River Oaks Farm & Studio

Some photos of the Animals

2012-01-12T09:27:00.002-06:00

Hansel got a reprieve from his appointment with the butcher on Monday. He's such a sweet ram, not aggressive to people in the least. And he's been behaving so well with the flock, I called and cancelled his appointment. His fleece is a beautiful grey under those honey colored tips and I want to get my hands on it again this year. That's Socks, our wether (and the famous Lena's twin brother) behind Hansel. Socks' fleece is always in great demand by handspinners at Shepherds Harvest, but I hope to raw felt it this year. Socks is a 50/50 Shetland/Bluefaced Leicester cross.

My Shetland flock, Heddy, Mia, Maddie, Hattie, and Camille, Hansel and Socks (the Shetland Mule) in the back.

I only hope that if my Bluefaced Leicester yearlings lamb this year, their babies will have that same crimpy fleece that Socks and the other BFL sired crosses have had. It will be interesting to see how doing things the opposite way (BFL ewe and Shetland sire) will affect the lambs.

Socks, Mia, Heddy, Maddie, Hattie, Camille and Hansel in the background and Leta or Luna in the doorway.

And here's Ozzie on a happy outing to the west 40 in Ogilvie. Ozzie gets so excited whenever I ask him if he wants to go to the land. I swear that Ozzie knows so many words! He's my loyal companion these days.

This is the Buff Chantecler rooster I plan to keep. I've got one other purebred Buff Chantecler plus three beautiful black roosters that need to go. Anybody want one? Or two, or three, or four?

Good bye to 2011

2011-12-31T13:47:00.002-06:00

The end of the year is upon us. As usual, 2011 went by way too fast. I could have never imagined all the changes that have taken place in my life at the beginning of this year, but the year was filled with beauty, excitement, love and grief. Certainly a year filled with LIFE and LIVING and that's what it's all about.

Last year at Christmas I was on a creative bender, enjoying all the things I could do with felt. The purchase of the felt rolling machine made it possible for me to make yardages. I made my first felt garments and then started mixing my felt with stitching and twigs and rocks from the pasture. The compositions were just falling into place so easily! I knew it was a special time.

In February I was involved in several grant projects and the Vasaloppet Art show where my work was hung front and center for all to see when they walked in the door. It was quite an honor to finally get placed there. :-) I was still working on my rolling machine grant and trying to do as much felting as possible.

Lambing started early in March with the BFLs. It was the first time we've lambed that early. The BFL lambs did great in the cold temps, in fact they seemed to grow even better in the cold than they do in the heat. We lost one crossbred Mule lamb to a combination of wind and freezing temps-- it never even occurred to me to lock up my experienced Shetland ewe that night. Live and learn. Shearing was in March too, lots of fun with fleeces.

April saw the arrival of the Shetland lambs and one last BFL lamb to a yearling ewe. I was away at an Arts Leadership conference and had to rush home when Stan called to tell me he found a lamb with no mama. I was so appreciative to have Stan take care of my animals when I was gone even though he was never a fan of the sheep. He followed my directions and tried to give that orphan a bottle I had prepared before I left, but the lamb wouldn't take it. Everything worked out fine in the end, it was just a bit of a rocky start for that young BFL and her lamb. The conference was a really good experience for me too. I had an "Ah-ha" moment when I realized that the more I looked inward at what was important to me, my core values, etc. the more my work could serve others. It's a paradox, but so true. The more we are true to our own purpose, the more our actions will ripple out and affect others. Just think we can be selfish and generous at the same time!

May was filled with excitement at having Jeanne Carbonetti here for the watercolor workshop. I've always loved her philosophy of art and living a creative life. Her teaching reinforced what I had learned at the conference. It was wonderful to have her here in Mora and get her feedback on my fiber work. I look forward to working more in watercolor and incorporating some of her painting techniques in my fiber work.

To be selected as a Forecast Public Art planning grant recipient was wonderful too. I loved the birdhouses I created and put out on display. They were a big hit with all the people who saw them. Little did I know that they were the only part of my grant proposal that I would actually get to explore, but they touched my life in such a symbolic and personal way -- and they are the focus of my next big project!

June was busy with felting, doing booths, finishing up my rolling machine grant and the Carbonetti grant report. That was when Stan first started feeling that food was getting stuck at the top of his stomach. I knew that was serious and I told him to make an appointment with the doctor, but he didn't do it right away. One night he threw up right after supper and that's when I decided to get him in to the doctor the next day. I was so worried on our 36th anniversary, but Stan was always optimistic. He was never one to worry. He remained that way right up until his last days in October. He was always looking on the bright side and when it became apparent that the bright side was a permanent end to his suffering, he was brave and practical as we made plans for how I would carry on. I was brave too, little did I know how hard it was going to be.

His illness taught us both a lot about people and about God and the meaning of life. It was such a privilege to see people living their faith, giving their special gifts to make things easier for us -- the doctors and nurses, our neighbors, friends, co-workers, families, and people we didn't even know. Each had his or her own specialty that was given to us. There's nothing more important in life than that.

So goodbye to 2011, and hello to 2012 where I hope that my special gift in service to others will make a little bit of difference.

Hold Your Loved Ones Close

2011-12-24T18:24:00.002-06:00

This photo of Tippee and her son Damian speaks for me this Christmas.

I haven't been really in the Christmas spirit, but time marches on and so does Christmas. Tomorrow I'll go down to my mom's for dinner and stop in at the in-laws on the way home. We are lucky that Stan's brother and sisters live pretty close to my mom so we can go to both places on the holidays.

The boys are out finishing up their shopping, they haven't even wrapped anything yet (5:45 on Christmas Eve). They come up here to do that. :-) They've got a puzzle started and I'll help with that tonight after I finish up a couple more batches of pizzelles. I've got a cherry pie cooling and I put a duck in the oven for our Christmas Eve dinner.

I love duck, but I didn't want to butcher my female muscovies this fall, so I re-homed them with the promise of getting one back in the spring. Then I spent $3.49/lb. on a duck from the grocery store. It smells so good, I use a recipe called Shanghai Duck, it's very good, 3/4 cup soy sauce and sugar, 2 cups water, 2 cloves minced garlic, one chopped onion and the duck of course. I'll make some wild rice to go with it.

The cherries were from the cherry tree I planted when little Bandit died, I think it was 2005. He was such a cute lamb! A moorit HST twin out of my favorite ewe, Cocoa. She was pretty milky and not fully vaccinated for CDT, the grass was green and lush, and little Bandit died of overeating disease. The only case we've ever had, and it was such a shock. I found him just minutes from death one morning. There was nothing I could do to save him. It was so sad to lose him, but the good thing was that Cocoa still had his twin sister Lily to raise.

Anyway, that cherry tree is producing pretty well now. I froze the cherries I picked in July and made jelly with the juice yesterday and now this cherry pie. Yummm! I also made some strawberry, blackberry and raspberry jam yesterday. It's good to get all those berries out of the freezer.

