Snowy and Spikey

Went to the market to do shopping for the classroom - and me - with a stop at TS for goat minerals and various things.  I love to shop in Norwich because I frequently see my peeps from school supporting the local economy along with me.  By the time I got on the road heading home it was snowing.  Really snowing.  I was reminded how uncomfortable it is to negotiate winding country roads in the dark.  Pulling in the farm lane I was greeted by Reba, who was jumping with joy to see me.  Matt was home working on the barn door today but the dogs were still frantic about their mama.  Got the groceries in and a bit of dinner together before chores.  We brought Knut in the barn to hang out with Thor and the sheep.  Finn, the spoiled baby of  the three White Boys, is sleeping by the wood stove in the house.  The ducks are inside the barn and so are the sheep and goats.  Everyone is acting like this first snow is a blizzard.  I had some excitement tonight when I noticed that little Spikey, the adorable but runty Nubian buck, had escaped from his run and was cavorting with one of my lovely black angora does - a nightmare scenario as a mating with her would result in goats that would be good for neither mohair nor milk.  It took me a half hour in a semi-bent position (the barn floor is rather high due to the manure pack) chasing the entire flock around in an effort to capture Spikey and put him back in his pen.  His little ankle slipped right through my leg crook several times.  I decided to try a pan of corn and that did the trick, but I had him by the tiny horns and couldn't let go or I would lose him and he would be back mounting my gorgeous black angora girl.  I called for Matt who held him while I slipped a halter on him.  I asked Matt to kill him for me so I could feed him to the dogs, but he said no.  The Nubian girls don't want him as he is half their size and they hate him.  The smaller angoras think he is adorable and would give it up to him any time.  My plan for producing goat milk to feed to bottle lambs instead of expensive milk replacer is slipping away.  I'll have lambs in March but I can't even get the Nubians bred.  Maybe I can trade Spikey, who is adorable, for a big, bad ass Nubian buck who will make Fancy and Matilda melt.  Easier said than done. 

Lovely

The weather yesterday was lovely.  Sunny and breezy weather is perfect for drying fiber.  I was shopping in New Hartford and couldn't wait to get home and spread out the chartreuse mohair that was in the washing machine tub.  With the days so short now it didn't get completely dry, and I'll have to figure out where to spread it out inside as today's weather took a turn toward winter.  The kitties love when I put fiber out on the rack.  They jump up and rub their faces against my hands as I pull the locks apart.  I'm going to send this fiber out to be spun into yarn.  I'm phasing out of the roving process.  I have way too much wool and mohair to spin myself.  I'm years behind on spinning the roving I have stored here.  I've been a hand spun snob forever, and it will be an adjustment, but I'll get used to it.  Roving is hard to display in a booth and takes lots of room to transport.   I will always have a hand spun basket in my booth, but now I'll have mill spun, too.  It will still be my Mother Fiber, from happy sheep who are not raised for meat and who never, ever endure the horrors of an auction.  Now to decide which mill to use.  Any suggestions?

Buttoned Up

With winter closing in we need to get the barn ready.  This building becomes our entire world during this season.  Windows that were taken out to allow more ventilation are put back in, if we have those windows, that is.  If we don't, we nail sheets of plastic over the openings....anything to keep the cold winds out.  A barn can't be too tightly closed up or the sheep get sick.  I don't have to worry about that.  This classy old barn is huge - 240 feet long and 40 feet wide - and has many "holes" for air to get in.  The animals are out of the wind and are dry but it still gets very, very cold.    The sheep are still grazing and will continue to do so until the snow over the grass is too deep.  Once the drifts are so high that they can't get to the grass we start forking hay twice a day.  That requires climbing ladders to the hay mow where the round bales are.  We've already started forking in the evening.  Matt is working on fixing the giant sliding East End door.  The wooden slats on the door have long been bashed and broken by sheep herding in and out.  He's going to build a small door within the door so the big door can be closed but the sheep will have an opening to get in and out of.  Sheep like to eat snow and I want them to be able to go out and get some sunshine on nice days.  The concrete slab at the far end has to be cleaned off before Matt can work on the door.  Mud slides down the hill and settles in front of the door.  The slab was put there for cows and I'm glad to have it.  The land directly in back of the barn is marshy - future pond site? - and the slab keeps the flock's feet dry.  We'll get through winter, we always do, but it's a lot of work.  All water has to be toted out of the milk house and poured into hanging buckets.  I've tried various ways to keep the flock watered.  Giving them all the water they need twice a day works best.  There is no bulk tank to get dirty or pooped in, or for lambs to drown in. When sheep are on hay they are much thirstier than when they are grazing on juicy green grass.  The milk house drain will freeze and I won't be able to wash my wool in there until spring.  The bunnies will be switched to aluminum bowls instead of bottles.  I can bang the ice out of the bowls a lot easier than defrosting bottles.  The bunners need water twice a day, before work and in the evening.  No need for trips to the gym here, just yoga every day while my bath is filling up, to keep these old muscles from pulls and spasms.   Then there will be lambing come March.  Am I nuts?  I don't know.  I think I have one or two more lambing seasons in me.  A shepherd with no lambs?  Nah, don't think so. Just wouldn't be right.

