering more of the same yarn, in a different color, for my next sweater from the same book. This other color is a lightly faded blue that will fade even more as it's worn and washed – I'm excited to see how it does as opposed to the off white of the yarn I'm now using ( gees, it takes so little to excite me anymore ).

Well, better go for now. Travis and Chloe are together and quiet so it's hard telling what they're into.

2008-10-01T07:49:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone,

It's Chloe again and I'm here helping MOM write an entry.

We now have some pictures of Travis ( he held still for a nano second or 2 ) and MOM said I could share them.

Travis has been here with us since the last Friday in August when MOM brought him home from the dog show. Stylle and I were not expecting to have a new little brother ( even tho MOM said SHE wanted a new baby in the house ), so when he was brought in we were not happy. We didn't like his pulling of our ears, neck, tail or biting us. Stylle bit him several times and he FINALLY decided ( I think boy pups must be slow - it took Stylle about 3-4 days of doing serious biting ) to leave her alone.

But, lucky ( ? ) me, he plays with me all the time.

This is a picture of the little boy-pup wondering what MOM is up to. He can be cute when he wants something - like ALL of MOM's attention.

I think he should stop being cute and then MOM could play with all of us. But, NNNOOOOO - he wants ALL the attention. Stupid, boy-pup.

It looks like he has horns growing out the top of his head but MOM says it's just the way his hair is marked ( Personally, I KNOW those are horns.

He is soooo mean - he bites me all the time and gets in the way so I can't sit next to MOM and cuddle. )

Guess, I'll close for now as Travis is in here chewing on my feet and legs and with his baby teeth - IT HURTS!!!!!

`Bye for now,

Chloe.

2008-09-03T13:38:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm back again with some info about my baby brother.

If you go to www.ukcdogs.com and then click on the site ( on the right side of the page ) where it talks about the 2008 Autumn Oaks and then click on 2008 Autumn Oaks bench show candids, you'll come to a page of pictures. About 1/2 way down the page ( or for those of you who would rather count the pictures ) - if you count down 20 pictures you'll come to a pair of pictures.

One of the pictures ( on the left side of the page ) shows 2 women in the " Thompson Hillbilly " golf cart. Just opposite this picture is my MOM holding my brand new baby brother !!!!!!! Even tho it isn't a good picture of MOM, it shows my baby brother and just how cute he is. I'm hoping to find this picture of MOM and Travis in the October issue of Coonhound Bloodlines so I can post it here.

MOM and I were looking at the UKC website when we found the pictures. Well, I immediately told Stylle about it, but as usual she didn't want to see anything that has to do with Travis ( but she did look at MOM's picture ).

Well, I need to close because Vinnie, Maggie, Cather, and Rosie are loose in the backyard AGAIN - MOM had to put them up this morning and they're out again. Something tells me that they are in big trouble now.

I will be back soon with more pictures of Travis and the rest of us here at ValleView Farms and Duegar Kennels.

So `bye for now.

Chloe, Style, Travis, and MOM

2008-09-01T09:43:00.000-07:00

Hi Everyone!

I'm here to introduce all of you to the newest member of the Farm and Duegar Kennels.

I suppose I should give you a little background on Duegar Kennels before you meet the " new kid on the block ".

MOM started Duegar Kennels back in the late 70's or early 80's when SHE was raising dachshunds and doing color breeding with them ( whatever that is, SHE says I'm too young to know about that kind of stuff ).

Anyway ... She showed the dachshunds and did fairly well in that she put points on one of the first dappled ( you spotted Shetland breeders will read this as " spotted " ) dachshund in the midwest ( second only to her father - the first dapple dachshund champion in the country ). SHE also tried to breed for a chocolate dapple dachshund before going back to school to get a degree in nursing.

After school, SHE started breeding Labrador retrievers ( Stylle: yes, this is where I come in at. ).

And did some showing with Mama Dee ( she has a trophy form when she was in a show that she showed me one day ). Stylle : MOM also showed my mom but Jynxie didn't like the show ring so she came home and had me and Vinnie.

Now, SHE is returning to school to finish HER bachelors ( ??? ) degree and possibly a Masters (?) degree.

I came here 3 years ago after Thanksgiving and have been here since.

MOM says I am her girl-pup but can't be bred ( SHE said I had some type of thing done to my tummy so I can't have babies ). MOM says that I get to help HER with any new pups that come here AND that leads us to today.

MOM has been telling me that SHE wants to get me a new baby brother or sister but wasn't sure if SHE was going to do it now ( with school starting on Tuesday. I wonder what " school " is ? )

SHE came home last Friday from a big coonhound dog show ( that's what I am !!! ) with the most handsome boy I have ever seen !!!!!!!

He is a red-head ( like me ) and has lovely deep brown eyes and the prettiest ( can you say that about a boy ? ) red-ticked ( MOM says this is kinda like spots ) coat. His " registered " name ( MOM says this is just a fancy name on papers ) is Duegar's 4Evr N Evr Amen but I get to call him " Travis ".

MOM won't let me play too rough with him because Travis is just a baby ( he will be 8 weeks on tomorrow ) but we do get fairly roudy when MOM isn't looking. MOM said that when SHE was carrying him to the car to bring him home that Wayne Cavanaugh ( the president of the United Kennel Club ) stopped HER and took HER and Travis's picture for Coonhound Bloodlines magazine ( I must admit it is a nice magazine with pictures of all kinds of coonhounds - and now MY MOM and BABY BROTHER will have their pictures in it. WOW!!!!!! ). He must be some special kind of brother to have such an important man take his picture.

We haven't had any time to take any pictures of me and Stylle with Travis but MOM says we will soon.

Stylle : I wish MOM hadn't brought this thing home with her. He stinks and has VERY sharp teeth. I bit him about 3 times to make sure he knew NOT to bother me. Altho I do have to admit he does keep Chloe busy so she doesn't bother me much any more. So, I guess he can stay for a while as long as he understands that I am the boss around here.

Anyway, I really like Travis even if he does play with my toys. I hope he stays for a LLLLLOOOONNNGGGG time. ( even tho Stylle doesn't like him. She acted the same way when I came here to live wiith her and MOM ).

So, I'm going to go see if Travis is awake yet ( he takes a lot of naps - MOM says it's because he's a baby ) and ask MOM if we can go outside and play for a little bit.

I will be back real soon with pictures of MOM and me and Stylle and Travis. MOM said as long as I'm a good girl that I can come back and tell everyone bout Travis. It's so hard to be good but if it means I can use the computer WITHOUT getting in trouble I'll do it.

See everyone soon.

Chloe, big sister to Travis. And Stylle, too.

2008-07-31T11:52:00.000-07:00

The Tour de Fleece is over .....................................

It's been over for about a week now and, unfortunately, I wasn't able to do any more spinning than I did at the start. Thanks to a change in my work schedule, I wasn't able to finish anything ( it's hard to spin when you work 7 straight night shifts in a row, with 3 of them being 12 hours long and the rest being 8 hours ) it doesn't make for much time but sleep a few ( maybe 4-5 per day ) and work and somehow eat in between all this.

Chloe and Stylle were not at all impressed with this work schedule and they will like next weeks even less. As of Monday 8/4 I will be working 8 days in a row. I normally don't do things like this but I'm transitioning from a 13 week contract to per diem until another contract becomes available. That is, if I live thru this. * sigh *

I finally got my sheep shears from Premier One and they look HUGE. I haven't tried them yet, but I will, probably after Labor Day when I'll have some time ( I'm taking a well earned vacation during the week of the big coonhound show on Labor Day weekend ). I don't have a dog in it,but I'm going to be looking for a new puppy so Chloe can be a " big sister ". If I find the pup I want, I'll be bringing her home with me ( yes, I said " her " because I want a little girl-pup to go with my big Girl-Pup ). Stylle was heard the other day to be muttering something about another one of those damned loud-mouthed coonhounds coming to live in her house - I don't think she's too happy with the prospect of having another pup around since Chloe will be 3 in Oct. Poor Stylle, I guess I just upset her apple cart.

Well, as usual, Chloe is quiet and that ain't good so I'd better see what she's into.

Come back and see the new baby ( hopefully ) after Labor Day.

2008-07-10T06:00:00.000-07:00

Fuzzy Fuzzy Fuzzy

Sorry for the fuzziness of the picture but the camera is having a " bad hair day ".

This is the first part of the first single of Baron's roving that I've spun for the Tour De Fleece. It's a little finer than I wanted so I'll have to spin the other singles a bit thicker to make it the weight I want. It did spin up easily, I just didn't have much time to work on it and haven't done anything since Monday because of work ( I keep trying to convince the dogs and the sheep that if they wouldn't eat then I could stay home with them and get more done. For some reason they don't like that idea. Silly animals. )

I have been knitting with this yarn for about 10 days and I love it. It's Noro Taiyo yarn and it's made up of 40% cotton, 30% silk, 15 % wool and 15 % nylon. It has a nice soft handle and stripes it self into some of the prettiest fabric I've ever worked with. I was going to make a sweater of my own design but decided 1/2 way thru the back that I wanted it made into a cardigan. So, I will continue to knit it as if it were a sweater but when I'm finished I will cut the front ( I plan on putting steeks in the front ) and knitting on button bands. I think I will get more use out of it as a cardigan than a sweater.

This is what the yarn looks like knit up so far. The colors from my camera don't show up as pretty as in person. The fabric has a lot of green in it but it also has some very pretty blues, peachy oranges, purples ( from a lilac/lavender to a rich deep royal purple ) and blacks. It's interesting to see the progression of the colors within the stripes because almost all of the colors found in the yarn are seen in the stripes as they're knit. It's a very entertaining yarn. I normally only wear striped socks but with this yarn I'll make an exception ( besides I figure if others don't like it , then they don't have to look. ).

More later.

2008-07-07T07:15:00.000-07:00

Le Tour De Fleece

Here is the roving I plan to spin into a 3-ply worsted weight yarn for my cardigan. It's from my favorite wether, Baron, who I lost 1 year ago this past March.

Baron was one of the few Perendales in the States. He started out as a very dark chocolate moorit when I got him. After his 1st shearing with me, his fleece started to lighten with the increase in grey fibers. He continued to lighten til his death, when he was the color of coffee with a lit of cream in it . His fleece has always had a very soft handle and is springy when spun into yarn. I have spun some of his darker fleece into yarn that will go to make an aran sweater.

This is the cardigan I plan on making out of Baron's wool that I will be spinning in the Tour De Fleece. It's called Oblique and calls for 19 balls of yarn that have 72 yds/ 40 gm ball ( which figures out to 1368 yds needed - I like my cardigans to be big enough that I can wear another sweater beneath it ). I'm gonna try my best to get at least a good bit of it done during these next 3 weeks and I will be posting daily, or as close to daily as my job and sleep schedule will allow, so you can see how things are coming along.

Well, it's time to get off the computer, dust off the wheel and get started on this yarn. Will post more soon. Good luck to all who participate.

2008-07-06T08:09:00.000-07:00

Well, I just signed up for Le Tour De Fleece 2008.!!!

I will be spinning Baron's tweedy roving into a 3-ply worsted weight yarn so I can make the oblique cardigan this fall/winter ( it's just a tad too hot to really work with wool yarn right now - it's supposed to get up to the mid to upper 90's today ). I like the way his wool looks after it was turned into roving - it should work well in oblique.

Have just about enough energy left ( after working a 12-hour boring night shift ) to finish this post and crawl into bed.

Will post more later ... stay tuned for pix of the roving ( if I can get thsat *&^%$# digital camera to work, that is).