Speaking of lambs, I gave up and Hansel is in with the ewe lambs now. He was going absolutely nuts trying to get in with them. It's just not fair to try to keep a ram so close to open ewes. I can't get him in to the butcher until January 9th, so they will be together for two weeks and any lambs will be born in late May. I used him two years and that's plenty. I'm beginning to think he is indeed Bb/Bb not BB/Bb. Mia, the little black gulmoget ewe lamb he sired out of a moorit ewe, is looking like she could actually be dark brown. And his face is quite brown now, not black like it was before. His fleece is still a beautiful grey with the bown tips.

My First Pizzelles!

2011-12-11T15:14:00.001-06:00

Thinking ahead to Christmas gifts, I ordered myself a pizzelle baker on Cyber Monday. I've wanted one for years. One of the ladies in our art group always gives a coffee can full of pizzelles to everyone for Christmas and I thought that would be a fun thing for me to do, too.

You can see a couple got a little dark there, but they still tasted great.

I also got a new camera. I don't know how my little Olympus suddenly developed a big streak across the LED screen, but I found it hard to take good quality fleece shots with that camera. So this time I ordered the same model as Michelle McMillen, her photos are always fantastic. It's a Lumix. I know Kelly Bartels has a Lumix camera too and her photos are great too. I hope my photos will improve with a better camera. I love it already even though I haven't used it very much. It's more intuitive than the Canon I had and I think the quality of the photos will be much better.

Stan would have turned 60 on Tuesday this week (the 13th). In honor of his birthday, I am ordering meat and cheese trays for the employee break room at Coborn's. I feel such a debt of gratitude to everyone there for all their support this summer and their work and contributions to the benefit. I plan to bring in some pizzelles too. :-) I'm going to try making some chocolate ones next.

I will post more later, things are still super busy here and I can't believe that Christmas is only two weeks from today. Yikes!

Thanksgiving

2011-11-24T08:21:00.001-06:00

I have so much to be thankful for. The turnout at the benefit was amazing. I can't believe how supportive the community and our friends and families have been throughout Stan's illness and passing. Even though it's been a rough road, it's been filled with the beauty of seeing people living their faith, caring for us and showing their love. I know that God knew just what was important when he created this world we live in.

I'm thankful that I've got a nice warm home, the best neighbors in the whole world, two wonderful sons and a nice little flock of sheep in the barn. Not to mention tons of wool to felt with (when I get done with all my paperwork -- thank you notes are top priority -- right after final grant reports), a supportive community and lots of opportunities to keep making my art.

I have some nice birds too, but those ducks are so mischievous flying all over the place -- including the roof and on vehicles. They and the geese are mean to the chickens so I have to keep them separated now. It seems that 99% of the chicks that hatched here this year were roosters. I think I may have one little black hen for replacement. So I'll call my friend Marianna to see if she wants some roosters for her freezer (mine is already filled).

In August of 2010 we had a big storm and a HUGE oak tree fell in our sheep pasture -- right on the fenceline. Well now I have plenty of wood to see me through the winter. I love making a fire down in the "man cave" which is so empty these days. The fire brings warmth and life back to Stan's space.

I've been doing okay, there's a lot to do. A couple weeks ago, Matt and I ran over to pick up some hay from the 40 acres in Ogilvie. I backed the truck into the pole shed and hopped in the back to start stacking the bales Matt threw to me. Well, it wasn't long before the truck slipped out of park and started slowly moving out of the building. I contemplated hopping out, but it picked up speed as it rolled into the hayfield with Matt running along pulling on the tailgate. I was beginning to think I'd end up in the swamp, but fortunately it came to a stop in the middle of the field. Then there was nothing left to do but hop out of the back and get back in, put it in reverse and make sure I used the emergency brake this time. I'll bet Stan got a chuckle out of that! And it was kind of exciting.

The next week, the battery on the pick up died and I replaced it (with the help of the neighbor guys). After the first 6" snowfall, there was no shortage of people volunteering to plow my driveway. I shoveled the sidewalk and a path out to the pole barn myself and it felt good.

I also went to a concert all by myself last Sunday. There's a wonderful little Lutheran church in the country about 12 miles away from here. They have monthly concerts with pie afterward. I've really gotten into bluegrass music this year, so I went to see the Galactic Cowboy Orchestra (which offers a pretty eclectic musical repetroire) and enjoyed the wintery afternoon in the little church with the late afternoon sun shining through the stained glass windows and the statue of Jesus behind the drummer and electric guitars. It's really a cool place for these intimate concerts. I only knew one other couple, and I hoped to find a seat next to them when it came time for the pie and coffee. I had considered just leaving after making a free will offering for the band, and I have to admit the worrisome thought of my van slipping out of park and across the road crossed my mind too. But the pie smelled so good, I decided to stay. Of course the couple I knew was surrounded by others, so I sat next to a couple of strangers. They turned out to be very nice, but I didn't stay long because it was already dark. I was so glad I went and had a fun afternoon.

Dora, Rita and me

I also found an esophageal cancer widows support group online. How cool is that? I didn't know about them until after Stan died and they invited me to join. I had lunch with two members from Minnesota last week. I can't tell you how good it was for me to sit and talk with women who have had such a similar experience. One lost her husband exactly a week after Stan died. Her husband was diagnosed in July, just a couple weeks after Stan was diagnosed. So she's in the same boat as me. The other gal lost her husband four or five years ago when he was 46 and she was 45. He lived a year after his diagnosis. Esophageal cancer is a tough one to beat, the chances of survival are very low. The worst thing is it usually has no symptoms until it's pretty far advanced and then it's just too late. I want to work to get the word out about this deadly disease and the effect it has on so many lives.

Well, I've got animals to feed and then get ready to head down to my mom's and Stan's sister's for Thanksgiving. I'm bring the homemade pumpkin pies, from homegrown pumpkins. Yummm!
Hope you all have a great day.

Memorial Benefit Today

2011-11-12T07:51:00.001-06:00

I've got to pull myself together and get ready for the benefit for Stan today. It was supposed to be for Stan, but now that he's gone, it's more in honor of him. Lots of people have donated tons of really nice stuff (jewelry, Vikings memorabilia, hunting equipment, way too much to list here) which will be auctioned and raffled off.
Coborn's of Mora has donated food (pulled pork sandwiches, salads, dessert, etc.) and my musician siblings and friends have volunteered to come and play.
Stan's siblings and co-workers at Coborn's have worked hard garnering all the donations and organizing. My hat is off to them for all their efforts.
This event is so bittersweet for me though, it certainly isn't what I had envisioned when we first planned it. But I will pull myself together and put on my new sweater and have a good time enjoying Stan's friends' support. The weather is beautiful for the middle of November, so who could have asked for more?
Memorial Benefit at Bowe's Restaurant and Bar, 118 Railroad Ave., Mora, MN
2-10 p.m. November 12, 2011
Pulled Pork Dinner from 3-7 p.m., Silent Auctions ending at 4, 6, and 8 p.m., music, raffles and games of skill throughout the day.

