Sheep Are Mean

We got a new sheep.  I know, we really didn't need another sheep but this turned out to be a nice trade for us.  This is how it happened.  I was helping at a friend's shearing;  I was doing the skirting of fleeces for her, my favorite job.  I complemented her on a particularly fleece I had just skirted; a very fine fleece with lovely tiny crimp toward the neck and shoulder and a beautiful dark, dark brown color. She reported that she hated this sheep and was thinking of doing her in.  This was too nice a fleece, I just could not see letting this poor critter go, no matter how "bad" the sheep was.  Apparently she had been for sale but nobody had acted on it.  So to prevent loosing this wonderfully fleeced girl we worked out a nice deal, a sheep trade, as she had met a sheep she liked on our farm.  What a deal, and really no net increase in sheep numbers for us;  totally justified.

Meet Lietzel

So this little gal is a yearling and her name is Lietzel (Valkyries Lietzel).  We brought her home yesterday and introduced her to little Hailey, a Shetland of the same age.   They were good together for a bit but then Hailey just couldn't help herself and had to do some head butts with her.  Lietzel held her own though.  So that after about an hour, I released her and Hailey so they could go out with all the rest to the pasture and graze in the sun.  Lietzel then proceeded to check out her new surroundings, the barn, the pasture, the grass, the fences, the other sheep.  She ran around checking out each sheep and then yelling.  It was as if she did not recognize anyone!  Where were all her old buddies?  They were all a bunch of strangers to her.  I felt a bit sorry for her so talked to her throughout the day.  By evening I spotted her introducing herself to the rooster.  She took a couple happy little "hoppers" , as I call them, toward the rooster and chased him away.  It wasn't all bad for her.

Lietzel wants her old friends back

 This morning though, the others would not let her eat.  Of course after getting pummeled in the side and rear a few times over the past 24 hours, she is a bit hesitant and is acting very timid.  That does not help in the sheep world.  Act like that and you are sure to get beat on.  They go after the weak, just like kids.  An opportunity to look good, I guess.  Sheep can be so mean.  Poor Leitzel, I am sure after a few days she will adjust.  Just the new kid on the block.

Ninki and Aurora checking out this new girl.

When a tree falls in the forest...

...does anybody hear?  Apparently not.  This huge old gal fell down last weekend; just pulled up from the roots.  It happened down in our lower pasture.  It was just over the fence in our neighbors back yard and it crashed down on our fence and laid down across our pasture.  None of the neighbors close by heard it fall.  Amazing.   I estimate it to be about 6 feet around and 100 feet tall, maybe 300 years old.  It is a black oak tree.  We are in contact with Urban Lumber Co and hope they can somehow cart it out when it dries out in the summer and then use the trunk for something special.  I would guess it is beautiful wood.  Meanwhile we have lots of work cutting up firewood and clearing the brush (not to mention fixing our fence).  Lots of warmth there.  Our neighbors' old handyman says wood warms you 3 times, once when you cut it up, once when you split it and a third time when you burn it. 

I don't think our chainsaw can get through this

lots of firewood here

you can see our smashed fence

         If we don't get it out I suppose it will be a great play structure for the sheep!

Feeding Time

This time of year, with all it's darkness, it's hard to find things to get excited about.  The cold fog, no snow for skiing, a bare vegetable garden....but then there is feeding time.  Our little furry friends get very excited about  these two times of day;  I guess they are a lot like us in many ways.  The sheep get a breakfast and a dinner, really they are the same food, just different times of day, but don't tell them.  As much of a "chore" it is to put on the clothes and scuffle out there, I do enjoy it once I am there.  Not only am I met with excited faces, but it is a great time to fondle the fleece!  Shearing time is getting closer!

  
      Here are a few shots from this mornings feeding.

Lots of room to eat but this feeder has the best hay!

Tom, the handy feeder builder, built these fine feeders.  The sheep find them very agreeable.

The banties happy with the same ol' scratch

Pele, the guard llama, gets his portion.

