Black Sheep Day 1

Today was the first official day of The Black Sheep Gathering. It was a relaxed day, no shows for us so we watched other shows, looked around at the other vendors, and chatted with people who stopped to admire of farm booth. We have met lots of new people and even got to see some friendly faces from other fiber events.

A Blurry Picture Of Our Farm Booth

Tomorrow is when the showing starts. I will be showing Ruth in the natural colored Romney open show and Bonnie and Smokey will also be shown. Everyone who doesn't get shown tomorrow will be shown on Sunday in the Jr. show.


A Little Photo Display I Put Together

The sheep that have gone to shows before are adjusting into their show modes. This may sound silly but they really do act differently at shows. For example my two yearling ewes that I brought were not at all impressed with the pre-show clipping and getting caught. They would run around and around their pen trying to avoid being caught. Now that they are at the show the are calm and cool they come up to the fence, say hello to the passersby and are more then willing to be petted. Jefferson also enjoys the attention though he gets tired with the ordeal and retreats to the back of the pen.

Ruth & Esther Relaxing

For all the lambs, only one has been to a show before and a really low key one at that, they are learning the ropes. Bonnie knows a little of what to expect having gone to the Lamb and Wool Fair in May. Smokey doesn't have a clue but is more then content to snooze in his pen chewing his cud. Jane also has no clue in fact I had just pulled her off the field to sub in for another lamb. Jane was behind line of subs, the first original ewe lamb we felt wasn't in the best condition and needed some extra feed the next to lambs both were sick and couldn't go. So now little Jane has to learn to walk on a halter and show walk at this show.

I think I disturbed Jane & Bonnie's Nap

Smokey Boy

We very much appreciate all the support we get from everyone who turns out to these events as well as our online supporters. Thank You!

Jefferson Isn't Sure He Likes His Picture Being Taken

Preparations

So how many of you are ready to enjoy summer? Well ,we are!! I just got off school last Friday and  already am jumping into the swing of the show. 

The house and barn are currently a buzz of activity. Why? This weekend is our first big event; The Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene,Oregon. We will be taking 6 sheep up to be shown, and we will also have a farm booth selling our fiber products. I'm really excited to be able to have a farm booth right next to my sheep like we do a OFFF (Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival).

 So as is expected we are busy. I have redesigned our business cards and yarn labels for a fresh new look. 

New Yarn Labels in the Making

In the kitchen I have set up a table where I'm trying to figure out just how I want to display things. We have some new colors dyed and we are hoping to be able to prepare some of our little sheep Christmas ornaments too.

Practice Set Up

In the barn the sheep going to the show are being prepared for show getting special wool-cuts to show off their gorgeous fleeces. They are also getting practiced with so they we will be able to behave themselves in the show ring.

Freshly Dyed Yarn

I hope many of you will be able to come and visit with us and our sheep.

Scio Lamb & Wool Fair

Last weekend we were very busy with our towns annual fair. The Lamb and Wool Fair was first held in 1935 and was known as the Fat Lamb Show. The purpose was to promote the sheep and wool business of our part of the Willamette Valley.

Pen of Three- Zora, Amaya, and Dawn (the triplets)

For us, the Scio Lamb and wool fair kicks off show season . On Sunday there is a lamb show and it is great practice for the lambs as well as a warm up for me so I can get back into the grove of showing again. In the past years we have had a booth, Saturday selling our products but this year we felt like taking a break.

Rule #1 Of sheep shows, I get biscuits and gravy the morning of the show.

Rule #2 Of sheep shows, I get some sort of ice cream after the show.

Zora, Amaya, Dawn, and Bonnie; who all don't want to be shown

Our First big show will be the Black Sheep Gathering in Eugene, OR, June 22-24 . We will have a farm booth as well as be showing our sheep. So if you are planning on going you should stop by to visit with us and our sheep.