2008-06-06T09:32:00.000-07:00

Ducks .... Ducks .... Ducks .... And rain

Now, I don't know about anyone else, but I'm getting pretty tired of Mother Nature having these temper tantrums of late.

Now, I'll concede that she can have a few thunderstorms if she wants ( it makes for good sleep ) BUT I must draw the line with all these tornadoes/ straight line winds crap!!!

In the 12 years I've lived here on the farm NEVER have we had not even 1 tornado warning. Oh, we do get the occassional severe thunderstorm watch/ warning or maybe, just maybe the rare tornado watch but to have a real live-honest-to-God tornado warning (and not just one but THREE ) this is a bit too much. And to beat it all, ..... there WAS a tornado in the neighborhood of the farm.

Now, I don't have any idea just who pissed Mother Nature off but I suggest that that person do whatever it takes to get her back in a good mood and stop this foolishness. It's getting embarrassing.

Back to the ducks. Chloe loves ducks and since the real ones went to that great duck pond in the sky a few months back, Girl-Pup has been checking out their pen on a daily basis to see if they've returned yet. No, this ain't a pretty picture.

So, whenever I hike thru Wal-Mart, I have been buying her some of the squeaky rubber duckies they have for little kids to play with in the bathtub .... and let me tell you that Girl-Pup is beside herself. I think at last count she had somewhere are 10 of these things (if not more ). She wants to take pictures of them and write a post about them and I told her she could but that I was going to take the pictures ( I don't relish the thought of cleaning out coonhound slobber from my camrea - yeah, I know spoil sport ). So stay tuned for the " ducks on parade " ( Chloe's idea, not mine ).

2008-05-10T06:47:00.000-07:00

What No Rain ? .......

It's quit raining for the time being but the weather people looked at their tea leaves and said it's gonna rain again tomorrow - to be honest, I'd rather have this rain than the drought we had last year - at least, my pasture is now green with grass instead of the mossy stuff that was there last year.

Speaking of the sheep, they seem to be doing ok. I've been feeding them some alfalfa hay cubes in the morning for breakfast then turning them out into the pasture for the day ( they usually spend the night in the backyard ), and call them back for supper after 6pm for some more alfalfa cubes and pelleted grain mix. They are starting to put on more weight and look 100% better than they did earlier.

I finally got Alyse rooed. I have NEVER had a ewe as filthy as she was. She had soft stool mixed into her britch that was absolutely nasty. It took about 2 hours to get her cleaned up even with some of her wool starting to roo on its own ( of course the little growth - aka Sonni, the lamb - helped roo some of her wool by climbing on her back ). Her wool ( of course, it was her lambswool ) was full of thistle stickers,vm and tons of stuff I don't even want to think about, so it was thrown out. Her new wool shows some spotting over her sides and a nice dorsal stripe. Now, all I have to do is roo Wenny, Lacie, Maddie, Glorie, and shear Linda and TJ and I'll be done for this year. Think I'll invest in a shearing machine for next year instead of doing it by hand - I might be able to have everyone sheared before Thanksgiving that way !!!

The lamb has a name. She will be known as ValleView Sonzarai. I worked with a nurse who was named " Sonzaray " and thought it a beautiful name. Sonni is growing like a weed and as happy as a clam with her " mom's " attention. I think she might be just a little bit spoiled.

The pastures are coming along fine. I actually have enough grass in them to cover the sheep's hooves - not everyplace in the pastures but in most, so the stress is of them and hopefully, they will recover without too much difficulty. Will be keeping the sheep in the backyard and catch pen this fall/winter and do some fertilizing and reseeding of the pastures so they will be better next spring. No lambs next year but maybe the year after, I'll rent a ram for a season and see what happens. Who knows.

Well, Chloe is too quiet so I need to see what she's into. Still can't trust her completely.

2008-05-01T07:55:00.000-07:00

I guess the weekend decided NOT to end ......

When I went out to close the pasture gate on Monday, I found that I was 1 duck short. Some critter had gotten into the kennel over the night and taken one of my duck hens ( and they were just getting started in laying eggs well ). No footprints were found ( it's kinda hard to see a foot print in straw ). So I fussed and fumed until it was time to go to work.

I had told the boy I buy hay from that if he could use a used 75 foot garden hose, it was his and I told him where he'd find it. At this time, I had 2 drakes and 5 hens. He said that all the ducks were there when he came to get the hose.

When I got home around 2 am on Tuesday, I still had the 7 ducks. They were a little flighty, but they would do that if I left them out in the catch pen and not put them in their kennel. So I went to bed.

When I finally got up around 7:30 on Tuesday morning ( I had to have a ppd placed for work was the only reason I was up then ), I went out to close the pasture gate and found 7 dead ducks in the catch pen !!!

They were scattered around the pen as if they had died where they had been runnig to get away from whatever was after them. To look at the ducks, only 1 had visible signs of blood on her until you walked up to the hen at the gate to the front yard - her head had been eaten off !!!!

I had had these ducks for 3 years ( they were 6 months older than Chloe ) and I was very upset.

I talked to the boy I get my hay from and told him how it looked and he said it sounded like a raccoon had gotten in the pen and killed all the ducks but couldn't get them out. I was so upset all I could think of was to find that beast and do to it what it had done to my ducks - I didn't care if it lived or not. I WANTED IT DEAD!!!

I have calmed down since then and will be getting more ducks and some geese later this spring and have been told how to make sure this doesn't happen again. So ...

This is a WARNING to all the foxes and raccoons around here :

NO MORE FREE MEALS FROM MY ANIMALS ALLOWED. ANY ANIMAL FOUND TO BE HARMING THE DUCKS/GEESE WILL BE DEALT WITH SWIFTLY AND FINALLY. NO EXCEPTIONS MADE.

Now, let the bastards come around and try for a free meal - they won't like what their next meal will be.

2008-04-27T13:06:00.000-07:00

It's not been a good week around here and only got worse.

I have been at orientation for a " last ditch " psychiatric hospital ( the hospital is state run and takes in patients that have been deem incompetent to stand trial, are child molesters,rapests, and patients that have such chronic psychiatric disorders that they have been shipped there as a last resort ) and have been taught how to " take down " a patient that is totally out of control.

Things were going fine until we did the hands-on take downs with the instructors and, lucky me, I got one who said ( out of one side of her mouth ) " we are not trying to hurt you " but, would laugh and smile like a fiend when someone got hurt because of how " rough " she was acting . Now, I'm not afraid of patients and am not afraid of being hurt in the line of protecting the safety of one of my patients, BUT I do draw the line when someone who is supposedly teaching me a way to remain safe and not injure a patient deliberately goes out of her way to cause injury to us and thinks it's funny !!!

I felt a pop in my left instep ( which was ignored when I said so ) and way thrown into a solid cement block wall because this chick wanted to show us ( we were in groups of three ) what a patient can do to you. And, if that don't beat all, because of her actions every instructor was concerned about her getting the wind knocked out of her at the same time I hit the floor with my bad knee and couldn't get up!! Thank goodness, she works days and I will be working evenings/nights.

AND as if that wasn't enough to frost you're cookies, I get home on Thursday and was met by my a#^h*le neighbor stating if I don't do something with my sheep he's going to shoot them.

Now, my babies are between 3 months and 4 weeks of age and I was getting ready to place ads on one of the Shetland lists I'm on but because of this threat I had to call a friend of mine and ask him if he could help me catch the sheep on Friday so I could send them to market on Saturday. We caught eveyone of the little buggers - which if you've ever tried to catch a wild slippery youngster who doesnot want to be caught you know what I mean.

Saturday morning, I got up and caught the sheep I was going to keep ( my 2 border Leicesters, 3 adult Shetland ewes, 2 yearling Shetland ewes and the baby of one of the yearlings. ) Total sheep kept = 8. Total sent to market = 19 babies and 19 adults.

Needless to say, yesterday wasn't a good day. The 3 adult ewes spent the entire day calling for their babies and running all over the pastures looking for them. It was heart breaking. One of the ewes had horns and it broke off in my hand as I caught her and before I could get a halter on her - so she won't have anything to do with me ( can't say I blame her ).

Today, the ewes aren't calling as much but everytime I walk out the back door, they want me to come to the gate and let them in the backyard. The lone baby is now spoiled because when she cries for her mom she has 3 other ewes answer her and come to her to see what she needs.

I can only hope that my sheep and their babies went to good homes - the man that took them to market for me ( I couldn't go - it was all I could do not to cry as I sent them off ) that the babies will probably sell for more than the others because they are little and can be made into pets easier than the adults.

At least now, I hope , they will go to people who can give them all they need. After last year's drought and even though we did have a lot of rain this spring, my pastures are just about shot to pieces. I hope that with just 8 sheep, the pastures will have time to re-coop and do better. But , it still was very hard to get rid of my old girls and some of my favorites and only keep the ones I did. Truth be known, I cried along with the ewes - it was heart-breaking.

Hopefully, tomorrow will be better.

2008-03-19T07:37:00.000-07:00

Weather forecast ...

Rain...rain...rain...rain...rain...rain...rain.....OMG, I think the Ark is up and running !!!

I am tired of the rain, the sheep are tired of the rain, the dogs in the kennel are tired of the rain, and the house girls are tired of the rain.

Now, I know we need rain to help the spring flowers/bulbs/trees grow and it will/would be nice to get some rain this summer so the hay/feed grains/other veggies can grow ...BUT ... do we have to get All Of The Summers Rain In One DAY ?????

I hope to shear everyone the end of the month and as wet as they are now, if it stopped raining right this minute and didn't rain until after April 1st, I might, just might have the sheep dried out enough to shear ( but I sure wouldn't hold my breath on it then ).

On another side of farm life, Candi ( ValleView Candida = Underhill Ferguson x Shandrew Pekin ) had her baby this morning during the deluge. It's ( I haven't ventured out of the house to check the new baby's sex yet ) black with sugar lips and the appearence of light rings around the eyes. I'd bet dollars to doughnuts this little one is gonna be a grey kat mollet like its mom and granddad. I just hope its a girl ( so far the boys are winning ).

I still have over 15 girls to deliver and I'm crossing my fingers that I will get at least 1 baby with spots ( Dani was the only spotted baby from last year ).

Well, it's time to put on the hip waders and swim out to the car and get to town for my allergy prescription - it's soooo wonderful to have hay fever that lasts 24/7/365. I wouldn't know how to handle being able to breathe without taking meds ( but I'd love to try ). Yeah, it's one of my delusional days. * sigh *

2008-03-18T09:37:00.000-07:00

Was walking thru the bedroom this past weekend and, of course, Chloe was present to help me ( I might get lost making my way from the sofa to the bathroom and back again - me thinks the Girl-Pup thinks MOM is loosing it ?!! )

Anywho, she was out of sight for a couple of seconds ( and without Stylle around to help keep tract of her - THIS can be a dangerous situation, as she is in the middle of THE TERRIBLE TWOS - and yes, they are as bad with her as with any human child I've ever seen - it just ain't pretty ), and knowing Chloe as I do I called her name.

Well, she popped around the corner of the bed and made a single bark as if to say " WHAT ?!!! " ( in a very exassperated tone like MOM I AM RIGHT HERE - WHAT DO YOU WANT - not the best tone to be speaking to you mother with unless you have an overwhelming desire to get the crap slapped straight out of you !!! ) and just looked at me. I just looked at her and thought " well, it was easy to figure out what she was saying ".

Right now, Chloe is glaring out the front window at a pair of squirrels digging for walnuts. This is not tolerated in HER front yard !!!!- she barks at the squirrels and then runs up to me " telling " me about these horrible creatures in her front yard and then will run back and forth between the window and me barking until I get up and confirm that , yes there are squirrels out front, at which time she lays down in front of the window and fusses at them under her breath.