Strudel looking silly with breakfast on her head

Growing Up

Look,  it's little Rikki.  Isn't she getting big!  Don't know if you remember, but she is our Gotland X sheep and was out of quads this past spring and was our first bottle baby.  Hard to believe that less than a year ago she was bouncing around the house in diapers.  I don't think she remembers those days but she is still as friendly as ever and even went chasing after Clancy dog the other day.  Maybe she remembers sharing her bed with him.  She is quite a sweetie along with her two other siblings. Those Gottie sheep are pretty dam sweet.

Here is Rikki next to Sushi and Tsunami, her two sisters.  It is so amazing that we got those colors all out of one batch.  Rikki is turning grey under those spots, but Sushi is still white and Tsunami a dark brown.  It remains to be seen whether Tsunami and Sushi will remain that color or turn the typical Gotland grey like Rikki.  I am hopeful the colors will remain as they are.

Here is Rikki next to the yarn I spun from her first shearing.  I couldn't wait, her lamb fleece was so enticing I shore her early.  It was a bit short but I beat the yarn plenty so it would felt a bit and not fall apart.  It is a very soft, fuzzy yarn.  As you can see, Rikki didn't think too much of it.  Oh well, I like it. 

Fall Leaves and Scaling Back

Had one nice day for a hike in the woods

Had to go to Vermont to realize fall is upon us;  the weather here was too nice to notice.   We spent a lovely 5 nights in that beautiful state, much too short for a trip that far.  The weather was a bit wet but we did have one nice day for a little hike.  We stayed at a wonderful inn, the Huntington House, in the little town of Rochester.  Unfortunately the area was hit hard by hurricane Irene just weeks before and they were still in shock and still recovering.  While there we learned how the town, cut off from the outside world for 5 days and without electricity, pooled their resources and worked together to do what needed to be done.  Many of the towns folk we talked with told us a similar story of the whole village working together as a team.  It was heartening.  There were several families still living at the Inn as their homes had been destroyed.  We did view lots of destruction as little creeks had turned into raging torrents.

In the town of Rochester, Vt.

We were in Vermont, not only for a bit of a vacation, but to also attend the NASSA AGM which was held in conjunction with the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival.   The AGM was put on by Linda and Tut Doane, the first to import the Shetland sheep into the US.  I really wanted to go back there to get a better understanding of what the sheep were like, the sheep of the original importation.  Linda put on a great presentation (as well as a wonderful meal).  Many of her observations of the sheep over the years confirmed my understandings.  Her concerns for their future also match mine.   It was very Solidifying.  And we did get to see some pictures of the original sheep.  The big disappointment was that time did not allow us to visit their farm.  I guess we will have to return.

Miss Katrina getting dolled up for her "man"

On our return trip we began planning what we had been procrastinating on, breeding.  Not us, no the sheep!  As Tom has begun his new career and is a busy beaver in the wood shop and I feel I have stepped into the full time roll of cook, house cleaner, farmer, grounds keeper and Shepperd as well as holding down my other job outside the home, we have decided to simplify whatever we can to make things around the farm a bit easier.  So this year there will be a limited supply of McTavish Farm Shetland lambs.  If you might be interested, we are breeding just 3 of our best ewes and rams.  It is a big cut back from the 9 we bred last year.  I am looking forward to a very easy and enjoyable lambing season this spring! 

Oh and one other thing.  While we were in Vermont we were able to personally deliver two of Tom's spinning wheels.  It was a bit stressful, unpacking them, making sure they were in complete working order and getting them to their new owners at a "pouring down rain" sheep festival.  But it all came together and the new owners seemed very pleased.   Check out these blogs:  http://thewoolenrabbit.typepad.com/  and http://etherknitter.typepad.com/  to read about their excitement.   There are some very nice pictures and humorous accounts of the "delivery".   This may be another reason we head east in the future.

What's Happening....

Oh so much is happening that I really haven't had time to write.  The garden exploding, the fruit trees dropping their precious cargo, sheep shows, future travel all keeping us running at full speed.   So here is an attempt to catch up in a quick way.

