Spring Weather

This weekend we have been having the luxury of warm weather. No rain or clouds in sight. It is a nice change compared to the nasty storm we had this past week that brought down many trees on our farm. Not only are we enjoying this mild weather but so are the ewes and lambs.

Even the daffodils think it is spring!

Meet the Rams: Chance

Breeding season is well under way. All the ewes have been with their respective groups for about three weeks now. This year we have a lot of new rams with our girls and so I thought they should be introduced.

This is Chance our white Romney ram; he will be turning three this coming February. He is also the newest addition to the farm, having only been here for less than three months. Last June we had quite the experience bringing him home from Washington.

It was about a 2 hour and 30 min drive from our little farm here in the Willamette Valley to reach Chance at his farm. We were full of anticipation because we only had seen one picture of him and another of his fleece. Upon arrival we met Chance, toured the farm and then prepared to load. We backed our truck up to a small hill and with a little encouragement, walked him into the truck.

The first picture we saw of Chance.

As we drove down the country road leading to the freeway Chance seemed a little perplexed but not too alarmed. Once on the freeway it was a completely different story! Obviously Chance had never ridden in an open truck before. All the wind, semi trucks, and overpasses scared him. He wanted out! Barely 15 minutes on the freeway he began to climb the stock rack. At the farm we learned he was one powerful ram, all brawn and muscle. I instantly was put on watch duty when Mom saw him put him feet on the rack the first time. As I watched I saw him place his front feet on the second to top rung to the stock rack. I flipped around covered my eyes and cried, "Oh my gosh! Oh my gosh! Pull over!" I swore that he was just about to disappear over the top of that rack and become road kill.

We pulled over and put the caution lights on. I quickly got into the back with him and put him on a halter. Almost instantly he began to relax even though there were still cars and semi trucks hurdling past. Mom began making calls, first to the owners of the farm but they didn't pick up. Then to two friends who own sheep. Through their suggestions we tied his head down as low as we could using the tie down rings in the bed of the truck. Then I put a sweatshirt over his head and ears. Finally, I shoved alfalfa under his nose, to hopefully keep him content. We then proceeded, though much slower than the speed limit. Several times we stopped to adjust his sweatshirt and hay. He did become a little restless at times but we finally made it home. It was a very scary experience for both us and Chance.

Now Chance is contently out with his girls. He is with 8 ewes and has bred all of them at least once so far. We can tell because the harness he wears holds a crayon on his chest. When he mounts a ewe he will leave a mark on her rump. This allows us to have an estimate of when she will be due. We change the crayon ever 16 days or so. A ewe will come in heat about every 16 days. So if for some reason the first breeding was not successful and she is re-bred we will know.

The sheep enjoy eating the leaves off this tree that fell recently.

So far everyone in his group has been bred once and there has only been one re-mark. His lambs will be due the end of January and the start of February.

Check back soon for another ram profile.

Winter Stores

The feeling of autumn surrounds us here on the farm. The yellow school bus passes by at 7:30 every morning and the mornings and evenings are cooler than before. Even the leaves are starting to change to shades of yellow and orange. While it may still be summer for another two weeks you can still feeling hints of the approaching season. Which means we must think ahead to the winter months to come.

The ewe lambs waiting to be fed.

Three Saturdays ago I made a trip to our local hay dealer. We get our hay from a place about a two minute drive from our house. It is only open on Saturday from 8 am to noon. So trying to beat any long lines I arrived just shortly after they opened, made my purchase and inquired about some local grass hay. After unloading the alfalfa at home it was decided that I should return and buy a ton of the grass. Upon my second return with the grass we decided that the grass was such a great deal that we would like more. We made a call and ended up reserving the remaining five tons. However, we had to wait to pick up the hay until after state fair.

Enjoying some of our new grass hay.

So yesterday was the day we finally went to pick up our coveted hay. We left bright and early, got the first ton and returned to unload. Shortly after we started unloading the first ton our friend and her son arrived with their truck to help. With four people working the unloading and stacking went a lot faster. Having two trucks bringing loads of hay in made the processes move in a quick steady stream. As soon as one truck was empty it left to pick up its next load and returned just about the time the other truck was empty. We managed to bring in five tons of hay in less than four hours. We are very thankful for our friends who came to help.

The last ton.