Cabbages

I was flying along the road to Utica this morning when I saw a wagon full of cabbages.  I turned around and went back to check it out.  The farmer's wife was selling cabbages, brussel sprouts, squash and potatoes.  I adore cabbage.  I'm famous in my school for the cabbage soup I used to make for a certain student to keep him coming back to school.  Cabbage is very, very good for you.  It keeps colds and viruses away and tastes delicious.  Sadly, spouse hates cabbage soup.  He calls it Russian Prison Soup, after the books he read by Alexander Solzinitzen.  Whatever.  I bought 20 of the big, beautiful cabbages and three brussel sprout trees.  I gave two cabbages to my chickens who feel the same way about cabbages as I do.  I figure they will thank me with delicious eggs.

Family

Annie said she was coming to pick up her van but I didn't believe her at first.  She had been in Maryland for ten days sitting with her sick father and I didn't think she really wanted to get back on the highway again.  Her VW Westphalia camper had broken down when she and Hannah picked up Luke from the farm last summer.  She got two miles away and had to hike back to the farm.  They got back to Maine in a rented car and the camper was towed to a guy who knows how to fix them in Marcy.  The camper has no heat and they had to get it back to Maine before the weather got bad.  They arrived Saturday night and we had a big dinner of Luke's favorite baked beans, marshmallow yams, roast ham, fresh pork roast and corn.  For Hannah's sake I had nothing green what so ever.  Hannah hates green leafy food.  We chatted and got caught up on each other's news.  I don't see enough of my Eric, as he is very busy heading up the Pine Tree Council in Portland, Maine.  He has been wildly successful in revitalizing the district and I'm so happy for him.  Sunday morning we had Swedish pancakes and then they were gone, as quickly as they came.   They had to get back to their pets at home.  I resent these lightning visits as I always feel like we didn't have enough time together but I'm thankful they all came to see me.  Annie is very happy to have her van back.

Spike Lee

"Spikey" is my Nubian buck, purchased to breed Fancy, Matilda and Janey, Fancy's daughter, so I can have goat milk in the spring.  I'm expecting lambs in March and would like to have goat milk to use as lamb milk replacer if I need it.  Milk replacer is ridiculously expensive, especially when you consider it is powdered whey, a by-product of cheese and yogurt making.  A bottle lamb can cost a fortune, and, if you are the Jewish mother of the sheep world, the bottle feeding can go on for six months instead of the recommended six weeks.  Spikey is adorable, although a bit small, and the Nubian ladies are not interested in him.  Goats are fussy and go for the biggest, most macho buck they can find.   We put them all together in the lengthy pen running along the side of the barn and waited.  No signs of the activity we hoped for.  Then the big girls escaped.  I'm still not sure how, but they did.  Put them back in, another escape.  I was conflicted, as there is still lush green grass on the hillside and I felt guilty about denying such nutritiousness to the girls.  I can't let Spikey out as he might breed the angora does and they would be ruined for mohair as Spikey is a dairy goat.  I went about my business and continued to feed and pet him.  This afternoon when I returned from town I went out to the barn and - no Spikey!  Oh, crap, I thought.  He must be having a joyous romp with the angora does.  Thankfully, he was restricted to the barn yard with the sheep, who had not been let out to graze yet.   I couldn't help but notice he was "all over" a very aged white angora doe, nudging her the way bucks do, and nuzzling her until the tail.   A little while later I saw them together in the barn where I treat the goats to cracked corn, a trick I use to get them inside while the sheep are out to graze.  Luckily, I was able to lasso them and I put them in Spikey's pen together.  Spikey was delighted, as he is in love.  The old doe is happy to have the attention and be in a pen where she is given grain twice a day and doesn't have to fight off the younger goats to get to it.  When spouse returns from his weatherization trip we'll put the Nubian does back in the pen with Spikey and his old lady.  Maybe they'll be jealous and "give it up" so I can have my goat milk for my lambs in the spring.

