It has been a busy spring! Back on Feb. 1st, I applied for an artist's grant so I could attend the Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, WI this summer. Last night I was invited to give a 10 minute presentation to the Arts Council prior to their scoring of the applications. Man, that 10 minutes flew by like two seconds! This morning after the shearer left I worked up the courage to call and find out the verdict. Woo-hoo! Madison, here I come!I'll be taking advantage of the "All You Can Felt" special tuition rate. Two days of resist dyeing techniques with Chad Alice Hagen of North Carolina, and a day of wool painting with Andrea Graham of Ontario Canada, and a day of needle felted dog sculpture with SINCO of Japan, and a day of embroidered felted jewelry with Annemie Koenen of the Netherlands. I will be so tired after all that. But what a great variety of classes, huh?
Okay, back to the sheep, there were no major cuts, just some nicks. They had their hooves trimmed and got their CDT shots. I've decided I am going to start graining them, they look thin to me. The BFLs and Mules who are due in April will get up to about a 1 pound daily. And the Shetlands will get 1/2 pound daily. Our 10 year old Shetland, Cordelia looks the thinnest - I may put her in with the BFL amd mule group.And now I have twentyone bags of wool to skirt! I skirted and washed three fleeces on Sunday too. I bought them from a gal who bought three modified ram lambs from me last fall. If I can get the new ones washed and shipped out to Zeilinger's this month I can still get in on that 25% off deal. Lots to do!
This is McIntyre's fleece sample, neck sample on the left, mid-side, and then britch sample. I'm having a hard time deciding if he's shaela or dark brown.
wow! he sure does look dark brown in the photo/lighting.
ReplyDeleteWith the girls I have that were black as lambs and then they went 'dark brown' by shearing their first time but their 2nd fleeces are definitely shaela....you should watch his fleece next year......its so hard to wait i know!
Congratulations on the grant; I don't know of a more talented lady who could take better advantage of the opportunity!
ReplyDeleteCongrats on the grant AND getting shearing done!
ReplyDeleteThanks Michelle and Corrine! I'm so excited about the grant and relieved to have made it through shearing with no major difficulties.
ReplyDeleteGarrett, I hope that turns out to be the case for McIntire too, I registered hims as shaela. He's a great looking ram, just my luck to finally get some nicely horned rams when I've switched to breeding for polled rams. At least he's close by so I could lease him for breeding if I change my mind someday.
Congratulations on receiving the grant, I've read about that symposium and it looks to be really informative. Best wishes!
ReplyDeleteHey Becky! Congrats on the grant! I knew you would get it! And congrats on getting the shearing done. I can't wait until mine are done in a few weeks.
ReplyDeleteOops, I forgot to add the credit line about the grant, here it is:
ReplyDelete"This activity is funded by a grant from the McKnight Foundation through the East Central Arts Council/East Central Regional Development Commission."