Labor Day

There is no rest from labor on the farm. If I'm not taking care of animals I am making things to support them. This week has been very productive. I got one 50 pound run of dyed wool, mohair, and angora out to the carding mill and am almost ready to ship another run almost as big. It's not fun stirring boiling dye pots when it's almost 100 degrees but it had to get done before school and shows start. I'm cutting up 90 pounds of soap today and boiling one more pot of wool and another of some llama I found in the tractor shed. It dries so fast in this weather I can't resist just one more pot. I like to dye wool in the winter as the kitties hug the stove for warmth, but not this week. They fled the milk room where my dye stove is. I'm keeping the piggies cool with buckets of cold water thrown onto the ground in their wallowing spot, and cool pans of slop along with their sweet feed. The ducks love their daily hose shower. Next year I'm going to put a little sprinkler in their pen. The sheep, some in full fleece, seem to be taking the heat in stride. During the day they lie on the cool hay/poop pack on the floor of the barn. I'm watering them twice as much in this weather. Luckily we have limitless water here in Brookfield. The underground springs coming down the hill are going constantly, and so are my hoses.