One of our little hen chickens finally found a very special place to hatch out a bunch of chicks.  A place out of the way of the farmer who searches out eggs to keep this very event from happening.  She disappeared for a few weeks;  we thought she had been eaten.  But no.  I got a call from hubby while I was at work.  He was in a desperate panic as to what to do with all these babies that were spreading around the pasture as the sheep were all trying to get a better look at these little bitty beings.  He was successful at chicken rounding and now they have a safe corner of the barn and are growing....all 13 of them!!!!

Momma trying to hide her little ones from me.

Let me know if you need any chickens.

Check out the nice little ditty done by Michele Ranard about McTavish Farm on her blog Hello Lovely.
http://hellolovelyinc.blogspot.com/  It's very sweet.

Also if you missed it,  Natalie Kilkenny did a great job interviewing us a few weeks ago about sheep and wheels.  Scroll down to episode 32 to hear about us.  http://nkilkenny.libsyn.com/  You have to download the podcast to hear it.

This past weekend was the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival.  We were originally not going to bring any sheep, but then at the last minute decided we should bring just three, an abbreviated McTavish Farm Sheep team.  It turned out to be very busy, lots of people to talk to and lots to see.  The sheep, Ninkasi, Miso and Rudy had a good time training passerbys to pet them in just the right place. 
Of course I need to toot my own horn a bit.  I entered my felt vest in the fiber arts show.  I have never had a piece worthy enough to win an award so I wasn't expecting much.  But hey, I got a Judge's Choice award for best felted item and she wanted me to make one for her!  They unfortunately forgot to put my champion ribbon on the vest during the show, so I was a bit disappointed others didn't see.  So to make up for it, here is the finished vest with ribbon and all.

vest with "champion" ribbon

close up of horn button

So now we are madly packing for our Vermont trip.  Heading to the Vermont Sheep and Wool Festival.   Will have more to write about that on our return.

Fences again.....

     It seems we are always redoing fences or mostly just adding to them.  Just when you think you have the perfect set up there can always be a better way.  In looking at our ram area we could see some potential pitfalls including one length of funky electric netting super entangled in weeds.  Not so secure if the electricity goes out and some ram gets smart.  In hopes of making our trip this fall (a.k.a. breeding season) and leaving the farm to our sitter, we thought we should look close at our ram area and this particular length of fence.  See, they sense when you are away.  They will make escape plans and break out just as you are the farthest away from the farm.  They would love to break in with the girls and have a big ol' party.  So to thrwart their plans we decided we needed to replace this section of fence.
     Most Shetland breeders we know, us included, house rams in separate quarters from the ewes for a couple reasons.  Firstly in order to register lambs with NASSA (North American Shetland Sheepbreeders Assoc.), we need to know who the sire is.  Secondly, as we like to spend time with our babes and ewes, petting and the like, having a ram in with them can be a bit dangerous;  just look at those horns!  So our rams are kept at opposite ends of the property, with many fences between them.  So far we've only had one escape (of course while we were away;  you can get the full story from our neighbors) but no reprocussions (that would be lambs).   We'd like to keep it at that.
    Once we decided we needed another fence (or maybe it was just me) the question was, who will build it. Tom, the fiscally prudent one of the family as well as the talented builder/fix-it/handy dandy repair man, usually does the deed. I had some hope in my mind that he might decline this job, as much as I like his fences, he just doesn't have the time lately to actually finish something like that. Tom, on the other hand, is Mr. optomist and, not really being all that in touch with his calendar, is usually inclined to say yes.   So when I broached the subject with him, my fingers and toes crossed,  I was pleasantly surprized to hear "how about Greenhill Fence Co.". YES! 

   
     I called them and within in a week they had a new ram fence built and ready for use.  Now our rams are happily (at least in our opinion) contained in their ram area.  They can loaf around on the hillside and look out yonder in the far distance at the girls.  If they try to escape, they will have to really work at it.  And this Fall we will leave the farm to our sitter with no worries and no middle of the night phone calls.  Cross you fingers!

Our boys behind their new fence "girl watching" from afar.