Heartwork Quilts

I finally made it to Heartworks Quilt Shop, in Hartwick, on the way back from Cooperstown, today. What a pleasant experience.  This comfortable shop has an expansive array of fabrics, including quilt cottons, decorator fabrics, fleece, flannels and woven wool yardage.  I gave myself a half hour to browse the two floors and made friends with the resident spaniels.  I used to quilt, years ago, but when I discovered the wonderful world of natural fibers and spinning, quilting was left by the way side pretty much.  I still lust after quilt cottons, and use them to wrap my soaps.

               

Honey for Sale

I adore honey.  I think it is a miracle substance and have it every night in my chamomile tea and sometimes in my coffee.  I put it in my hand made soap.  I'm very concerned about the plight of the bees.  Many local hives have failed.  I buy honey from local beekeepers as often as I can.  Honey never goes bad so I feel it is a good investment.  Who knows - honey may be unavailable someday.   When I was driving to Cooperstown a while ago I noticed some lovely bee hives painted rainbow colors.  I was in Cooperstown today and made a point to slow down so that I might snap a photo of the pretty hives.  I noticed a sign and a table with jars.  That was a perfect excuse to stop.  I love when people put their wares out for sale.  I like to support their entrepreneurial spirit and reward them for their hard work and trust in the public to pay for the goods.  I bought the four jars on the table and took a picture.   I think I'll have some of the new flower honey tonight.

Still Swimming

Cooper and Bertha are still enjoying a daily swim in the pond.  The other dogs like to get a good long drink or delicious spring water while still on solid ground.  The pond is our favorite walk destination.  We check out the few remaining gold fish Madame Blue Heron has left us and walk all around before heading up to the Tippy Top or downhill to the lower hill top pasture and back down to the barn.  I'm thinking we have another month before the pond of frozen over and the doggies will be skating instead of swimming.  

Hidden Treasures

 My chickens are all free ranging now.  I have bins on top of the rabbit cages for them to lay eggs in but only a handful of chickens are cooperating with that arrangement.  I have to hunt around the barn and barnyard to find breakfast.  Yesterday I happened upon a clutch of eggs along the driveway.   Contrary to popular belief, eggs don't have to be immediately refrigerated.  They are good for weeks in room temperature.  I did, however, give this batch to the kitties for a treat.  I'll have to catch as many hens as I can to put them back in the chicken room before the winter snows come.  I remember Matt and I scrambling through snow banks to catch a mother hen and lone chick she managed to hatch a couple of winters back.  Much easier to take care of everybody in one enclosed room.

Sheep Trails

When I walk over the land with the dogs and kitties we follow the sheep trails.  The sheep know where the ground hog holes are.  They take the best route over the hills and dales, nooks and crannies, to get where they want to go.  I'm sure major traffic arteries have grown out of the clever directional instincts of livestock.  The bright colors of autumn have gone from the hills around my farm but the yellow birch leaves are hanging on for a few more days.  I love the various hues of browns and tans that will remain until covered in snow.  I decided to start feeding hay today.  There is still grass on the ground for the flock, but I want to be sure they have enough.  Winter means a step-up in activity on the farm.  I'll have to get up earlier, suit up for the cold, but wear layers so I can take something off once I start sweating, and climb the ladder to the hay mow where I'll fork down breakfast and dinner.  Dry hay and no pond means filling up the hanging water buckets.  I can't use big tanks or the chickens and ducks will get in them and soil the water.  I don't even want to think about the lambs I've lost in water tanks...I'll still let the flock out to graze, but as the land is covered up with drifts our lives will center around the barn.  We have to get the barn cleaned out.  When the black gold is spread over the land it will seep into the soil and make the spring grass thick and green.  I inquired about buying fertilizer but was astounded by the price.  No need here,  with two feet of fertilizer provided by my four footed friends.