Catching Up

2011-11-02T08:25:00.001-05:00

Cavalia tent, partial view

Sorry it's been a while since I posted. Lots going on here. Went to see Cavalia this past Saturday - it was really good. I know the tickets are expensive, but what a show! It was fun to get out with my mom, my sister, my niece, and Bev, a neighbor that Stan and I had when we first moved to Mora back in 1977. We had fun and laughed a lot. The show was great, the costumes, the choreography, the lighting, the music, the people and the horses were all really good. I see it's held over in Minneapolis again this week, if anyone is considering going, by all means go!
I'm getting a little more used to life as a widow. It's been a little over two weeks since Stan died and I'm trying to come to terms with all I've been through these past months and weeks -- the whole medical ordeal, the visitation and memorial service, the legal stuff, and carrying on with the house and animals. I've got tons of thank you notes to write and the last of the funeral flowers are fading. But I feel so blessed that I still have project ideas bubbling around in my head that I want to do. Stay tuned as I try to refine them in my mind and make them presentable to the public. I really miss having Stan here to give me honest, man-on-the-street feedback and keep me grounded.
I have lots of widowed role models to inspire me and offer advice. One told me that she still talks to her late husband, so that's what I'm doing. I talk to Stan and it feels more like normal. He very seldom answered me anyway. :-)
I got so teary washing his clothes for the last time and putting them in his drawer knowing I would never do it again. But when I told a friend about it she said, "You can wash those clothes as many times as you want dear." And I guess I can!
I took off my wedding ring, the indentation is still on my finger. Thirty-six years of wearing it doesn't disappear all that quickly. Stan hadn't worn his wedding ring for several years, so now the two of them sit together in the drawer.

Breeding season is here for the sheep. I could tell that Hattie was cycling last week, so I let her in with Hansel. The two of them were inseparable for a couple days and then it was Heddy's turn. I marked the calendar for March 19th for Hattie's lambs. I can't wait to see what she produces! I'm not certain that Heddy was bred, but she would be due a few days after Hattie.
I still have Camille to get bred and then Hansel is free to leave. He's in with Socks, our wether, but they share a fenceline with the ewes so I'll know when Camille cycles and I can just let her in with Hansel. Also if Hattie and Heddy didn't take, I can put them in if they cycle again in the next week or two.

It looks like I have three female muscovy ducks. I love how they can fly so well and roost up high, but I was not thrilled to see this when I looked out the window on Sunday afternoon. Time to park the vehicles in the garage!

Lots to do today including my annual physical and a meeting with a lawyer. It's finally starting to get light outside so time to get busy.

Arrangements

2011-10-20T17:15:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone for the condolence messages. It's a difficult time for us that's for sure.
And it's been a very busy few days with a million details to complete. I suppose it's good to have something to concentrate on at times like these, but I sure am having a hard time remembering things.
Thanks to some very special friends for keeping me organized and on track. I'm looking forward to being able to get back into my routine and spending more time with my woolie friends.
Tonight I am felting an urn (vessel) for Stan's ashes. Nothing like waiting until the last minute! If it doesn't turn out, I'll be contacting Paul and Denise Morris for a vessel. They will be playing a few tunes in the service, as will my brother Larry, and my sister Terry.
Here is a link to the details about the services on Friday and Saturday --
http://www.aifuneralhome.com/site/2011/10/17/stan-mark-utecht

Stan

2011-10-18T07:57:00.000-05:00

I lost my rock yesterday. Stan has been there for me for over 36 years and now he's gone. It went way too fast. He always only wanted the best for me and he made it possible for me to do the things that make me happy in life. I only wish I could have/would have done more for him.

Fall days/Ram for Sale

2011-10-03T18:16:00.002-05:00

What gorgeous weather we’re having! The temps are supposed to be in the upper 70’s (and maybe even 80) all this week.

I am very thankful for all the good things bestowed upon us - the sunny days and the beautiful fall landscapes. Heck I’m even grateful for the bad things, there’s no one who escapes the bad things in life and we are no different than anyone else in that regard. But it is really hard facing some days. The good news today is that Stan's long term disability claim has been approved! It took almost 7 weeks for his short term disability claim to be approved so this is an improvement. Granted, disability pay is only 60% of his usual pay, but at least it's something and we are grateful for it.

We had a very good turn out for the Open Studio on Felt United Day. In fact, it was such a busy day I didn't even get any photos taken. Thankfully the grant coordinator, Judy B., took lots of photos so I'm counting on her to share them with me so I can share them with you. Suffice it to say that I have lots of felted rocks and flowers for the collaborative piece. But we forgot to make the LEAVES, I can't believe we forgot the leaves!

I am offering Sommarang Hansel for sale after December 1st. I plan to use him on 3 mature ewes in November. I really want to see what he produces with my F2 Holly ewe, River Oaks Hattie. She always gives me the best lambs, but last year she lusted after the BFL ram and produced mule ram lambs.

Hansel on the right


This photo shows the beautiful tips on his back.

This photo shows the color under the light tips.

Hansel’s a smooth polled grey gulmoget, At/Aa BB/Bb, he’s not Ag. His fleece is very fine, but I must confess that I never actually sent in the micron sample I took from him this spring. His lamb fleece is very fine and a beautiful blue grey. I’m hand-combing it when I get time (it’s not going very fast).
You would think he was mioget or fawn if not for the back on his face and legs. He has produced black lambs when bred to moorit ewes, so we know he’s not Bb/Bb.
He sired 6 lambs for me this past spring, all were gulmoget (3 of the dams were gulmoget too).

He’s a very unique genetic package, email (becky at riveroakssheep dot com) or call me at 320 679 4117 for more details and pricing.

Open Studio on FeltUnited Day - October 1st

2011-09-27T07:00:00.001-05:00

Open Studio on FeltUnited Day!
Saturday, October 1, 2011
The public is invited to my studio to make some felt on Saturday, October 1, from 1-4 p.m.
2157 River Oaks Circle, Mora, MN 55051

This event is part of a grant project put on by the Mora Comprehensive Arts Project Planning committee. It involves six area artists working in photography, painting, collage, pottery, metal and of course, FELT.

The six artists opened their studios to children in August and then to the public this fall. The goal is to create art at each studio that will be integrated into a collaborative piece. The overriding theme of the project is nature -- trees, and leaves. So we'll be making felt leaves, twigs and flowers at my studio.

In keeping with the FeltUnited theme for 2011, we’ll be using red, blue, and purple fiber. Come and be part of a local collaborative work and part of a worldwide celebration of felt all at the same time!

*This activity is funded in part by a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Lincoln Fleece & other stuff

2011-09-04T08:45:00.002-05:00

I finally got a good sized felting project done last night! Linda from Wisconsin sent me a 15 pound raw Lincoln fleece last week as part of a trade for a BFL ram lamb. I couldn’t wait to felt it! I skirted away about half so it would fit on my pool cover/bubble wrap which is 40“ x 8‘ long -- and because wool gets really heavy when wet.

This was a heavy project, but I didn’t even use my felt rolling machine. It was all done with elbow grease and hot soapy water. The finished size is 62” x 33”. It’s still quite damp and heavy. I hope it lightens up enough to be a blanket. The Lincoln fleece is coarser than the other breeds I've felted, but it's so lustrous and those locks are so thick they remind me of pasta.

Stan spent almost two weeks in the hospital dealing with severe side effects of chemotherapy. He’s home again now and feeling pretty good. He was very sick when they admitted him, it’s such a relief to see him doing better again. His oncologist is mulling over what chemotherapy drugs to try next. The good news was that there was no progression of the cancer while Stan was on the previous regimen of three chemo drugs, the bad news was that there was not much change in the tumors.