Easter

Happy Easter all! We enjoyed a sunny warm Easter Sunday which we all enjoyed. Hope everyone had a safe and enjoyable Easter. He is Risen!

John 10:27 My sheep listen to my voice; I know them, and they follow me. (NIV)

Snow Days in March?

It is finally spring so can someone explain to me why it looks like a Christmas card outside.

This is the second day of snow for us, talk about record breaking weather. We hardly ever have this much snow in the first place but add the fact that it is March this much snow is unheard of! So we get an early spring break.

The sheep are not in the least bit impressed they were already soggy muddy messes from the rain and mud but add snow to everything, the poor things are misreable and its impossible to keep the barn clean and dry for them.

But some happy news,yesterday Annabeth had a big ram lamb! That leaves Sugar Foot as the last ewe to lamb like last year.

The new arrival

Someone is enjoying the snow.

Emma Bear

We are very happy to announce that Emma has given birth to a big ewe lamb this afternoon. We again have been having a very long spell with no lambs being born. It was thrilling to finally have a lamb born.



Emma and her new baby



Emma is a very special little ewe, I got her as a bummer lamb two years ago from a long time Romney breeder. As a lamb she got pneumonia and so when she gets stressed she starts coughing for that reason she didn't go to many sheep shows but she still is one of the friendlist sheep in the flock.



Even though it has been two years since she was on a bottle she still believes that the bottle is for her and will actually drink from the bottle if you let her.

Emma's fleece currently being sold in our Etsy shop.

Emma's fleece is very impressive it grows incredibaly fast so her staple length often is around six inches. She produces very heavy fleeces with gorgous crimp. Her wooliness is what got her the nickname of Emma Bear.



Emma as a baby



We are looking forward to seeing how her lamb grows out and if she has a gorgous fleece like her momma.

Out Into The Big World

Today started off as any normal day, a lazy morning involving feeding the sheep and lallygagging around the house. But we had other plans for the day that were a bit more productive. Today the lambs and their moms got to go into the big wide world.

Now whose idea was it to leave Dolly with all the lambs?

The older lambs got shots and all the ewes got dewormed. When we opened up the gates all the ewes rushed out, even if they were forgetting their lambs.

the cat slept through all the commotion

There was so much commotion of ewes searching for lambs and lambs searching for their moms that the whole farm was in upset. One little lamb got so upset that he went through the fence and was running through the yard. it took us a while but we managed to corner him and take him to his mom. Then we realised the ewe he was trying to follow and who was calling to him wasn't even his mom!

One of Autumns lambs, Charlie, didn't want to get his hooves muddy so she kept having to come back to the barn to try to get him to come out.

 We are also happy to report that Dolly has learned to count this year! Last year she could never keep track of her lambs and was always leaving them behind. This year she can count up to two but no matter how bossy she is she just can't get them out of the barn at all. For the time being she has given up and is residing

 in the barn.

In the end we had to take a couple of the lambs out to their moms but now things are begining to return to normal. While the lambs are more than happy to romp around in the rain.

Lambs...Lambs...Lambs

It seems we waited forever for Calla & Mauds lambs to arrive. Both ewes we due on Valentines Day, but much to our disappointment, the day came and went with no new lambs. The next four days seemed to stretch on forever as we diligently checked them.








Finally we were rewarded by the arrival of Calla's twin ewe lambs at 6:30 am on Saturday morning.

Mauds little fellow arrived at 11:30 pm Saturday night. Already at only 12 hours old, he keeps himself busy toddling around his pen when he is not napping.

Calla's lambs aren't as active. They spend most of their time snuggling with each other & their mama.

As you notice, Calla & Maud are white ewes with colored lambs. Calla is a Romney & Maud is a Dorset. Both ewes are what we refer to as B-factored. Simply stated, this means they are white sheep that carry the recessive black gene. We bred Calla to a natural colored (black) Romney Ram & Maud was bred to a natural colored (black) Dorset Ram. By doing this the odds were that we would have 50% lambs colored like their mothers (B-factored) and 50% natural colored like their fathers. What we got was 100% natural colored lambs!