The Feed Mill

I journey through the Brookfield State Forest to the Louis Gale Feed Mill in Waterville at least twice a month.  I get a much better deal on egg layer and cracked corn if I buy it in 100 pound sacks, almost half the price of the local feed stores.  I don't feed a lot of grain, as I truly believe wild forage and good hay is the best for sheep and goats.  I tell people who ask to think of grain as chocolate candy bars.   The goats are very clever.  If they come back in the barn before the big fat sheep they will get a treat of cracked corn.  I put it on top of the minerals to make sure they get their vitamins.  If I put down a pan of corn I just might catch that limper I've been after, or grab a goat for shearing.  Every shepherd has her own way of managing her flock.  Some have more resources than others.  We do what we can to get the job done.

Owls

A colleague gave me a stack of old wallpaper sample books.  I'm always looking for ways to use these wonderful gifted materials in my art classes.  They are free and challenge me to come with ideas to put them to good use.    We have a large wall on the landing in the middle of my wing which was filled with my wild elephant mural for many months.  It was time to let the elephants go home to their respective artists and come up with another big project.  I decided to have the students make snowy owls out of torn pieces of wallpaper.  They did such a fantastic job.  The challenge then turned to how to display the crafty owls?  We decided to build a large tree out of brown craft paper.  The result was perfect.  The owls have branches to roost on and we filled up our space magnificently.  My art aide, Fawn, had a great idea.  She suggested we go to the cemetery across the street and do some grave stone rubbings.  We took some older students over there and did some exploring.  To our delight we found the original colonial settlers of the land our school was built on.  Our art project turned into a foray into local history.  The rubbings added a Halloween element to our wall.  We've had many positive comments from staff.

The Wild Mohairians

Time to get the hair off the Wild Mohairians.  Mohair grows faster than sheep wool and is harvested twice a year, in spring and fall.   It's not as easy as you think.  I have a shearing stand - rusting in a pile in the back of the barn.  Most farms have the pile in the back of the barn they are going to get to when everything else is done.  That opportunity rarely arises.  I always had to have another body standing next to the stand to keep the animal from jumping off, even with the head secured by the stand.  Somewhere along the way I started clipping my goats with someone sitting on a stool, holding the horns.  I use my sewing scissors - bad girl - to clip the luxurious mohair off the goats.  With the cold weather coming in, and goats being desert animals, I leave an inch of hair on them to keep them warm.  I trim hooves and worm the goaties when I clip them.   I love mohair. It adds a lovely slip to roving and is much stronger than wool.  Socks knitted with

 mohair in the yarn won't wear out at the heels.  Commercial sock companies add nylon to their socks for that purpose but I don't have to as I have mohair.  Goats are fun to raise.   They have lots of personality, unlike the sheep who are largely calm, pastoral creatures.  My goats know how to open the door to the Milk Room and raid the feed sacks.  They know how to body block me and make me spill a bucket or scoop of  rabbit food on my way to the hanging cages.  Goat horns can stab you in places you'd never imagine, not out of maliciousness, just their up-close nature.   They are fantastic mothers for the most part, although I have had a couple of weirdos, including my Monkey, who would always favor one twin over another.  Her mother, Celeste, did the same thing.  A year ago last May I had 11 buck kids and only 2 does.   I kept the bucks and wethered them (a simple band around the sack at two days old does the job painlessly) and now they are giving me some lovely mohair.  With all the preparations for Rhinebeck goat clipping was pushed to the back burner and now it's cold.  Clipping them with scissors allows me to keep an inch on them for warmth.  My barn keeps them dry and out of the wind.  I have a couple of dozen more goats to go, and spouse can't sit still on a stool for more than one goat at a time, so I am in a bit of a bind.  I heard a rumor that Hannah and Luke might come to help me next weekend.  I heard the same rumor about the Parkinsons.  Wouldn't that be nice?   