With the help of my son, his friend and a good neighbor, I’ve got about 175 bales put away for winter, plus we still have about 50 from last year. My flock is down to 11 sheep, so hopefully we won't need to buy much more. A storm rolled in along with some dramatic skies as we unloaded the hay rack. When we left we realized were being watched over.

I am signed up to attend the judges seminar on th 9th at Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival, but I’m hoping that Rayna will be able to transport my BFLs to Linda and attend the class in my place. There are just so many things going on these days! Our art group has a show at the Pine Center for the arts and the opening reception is on the 9th. More info on the KCAA blog. I’ll be demonstrating felting on the 10th here in Mora at the Kanabec History Center.

Also on display at the History Center will be a show of work created in or after the Carbonetti watercolor workshop we had in May. Oh and several felt birdhouses are hanging in trees on the grounds. It’s about time to take them down and clean them out for winter.

Well, I'm off to pick up some fertile eggs for my broody Buff Chantecler. This is her third time broody this year! I sold my last Buff Chantecler roosters and am waiting on a 3 month old chick to start taking over the roosterly duties.

Enjoy the Labor Day holiday to all my American friends, we're heading down to see Stan's family this afternoon and I hope to run over the Hopkins Center for the Arts Salon 300 show too. I've got a piece in that show. :-)

500 Felt Objects and other stuff

2011-08-26T09:33:00.001-05:00

I guess I did it again. I can't believe it's been that long since I posted here! I've been regularly updating Stan's CaringBridge site and that seems to take up all my computer energy. He's been in the hospital for a week now with complications from the chemotherapy. Hopefully he will be able to come home soon.

Cabled hat, felted cell phone case, Shetland lace scarf and "500 Felt Objects"

Lots of good stuff happening around here though. Four new chicks hatched last week to the old Faverolle hen, the first ripe Brandywine tomatoes of the season - YUMMM!, dill pickles and green beans put up, and best of all -- I got my complimentary copy of 500 Felt Objects!

It's supposed to be released in September, but I got my copy over a week ago. How exciting to see my portrait of Lena included with the work of felters from all over the world! I hope you all get a chance to see the book, it's full of wonderful pieces, very inspirational and fun. Lena's on page 227. :-)

Oh and I can't forget to post this photo of our great nephew. He visited a couple weeks ago and we just HAD to get a sheepskin photo. What a head of hair!

I had to bow out of doing the Minnesota State Fair booth, I hated to do it but with all that Stan's going through, I just couldn't commit to the long hours involved. I'm still working on my Forecast Public Art project and sending the last of sale sheep off to their new homes. I'm sorry to be so late in getting the registrations sent in, but they will go in the mail today. I plan to keep 11 sheep for the winter. Sommarang Hansel will be available after breeding season if anyone is interested in a proven, polled, modified, gulmoget ram. His fleece is really nice, if he doesn't sell I'll gladly keep him.

So much to update!

2011-08-06T14:28:00.000-05:00

Sorry for neglecting the blog lately. I've been so busy with selling the flock, making arrangements for pick up and transport, dealing with all the challenges of my husband's illness while trying to keep up with my grant projects and volunteer commitments. It's just been way too much.

The adult BFLs will be leaving for Missouri tomorrow. I am so sad to see them go. Lanora has been here since she was a lamb in 2006. She's such a character. And Harwell is so sweet. I will miss them terribly. But I do plan to keep Harwell's four ewe lambs, two of whom are Lanora's granddaughters.

I don't know if I've posted a photo on the blog yet of this raw felted fleece project I made out of Harwell's fleece on June 20th. That was the day of Stan's first endoscopy and creating a project like this really helped take my mind off the worries.

It is so comforting when I can't sleep at night. I go out on the couch and snuggle up under this soft, luxurious throw and sink my face into those lustrous purly locks. I'm really going to miss Harwell, but at least I have this reminder. :-)

This photo shows the back of the throw, I added a layer of silk gauze along with the roving.

I've been knitting quite a bit with all the travel and waiting during medical visits.

This is a mobius scarf I did using Cat Bordi's mobius cast on. The last one I made following her pattern was too small so I cast on an extra 40 stitches - which translates into 80 extra stitches. So this one is really long. I made sure to work in reversible stitch patterns. So the inner rounds are k2,p2 rib and then I went with Cat's Paw in garter stitch. For the edging, I used one I found in Hazel Carter's Shetland Lace Knitting.

At last week's appointment I cast on this cable hat, it's out of natural colored Shetland Mule combed top and again I worked out my own simple cable design. It's going really fast and that yarn has really nice stitch definition. This was the fiber that got lost at the processor and then was found and shipped to me. I'm so glad they found it. I can't wait to try felting with it.

And last but not least, the other day I had a busload of kids here as part of the Mora Schools Comprehensive Art Planning and Programming Summer Art Crawl. This was part of a grant project* involving 6 artists' studios. First the kids come and make various art projects at each studio, then this fall each artist will have an open studio (for all ages) and the grand finale is a collaborative piece incorporating the art of all six artists and the kids in one installation. It's a really fun project.

*This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the Minnesota Art and Cultural Heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Yellow Lab Pup Available

2011-07-28T11:14:00.002-05:00

Update 7/30/2011: Good news! Rocky has found a new home on a farm with a large pond with plans of hunting in his future.

It's with a heavy heart that Stan has decided to let his 7 month old Yellow lab pup go. Stan is just too sick to be able to give Rocky the attention and training he deserves right now.

Rocky is housebroken, friendly and exuberant. He has a great nose and is very "birdy". He's started on retrieving and obedience training. He loves to ride in vehicles and he loves the water.

He's had all his shots and has not been neutered yet. He's a purebred lab, but has no papers. We're asking $150 for him, to good home only. Our phone number is 320-679-411seven or email me at beckyutecht AT gmail. DOT com.

I've got a vet coming out this afternoon to do health papers on the sheep that are going out of state. I will miss them, especially the BFL ram, Harwell. But it will be good to get our sheep numbers down so we can concentrate more on all the other changes in our lives right now.

I'm really glad to be keeping around 10 sheep, it would be SO hard to go completely sheep free. But we'll just have to see what the future brings, I may need to cut them out eventually too.

I'm down to just 4 hens and two chicks, but two of the hens are broody. They're doing their best to keep the chicken population up around here. I sill have one pair of the Shetland geese, one muscovy duckling and his caretaker, a Cornish cross pullet. That duckling is the cutest thing! I've always thought muscovies were the ugliest ducks ever, so I've never had them before. I picked up the pair of ducklings to put under the broody goose, but she didn't take them. When we lost the other duckling, I decided to put the lonesome one in with the meatbirds. They were scared of him at first, but he was very happy to snuggle up with them. So when the rest of the birds went for processing, I kept back one hen for him.

The Shetland geese are SO much nicer now that the other pair is gone.

Thanks so much to everyone who has purchased sheep and birds. I'm working on the registrations and transfers now.

It's SOOOOO HOT!!!

2011-07-18T21:41:00.001-05:00

The heat and humidity have been oppressive the past few days. I feel so bad for the sheep.