Sometimes, it's amazing what kids ( human or canine ) will say.

2008-03-12T06:41:00.000-07:00

Want to have a little laugh ???

I found this website in my email box this morning and took the test offered. It was hilarious.
Give it a try ...

www.dogster.com/quizzes.

2008-03-10T07:56:00.000-07:00

Still no pics - if this computer and camera don't make nice soon ...

Saturday, in the middle of a major snow storm, Pekin ( one of my original Shetland ewes ) decided it was time to have her babies. Great timing Peke !!!

She had a black ewe lamb that didn't make it ( and it wasn't because Peke isn't a good mom - you actually couldn't ask for a better mom than Pekin )- I found her under an old downed tree limb cold and stiff with quite a bit of a mucousy discharge from her nose and a very nice dark grey/almost black katmoget ram lamb. This little guy is soooo full of himself he " prances " instead of walks. And if being the color he is isn't enough, he has a black spot over his left hip - cool dude.

Desparately need to get this computer/camera situation fixed BEFORE the rest of the lambs are born ( and before I throw the combo out the window !!! )

Started spinning the dyed roving from the other day and ended up making groups of 3 sets of roving ( bright, medium,and light ) and spinning them together into a nice balanced 3-ply yarn. Had to dye 2 more 50-gram balls of roving to make an even 4 groups but that's ok - my hands were just starting to get back to their natural color and now they are red/orange/yellow again. But what's the fun in dyeing if you can't dye yourself in the process ???

Better go have ANOTHER discussion with the computer and camera and see if we can't get this problem fixed ( the threat of being bodily thrown from the nice warm house might be enough incentive to get things fixed ). Hopefully, will have some pics soon.

2008-03-07T08:27:00.000-08:00

I had some pictures of the winter storm warning ( aka snow storm ) going on outside the back door but my computer and the camera decided they didn't want to play nice together, so no pictures today.

It started snowing ( that real fine stuff ) at about 815 this am and now ( it's 1129 am 3/7/08 ) the snow is coming down faster out of the north with a wind that bites to the bone.

I went out to let the kennel dogs out to run ( before I froze ) and have about 1.5 - 2 inches of snow now. The labs loved it - to the point it was hard to get Vinnie back into the kennel ( actually, he thinks that when he's allowed out , he's to stay out as long as he wants - WRONG ) but Maggie came bouncing in with out any problem.

After I came back in the house, Chloe ( aka Girl-Pup ) was pleading to go outside and she won. I couldn't get her to hold still long enough to put her sweater on, so she was out for about 20 minutes running as fast as she could. She visited the kennel dogs and the sheep ( unfriendly, tho they were ) and found all kinds of sticks to carry around. It's amazing how much she loves the snow - she runs around like a 6-month-old puppy in the snow. After bringing her back inside and taking her collar off ( she isn't allowed outside without it being on - gotta have some way of keeping track of her ), she got a drink of water and piled up on the sofa next to Stylle and now, both of them are sound asleep.

Had a job interview yesterday with a local hospital for a weekend option position in the ICU and they called this morning asking if I could come in next Tues for a second interview. Hopefully, I will know in a few days if I got the job. I'm keeping my fingers crossed.

I plan on baking some bread this afternoon. My favorite recipe is for " oatmeal toasting and sandwich bread " from the back of the King Arthur's bread flour bag. It's a strong bread, in that it will hold up to any type of food you want to put on it ( and NOT collapse like the store bought bread does ). You can't taste the oatmeal ( for those who don't like oatmeal ) but it's a nice substantial bread and I usually make 1 loaf a week. BUT today, instead of letting it bake in the bread machine ( I have carpal tunnel bad enough, that if I knead the dough, my hands fall asleep for the biggest part of the day. And I love to knead dough. ). I'm gonna bake it in the oven.
The girls love this bread,too, and will walk into the kitchen with their noses up in the air smelling it and when I cut into it, they are at my elbows hoping I drop the whole loaf for them to inhale ( like THAT'S gonna happen - I'd fight them tooth and nail for this bread !!! ).

Since I'm home for the rest of the weekend ( I went to the grocery store and the feed store yesterday ) I might try some new recipes. Will see if i can get the camera and compouter play nice so I can put up some pictures of what I do.

Better go so I can get all this done. Just thinking about makuing bread is making me HUNGRY!!!

2008-03-03T13:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it's official ( as of 2/24/08 ) - lambing season has started here. Linda, my black border Leicester ewe delivered a pair of twins - a white boy and a nice little feminine black ewe before I got home from work last Monday. Both babies were up and eating. I put everyone in the pasture and when I let them out to feed them ( they can't be in the backyard during the day because Girl-Pup has to go hunting for whatever ) , both babies were ok. After about 45 minutes in the catch pen for their night meal ( and me getting ready to go to work ), the white ram lamb was gone. Dissappeared. Vanished. Linda never cried for him or anything. Makes me think there was something wrong with him and probably a possum or raccoon got him.

Went to my favorite lys on Sat because she was having a sale on everything and I made out well. I spent $48.00 that normally would have run me $68.00 - not too bad for 10 skeins of yarn.

Decided that, since I lost my job last Fri ( don't ask - it ain't worth it ), that with my tax return I'd start selling hand-dyed/hand-spun Shetland yarns and rovings on Etsy. So now, I have 10 50 gram balls of white Shetland roving sitting on the island in the kitchen waiting to be dyed and spun and, possibly, knit into something. I have a ton ( ok, 20 lbs ) of white Shetland roving waiting to be made into beautiful wildly-colored roving and yarn - what fun!!! Y'all will have to stop by and check out the store when I get it up and running ( hopefully, within the next 4-6 weeks ). I'm really excited to be able to do this now because I've always wanted to have my own little wool business at home since I've had the sheep and now, I am in a position to do it ( and, yes, I am looking for another job to help pay the bills until things get going on Esty).

I have been out checking the ewes to see how things are going and one of my favorite ewes looks to be as big as a barn and ( for the 1st time ) I was able to see her baby lamb move ( and no, she is still in full fleece )!!! Lacie looks so uncomfortable right now and she still has about 2 1/2 weeks to go before her due date - I'm not real sure she's gonna last that long, her belly is almost touching the ground now.

Well, I hear Girl-Pup up and moving around -she and Stylle were stretched out on the couch a few minutes ago snoring ( they have such a rough life ) and since she's still considered a pup ( even at 2 years 5 months ) I don't trust her when she's up and out of my sight AND quiet - it's hard telling WHAT she's into. Better go and check things out.

2008-02-13T16:30:00.000-08:00

Chloe's Health Condition Update .......

Hi Everyone !

MOM said that I could blog you all about how Chloe is.

As of Saturday 2/9/08, Chloe's tail problem is all gone. She is able to wag her tail without any problem.

The problem with her now is that she's driving me and MOM crazy because when she was having some discomfort with her tail she got cuddled and pampered. Well,now that her tail is fine, she thinks she should still get all the attention ... to the point she climbed right up in MOM'S face and barked that she needed some attention ( how she lived thru THAT I don't know ). Now, Chloe is back to being a PIA - which is her usual state of affairs.

MOM says SHE'S tired of all this cold weather and is ready for it to get warmer. I saw HER knitting a real pretty lavender sweater after finishing a bright green one - SHE said it was helping HER get thru all this cold. ( All I know is I get to lie down next to HER and talk to HER when SHE knits and that's good - even if Chloe does pitch a fit about it ).

Well, I'd better go - I hear a food bag being rattled and I need to check it out.

Til later,

Stylle.

2008-02-07T20:11:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

Well, I have a problem that MOM says will get better in a couple of days,but I don't know.

My tail feels funny ... it kinda hurts and it kinda feels like it's not there ( even I know it's there ).

I told MOM , after dinner, that my tail didn't feel right and SHE said I had something called " cold tail " and that hunting dogs get this problem at times and is nothing to worry about and goes away but aspirin ( whatever that is ) will make it feel better in a couple of days.

I have a hard time sitting down - it's hard to sit when you don't know where your tail is. This morning it had it's usual curl in it and would wiggle when I was happy, but now all it does is hang off the back of my butt. I can't even wiggle it - it's JUST THERE !!!!!

MOM said that the medicine SHE put in the bread SHE gave me around 8pm will make my tail feel better but, so far, all it's done is make me sleepy. I was lying down next to MOM and SHE was rubbing my tummy and scratching my ribs and telling me that Uncle Catcher had this same problem when he was younger and SHE did the same thing for him and he was OK. SHE also said I should talk to him about it. I think I'll do that tomorrow * yawn * after I get up.

I think I'm going to S T R E T C H out on the sofa next to MOM and take a nap ...I'm soooo sleepy.

Will let you know who my tail gets along. ( I heard Stylle laughing earlier when MOM was telling her what was wrong. Just because she hasn't had this problem with her " otter tail " doesn't mean it ain't real. Just wait til I get better ..... )

* yawn * 'bye for now,

Chloe

2008-01-29T07:14:00.000-08:00

And we have a clean fleece

I got 1/2 of Lacie's fleece washed and now it's on the island drying - it looks so nice and white ( alright, there are some grey areas because she had grey spots as a baby ). Now, to do the other 1/2.

I've decided to dye 1/2 of the fleece navy and take the other 1/2 and divide it into fourths and dye each 1/4 one of the following colors : 1 will be red; the next will be green; the next will be bright yellow, and the last will be turquoise. When I get everything dyed and carded, I plan on spinning the navy as a solid single and spin the other 4 colors as I pull them out of the basket into a single and then ply it with the navy single and see what I get. I figure either 1) I'll like it and repeat it, or 2) I'll hate it and do something else. It's a 50-50 chance.

Better go see if I can find another sweater drying rack so I can start on the other 1/2 of the fleece.

2008-01-28T08:23:00.000-08:00

Today's agenda is ....

Since I have running water again ( it froze last Thursday, and I thought the well was dry by the way it was acting so I had 1100 gal of water delivered on Sat only to find that the well was 3/4 full - go figure ), I thought I'd wash the few dishes I have and then wash Lacie's fleece that I skirted almost 2 weeks ago.My how time flies when you want to do something but are blocked.
I figure, I'll wash this fleece and let it dry on the kitchen island ( with the stern admonishments to Chloe AGAIN ) so that I can dye it later this week. Not sure what colors I'm going to use yet ... probably a red, green, blue, and orange combo and card it with the white to make a type of heathered yarn, but we'll see, things can change between now and then.

I have an interview at the hospital I want to work at on Wed at 1230pm - I'm sooo happy I can hardly stand it. Mainly, because one of my favorite docs works there and I miss working with him - hopefully, I will get the job, so I must calm down before the interview.

The temp is finally above freezing today for the 2nd day in a row. Yesterday, it was in the fortys and the water pipes thawed out by 5pm and water was running, without the rust, by 6pm ( takes a little time to clear out the lines. ). Oh Happy Day - we have running water again !!!! Will make sure to get the dishes and the laundry done before it freezes again - the weatherman ( ? ) is calling for low 30's for next weekend. Well, as the saying goes - if you don't like the weather, wait a few minutes and it will change ( but to tell the truth, I have just about had it with this cold frigid stuff this year - and I like cold, but frigid is above and beyond cold. ).

I found a lovely little yarn shop last Fri and will definitely be going back there. It's run by a young lady and her mom comes with her to care for her 10 month old baby. She has some beautiful yarns - I just touched, rubbed, cuddled, and slobbered myself into oblivion while I was there. I could have died happy. Oh, and of course, I came back with some wonderful yarns and will be going back to buy more. * sigh *

Guess, I'd better go see what Chloe is doing - she's tooooo quiet - don't trust an active rambunctious 2-yr-old pup when she's quiet.