It is such a relief to have this hay in the barn. We estimate this will last us until January right before we start lambing. We are just one step closer to being ready for winter.

Blackberry Jam and Other Little Things

With summer comes the sweet moments, creating memories that forever reside with a person. Those little things we take for granted that not every person on the planet gets to experience. Here in my little spot in the world a few things that I have come to associate with the summer months include: making jam, fairs, sheep shows, bales of hay, and warm days followed by cool evenings. Unique and special to me, these particular things may be relate-able for some but foreign or unmemorable to others.

But as the days creep by with slowly are beginning to advance toward fall. If you look close you can see the signs. The cut hay being baled and stacked, prepared to be stored for the winter in some farmers barn to feed his livestock. The fields have lost the lusty green and have turned to golden brown. The neighbor bringing over freshly cut wood to be stacked for the winter. As for the sheep, the ewes are being prepped for breeding and the rams are becoming restless.

All is falling into place and flowing into shorter days. Upon the horizon lies days when the fire will blaze in the stove and sweaters will be brought out from their drawers.

Snow Day

It is cold, it is very cold in fact. Now if you are from somewhere where is often really cold and it snows all the time you will laugh and say "That's not snow" or "You think this is cold?" I understand but when you are use to rain and temperatures around 40 or 50 degrees in winter you might agree that this is cold for us.

Elinor

Yesterday morning we woke to no snow it was cold as it has been for several days so nothing seemed unusual. School was scheduled for a 2 hour delay since the foot hills did have some snow and roads were icy. Within an hour though the snow began to fall at a steady rate and started to pile up, school became canceled and thus the snow day began.

Ruth & Zora

The snow does not concern the sheep in the least. It does make finding the grass a bit difficult so they use their noses like plows and snuffle through the snow in search of the green grass below. This makes their appearance rather amusing since the snow sticks to the wool on their faces. They almost look like they have snow beards.

Elinor

The falling snow leaves a thin blanket of snow on their backs and the tips of their fleeces freeze. However the snow and ice don't reach far into their fleeces, leaving them toasty and warm.

Esther

The snow we currently have is a nice dry powder. Unlike the wet sticky snow we typically get in the valley when it snows. However it does have it inconveniences. Though the water pipes haven't frozen the hose did freeze meaning having to haul water to the barn and field. As I went out last night to water and feed I found that with the help of the wind we had yesterday the snow had blown into the barn leaving an inch of snow on the floor and a good amount on the hay.

The snow has stayed overnight and it looks like it will be staying awhile longer and in fact that we might get more. Lucky for us we have a good supply of hot cocoa in the house and a fresh supply of hay  in the barn for the sheep.

Free Shipping

 

Get ahead on your holiday shopping and receive free shipping in our etsy shop this weekend when you use the coupon code: FREE4SHIPPING

Spring Days

 

   

                                                                                  

                                        

Drowning in Wool

About five years ago my flock of sheep was small in numbers consisting of two natural colored Romneys. Of course I ended up expanding I earned the Oregon Romney Breeds Association's Starter flock and was given a small flock of Dorsets. Since then the flock has continued to grow and with the growing numbers fleece production has also gone up.

The original plan was to shear in November,that never happened. Yesterday finally all thirty-three sheep that needed to be shorn got shorn. Shearing went a bit faster because we had two shearers. Wool was coming off so fast I hardly had a chance to take pictures or bag up one fleece before another needed bagging.

The only picture of shearing I got.

Our house is now filled with fleeces, and I mean wall to wall fleeces. One unfortunate fact about shearing in November in the Willamette Valley is the rain. The day before we have to bring all the sheep being shorn into the barn so that they might dry off a little. But really how much can a wet sheep dry after being outside in the rain for days upon days. Dry fleeces are easier for the shearing to shear and it also is easier for us to store. Most of our fleeces are not dry we are madly trying to dry and skirt fleeces.

Merry Christmas?

There are fleeces spread on sheets throughout the house in attempts for them to start drying as they wait in line to be skirted. Fleeces that are already dry because the sheep was in the barn for a longer time get put at the end of this line. Having fleeces lying on the floor can be fun and a big inconvenience. For instance walking across and dry fleece in bare feet is soft and squishy that is until you step on a wet spot or a piece of poky vegetable matter. But then you can't always walk where you need to go and did I mention the lanolin makes the dining room floor slippery. My mom says we need a wool house and a lot of skirting tables.