Thankfully we got this nice big fan from Stan's dad. It really can move some air! Stan built the frame for it so we can put it wherever we need it. The BFLs really love to stand in front of it.

I checked on the four felted birdhouses I put at the History Center back in June. After just a few days the white one had some action. And after a few weeks, the grey one showed signs of activity too.

The other two more decorated ones were still empty. Darn!

Earlier I took the white Icelandic birdhouse home to shrink it down some more. I forgot that I had hung it on the clothesline post until yesterday as I was hanging out towels to dry (they didn't - it was too humid!). As I was hanging the towels I became aware of the wren singing a beautiful song quite nearby. Then I saw the bird flutter off the clothesline post and up into the tree. Finally I remembered I had tucked a felt birdhouse under the leaves of a branch that hangs over the clothesline end post. I took a quick look and sure enough, it was half filled with sticks!

I really enjoy this bird house project. In the midst of all the strife and worries lately, it's refreshing to see the birds with all their energy, full of life and beautiful songs. We've had a female cardinal hanging out in the front yard in the Black Locust tree too. She's even come up and perched on our windowsill several times. No decent photos of her yet.

Tomorrow I judge the 4-H Sheep interviews for the county fair which takes place this weekend. Sounds like there are more kids with sheep this year. Yeah! Thursday night I'm teaching a felted bag class at the Pine Center for the Arts in Pine City. There may still be some openings.

For those of you who want to keep up to date on Stan, I'll add a link to his CaringBridge site on the right side of the screen.

A few photos of the ewes

2011-07-14T14:08:00.003-05:00

Pregnant Freya grazing, April 2011

Freya with twins, center, Cleo on right

Thanks to everyone for the great response to my sheep sale. All the Bluefaced Leicesters are spoken for, except for the ram lambs.

I only have a few ewes left for sale, 2 yr old River Oaks Freya, black gulmoget.
There is a possibility that River Oaks Ginger (moorit yearling) who lambed this spring, may be available also. $200 each. Sorry I don't have better photos, hopefully I can get some soon.

Cleo on the left and Darla on the right.

Quick Updates

2011-07-10T09:01:00.001-05:00

Our lives have been busy these past few weeks. Thanks to those of you who have inquired about sheep. I hope I have gotten back to you, but my email was being filtered so I missed many messages for several days.

I finally created a CaringBridge site for Stan. If you want to keep up to date on his treatment, etc. please check it out at:
http://www.caringbridge.org/visit/stanutecht

Lots to do here -- final reports for TWO grants, the BLU Treasurer's report and the minutes for the MLWP's meeting. Not to mention cleaning out the chicken barn, mulching the garden and SELLING SOME SHEEP. :-)

Flock Reduction

2011-07-03T12:22:00.007-05:00

I will be drastically reducing my flock due to my husband's illness. He won't be able to go back to work for quite a while, so finances will be tight and he won't be able to help me with wrangling the sheep or bales anymore.

It's been very tough deciding to let my breeding lines go, but I will retain four BFL ewe lambs, 3 Shetland ewes and two ewe lambs, so I'll be ready to pick up again when things settle down.

I will try to get photos today of the individuals for sale. But here is the list of what I've got to sell:
$200 each on the ewes and ram lambs. I am willing to work creatively if needed to get these sheep into good homes.

Registered Bluefaced Leicesters:
Beechtree Lanora - white ewe carrying color, 5 years old, good experienced mother, fine, lustrous fleecesale pending
Beechtree Rhyn - English Blue pattern ewe, 4 years old, good experienced mother with a heavier fleecesale pending
River Oaks Leora - white ewe carrying color, 3 years old, good experienced mother, fine lustrous fleecesale pending
River Oaks Rhisa - English Blue Pattern ewe, yearling, good experience mother, fine, light gray fleecesale pending
Ward Harwell - white ram carrying color, 2 years old, proven ram. VERY lofty, purley, lustrous fleece.sale pending
Also three reigisterable Bluefaced Leicester ram lambs, two white and one English Blue.sale pending

Registered Shetlands:
River Oaks Cleo, shaela gulmoget 2 year old single ewe out of River Oaks Hannah and Kimberwood Harrison, F3 Holly and other UK lines sale pending
River Oaks Freya, black gulmoget 2 year old twin ewe out of River Oaks Hattie and Kimberwood Harrison, F3 Holly and other UK lines
River Oaks Darla, solid black yearling twin ewe out of River Oaks Hannah and River Oaks Greyson, F3 Holly and other UK lines sale pending
River Oaks Ginger, rich dark moorit yearling twin ewe out of River Oaks Hannah and River Oaks Greyson, F3 Holly and other UK lines sale pending

Also have Buff Chantecler chickens available. $8 each

My bumper pull horse trailer will be for sale also. It's a white 1986 WW, in good shape with good tires, including a spare. Electric brake hook up. $1500

You can contact me by email: beckyutecht AT gmail DOT com (change the AT to @ and Dot to .)
Or phone me at 320-515-912nine (leave a message and I'll get back to you).

Life

2011-06-28T07:44:00.000-05:00

Life is what happens when you were making other plans.
It's been a stressful week, my husband has been diagnosed with cancer.
At the hospital for further testing today. Prayers for strength and healing greatly appreciated.

One Rose on Our Anniversary

2011-06-21T21:21:00.000-05:00

Things are busy as ever these days. Had to take time out to stop and smell the rose!

I just have one rose plant and this one of its two buds. It smells so good!

Since today was our 36th anniversary we decided to go out to a movie and dinner. It's been so long since we've gone to see a movie in the theater. None of them sounded very good, until our son told us the storyline of "Super 8". So that's the one we saw. It was action packed, funny, and pretty good. A great way to spend a dreary rainy Tuesday.

Dad

2011-06-18T16:21:00.001-05:00

In honor of Father's Day, this post is about my dad.

I am fortunate to still have both my parents leading active lives in their 80's. There were eight of us kids, Dad was a carpenter and avid hunter, still is. I have him to thank for my appreciation of animals, nature and the environment.

My parents divorced after 40 years of marriage and Dad went to live at the cabin in the woods of Wisconsin (which was always his heart's desire) while mom stayed in the house near the Twin Cities (which was always her heart's desire). They get along fine with this arrangement; we all have holidays together, etc.

Stan and my dad checking out the ATV

So Dad's still cutting wood for his winter heat, doing odd jobs for people, still hunting turkeys and deer, and generally keeping busy in the woods of Wisconsin with his beloved old dogs.


Dad's dog Belle weighs over 100 lbs

And Dad's dog Tina is part coyote

Stan loves many of the same things as my dad. In the photo below you can see the Christmas gift that Stan picked out for Dad last year hanging over the door. That thing is huge. I was totally aghast at the purchase. But Stan was so proud and happy to have scored it and Dad graciously accepted it. In fact, it was quite a hit with all the guys at Christmas. Who would have ever imagined?

Yes, Dad's happy there, but we worry about him. Dealing with health issues is one thing, but the other day a bear cub came into his yard while he was changing the oil on his truck. Belle took off after the cub and it ran up a tree. The mama bear took off too but when she realized the cub wasn't with her, she turned around and in a matter of seconds she had flipped Belle around 180 degrees and was holding her down.