2008-01-24T13:26:00.000-08:00

Canine cooking .....

Because it's so blasted cold ( it was 13 when I was reluctantly forced out of my nice warm bed this morning and the temp continues to go down ) and the weather people are calling for STILL air temps of 0 and wind chills of -3 to -10 overnight, I thought I'd be the nice lab mom and cook some dog chow for my beasties. YUMMMMM. I fill an old dutch oven with dog chow and cover it ( well, almost is more correct ) with water and then put it on the burner on low and " it's soup " in about 35-40 minutes. Everytime I get up to stir it, my resident taste-testers are waiting with ribbons of slobber hanging from the corners of their mouths.
So, the teaste-testers ( aka, Chloe and Stylle ) have to sample every batch I make to make sure it's good enough for the kennel dogs and the ducks to eat. You should see the ducks - the minute I get near their pen, they start squaking and yelling so that by the time I try to open the gate I have to push them away. Then it's a free-for-all to get to their feed pan and dump the still warm dog food in it and run or you lose a hand - to say the ducks like the hot/warm dog food would be an understatement. The first time I gave it to them late last fall, they just looked at the food in their pan, looked at me, and then one hen became brave enough to try it, and since she didn't drop over dead ( the ducks greatest fear, next to having Vinnie catch them out of their pen when he's out ) they dove into the pan and haven't looked back since.
So, I need to carry this mixture out and feed the dogs and ducks and give the sheep their hay and sweet feed mix so I can wrap up in a couple of quilts with a couple of dogs and knit and not freeze to death tonight.
Hopefully, it will get a little warmer tomorrow ... who knows what Mother Nature has up her sleeve .....

2008-01-22T15:08:00.000-08:00

HOT RUNNING WATER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! AND THE TOILET FLUSHES, TOO!!!!!!!!!

When I got up this morning, the hot water in the bathroom and kitchen was still frozen even tho the cold water was running. AND, if that isn't enough - the water line to the toilet is still frozen!!! Oh, the toilet can be flushed only if you pour 2 gallons of water into the tank, it's such a pain in the backside to do so but a necessity.

Well, after filling out what seemed to be a bazillion applications ( I'm looking for a new job - yes, I do get delusional at times ), I thought " let's see if the hot water is still frozen ". At about 1230 pm today, I had HOT RUNNING WATER AND THE TOILET FLUSHES !!!!!
Yes, it does take sooo little to make me happy.
I was so thrilled to have hot water that I did the dishes and flushed the toilet about 3 times to make sure I wasn't dreaming - and it all still works. Maybe, I can wash the fleece I skirted over the past weekend. I can dream of clean sweet smelling fleece drying on the island in the kitchen ( with Chloe being threatened with bodily harm if she touches it. Girl-pup loves to stand on tippy-toe and smell the fleece and has been caught with her tongue out trying to lick the fleece, hoping that some of it will fall on the floor so she can grab it and make a mad dash with it before I catch her. Fun and games in the kitchen ).
It is so nice to have the dishes done - the kitchen looks so much better than it did this morning.
Now, to go fix dinner and make some dirty dishes so I can wash them again. * sigh *

2008-01-20T06:33:00.000-08:00

No new pix today ... IT'S TOOOO COLD!!!!!

The temp, when I let the girls out, was about 3-4 degrees ABOVE zero with a mild wind - so there's no telling exactly how cold it is. All I know is that I have cold running water in the house ( if I need hot water I can always heat it up ) and everyone outside is ok. The kennel dogs were barking as I walked out the back door and the sheep were upset because I ran ( read, grudgingly walked ) them out to the pasture so Chloe and Stylle could go out and see what the sheep left them.

I will never understand why they would rather eat frozen woolie poopsicles instead of dog food. It has to be a dog thing - I just look the other way when they do this and, should someone start coughing, I tell them I am not going down their throats to get out what might be there ( considering WHAT they have just put in there ).

Yesterday,I thought I'd clean a fleece and wash it today so I could dye it later this week. I had intended to clean TJ's fleece but couldn't find one so, I skirted one of Lacie's and divide it into 2 bags, weigh it, wash it, and dye one bag and spin and ply them together and put it on etsy for sale. But since the temp is down ( it's a bit cool in the house ) so I think I can wait until the hot water line is thawed out and make it easier on me. I do have her fleece skirted and divided into 2 bags and weighed ( 1 bag is 14 oz, and the other is 16 oz ), now all I have to do is decide what colors ( yes, I plan on making the yarn a combination of a multi-colored single plied with a white or other solid colored single ) and spin it into a light dk weight yarn. I'm not sure if the solid single will be white, black, brown or some other color - I'll have to see what mood I'm in at that time. It should be an interesting yarn anyway you look at it.

I did finish my purple cap just in time to wear it this weekend in this cold " snap ". It keeps my head nice and warm - now to finish the scarf to go with it.

Well, back to my knitting needles and the green sweater I need to finish - I need to finish the sleeves and do the button bands and sew it together and block it and it will be done. I like this sweater more and more as I knit it - it was supposed to have a lace bodice but I decided to make it plain and , if I do it again, I will make the bodice out of a lace pattern. Like I said, I do like this pattern and the yarn I'm knitting it in is ok ( it's Knit Pics Palete in 100% Peruvian wool in grass ) but I think I'll make it in some other yarn because, even though this is a nice 2 ply yarn, it splits more than I like and tries to untwist with each stitch ( it has become rather tedious making sure it doesn't untwist completely as I knit with it ).Oh well.

Back to the needles - HEY, there's a football game on this afternoon - the best time to knit!!!

2008-01-09T09:26:00.000-08:00

Hi Everyone,

MOM is in the other room so I decided to blog a little bit.

I was reading another blog ( Pink Lemon Twist ) with MOM about a really cute boy who was talking about how much he loves raw fleeces. I wrote to him about what it's like living with sheep. Hope he can talk his mom into getting him some sheep.

ANYWHO...

MOM is going thru HER picture books about knitting and I have been helping her. As SHE puts the book ( the real thin kind SHE brings home from the store that has all the food in it ),I move it over to my side of the sofa and look at the pix hoping that MOM will make me another sweater like the one I have on. SHE does such a good job but SHE won't teach me how to knit ... something about not being allowed to chew on the wooden knitting needles ( but it's soooo much fun ).

MOM said that we were going to fix the fence but because it rained so much last night and the spot that needs to be fixed is standing in water, we can't do it. MOM said we'd do it tomorrow and then SHE said I could go out and play and SHE wouldn't have to stand outside and watch me ( I hate it when SHE does that because I can't dig or carry or smell all the good stuff outside ). I hope we can get the fence fixed.

Well, better go for now, I hear MOM coming down the hall ( and SHE doesn't like me to use the computer - I apologized tons after that problem when the computer stopped working after I blogged last spring. I wish SHE would just forget it. Ain't gonna happen in the near future. ).

So, until later,

Chloe.

2008-01-07T11:12:00.000-08:00

I decided the other day, while I was watching a soap, that I needed a new wool hat to wear, and since I have been working on a scarf made out of superwash merino/alpaca and nylon in purple that the hat needed to be purple ( makes sense to me ). The camera thought it was blue but it's purple Perendale that I bought at Paradise Fibers before Christmas. It isn't superwash so I have to remember NOT to put it in the washing machine ( been there, done that ) to clean it. It's made in New Zealand out of 8-ply Perendale and is DK weight and soft and a joy to work with - no splits here. ( Don't know why the pix is fuzzy, must have been one of those days ).

I looked all over the internet to find some Perendale yarn after losing Baron this spring, and I found some at a farm in California and at Paradise Fibers. I bought some from both places and was not impressed with the white Perendale yarn I got from Calif. - it was scratchy and full of VM ( not like Baron's wool that I have spun already - his wool is soft and springy ). The wool I 'm using for the hat reminds me of Baron's wool - it's also soft and springy. Will definitely be getting more Perendale wool yarn in the future from Paradise Fibers.

Well, need to get off the computer because Chloe thinks it's time to go out and play in the mud - the snow we got the other day is completely gone and left mud in it's wake.

2008-01-07T10:57:00.000-08:00

Back again with more snow pix.

Here, we see Girl-Pup ( a.k.a. Chloe ) stopping and watching what Stylle is doing in the snow. Notice ALL the big foot prints this girl put over the backyard - she sure had a lot of fun running around full tilt in the snow while I froze taking the pix and laughing at her. Talk about a clown!!!

Here are Chloe and Stylle sniffing around in the snow - must have been some big bad animal out there earlier ( or it's that #$%^&* neighbor's cat who has torn the insulation off the furnace ducts so it can lie there and stay warm. Not to mention causing Chloe tons of grief that she " shares " with me at the top of her lungs ). Must be hard to sniff the snow and not get it up your nose.

Here is my beautiful girl - Duegar's Just My Stylle. She loves to have her picture taken - she's such a ham. And as you can see, Stylle hasn't missed too many meals ( but don't ask her that because she thinks that if the gravity-fed feeder in the kitchen isn't full to the top, she has nothing to eat and will tell you so in no uncertain terms. But, that's my girl!!!

2008-01-04T06:54:00.000-08:00

This is how it looks as you gaze down toward the woods - the snow is about 1.5 inches deep here and if you look real hard you can see the prints of tiny hooves in the snow. No, Virginia, it ain't Santa's reindeer ( altho I'd really really like to have a pet reindeer ) it's the toe prints of the woolies. They think that if they stomp all over this cold stuff the grass will miraculously re-appear. Silly sheep.

And this is the view looking towards the creek alongside the road near the front of the place. No toe prints here.

Now, here we find some HUGE footprints ALL OVER the smooth white snow. What could have caused these to appear?.
It was caused by none other than Chloe running around having a great time in the cold while her MOM stands on the deck freezing her tush off!!!
The Girl-pup has no concern for her MOM as long as she is having fun - it must be nice to be 2 years old and have the world as your oyster.
( It would be even better if I didn't have to stay out with her, but she now knows how to jump over the fence and thinks it's great fun to see MOM scream and carry on while she just stands and wiggles. Gotta get the fence fixed after this stuff melts. It's supposed to do that by this weekend - one can only cross one's fingers. )
Now, if I can just remember to fix the date stamp on the camera as some of the pictures have the correct date while others are stamped "13/02/2007 ". Hmmmm, didn't know that 2007 had 13 months in it did you ??? SURPRIZE !!!

2008-01-03T07:47:00.000-08:00

Well, it seems that Chloe and Stylle ( along with the help of the the elves at Paradise Fibers ) got me something for Christmas that I can use with my homespun yarns and here is what I found under the tree.

This gizmo is a yarn meter - Chloe says that it will measure the amount of yarn run thru it so I'll know how much I've spun. Smart Girl-pup.

Stylle was the next to give me something and here it is. This is a " WIP " tool. You wrap the yarn around it and , after reading the blue card, find out how many " wraps per inch " you have and how fine the yarn is. Good Girl Stylle.

Both girls got together and bought me some new knitting needles ( like I don't have any ). These are KA wooden knitting needles in sizes US 0, US 1, and US 2. They are very fine and have a nice connection between the needle and the cable. I have been looking for these sizes and now I can knit fine gauge sweaters/scarves/mittens without using my teflon-coated metal needles and chasing the yarn all over the place. Nice going girls!!!

Cookies For Everyone!!!!!

2007-12-15T12:56:00.000-08:00

This is what it looks like outside now - all kinds of slushy mess.

Earlier today, there was about 3.5 inches of snow and then the sleet and rains came and made this stuff.