Week After Rhinebeck

This time last week I was scrambling to get ready for NY Sheep and Wool, going full tilt between work, farm and product, wondering if I was going to pull it all together.  Well, it came together like a perfect storm of wonderfulness.  The ride through the Catskills was gorgeous with weather cooperating nicely.   Kim and Daryl met me at the Dutchess County Fairgrounds and got the Maggie's Farm machine going.  My booth was bursting with colorful balls of wool, yarn and goodies.  Bundaflicka on parade in all her glory.   We retreated to the Everready Diner for dinner, then tucked ourselves into Kim and Daryl's motel room.  Up early for showtime.  Mia met us Saturday am and the crowds came in force.  Is Rhinebeck ever not well attended?  All the hard work, investment of time and $$, paid off with the most heady experience I've had since the last time I did Rhinebeck.  I felt humbled and completely validated through the weekend.   Mia stayed with us Saturday night and through Sunday before she returned to New Jersey to prepare for her departure to Panama for a vacation with her pal, Lisa Palmer.  I was thrilled she was there to share in a most successful weekend.  Daryl minded the booth while Kim, Mia and I roamed the fairgrounds taking it all in.  I was definitely in my element, with every form of fiber art imaginable on display, complete with the people who raise the animals, like me!  As the mundane work week grinds on with every problem imaginable presenting itself between work and home, my mind wanders back to an incredibly wonderful wooly weekend.

Market Day

There won't be too many more market days.  I hesitated to go with so much to do for Sheep and Wool and sat in the driveway for five minutes before deciding to just go on and do it.  Matt was staying back to do some work on the farm.  I hate to miss the market when I know people come by to see if I'm there (thank you, friends).   I took a skeleton booth and no tent.  I needn't have worried as the Pettingills and Tennants, my wonderful booth neighbors, jumped up to help me unload.  I even got a curb parking space in front of my little patch of lawn.  The market was slow and steady.  I scored a dozen of the fabulous mugs I need for shaving soap from Susanne Farrington.  She likes to trade mugs for wool she can use for her beautiful, and warm, felted garments.  The morning was cloudy and cool, with market friends stopping by to say hello.  Robin Mizrahi's son, Nathan, is now raising English Angora rabbits.  She was delighted to see that I have a buck for him to use on his doe.  We decided to trade for her delicious granola.  Bartering is very popular around here and makes perfect sense when we raise or make products we all can use.  I got a lot of soap wrapped while sitting behind my table.  Home to the farm where I stopped at the upper field to check on the sheep.  They were lying so comfortably on the hillside, sunning themselves and chewing their cud.  The flock is so used to me chasing them back down to the barnyard they got up and started in that direction.  Tanner, Bertha and Reba heard me up top and came running up to greet me.  I couldn't go back on the road with them following me so I slowly drove the Honda van down the hill.  Matt showed me the flood lights he put up in the hay mow with another shining on the north side barnyard.  The mow won't be quite so spooky this winter.  I'll have to climb up there to put the barnyard light on, which is inconvenient, but here we are. New wiring in an old barn is tricky and expensive.  When the farm was in it's former glory, and the giant mow was filled with thousands of square bales, Sister Bernadette would climb up to the roof and replace the bulbs on the existing lights.  With the round bales I'm using now, and the gamboled roof, I can't get up that high.  We're talking 30 feet up.  Times have changed and life goes on.  On deck for today...working very hard to get ready for sheep and wool.  That "other Maggie" seems to be showing up a lot lately, the one who stays up late, stirring pots, spinning wool and running the machine.  She looks a little rough around the edges at work the next day, but the farm, it's own living entity, has to be sustained by whatever grist the mill requires, as Captain Jack would say. 