Dad ran over with his just opened container of oil, lifted it up over his head, and flung it at the mama bear. Fortunately for all concerned, she retreated, the cub came down, and Dad, oil dripping down his back, collected Belle from the scene. She seemed to be no worse for the wear until that night when her shoulder was pretty sore.

I shudder to think of what could have happened.

Wash Day

2011-06-15T12:33:00.003-05:00

Saturday was a beautiful sunny day. I decided to wash up a couple fleeces -- a shaela Shetland fleece and the white Icelandic fleece I bought at Shepherd's Harvest.

I've read that people soak raw fleeces in cold water before washing. They say it makes washing the fleece so much easier/faster. So I gave it a try. I put the laundry tub from my felting studio next to the garden so that the dirty fleece water could be used for the newly planted garden.

Filled it with cold water from the garden hose and added the raw fleece. Let it soak and drained it out.

The result? Yes, both the Shetland fleece and the Icelandic fleece washed up with one round of Dawn and just one rinse.

I decided to do it again on Monday with my precious white BFL fleeces. But this time I put the laundry tub right in the garden so the water would easily reach my plantings.

The trouble started when I multi-tasked, tending to the sheep while filling the tub. Got back to find the tub overflowing and tilting somewhat in the wet soil. Like a dummy I went ahead and put the two white BFL fleeces in. Then off I went to the art group for a few hours. Had a great time visiting with my friends.

When I got home, I noticed the laundry tub was sitting outside of the garden fence with the BFL fleece inside. Oh NO, the tub had fallen over and the fleece fell out onto the tilled up garden soil! What a mess! Stan was home and just picked it all up and put it back in the laundry tub, garden soil and all.

After an additional cold water rinse to get the MUD out, it took THREE washes in hot water with Dawn to finally got those fleeces white again.

I'm so glad I saved the Harwell's fleece to be done separately (click on the photo above to can see it laid on on the table in the background). I'm thinking of felting his raw fleece like I did those two Shetland fleeces. Since BFL fleeces are harder to clean than Shetland fleeces, I was thinking the cool rinse thing might be a good idea to get rid of some of the dirt before felting it. But I sure won't put it IN the garden again!

Tomten Baby Sweater in Action

2011-06-09T14:48:00.002-05:00

I finally got access to a real live baby to model my version of Elisabeth Zimmermann's Tomten baby sweater!

I get ultra bored with plain old garter stitch and I was using a self striping yarn, so I did my Tomten in stockinette stitch with garter stitch borders. Then I started worrying that stockinette wasn't as stretchy as garter, but it looks okay on my ultra cute little model! The only thing I need to adjust is the hood, I want to add a few more rows so that it's not so snug. I had never done a hooded baby sweater before. The Tomten was a good one to start off with because EZ made it super simple.

Birdhouse Updates

2011-06-05T20:32:00.001-05:00

I decided to hang my birch tree landscape birdhouse out in the Honey Locust tree in the backyard. I put it out at 1:30 this afternoon and by 7:30 I saw a little bird already trying to stuff sticks inside!

I'm really enjoying seeing how people and birds have responded to these little felted birdhouses! Several people at Art in the Hollow yesterday commented that they really liked the natural colored ones, so I'll leave a few of birdhouses plain and decorate the others.

As part of my Forecast public art planning grant (click on the Public Art tab for all the details), I'll be hanging some of them at the Kanabec History Center in Mora this week. I hope the birds in town accept them as readily as the birds out here! The one in our front yard is definitely occupied.

Of course the birds around here aren't overly fussy, I've got a little chipping sparrow in my clematis and a noisy brood in the barn, probably barn swallows. They chose this box for their nest.

We had it up in the rafters for storage. I haven't seen the occupants yet, but I sure can hear them!

And here's a shot of my Bridal Wreath Spirea, it's finally got a space where it can grow unencumbered.

Getting Ready for "Art in the Hollow"

2011-06-03T13:17:00.006-05:00

Super busy getting ready for "Art in the Hollow" on Saturday.

I don't know what I was thinking yesterday when I thought I could do 6 birdhouses in one day.

The layout took a LONG time for so many pieces. So I had one or two in the rolling machine while laying out the others. I worked on them until 9 p.m. and finally finished shaping them this morning. They still need to be decorated and hangers added. One decided it wanted to be a vessel with sparkly mylar in the karakul fiber. They are all lined with Shetland Mule fiber and have coarser fiber on the outside for strength. One is made with Shetland britch wool, one is made with Lincoln fiber, and the rest are all made with Karakul fiber. It's fun seeing how the different fibers felt. I still have an Icelandic fleece to try.

I was working so hard on the birdhouses down in the basement, I missed the UPS guy when he dropped off my wool from Zeilingers. Finding this big box was a happy surprise when I went outside around 7.

I received 8 lbs of white combed top, 8 lbs. of moorit Shetland top, and two 2# quilt batts made of Ile de France/Dorset wool. Zeilingers will ship the dark Shetland Mule combed top when it's finished. I can't wait to see how that spins up!

I had to take a moment to spin up just a little of the white combed top last night. It's a mix of Shetland, Bluefaced Leicester and Shetland Mule fleece and neck fiber. Rather than throw out the finest areas of the fleeces due to excessive VM, I saved them until I had 8 pounds (washed) -- enough for a run of combed top.

Rocky is getting bigger and Stan says he's a going to be a good hunter someday. Here he is drooling over the Buff Chantecler chicks this morning. He has to learn the chickens are part of our family, so it is probably a good thing to have some in the house. I tried to get a broody hen to take them, but she hadn't been broody long enough to accept them.

Okay off to find some big buttons and copper wire in town. If you're near St. Paul tomorrow, stop in and see me at Art in the Hollow, the weather is supposed to be perfect!

Dedicated to the Boys

2011-05-29T08:54:00.001-05:00

We have four adult rams and a wether now.

Yearling Dorset cross ram Pokey, in the left foreground, and our Shetland Mule wether Socks in the back left, next to Socks is Little Red Oak Ash (2 yr old Shetland), on the right in back is Ward Harwell (2 yr old BFL) and Sommarang Hansel (yearling Shetland) in front of Harwell. Yes Hansel was in the rise at shearing and he needs to be cleaned up. I've got some ewes to clean up too.

This photo was taken in the morning, just hours before Pokey's near death experience with the loose woven wire fencing that separates the grazing areas. Fortunately I was home when it happened. I glanced out the kitchen window through the leaves to make out some white legs hopping around and thought those dang rams must be fighting again. So I grabbed my glasses and went out on the deck and I could see that it was just Pokey with his head stuck in the fence. So I ran out there and could hear him fighting for breath. When I got closer I saw that this head went through one square and then back around and through another square! OMG, there was no way I could pry him out of that. He was foaming at the mouth and frantic. I had to run back to the house to get wire cutters. And of course I don't know where my really good ones are right now, so I grabbed two hoping one would work. Back out to Pokey still frantic and foaming and trying to breathe. When I finally got him cut free he staggered away, head hanging down, making raspy breathing sounds.