I called in at work and told them that , for some unknown reason, the state police were telling EVERYONE to stay off the roads because it was too slick and hazardous. And, of course being a nurse, I was expected to drive in to work in this crap!! Needless to say, I made the super mad because I said I wasn't going out in this in a light-weight car and putting it in a ditch and getting hurt just so she didn't have to stay and work longer ( didn't make any points then ) AND that I'd call her tomorrow ( when it's predicted that we will get another 3-6 inches of snow on top of what we got today with ice sandwiched in between ) to let her know if I was going to be in then, which really ticked at me ( toooo bad ).

This is what is waiting at the bottom of the steps for anyone who ventures outside today - not my idea of something I want to walk around in.

And this is looking out toward the kennels and the woods. Looks pretty but looks are really deceiving today. Good thing I fed the kennel dogs earlier before it got tooo bad.

Think I'll curl up on the sofa with Chloe and Stylle, turn the TV on and work on some of my knitting instead of going outside.

Will post more later.

`bye.

2007-12-15T12:32:00.001-08:00

The first snow of the winter. Got about 4 inches of the white stuff and it's on the wet side so it should be good snowball snow.

Girl-pup was out playing in it and climbed up the backdoor to get inside - her toes were cold. Stylle enjoyed lying in the snow and watching Chloe run around the backyard like a fool ( one of the joys of being a 2-yr-old pup - EVERYTHING is great, even if you do get cold ).

As you can see, the sheep aren't real happy with the snow - they can't go out into the pasture and graze ( not that there's a whole lot to graze on, it's the idea of it all ).

Candi and Brooke ( the 2 ewes looking at the camera ) are wondering " WHEN is she going to put down that fool camera and FEED US????"

Poor things have never been fed ( even tho there is hay on either side of them ) since their respective moms weaned them. But you should see them fly when the cookies or a bag of bread torn into pieces appear - then it's every sheep for themselves. That's the only time they don't look around to see if Chloe is going to sneak up on them.

This little pig ( in sheep's clothing ) is Lacie. She's one of my unregistered Shetlands ( the person I got her from didn't register any of her family members ), and she thinks she rules the pasture. Actually, Lacie is a big ham and thinks she's a lap sheep. She is so tame ( read: spoilled rotten ) that if you are bringing a feed bucket out and you aren't moving fast enough to suit her, Lacie will get behind you, place her head on the backs of your thighs and exert constant pressure to move you along at A FASTER RATE OF SPEED so she can be fed. Looks like she's missed a few meals, doesn't it?

Lacie says ... GOT COOKIES???? I'M STARVING!!!

2007-11-22T12:39:00.000-08:00

Well, I finally got the fence up so that Chloe can be outside without her tie-out on.

And this is what happens when an active 65 pound coonhound is attached to a 30 foot plastic wrapped 1/8 inch tie-out after 1 year of use. Needless to say, Chloe did one hell of a number on the poor thing - she had it soooo knotted up that when I tried to measure it, it only measured about 15 foot long!!! If anyone has anything they need tied up, I have a girl that is willing to work on it and she get paid in cookies!!!

Now,Girl-pup can run her big feet off.

It was funny when I first let her out after finishing the fence. I put her collar on with its bell and opened the back door. She didn't realize that she didn't have the tie-out on and would only go as far as the tie-out would let her. But then, she saw one of the sheep near the new fence and she was off like a shot, got to the fence and turned around, ran back to me with a look on her face like " MOM, what happened ??? I went out to the fence and didn't hit the end of the tie-out??? " After that, she has been all over the yard running full out and wearing herself out so that when she comes in she collapses into a heap and sleeps soundly for about 2 hours at a time. Thank goodness for fences!!!

P.S. Don't believe the date stamp on the picture - I haven't had the time to change it after I put new batteries in the camera. One more thing on my " to-do " list. * sigh *

2007-11-08T07:23:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a while since I last wrote anything because of my computer dying, but now that I have a brand spankin' new computer I thought I'd post some pics of what I've been doing lately.

As you can see, I've been dyeing some white Shetland roving with Wilton cake dyes and getting some nice colors - nothing has been spun into yarn yet - I'm waiting for the snow to fall so I can sit and spin myself silly.

I joined a sock club this past spring and have been knitting socks as they come in each month. It's fun to see what type and color of yarn comes in the mail each month ( it's almost like having Christmas every month !!! ) and to decide if I want to make those now or later.

2007-05-15T07:05:00.000-07:00

Sorry, no new pics today just some ramblings.
It's been a busy month in April - with lambs coming frequently ( like 9 over a span of 2 days !!! - SEVERAL times in April!!! ), breaking a bone in my foot, working, and trying to come up with the name of a business that I can put on ETSY and sell things from the farm - that I'm ready for a breather.
I have come up with a name for a new business venture on ETSY - it's real original and I had to think a long time to come up with it .... the name is " ValleView Farms and Studio " - like I said, it's been a busy month. I will be hand-dyeing wool and roving and spinning it into yarns and selling them and kits on ESTY - figured I needed to do something with the TONS of wool I have lying around here ( and besides, it will keep Chloe out of it - it's not pretty when the Girl-Pup gets into the wool ). I hope to have it up and running by the end of July ( yeah, I'm getting delusional again, but it gives me a date to aim for ), so all of you who visit here will be able to buy some really neat dyed Shetland yarn/ kits to work with AND during the first month the business is open I plan on having free shipping. Can't beat that.
What I will be doing between now and then is washing/spinning/dyeing the wool like crazy so I can have some inventory to sell. I also plan to have the production crew ( aka the sheep ) have their pics taken and list their names along with the yarn so if you buy some yarn from Wen ( for example ) and want more, all you need to do is order her yarn by name and voila' it's on it's way to you - now if I can just convince everyone to let me take their pictures.
I can hardly wait to get things up and running - now, if I could just get the sheep to skirt and wash their own wool so all I had to do was dye and spin it life would be easier - don't think that's gonna happen in my lifetime. * sigh*.
Hope everybody will drop by the shop on ETSY and check things out.
Until later,
Benita

2007-04-05T13:07:00.000-07:00

BABY PICTURES

These 2 are 1/2 Shetland 1/2 border Leicester. The white is a ram and the black is a ewe and they may carry the modifier gene.

The 2 black babies are Pekin's - a boy and a girl.

This little cutie pie is Lacie's spotted katmoget boy. He has some nice yuglet eye patches and is friendly. The speed-demon on the right is the twin to the above spotted kat of Lacie's. His white " cap " is tipped to the right and has just a touch of it over his left ear. Unfortunately, these babies aren't able to be registered but are still cute Shetlands, anyway.

2007-03-01T14:55:00.000-08:00

Today was a sad day on the farm because one of my favorite sheep passed away.

Baron, my moorit Perendale wether, had been sick for about 1 week with what was either bladder stones or a bowel obstruction. He became sick last Thursday night after Linda had her babies ( there was no connection ).

He would lay around that night and act as if he was having stomach cramps and hump up his back. By the next morning he would let me literally crawl all over him ( he would eat out of my hand and let me scratch him a little but nothing like this ), so I called the vet to tell her what was wrong. I got 2 pain shots for him and the 1 worked so well that within 15 minutes he was up and walking.

He ate, or rather picked at his food all week but last night he ate real well and even watched the lambs play. But this morning things didn't look good - he was standing around by himself with his head down. I got him back up to the house so I could watch him better and he went back out but came back again.

I checked on him at 2:30 this afternoon and he looked a little better but I had decided to give him the last pain shot when I went out to feed at 5:30pm. I looked out at 3:45 and he had lain down by the tree and died.

Baron was 7 years old and after a rough, almost cruel, lambhood came home with me in a large dog shipping crate in the back of a small car in July 2001. He met TJ ( my dark grey border Leicester wether ) and became inseparable - where you saw 1 you saw the other and what 1 didn't think of to do the other did.

Baron was such a sweetheart that the ewes would leave their babies with him and he wouldn't leave the spot he was at until the very last ewe had picked up her lamb. He loved animal crackers, alfalfa cubes, sweet feed ( you would have thought he was a lamb the way he would eat it ) and in the last year, had let me scratch him on his back ( he was abused as a lamb and when I picked him you, the man who was helping me take him to the car used a cattle prod on him the entire way as I led him ). He rarely got out but when he did, he'd come back to the front gate and stand until you let him back in. There wasn't a mean bone in his body, he was just a sweet loving guy who will be sorely missed.

TJ was watching when Baron was taken out front ( to be picked up tomorrow ) but didn't try to follow. I think TJ knew Baron was sick because he would stay close to Baron the whole week he was sick to the point TJ would push me towards Baron. TJ will need extra care for a while to help him adjust to Baron being gone.

I know some people think " oh, it's just a dumb sheep ", but Baron had a great personality and loving nature that he could make anyone fall in love with him.

Sleep tight, Baron, we miss you.

Love, MOM and the rest of the flock.

2007-02-08T05:31:00.000-08:00

Well, it's THAT time of year again - time to do everyone's favorite pastime - filling out tax papers. I have been up since 5am ( and since I'm NOT a morning person, this is above and beyond the call of duty ) and have been working on the taxes since then. I got the federal ones done without any problem ( and will get a nice return, too ) but let's forget the state taxes. What makes it even worse is that I live in one state but work in another - and I thought my home state taxes were bad, the state where I work is just as bad if not worse, and when you put those together - well let's just say that Chloe's life was on the line ( she decided that because mom was up, she could bark her bloody little head off ) - gotta give girl-pup credit, she made sure she was out of my reach.
I finally finished the blankets/hats for the premies - now all I have to do is weave in the tails on the blankets and pick off ALL the dog hair and ship them. This should only take about 2 days to do.
Had to restart a sweater I started in Nov. because it didn't look right ( something about the raglan shoulders didn't look right - could be that if the top of the shoulders were in place, the armpits hung down to my waist. And I knit the damn thing to gauge and followed the instructions to the letter. Oh well, the new version, without the raglan, looks a lot better.
It has been cold here for about a week now and on Tuesday 2/6/07 we got 6 - count them - 6 inches of snow!!! Luckily, it was just powder and easy to shovel. Will finish the drive-way this afternoon ( so I can go visit with H&R Block tomorrow ).
Chloe has destroyed her sweater. The first one I made her was too big but was ok to wear out to play in until Tuesday afternoon. She went out to play ( and potty ) and was harassing one of the ewes and this ewe turned on her. Now, Linda ( the ewe in question ) is usually very calm and laid back unless she's pregnant and getting close to her due date.
To make a long story short, Chloe decided to chase Linda and Linda wasn't going to have any of her , so Linda chased Chloe behind the kennel and wouldn't let Chloe out. Every time Chloe tried to crawl out from behind the kennel, Linda was there stomping her foot at Girl-pup. Well, Chloe got her sweater caught on the kennel wire and pulled it off, leaving the sweater attached to the kennel for Rosie to work on and she did. The leg was chewed to an unrecognizable mess and another hole was also added ( when Rosie works on something, she does a good job ). So now, Chloe doesn't have a sweater to wear ( I'm not too enthused on working on her other sweater after this episode ).
Have 2 socks on the needles that I'm working on from time to time along with my sweater.
Can't think of anything else to post, so I'll go see who Chloe is pestering . Hopefully, will have some pictures to post next time.