Lovely Fall Sunday Morning

I got out early with the doggies while the frost was crunching under my boots.   The morning was already giving way to a lovely sunny fall day.  The sheep and goats were out grazing already.  I am still in awe of the wild beauty of the pasture in the early morning.  It is the perfect time to give thanks in my Church of the Universal Shepherd.  We wandered back down to the barn to check on everything.   I love to do my morning chores in my long, plaid nightie and boots with a sweater that is quickly removed when I build up some heat.  The barn is my favorite place at this time of year.  The flies are gone in the barn, but, sadly, still active inside the house.  I have several tasks in the morning including carrying water and grain to the front barnyard for the dogs, chickens and ducks, and more to the driveway where the chickens and two remaining Swedish Blue ducks live.  So far they've eluded the fox.  I'm planning to bring them inside the barn when it starts snowing but they won't like it.  The rabbits get fed and watered morning and night, with snacks of fresh hay stuck in the doors for snacking.  My new sheep, Gippetto, Finute, Edie and Erin (they came with those lovely names) are still in quarantine in the pig run which stretches the full length of the barn and offers them views of the barnyard and hillside. They are very healthy and sturdy.  The ewes have thick coats of lovely black wool.    I saw Louie, Wensleydale ram number one, on the hillside, trotting after a ewe, checking her back side for the signal that tells him if the time is right for mating.  I still have not seen him successfully mount a ewe, but he is trying, and I'm not always outside to look.  Some sheep prefer privacy - the ewes not the rams.  I don't think they care.  I'll let Gippetto out as back-up in another month.  I'd like all my lambs to come on spring vacation in April.  Wouldn't that be lovely?    With my luck - not a chance.  I had a very productive day yesterday with a batch of Lemongrass soap that set up very nicely.  Soap is tricky and most people take it for granted with so many people doing it.  Truth is if you are not very careful you end up with a failed batch that has to be re-poured.  I got two more knitting totes partially completed last night.  Summer School put a real dent in my production and I'm struggling to get back into speed.  It took me two hours to cut out three totes last night.  When I was too tired to sew any longer I sat down to cut out soap wrapping fabric and spin some yarn from my latest roving.  I still have three more runs to get shipped home before the next wool show.  So much depends on how well I do.  Many repairs are waiting, like the sliding wooden doors on the East End which have been bashed to bits but sheep pushing through.   Fence must be repaired.  Once again time has run away with me and many jobs will have to wait for spring.  With spouse laid up for three months things had to be put off.   The big barn cleaning and manure spreading on the fields will cost me a fortune.  Why do I do it?  This life is amazingly wild and wonderful, with never a dull moment.  With all the anguish and heartache, I wouldn't trade it for the world.  It challenges me and keeps me outside in the fresh air.  The farm keeps me healthy, mentally stable, and young.  I love the smell of wool and manure in the morning.  Without my sheep I would be as fat as a cow, sitting on the sofa knitting sweaters and reading books all the time, sorting out my antidepressant, blood pressure and rheumatism pills.  No thanks!

Stunning

I can't walk out my barn door without gasping in delight at the burst of colors on the piney ridge running along the edge of my land.  This is the spectacular week of peak foliage here in the middle of New York State.  The weather has been cooperative and provided us with sunshine and mild temps to be outside and enjoy the show.  The flock is still enjoying a hillside covered with lush, green grass.  This time two years ago I had been feeding hay for a month already.  Local farmers are getting third and fourth cuts of hay.  I'm happy for them and all the animals that will have full bellies through this winter.

New Blood

I've been talking to Dr. Ann Merriwether of Nyala Farm in Vestal about a Wensleydale ram for a year or so now.  I finally took Louie home with me.  He is absolutely adorable and a real sweetie.  My plan is to have fewer sheep with heavier fleeces.  I adore my Bluefaced Leicesters and crosses but some of the fleeces are very light.  I've been noticing that Bluefaced Leicester breeders often have another breed of sheep that produce a heftier fleece.  I tried a Border Leicester ram, Zack, for a year or two and have two lovely ewes from him, Margot and Margareta.  The Border Leicester wool is a tad coarse, but the fleeces are huge.  Louie was living with his buddy, Spike Lee, a purebred Nubian buck, for a month.  They kept each other fantastic company while I was feeding them well and preparing them for the task ahead.  Spike Lee is going to pair up with Fancy and Matilda soon to give me Nubian babies and goat milk in the spring.  When I put Louie in with the flock he went right to work, doing his best to mount the big girls from behind.  Louie is on the small side but his will is mighty.  I don't see a lot of breeding going on - some sheep like privacy - but I see that his nose is always in the right place.  We'll see how it goes.  In the meantime Louie is enjoying the lush green grass that still covers the hillside.