By now the rest of the rams were aware of the situation and they all came running. They flanked him on both sides as he staggered into the shade of the trees. Only days before, Pokey and Hansel were duking it out for their place in the group and Harwell was the referee,stepping in between them, knocking one away from the other, until things had settled down. And now here they were as a group, all standing around Pokey looking concerned.

I called the vet who suggested #1) dexamethisone or #2) banamine (both will reduce inflammation and swelling). Darn, my Dex is pretty old, so I opted for the banamine. Pokey was laying down and his breathing had quieted by the time I gave him the injection. The rest of the rams went back to grazing and he laid around most of the day. I was glad to see him get up when I went out with a little alfalfa pellets and corn later in the afternoon. And that evening as I headed back into the house, it was sweet to see Pokey and Hansel curled up together with Pokey's head resting on Hansel's back.

He's doing well now, so much so that Little Red Oak Ash was giving him grief again yesterday. It was nice to see them acting concerned for a while there, but in the end, rams will be rams!

Latest Birdhouse...

2011-05-24T08:15:00.003-05:00

I am excited about the felted birdhouses, I want to decorate them like eggs! They are the same shape and I just can't resist.

The influence of the watercolor workshop got me going on a birchtree birdhouse. I'd also like to do a birch tree wool painting.

Not sure if I'll let the birds have this one or not. Here's what they did to the last one I put out.

I put rocks in the bottom (for extra weight and to keep the inhabitants dry) then added loose wool. These birds obviously didn't want the wool, they preferred sticks.

My neighbor was excited about the bridhouses too. She and I did birdhouses together on Sunday. She had never felted anything before. The felting goes fast with the Karakul wool, but the houses get very firm and it's a bit hard on one's hands at the end. She came up with the brilliant idea to use a wooden darning egg to help shape it. You can see my birchtree birdhouse looking like a vessel on the counter. I love taking photos of people with their felting projects and wet shirts. :-)

You may have noticed there is no hanger on this birdhouse. I like the idea of using wire threaded through a large button inside the top of the house. Squirrels and other critters can't chew through wire like they could a felted cord. I might felt around the wire though...

There's a New Ram in Town, Felted Birdhouse, and Felted Fleece

2011-05-18T08:17:00.001-05:00

Deadlines -- I hate them, but I need them so badly!
Tomorrow is the first day of the watercolor workshop I've been planning for three years. And I find myself with plants dug up from the neighbors' perennial flower bed, chicks hatching in the incubator, a new ram and a bunch of hungry ewes and lambs but a dead battery for the electric fencing.
Ah yes, spring has finally sprung!

So what did I do? Felted a birdhouse out of Finn and Karakul wool....

And felted another lamb fleece....

This photo shows both of the felted fleeces I've done so far. The beautiful solid grey color of Heddy's lamb fleece will never happen again (she's Ag) so this is a great way to keep it forever. And Ginger's sunbleached tips add interest to her dark moorit fleece.

And I finally got to visit Sabrina up in Puposky, MN! She's really off the beaten path. What a wonderful bit of paradise she and Clancy have! I'm so glad Shachah was able to find a home with them.

Shachah warmed up to Stan, but he was nervous about me. I'm sure he equates me with being moved to a new home. I think he's the coolest dog I've ever met.

Sabrina's flock is beautiful and her lambs this year are all stunning. Some very friendly ones in the group, I think I got some hoof prints on my back. It was nice to see Hannah and Lana again. I'm glad Sabrina got some ewe lambs and a little bit of bling from them this year.

We went to Sabrina's to pick up Little Red Oak Ash, he's a polled moorit Shetland ram originally out of Gail VonBargen's flock. He's very solidly built and has a very nice fleece.

It's always a bit challenging to introduce a new ram to the group, but within 24 hours, they had worked it all out with minimal bloodshed. Little did I know as I was felting that birdhouse that they had broken the chain link fencing and were working things out on their own. :-)

Okay, now I've got to get those perennials planted (the neighbors were planning to plow them all under in a couple days!) and then I'll order that new battery for the fencer and this afternoon I'll get the classroom ready for the long-awaited watercolor workshop with JEANNE CARBONETTI!!!!

Did I mention that I love this time of year? There are so many possibilities. Hopefully that chirping chick in the incubator will be freed of its shell soon.

Updated the Sale Page

2011-05-14T08:40:00.002-05:00

I've updated the sales page to include photos of the sheep we have for sale. So far it's rams and one ewe, but there will be more to add as time goes by. I can't keep them all!

I've also added felting sheets to my fiber offerings. The felting sheets make laying out fiber for felting go so much faster. They are made of Bluefaced Leicester and tencel or a Bluefaced Leicester/Shetland cross. Very easy to felt and dye.

We're pretty much sold out of washable sheepskins, looks like I'll just have to make more of those felted fleece "sheepskins". :-)

Also, be sure and check out the KCAA blog about the upcoming watercolor workshop with Jeanne Carbonetti. I started working on it three years ago. I'm so excited that it's finally happening!

A Felted Fleece

2011-05-13T22:43:00.001-05:00

I finally got a chance to try felting a raw fleece last week. It's the perfect way to use up those fleeces that are in the rise at shearing and those that are too short for optimum spinning.

This is Ginger's lamb fleece. She was coated last winter so her fleece was nice and clean, but she was in the rise at shearing. You can see it on the cut end of the fleece.

I added a layer of dark moorit roving, covered it with netting and wetted it down with hot soapy water. Then the rolling began! First by hand and then in the rolling machine.

It was a very dirty job, but the result was well worth it. My felted fleece is soft and warm, and it smells so good. I love to snuggle up under it!

Last Lamb and Lost Lamb

2011-05-11T08:32:00.000-05:00

Wow, so much has happened the past week and I haven't had time to blog about it!

Our lambing season officially ended around midnight on Mother's Day when Ginger delivered this little black gulmoget ewe lamb.

I was falling asleep on the couch and in my pajamas when I remembered I hadn't closed off the ewe's back gate. So I went out with the flashlight to close it and also check on Ginger, our last pregnant ewe. To be honest, she looked so small Sunday morning before I headed out to Shepherd's Harvest for the day, I was wondering if she was still pregnant.

Anyway, there she was laying in the lambing corner of the pole barn and I thought I noticed her have a contraction. Nothing was showing and it took quite a while before more contractions came and I knew our last lamb was on its way. Back into the house to get into my sweats, find the lambing bucket and the camera!

More contractions, no water bag, just some blood. Oh-oh. I remembered the evening that Ginger was born and her mom was taking a very long time of it. The vet told me not to worry unless I was seeing blood. So I sat with Ginger as her labor progressed, worried about the blood and worried that the lamb maybe a premie. Finally a small water bag emerged and burst and a dark hoof appeared followed by a dark nose. I tried to find the other leg, but no luck, things were tight. I knew from experience that one leg back is a doable birth so we just went with the flow. After many contractions and me pulling, a vigorous ewe lamb emerged. I was glad to see that it was a gulmoget as that proves the sire was Hansel, not the BFL or the Dorset cross ram that had joined the ewe flock for a couple weeks last winter. Yeah!

Ginger is an excellent mom, she was tired and didn't get up right away, but she eagerly licked off her good sized lamb and let her nurse. Shetlands are so easy! Finally I was crawling into bed about 12.30 a.m.
I'm not sure why there was so much blood during the birth, but all seems well. And that lamb is adorable.