2007-01-17T08:09:00.000-08:00

It's been a while since I posted, so I thought I'd just talk a little today - no new pictures.
It got down to 18 degrees last night and at about 9 pm, Catcher started barking at the backdoor ( I thought he was barking at Rosie because she wouldn't let im in the doghouse - she has a tendency to be bitchy with him ). I looked out and he was standing there with his right hind foot up off the ground and when he moved he was limping. I immediately put on a heavy coat and went out and got him out of the kennel and brought him inside ( Rosie was not happy with me - she thought she should come in too, so she woke up Vinnie and Maggie and the three of them made as much noise as possible ).
He greeted the other dogs - Stylle was not happy that he was inside ( and proceeded to growl at him and try to remove his face when he got close ) but Chloe thought it was great because she had someone to play with ( talk about having visions of the place being torn to shreds and those 2 smiling ).
Catcher played with Chloe for a little while and left Stylle alone, got something to eat and drink, and with a cookie and a teddy bear he went into Chloe's crate and immediately fell asleep. Chloe didn't know what to do with him being in her crate - she just stood there and stared at him and then looked at me as if to say " but MOM, he's in MY bed ".
All dogs went to sleep and didn't wake until about 8 am.
As soon as the mail runs ( and the sun melts the snow off the truck ) I'm going into town and get some straw for both kennels and Catcher will be back with Rosie and the house girls will be happy that their routine will be back to normal.
Am still knitting on the premie hats and blankets - have a grand total of 6 and started the 7th last night before Catcher came inside. Have designated about 7 more skeins of yarn for this project and then will start on something else. Have bought enough sock yarn to make 3 pairs ( sock yarn is exempt from the stash and can be bought when needed ) - one pair needs to have 2 more skeins because they will end up being heavy boot socks to wear this winter and I think I'm going to buy some more dk weight wool yarn to make some felted booties to also put inside my boots.
Am planning to make a log cabin blanket from the stash after the premie stuff is finished ( should be done with it by the middle to end of Feb the way things are going ) and I want to make at least 2 shawls ( 1 kind of a turquoisey blue acrylic mohair-type and a fushia/purple acrylic moahir-type in a Faroese or pi shawl - but this can change at any time ). Also want to do some designing from the stash because I found a real nice cotton/ acrylic blend that is just SCREAMING to be knit into a summer T ( will have to make a trip to the yarn shop for this stuff ).
Will try to post soon with some pictures.

2007-01-05T07:31:00.000-08:00

Well, just a short post today, as I'm going to spin some singles today.
I've been knitting the premie blankets and hats for about 10 days and am on my 4th blanket at this time. The hats are still cute being so small and I found a website for even cuter hats - one looks like Kermit the Frog and another looks like a duck even down to the " webbed " feet ( will have to make thse at a later date ). These I'm working on need to be done by Easter so I've been knitting like crazy to get as many done as I can before I get tired of them.
This is about all I can think of today - now to spin some wool for me and then back to the premie blankets/hats.
Will post pictures of the premie blankets/hats when I get them done.

2006-12-26T07:48:00.000-08:00

Chloe's Sweater
Well, I finished Chloe's sweater and am not at all pleased with it. I used the weight of yarn and needles called for in the pattern but when I put it on her you could see her coat ( she's red and white ) right thru the yarn!!! This is not going to keep this pup warm when it gets cold, sooooooooooo .
I decided to make her another sweater. As I was shopping in my stash - I found some super bulky weight bright red acrylic yarn with bits of orange,yellow,green,blue and white mixed in ( will definitely have to wear my sunglasses when she's outside in the sun and snow with this sweater on ). It has a nice fuzzy halo around it and is soft. Of course, Chloe had to come and help pick it out ( and I had to grab her before she took off like a shot with some of my Shetland yarn, she wanted her sweater made out of THAT - yes, she has good taste but it ain't gonna happen in her lifetime that she gets a sweater made out of Shetland wool ). She did finally, after some discussion, settle on the above mentioned red yarn and I ( of course, WITH her help ) started knitting it.
Chloe thinks whenever I sit down to knit on her sweater that SHE has to put her head in my lap on every 2 - 3 minutes poke her nose up thru the knitting to see how it's going,. And heaven forbid should I have to leave the sweater in the basket to go answer the phone or do anything else, because she has it on the floor rolling in it with her feet up in the air ( I suppose this means she likes it, but it sure is annoying ).
Her sweater should be done next week and I'll post a picture of it on the demon dog child. She does wear the original out to play in the mud ( talk about a swamp-rat ) but it's too big for her, so I made this one smaller and it should fit better. She is learning that she has to put her sweater on before she goes outside and it has reduced the amount of mud she drags in ( in fact, the sweater, after only ONE trip outside to show the ducks what she got, could stand on it's own!!! ), so that will be her " play " sweater and the new one will be worn when she goes someplace ( shopping for dog toys and sheep feed, to the vet's, or visiting ).
Well,I don't remember where I left her sweater and she's quiet so I need to see if she has found it again - talk about a busy girl.

2006-12-20T14:28:00.000-08:00

Well, I pulled all of the stash that I could find and did an inventory and skein count and have finally regained consciousness. I counted 131,count them again, 131 skeins of acrylic ( I decided NOT to add the small amount of cotton, silk, and wool to my stash - so I'll have something to work towards next year ) in the stash. I called a friend and she asked me if I'd be willing to help out her guild ( I had visions of hauling this load to her house, but no such luck ) and, since I can knit fairly fast, would I be willing to make caps and blankies for premature babies for them. Seeing a way to get rid of the yarn and do something good at the same time, I stood up and shouted " YES, I'LL DO IT !!! " So, I also decided to make some really soft watch caps as chemo caps and give them to the medical oncologist who took care of my mom when she had breast cancer so she can give them to her patients in my mom's name ( I've been looking for something to do for her since she was fantastic with my mom and I think this will do the trick ).
So, now that all that's settled and the yarn has been cataloged and the patterns for the baby blankies have been chosen, all I have to do is knit myself silly and have ALL this done by Easter!!! Oh, well, it needs to be done, so watch the smoke fly from my needles - dogs beware, MOM's knitting tonight!!!

2006-12-15T21:26:00.001-08:00

Well,I got to looking, this afternoon, at my stash of yarn and came up with the conclusion I need to do something with it, it's getting out of hand. So, while I was reading Wendy Knits' blog, I decided to do what she and a friend of hers are going to do - they are going to knit from their stash and not buy any yarn ( unless it's needed to finish an item in progress ) until Sept. 1 and then they are going to buy more yarn.
What I plan on doing is not buy any more yarn until my stash is almost gone ( hopefully by the end of 2007, if not before ) and then start to work on cleaning and spinning the bags of wool from the sheep into tons of wonderful Shetland yarns - natural and dyed colors. I may buy the occassional yarn that I don't have ( i.e., alpaca, camel, yak, silk ) but I'm going to restrict myself to the natural fibers unless someone requests something done in acrylic or fancy glitzy yarns. I have all this wool looking at me and I'm not doing anything with it but letting it sit and that's crazy.
So, as of January 1,2007, I will not be buying any more yarn until my stash is depleted. Good thing I can knit fairly fast. It should be an interesting year.

2006-12-07T08:45:00.000-08:00

This is what I woke up to this morning. It's about 1 - 2 inches of powdery snow out back and less out front with the wind howling through the trees as if it were March instead of December.

Chloe and Stylle went out and Chloe proceeded to slide off the deck - I don't think she likes the snow because she was trying to walk without it touching her feet ( nothing like some comic relief in the morning ).

The sheep aren't real happy about the snow but they can get out and graze some.

It's supposed to be in the mid to upper 40's by Saturday so this should be gone. I haven't seen or heard from the kennel dogs today - knowing Maggie and Rosie they've threatened Vinnie and Catcher NOT to move from the doghouses so they ( the girls ) don't get cold. At least I have the dog houses facing with the back of the houses to the wind. If I remember right, the girls get in the back of the doghouses and make the boys sleep across the doorway to keep the cold out. Whoever said labs aren't smart haven't talked to my girls lately. Want to guess WHO runs the doghouses?

2006-12-07T08:34:00.000-08:00

This is the start of Chloe's sweater she asked for. It's made out of 100% acrylic ( there is NO way I'm gonna make a sweater for this girl out of wool with as dirty and muddy as she gets ). It's knit on size US 10 needles at about 3.7 sts / inch ( whatever 0.7 stitch is ) in a 3-to-1 knit rib for the bottom and the collar of the sweater and then size US 11 for the main part in stockinette. The pattern calls for sleeves all the way down to her ankles but will end up being midway between her elbow and knee ( again considering the mud factor with her ). It's a bulky weight yarn and should keep her warm and knit up fast. Now to convince Chloe to leave me alone long enough to finish the darn thing ( she thinks that she has to " help " me knit her sweater - but HER idea of helping and mine are not the same ).

2006-12-07T08:12:00.000-08:00

This hat was knit as a surprize Christmas present for a friend of mine and , as soon as I get the pattern written, will be for sale as a kit. So watch the side bar for the kit.

She was definitely not expecting it as I did it at the last minute and mailed it last Thursday. It took about 3 hours to knit and came out pretty well, even if I do say so myself.

The picture isn't the greatest but it was dark the day I took this and had to improvise a way to light it so it could be seen.

It's made out of acrylic and can be machine washed. It has a soft fuzzy hand and is very comfortable to wear. The colorway is called " diamond " and is a very pale bluish white with flecks of red/green/yellow and blue scattered through it, so it can be worn with any color of coat and not clash ( which was a good thing since I didn't know what color her coat was and I really didn't want to ask and start an avalanch of questions ).

I designed it myself from another hat I made for me a couple years ago when I was playing around with some left over yarn I had in my stash. Actually, I needed a new hat to wear out to feed the sheep because my original wool hat was starting to look a little ratty ( yes , I do still wear it ) and had the extra yarn and found my needles and whipped up the original hat. The yarn I used for it was Lion Brand Thick and Quick in the wheat colorway on size 10.5 needles. Talk about a warm hat - it's so warm that you break out into a sweat wearing it on a cold day. May have to write up that pattern too.

2006-12-05T06:16:00.000-08:00

"Dear MOM

I have been a good girl ( WELL, for the most part ) and I haven't chewed up anything ( unless you consider the Wal-Mart knock offs that I took the strap off for you because it looked uncomfortable ) and I was wondering if you , with ALL your knitting talent, could you please make me a sweater to wear when I go outside to play???

I went out with Stylle yesterday and came back in soooo cold that you couldn't see my beautiful spots!!! It took quite a while to warm up and then I found out Stylle ( who NEVER gets cold - she has a real nice heavy winter coat she grows every year ) was lying next to you on the sofa under the quilt, and I was freezing my spots off. Is that fair???

Please, MOM, make me a nice warn snuggly sweater to wear. I promise I'll be good and not tear up things while you sleep on the weekends. I'M SOOOOO COLD. Love, Chloe."

Now, how could anyone refuse a request like that? OK, Chloe, I'll see what I can find and make you a sweater. - MOM.

2006-11-23T05:59:00.000-08:00

Sunrise on Thanksgiving Day 2006.

This is the first holiday, since my mom died in 2000 from breast cancer, that I feel like celebrating. Most of the time since she died, I would just work or do anything so I didn't have to think about how lonely it was without her.

Any way, I have made some of my favorite homemade bread and this morning , I've already cranked up the oven and fixed the sweet potatoes and will be fixing the bird a little later. Chloe, Stylle, and I will be feasting this afternoon in high fashion. If no one else wants our company, we have each other.

We will be watching the football game later this afternoon as I spin some wool and the girls sleep on the sofa and then we'll watch our usual Thursday night shows.

Don't know if I'll be celebrating Christmas yet or not, will have to take it one day at a time. But, I do feel better about the holidays now that I will be celebrating Thanksgiving again. I guess the mourning process is running on schedule.