This week we'll be waiting for Floss, Annabeth, & Emma to lamb... the fun continues!

Little Lambs

We have been extremely busy as lambing season has come upon us. Dolly had triplets yesterday though sadly one was dead when we got home. This morning one of our meat sheep had lambs and this evening Autumn had two big boys.

Flooding

The snow that we had a few days ago didn't last, in fact, it warmed up very fast. Not such a great thing. The rain has hit hard, snow from the mountains has melted, and our little town of Scio is flooded.

Last night was spent in town preparing for the flood, that at the time, might happen. We went into work this morning. Water crossed the roads in many spots and we had to wait for cars to pass in order to go around logs, but all together, not too bad. Town was bustling with sandbags being delivered and people being evacuated.

Surrounding towns are also suffering and all ways out of town are closed, except the highway. We knew that we had to get home. We had to go around our normal route because our road was closed.

Here at the farm we are doing ok. You wouldn't know it on any other day, but we are a bit higher up than some of our neighbors. We just have lots of puddles -- not much different from when it rains heavy without flooding. Please keep us and our little town in your prayers.

(top) the street between the feed store and the lamb show pavillion

(bottom) the bridge at the center of to

(top) Gilkey Bridge (bottom) a close up shot of the water going under Gilkey, also the space the other side of the tracks is a corn field in the summer

(top) a neighbors field across the road (bottom) part of our field you can

see the difference

Snow Sheep

Yesterday was a busy day here on the farm. It was shearing day...WHAT?!?! You're shearing in January! Are you crazy? It may sound crazy, but there is some logic behind it. We shear our sheep every January right before lambing season hits since a full fleece on a ewe can cause some problems, which shearing can help with. When lambs are born, they don't have a 4 inch fleece on them to keep warm, so if the mother has no fleece, she can feel the cold the baby lamb feels and will take it to shelter. Sometimes lambs get confused and suck on locks of wool when they try to get milk. Shearing also lets us, as the shepherd, to keep an eye on the ewes to see how close they are to lambing. And finally, taking the wool off also lets the younger sheep have a chance to grow.

Now our house is over-run by fleeces, and we are slowly making our way through skirting the fleeces. We had to keep part of our flock inside the barn, because we ran out of blankets that fit everyone. It is too cold out for them to not be wearing coats, because as soon as shearing was over the snow hit as the forecast said it would.

Happy St. Distaff's Day!

January 7th, St Distaff's Day, it isn't a well known date and in truth it isn't even really a holiday. In days gone by it was the day after the feast of epiphany,the first free day after the 12 days of Christmas. It was the day everyone got back to their normal schedule after all the festivities. The distaff was the tool used to hold the fibers being spun to keep it out of the way. In the middle ages all classes of women spun, it was a task that was done after the days chores were done or was taken to a friends house and done while they visited, this of course was before the spinning wheel was invented. But on St. Distaffs day there was some fun mixed in with the work. The men did not return to there ploughs till after plough Monday, when the ploughs had been blessed. So often the men played pranks on the women, lighting flax on fire and the women in return soaking the men with water.

"St. Distaff’s Day; or, the Morrow After Twelfth Day” by Robert Herrick

Partly worke and partly play
Ye must on St. Distaffs Day:
From the Plough soon free your team;
Then come home and fother them:
If the Maides a-spinning goe,
Burne the flax, and fire the tow:
Scorch their plackets, but beware
That ye singe no maidenhair.
Bring in pailes of water then,
Let the Maides bewash the men.
Give St. Distaffe all the right,
Then bid Christmas sport good-night,
And next morrow every one
To his own vocation.

Though it may not be widely recognized we would like to honor it, even though most of us have probably already gone back to our normal lives. From Jan.7th- 9th we will be having a sale use the coupon code: DISTAFFDAY to receive 10% off your entire purchase from our shop.