Sorting wool by color.

I am very excited for all of you to see some of the gorgeous fleeces we have this year.I want to play with some so bad!

 Also this coming year we are having a bunch of Dorset products made that include: roving both white and natural colored, white and natural colored yarn, and felt. To get a chance to play with our Moorit (brown) Dorset roving join our 2013 Dorset Roving CSA.

All CSAs for this coming year are now available.

A Day at the Mill

Have you ever wondered how woolen mills make the wonderful products we sell in our shop?  A few weeks ago I got the first hand experience.

The ladies at Creekside Fiber Mill in Lebanon, OR ,where we take our wool to be processed, kindly invited me to come to the mill and work all the machinery myself and get to see how the process is done.

It was requested that we wash the fleece and dry it ourselves so we would be able to get through the process. Of course the mill usually does this step for us. We picked Emma's fleece from this year and washed it in our washing machine. Once it was dry we were all ready for the mill.

The first step was to run the wool through the picker. This step loosened the fiber from its lock form. This way when the wool went through the carder it was more even.

You can't tell but the picker actually goes very fast.



Spreading wool on the conveyor belt

 







The picker really made the wool fluffy



It was really hard to make it all fit in this one tub



In the next step I evenly spread the wool on the conveyor belt of the carder. Everything went through the carder once. Then I weighed out 5 oz balls of carded wool. On the conveyor belt there were evenly spaced lines. Between each line I place 4 of these five oz balls. This made sure that the roving would end up even with less of a chance of having thin or super thick spots.

Weighing out 5oz



Going through a second time

 

Now as the wool went through a second time I had to feed it into another contraption that made it start to look like roving. As each tub filled I had to take a sample piece measuring a yards length and weigh it.

Through this hole..

..Then this one

Using the hook to pull it through

At first I had to help it a little

All set up !!

Measuring

 The next step and machine was the pin drafter. The pin drafter is the machine that made the final roving, so for all of you who buy our roving this is the last step that fiber goes through. This had to be my least favorite step.
First we took the wool that had just been carded that was now in about five and took each strand and ran it over rollers in the back. Then all five pieces had to be run through the center of the machine till it came out the other side. Then I had to run it through the bottom where it came out and filled yet another tub. Once it was all set up we let the machine start. I had to use a little hook to clean off the roller because sometimes the fibers would stick to the roller and sit in behind the roller. I also poured baby powder on the roller, this also helped to prevent the fibers from sticking.
The wool kept breaking a lot but thankfully Larene, one of the ladies who runs the mill, was there to fix it for me.

The tubs at the back

 

Sending the wool through the back of the pin drafter

And now through the front

I used a LOT of baby powder

Using the little hook to clean off the roller

 The next step was the actual spinning. We set the tubs of the finished roving behind the machine and ran the roving over a bar to the front of the machine. The roving had to be run under several rollers. Like with spinning on a wheel or a spindle there was a lead piece of yarn already tide to the bobbin. After hooking this lead piece of yarn and turning the machine on I had to catch the fibers onto the lead piece of yarn.

Running the roving under the first roller

 

Catching the yarn to the roving

Finally all spinning!!

Once all the spindles were spinning we were able just to leave it be. It took several hours for this whole process so while we were waiting we went and had lunch. When we got back almost all the roving was spun and I was able to start plying.


Spinning Away

Plying was very simple and very much like spinning. I ran the each strand of yarn through a metal loop. Then both strands of yarn were ran under a roller through another loop and finally I wrapped the two strands of yarn around the bobbin. After doing that it was ready to ply.

Setting it all up

Wrapping the yarn around the bobbin

All set up and in the process of plying

The very last step was to wind the yarn into skiens. The skien winder was set to how many yards we wanted in a skien. When it reached that amount of yards it stopped. Then I would cut the yarn, wrap the ends around the skien and take take the skien off.



Tying the yarn to the skien winder

Round and round it goes

 The final result was 16 full 200yd skiens 2 really small skiens and 1 barber pole skien. The barber pole skien was some unknown black yarn the was left on a bobbin and the remaining yarn on my bobbin. This whole process took about 7-8 hours

The Final Product

 I want to thank the ladies at Creekside Fiber Mill for letting me have this amazing opportunity. Also thanks to my mom who was my photographer for the whole day.