It's so nice to start to feel good about things again.

2006-11-17T08:40:00.000-08:00

This is the newest sweater on the needles. I started last night by casting on 125 stitches on a size US 6 needle and did 1.5 inches of 1x1 ribbing and then changed to a size US 8 needle and will do plain stockingette stitching until the back is done. I want to show off the yarn - it's a 70% 30% soft acrylic/ soft cotton marled yarn that has an extremely soft hand and is very nice to knit. This sweater will be a raglan shoulder affair ( that later I can make and put other elements on it ,i.e. intarsia or varied textural stitches ) . It's more like a big soft well-worn sweatshirt than a sweater - the kind you want to cuddle in when it's cold. This picture appears a little fuzzy but it's the yarn - it kinda has a very small halo but kinda doesn't. Will post more as I get it done.

2006-11-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

I decided the other day , that, since I do a lot of knitting , I should start my own business, offering knit items for the family and home and also include hand-dyed and hand-painted rovings and yarns. So, in the next few weeks, as I get things made to sell, I will be posting pictures of them on this blog. I thought about starting another blog just for the business but decided that I could incorporate everything into this one ( and save me the headache of runing 2 blogs with a lot of the same posts ).
The new business will be called " Knits 4 Ewe " and will include hand-knits for the family and home along with hand-dyed / hand-painted roving ( Shetland mainly, but maybe some other breeds, also ) and some hand-spun yarns. There may be some other fibers other than wool ( i.e., alpaca, camel, silk, cotton, acrylic, etc. ) to go along with the rest of the articles offered. I will be formulating a brochure to be sent out to those interested in the items offered. So, stay tuned and check us out frequently to see what's up. Look at the side bar to find out what's going on at Knits 4 Ewe.

2006-11-10T07:41:00.000-08:00

A look out the back door to the pasture. It was in the upper 60's yesterday and is supposed to be in the upper 60's to low 70's today but drop about 20 degrees tomorrow. If this ain't the weirdest weather for November, I don't know what it is. Makes you wonder what this winter will be like - I've already told them at work that if I can get out of the driveway, I'll be in but if I can't then I'll see them in the spring after the thaw. They think I'm kidding - if the roads are bad there is no way I'm going to try to drive the interstate to work - did that last year to another hospital - and almost got killed after taking 2 1/2 hours to make a 50 minute drive. No job is worth that.

2006-11-03T11:16:00.000-08:00

Well, it ain't pretty but it runs. I got the new truck - it's new to me - this morning. It's a 1985 Ford F-150 pickup with a new engine, starter, tires, and A/C. It runs a little rough at slower speeds but does fine on highway speeds. It also has a hitch and " holes " along the top rail of the bed so poles can be put in them and an enclosure can be made to haul ... oh, I don't know ... sheep!!! Now I don't have to hire someone to haul things for me, I can do it myself. It may be an old truck, but IT'S A TRUCK!!! We will be learning each other during the next few days so everyone watch out. I'm a happy camper now.

2006-11-01T06:32:00.000-08:00

Just some early morning pictures off the back deck over looking the pasture. Looks like it could be nasty, but 45 minutes after these pictures were taken, the sun was shining and it was starting to warm up.

2006-10-26T08:22:00.000-07:00

This is Baron, a moorit Perendale wether. He's a big sweetie. He LOVES cookies and will stand and give the most pitiful begging look ever for a cookie ( too bad he never gets any attention or cookies ). Can we say spoiled rotten.

This black ewe is Wen. She gave me the spotted ram lamb this year and has produced very nice colored moorits in the past. She has also produced 1 set of triplets and is an excellent mom. The white ewe behind Wen is Brooke. She had a nice black girl this past spring but was unable to deliver her and the lamb had to be put down to be delivered. Brooke makes some of the softest wool ( outside of her mom ) of any sheep I have.

This pretty girl is Candi, a grey katmollet and is the spitting image of her father Underhill Ferguson. She also carries spots and produced her first set of spotted twin girls this spring.

And here he is ... the one ... the only ... Snowy, the big white spot. The only color this guy has on him is light black eye make-up and small black spots in his ears. He was neutered this summer due to being related to the rest of the girls in the flock ( and I didn't want any inbreeding to happen ). He has a nice soft solid white fleece, and if he ( along with the black and spotted ram lambs, after they are neutered ) to a spinning flock with Bandit's moorit wether, he will stay here for wool production.

And, I can't forget the clean-up crew, of 12 hard-working, bug-chasing, water-splashing, dog-teasing blue Swedish ducks. These guys are the after dinner entertainment. If they're is anything to get into ( a water bucket that's almost full ) they are there. I can't count how many times I've had to fish a duck out of a 2/3 full 5-gal water bucket because it decided it needed to take a bath in the bucket and, after the bath , found out it couldn't get out. Sometimes I wonder about the intelligence of these guys but they do earn their keep in that I do not have a tick problem now and they will got to where the sheep are fed and clean up what the sheep missed.

2006-10-26T08:05:00.000-07:00

And, now, for some of the " older " woolies at the farm.

This is TJ, a silver border Leicester cross wether, who thinks it's HIS job to protect mom from any and all new rams. As you can see, he doesn't miss too many meals - and talk about a sweet tooth!!!

This is Lacie,( in the middle pic ) an unregistered Shetland ewe. She didn't have any babies last year but has been visiting with Ditto already. Her first baby was a grey/ white yuglet/ flecket ewe ( grey and white spotted ) named Bandit. And last year, Bandit made her a grandmother of a nice little moorit wether with a white cap. Lacie will help you feed by putting her head on the back of your thigh and gently push you along - she DOES like her food.

In this picture is Mollie ( left center ) a musket katmollet ewe who carries spots ( she's the mother of Snowy - the BIG white spot ),a black ram lamb ( to her left ) and a spotted ram lamb ( to her right ). The spotted ram lamb is out of Wen and is the most colorful baby Wen has produced to date. The black ram lamb is Pekin's boy and has Peke's voice ( for some reason at least one of Peke's babies will sound like her ). And that's Pekin herself on the right upper corner of this picture. She has produced some of the loudest colored babies for me since she's been here and she's a VERY protective mom.

2006-10-26T07:50:00.000-07:00

Here is another girl from Stephen Rouse's flock in MI - this is Sheltering Pines Branwyn, a light moorit ewe. She is starting to get friendly but is still a little hesitant about taking a cookie from my hand. She is a lighter version of my Maddie ( a darker more hot cocoa moorit ).

This is a mother/ daughter pic of Sara ( on the left ) and Sheltering Pines Kalliope on the right. When Gail brought them down she felt that Kalliope was a emsket ( charcoal/pewter to the non-Shetland folks out there ) and Stephen says she carries the mioget modifyer, so breeding her to Ditto should be interesting.

This is Sheltering Pines Markella, a very nice black ewe. It took everything I had to get her away from Gail. This girl has a beautiful crimpy fleece and good conformation and is becoming friendly also.

2006-10-26T07:19:00.000-07:00

Hi!

Thought you might like to see some of the old and " new " woolies here on the farm and what better time to do this than at feeding time .... so,

IT'S FEEDING TIME AT THE ZOO

This handsome fellow ( in the center of the above picture ) is the new flock sire and he hails from west central IN and his name is Underhill Bandito ( aka Ditto, as I already have a " Bandit " ). He is a fawn katmogut that carries the modifyer gene and Gail says I shoud get some interesting babies from him and my girls.

Next we have Sheltering Pines June Bug modeling the feed of the day. June is a black ewe that has a sweet tooth and likes to have her chin and entire neck scratched. I'm hoping for some solid black babies from her.

This little girl Stephen let me name and here it is: this is Sheltering Pines Moonlight Serenade ( aka Sara ). She has started to talk to me at feeding time and does have a fairly nice voice ( for a sheep ).

2006-10-25T06:58:00.000-07:00

This is another roving done with a little different mix of the same dyes but it looks like a forrest in person ( the camera makes it look more orangy but it has more of a darker green to it ).
This is the third sample of dyeing I did that day . In person, this looks kind of like the sky looks at dusk with all the deep purples,reds,oranges, and blues mixed together.
these 2 rovings haven't been spun into yarn yet but they are next to go onto the wheel. They should look great when done.

2006-10-25T06:42:00.000-07:00

I have been busy trying my hand ( again ) at dyeing wool. I found a box of generic wool th eother day and some dye that I had bought from Ebay and thought I'd mix the 2 together and see what happened. Here, I have collectd all the toys needed to dye the wool.

In the green bowl, below, is the measured wool in it's water bath waiting to be dyed.

Here are the dyes I used - cherry red, emerald green, yellow, dark orange, sky blue, and violet. The dyes are in the squirt bottles ( or quart containers ) where they are mixed with the acid and ready to be added to the wet wool.

This is what they wool looked like once I added the dye to it and before I put it into the oven for 35 minutes to " bake " and set the dye.

Here is the finished roving from th efirst batch of dyeing. The colors remind me of autumn leaves.

2006-10-25T06:26:00.000-07:00

Well, it's 27 degrees outside and when I let the girls out this is what it looked like, so I ran back in and put on some warm clothes and went out to take some pictures of the " frost on the woolies ".

This picture is looking down towards the woods with the sun starting to shine throughthe tree tops. To the left of the picture, under the dark tree ,are some woolies.

Here they come with Baron, my moorit Perendale in the lead - probably thinks he's gonna get some cookies if he gets to me first ahead of the girls. He has SUCH a sweet tooth.

This is Baron up close and personal. Ain't he a cutie?!!! Here, he's showing you the frost on his back ( he's in the bottom picture ).

2006-10-18T21:17:00.000-07:00

I finally drug myself to the orthopod the other day so he could tell me what was wrong with my left hand. About 2-3 weeks ago, I was sitting at the computer and just turned my head to the left and felt a pulling sensation in the back of my left armpit ( no pain at all ) and then developed a tingling in my left elbow and thumb, index, and long fingers. Sometimes, I get a tingle on the back of my left forearm that feels like an itch but not. I figured I had pinched a nerve in my back and would probably need surgery ( not the thing you want to think about when you've just started a new job ) to fix it.
The orthopod took my history of what had happened and said he thought I had carpal tunnel in my left hand ( whew! ) and went to turn my hands palm side up and they didn't turn too far - he didn't like this and asked if I'd had any type of injury to my wrists ( my left wrist will only turn parallel to my upper arm while my right wrist will turn my hand almost completely palm up ), so I had another set of xrays done ( the 1st set was of my left forearm and elbow ). He looked at the xrays and said I had carpal tunnel but nothing bad enough for surgery, just wear a cockup splint for a while - he said the nerve was irritated but it didn't know where so it was tingling from my elbow to my fingertips. At least, I didn't do much damage - he said I had sprained my back earlier this year when I carried a 50 lb block of salt to the sheep and had used my left arm differently and so, when I turned my head that day it pulled part of the injured muscle and cause the nerve to act up in my hand.
So, now I get to wear this lovely cream colord splint til my hands gets better - around 3-4 weeks. Oh well, it could have been a lot worse.

2006-10-13T06:45:00.000-07:00

Well, Chloe is at it again. Because I have to go to work tonight ( I work 7p-7a in a hospital ), I told Chloe that I didn't want her to wake me up this morning ( Friday ) until at least 8:30 or 9 am. So, I'm sleeping away and I get the urge to wake up - it's light outside and the sun is shining through the bathroom window. Wonder what time it is because Chloe hasn't come in to see if Stylle and I am awake, so I get out of bed and check the alarm clock and just about pass out. It's 9am !!! When Chloe hears me up she comes bouncing in barking that she has to go potty.
Now, I know this pup is smart but come on ... this is just toooo much, even for her. I'm afraid to see what she's going to do next.

2006-10-12T06:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I had to break down and turn on the space heaters in the living room/kitchen and in my bedroom this morning - it was a tad bit nippy. The temperature out side was 34 when I let the girls outside around 8 am and the inside temp was 59, but Willie, the cockatiel, was all puffed up complaining about being cold at the top of his lungs ( it wasn't pretty ). So the heaters are on - the one in the bedroom just take the chill off the room making it good for sleeping ( don't like to sleep in a very warm room, namely under 3 quilts ) and the one in the living room is turned up higher to bring the temp up more. The weather servce on tv is calling for possible snow tonight into Fri morning. No use in complaining about it as there's nothing anyone can do to stop it ( and besides, you don't want to piss Mother Nature off because her revenge it horrible ).
The sheep are content with the cooler weather, actually when it gets cooler they have a tendency to get " cold and stupid " and bounce ( literally ) allover the place - from my youngest babies to my oldest ewes. They are hilarious to watch when it starts to get colder - you wouldn't think that sheep could have soo much fun, but they do.
Am planning on doing some dying of roving this afternoon. I found a new way to dye on the 'Net yesterday by using the oven. I have some generic roving that I bought quite a while ago and am going to experiment with it ( after I get back from buynig sheep feed ) before I try it out on my Shetland roving ( if I'm going to screw it up then I want to do it on generic wool and not my Shetland - which I use to make things to sell ). Will take pix of the whole process and post it later.

2006-10-10T11:43:00.000-07:00

Well, my baby puppy, Chloe, is a year old today. Ain't she cute?! ( Ok, in this picture she's 10 months old, but you get the idea. ) Looks real sweet and innocent, doesn't she?! Well, looks can be deceiving

This monster is too smart for her own good. Usually, I only have to tell her something about 2-3 times and she knows it ( either that or she got me twisted around enough to believe she knows things ). If I really want to get on Stylle"s nerves ( my beautiful very pale yellow Lab girl ), I will tell Chloe to go tell Stylle that she wants to talk to Chloe and I'll be damned if that pup doesn't go up to Stylle and stare into her face like she's repeating what I just told her to do. This pup is scary. Now I've raised several breeds of dogs and 1 other breed of hound ( Dachshund, to be exact ) and this coonhound pup is as intelligent as or more so than any Dachshund I've ever met.

She will sit and look so sweet and innocent and then the next minute it's Katie bar the door because Chloe is off and running.

Her latest thing is to give puppy hugs. What she does is to get up on the sofa next to me ( as close as possible - forget about breathing for a while ) and then she will put her head ACROSS my chest and lean into me. She does this at least once a day, but what really got me was she started doing this when DeeDee was so sick and even more after DeeDee passed. It's almost like it's her way of making me understand that she loves me. Of course, after she gives puppy hugs she's off like a light and into something.

She has kept things jumping around here since she walked, or rather was carried, in the door last November and she took control and hasn't given it up yet. She got the labs up and moving and got me to chase her ( namely when she has some of my knitting in her mouth ) !!! She has been a joy and a pain in the ass but I wouldn't trade her for any other dog on the face of the Earth. She's a definite mamma's girl and, believe it or not, Chloe loves to be dressed up in hats and coats and sweaters and such. She just amazes me every day as to what she'll do next ( just don't tell her I said so - she already thinks she's the greatest thing on 4 feet ).

But, that's my girl!!!

2006-10-09T07:29:00.000-07:00

Tranquil picture of the sun coming through the trees on the east side of the back. Looks very peaceful.

2006-10-09T07:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some of the woolies coming up to see if I have any goodies for them just because I'm out on the back deck. Can we say " spoiled sheep".

2006-10-09T07:01:00.000-07:00

This is what I saw out the back door when I let Stylle and Chloe back in from their morning visit to the great outdoors. This is looking towards the east though the fog that 30 minutes before was just coming up over the hill - here it is about 125 feet from the backdoor. Thought it looked neat.

2006-10-08T06:41:00.000-07:00

It's been quite a while since my last post because things have been nuts around here.
Labor Day weekend, I went to the big coonhound dog show up in Richmond,IN, and had a great time. Saw lots of coonhounds and the breeders I want to buy from next spring ( I plan on having a coonhound kennel along with my lab kennel ).
Came home after the show to find out my oldest lab - DeeDee - was very sick. She wasn't able to get up on her feet and was having trouble keeping food and water down. This went on for about 4 days and then suddenly on the Thursday after Labor Day, she was up walking around and wanting to go outside. This didn't last long because she went downhill the next day. By 9/19, she wasn't able to eat or drink and could barely scoot around to change position. I had to make the hard decision to have her put down. The vet came out after office hours and, with Stylle, Chloe, and the rest of the kennel dogs close by, DeeDee was put down very peacefully. The dogs barked and howled during this time and while I took her to her last resting place. After I had finished burying her, Chloe placed a tennis ball on the edge of her grave. It was a nice tribute ( even tho Chloe picked the ball up after I left DeeDee's grave ).
The girls ( Stylle and Chloe ) have finally started to eat and play again - I didn't even realize that they weren't doing this as much during DeeDee's last days but now they seem like they are almost back to normal. They have also put tributes to DeeDee on their own websites.
Maybe things will start to get better. I finally got off orientation from Deaconess after 3 weeks of being treated like a brand new grad ( somewhat insulting after 20 years of work ), and will be starting on night shift next weekend.
Will try to post more often since it looks lie things have started to settle down. Do need to post new pics of the new sheep that came after DeeDee died.
Need to go see what Chloe is into as she's really quiet.

2006-08-12T08:12:00.000-07:00

Yesterday, Ferguson and Rebel were sent to market. It was hard to send Ferguson because he was my original flock sire and produced very nice babies for me but I only had 2 ewes he could safely be bred to as everyone else was either a daughter or granddaughter of his. I will miss him and I know the ewes will too. Rebel is another subject. He had hit me 1 time too many and even tried to get me yesterday, so he was haltered and placed outside the pen until the driver got there. I had planned on taking all the babies to market, along with Fergie and Rebel and a couple of adult ewes that were not going to be used in the breeding program again, but was only able to catch 5 sheep ( but they totalled 395 pounds ). The guy at the stockyards said if they were heavier I would get paid more. I keep telling him that Shetlands don't get heavy like the BIG sheep ( Suffolk,Montadale,Hamps ) but he just looked at me. He said that he was at the state fair on Thursday but didn't see any Shetlands and I told him to come back on Sunday ( at the earliest ) and they will be coming in because we had the national assoc coming in for the annual meeting and show and there would be a lot of Shetlands there then. Hopefully, he will come by then and see and LEARN more about these little sheep.

2006-08-09T22:00:00.000-07:00

This is a close up of the scarf that I knitted for the AGM in Indy next week. There was a small ripple in the border after it was blocked, but it's not noticeable if it's worn. It's hand-spun from 100% Shetland lambswool and hand-knit from a pattern I found on a calendar about knit items a year ago. It is soft to the touch and doesn't itch at all. The color is natural, which is a sort of cream color - even though the ewe who gave this wool was white, her fleece turned out to be this color after it was cleaned and spun into yarn. This wool and yarn was a joy to work with.

2006-07-24T06:02:00.000-07:00

It's with a heavy heart that I must sell my flock sire of the past 5 years. Underhill Ferguson ( S11776 ) is being put up for sale. The primary reason is because my ewes are directly related back to him ( i.e., his daughters and granddaughters ) and I'm concerned that if he's bred to them there can be some dire consequences develop in the resulting lambs. I have talked to Gail about this and she agrees that I should try to sell him first and if that doesn't work then he will have to go to market. I'd much rather keep him but he wouldn't tolerate not being able to breed his ewes in the fall. He has produced some nice lambs and I will be keeping Candi ( grey kat mollett ) , Maddie ( moorit ) , Mollie ( musket ), Lacie ( grey ) and Bandit ( grey/white yuglet/flecket who carries moorit ). It will be sad around he for a while but Gail offered to lease me a black ram ( that carries the modifier ) and then Ditto ( who also carries the modifyer ) will be coming to take Fergie's spot as flock sire. Fergie will be missed terribly as he's become a good friend and provider to the flock.

2006-07-23T09:48:00.000-07:00

Recently, a fellow Shetland sheep breeder in Minnesota had a fire and lost their entire 2006 hay crop and their pole barn. The Shetland sheep breeders across this great country have pulled together to form an auction to help these people - they are having a lamb auction and are selling fiber articles and yarn and rovings on ebay to help fed these sheep this winter. We have donated some very nice bright white kid mohair roving ( we don't have any Shetland roving available at this time ) to the cause. They have made almost $ 1000 at the time of this posting and should make a lot more. It makes you feel good, that in a time of anonymus killings and violence and the indifference found across this nation, that a group of sheep breeders can come together and form an auction and raise money to help their own ( some of whom have never met these people who were affected by the fire ) and are willing to give and give and give. It's times like this that make me proud to be an American and a farmer on top of that.

2006-07-19T07:22:00.000-07:00

This unlikely looking piece of knitting is a bias knit scarf made out of 100% Shetland lamb's wool from one of my ewes. The pattern came from one of the 365 knitting pattern calendars ( don't remember the exact name of the calendar ) that was published for 2005. I knit this scarf as a door prize for the NASSA AGM to be held at the Indiana State Fair next month. It won't look like this - it needs to be blocked first, which I will be doing later today and it will look a lot better than it does now. The color is sort of a cream / white and is the natural color of this ewe's fleece ( it wasn't nor will it be dyed - I want it to be in it's natural color ). Will post this scarf again AFTER it's blocked to be able to show the difference in before and after.

2006-07-18T06:24:00.000-07:00

Not much going on with the sheep as it's just too hot for them to be moving around right now. It's supposed to be in the mid 90's today with the humidity in the upper 70's. All they want to do is lie under the trees in the woods and hope for a breeze. Can't say I blame them - the a/c is having a hard time keeping the house cool,too. Have been spinning some of Wen's ( Lt. Acres Ceridwen ) fleece I had processed at Ohio Valley Natural Fibers - it's like trying to spin a cloud. I plan to make either a sweater or shawl out of the yarn from her fleece. It's a black wool with some lighter areas ( at least on her - not sure if she's a shala or just getting light from age but the light color starts at her butt and goes forward. Will have to take a picture to the AGM next month and let Stephen look at it. ) making it almost a very dark grey with black overtones and is very soft. But can only spin early in the morning or late at night ( after 10 pm ) because the house is cool at those times otherwise, it's too hot to even think about having anything to do with wool. The weather on one of the tv channels is calling for temps in the upper 80's by Friday with some rain - hopefully it will get here ( nothing like hoping for a cool wave of the 80's, namely after it's been in the 90's for almost a week ). I may start a rain dance with the dogs and sheep to see if we can't get someting started.

2006-07-15T10:40:00.000-07:00

Hi!
This is my blog about things that are going on on the farm, what the sheep are doing, and what I'm doing with their wool - spinning it into yarn and what I'm knitting with it. There may be some ramblings from time to time but I will try to keep it to a minimum.
I have been raising Shetland sheep for the last 5 years and have 12 Shetlands, 2 border Leicesters and 1 Perendale that I have sheared every spring , around lambing time, and , after having it processed at a fiber mill, spin it into beautiful soft wool yarn and knit it into sweaters, shawls, mittens, afghans, coats, and whatever someone may want to wear. Most people who say they are allergic to wool have been able to wear my Shetland wool items because it doesn't cause them to itch.
Don't forget to drop by frequently to see what might be going on with the Shetlands.