On a sad note, one of Freya's twins died on Tuesday morning. She was exactly 4 weeks old. She looked just like Ginger's lamb so it is bittersweet to see Ginger's lamb out in the pasture. The photo above was taken on Monday afternoon. You can see that she became much smaller than her twin sister who is healthy. I noticed that she wasn't running in the lamb races last week, and she would be off by herself a lot and also lay down a lot. But she would perk up and run away when I came close to check on her -- I don't know why my black gullies always seem so stand-offish while the other lambs are so tame.

I was super busy getting ready for Shepherd's Harvest and didn't treat her because she stretched normally when she got up. But on Saturday night when I got home from a long day at Shepherd's Harvest, she was clearly very sick. She didn' move when I picked her up, her eyes were dull, and she felt warm. I gave her everything in my arsenal of treatments. I wanted to cover all the bases since I would be gone again all day Sunday. She got an antibiotic, a wormer, fortified vitamin B, a CDT shot, and some Nutridrench. She was up and drinking water within an hour and at her mom's side trying to nurse.

Sunday she walked around some, but still wasn't running and darting like the other lambs. Monday she was due for a repeat antibiotic so I called the vet and decided to try some BoSe in case we were dealing with a mineral deficiency. She ran pretty good when I tried to catch her to do the shots. But afterward she looked even worse. The next morning she was dead with her mom at her side. I wondered if it was the BoSe.

I couldn't afford to pay for a necropsy at the vet ($70-$100), so Stan and I did it ourselves. We followed the directions in Ron Parker's The Sheep Book. It appears to me that she had an impacted intestine which was followed by pnuemonia. I don't think there was anything we could have done to save her short of surgery. I feel so much better having gone inside to see what was going on instead of wondering about it forever.

So lambing is over and we still have 14 lambs. Sommarang Hansel's lambs were all gulmogets, isn't that amazing? There were 6 ewe lambs and 1 ram lamb. We have all 7 of the Bluefaced Leicester lambs sired by Ward Harwell, 4 ewes, 3 rams, and one crossbred ram lamb (twin died at birth) sired by him. Now it's time to clean out the barn!

Shepherd's Harvest Festival is this Weekend!

2011-05-03T09:46:00.004-05:00

This is a busy week. I'm making last minute preparations for my booth at Shepherd's Harvest this Saturday and Sunday in Lake Elmo, MN.

I've got to finish getting my booth set up ready. Along with skirting and washing fleeces like crazy, I'm sewing up a back panel for my booth this year. Last year I was in the middle aisle of Building D on the north end. I'm in the same building this year and hopefully I'll be in the same spot. I'll hang a River Oaks Studio banner on the back panel, stop by and introduce yourself if you're at the festival. The weather is supposed to warm up by then.

I'll have a few raw fleeces (BFL/Shetland crosses), Bluefaced Leicester yarn, combed top and roving from my registered Shetlands and Bluefaced Leicester sheep, handcrafted soap, sheepskins, felted items, nunofelt scarf kits, sheep and fiber notecards, and a listing of sheep for sale (oh that's so hard!). Also, a friend from our local art group is moving and has decided to sell her sheep collection, so I'll have that in my booth too.

The incubator is still going. NONE of the Shetland goose eggs were fertile! I set up a wading pool for the geese to see if that helps them get things right. If not, I think we will be having some very expensive goose dinners. Nine of the Buff Chantecler eggs are fertile and should hatch around May 16th.

The lambs are growing and looking good. Lots of tail variations on Hansel's gulmoget lambs. Click on the photo above to see some of the tails. That's Rhisa's BFL ram lamb on the top right with the really long tail. LOL. Still waiting on Ginger to lamb, her bag is growing and I can see lambs kicking, but it looks like it will still be weeks away.

White Bluefaced Leicester ewes, Beechtree Lanora (center back) and her 2008 daughter Leora (right), with their lambs born on March 21st. Lanora's ram lambs are on the left and Leora's ewe lambs are in the center. The sheep photos were taken about 10 days ago.

Firing up the Incubator/salvaged corn/bones for art

2011-04-25T23:08:00.000-05:00

Tonight I put 6 Shetland goose eggs and 15 Buff Chantecler eggs in the incubator. The geese started laying eggs earlier this month. Each goose lays an egg every other day. There were 8 eggs in the nest and I took six of them to check for fertility. I have orders for goslings, so my fingers are crossed and I hope the girls keep laying.

As you can see, I don't use an egg turner. I prefer to mark them with X's and O's and hand-turn them two to three times a day. With waterfowl eggs, I make sure to mist them with water once a day. I have a fan in my little incubator so I can hatch all sizes of eggs at the same time. I'm hoping to see lots of fertile eggs when I candle them in about 3 days.

This morning the weather was beautiful. Stan and I went over to pick up corn from the field before it gets tilled under and planted to alfalfa, orchard grass and oats.

It didn't take long for us to fill up a container with corn on the cob. We can always go back for more, but I wanted to check to make sure its safe to feed the sheep and birds. We tossed out the really moldy ears.

As long as we were there, we filled the truck with a load of small squares to feed the rams.

I also brought home a really cool cow spine and skull. I want to use the spine with felt somehow. It's so big and strong and very interesting.

Happy Easter!

2011-04-24T08:39:00.002-05:00

It's a beautiful sunny Easter morning. We woke up to some fog with the sun shining through it onto the ewes and their lambs out in the pasture. Very beautiful, but with no batteries in the camera, I couldn't get photos. I was able to get a few indoor shots of the things I've been doing this week.

Last night I showed our oldest son Alex how to get started with Ukrainian egg decorating. It's a time consuming project, so he just did a quick one color egg. Since I was very into wax resist egg decorating before fiber took over my life, I have a nice collection of electric kistky. They are so nice!
This past Monday, while shopping with friends for art supplies for an upcoming watercolor class with Jeanne Carbonetti, I was able to visit Luba Perchyshyn at the Ukrainian Gift Shop . I can't believe it's been 10 years since I got a Minnesota State Arts Board grant to mentor with Luba! At 87, she's still going strong decorating eggs in the shop. I took this opportunity to buy the latest UGS design book.

I don't know why, but I also made up a batch of flour/salt dough and made some sheep ornaments. Nancy K. might remember the sheep mold on the right. We found these molds in a second hand shop in Maple Plain, MN years ago while on a trip to Detta's Spindle. I planned to make some sheep cookies out of the mold for Easter, but after doing five of the ornaments, I took the easy way out and just used my cookie cutters to use up the rest of the salt dough. I did doves, BFLs, and various lambs. Not sure what will ever become of them.

And last, but certainly not least, I made pies for Easter last night. Yes, I had to test that one out! Two Banana Cream and one Chocolate Cream. I had one graham cracker crust, but used my favorite pie dough recipe for the other two pies. Here it is:
Mix together in medium bowl, 1 1/2 C flour and 3/4 tsp salt.
Cut in 1/2 C shortening and 1 T butter until crumbly.
Sprinkle 4-5 T milk over this and work into dough. Divide into two balls and roll out for crusts.
For single crust pies, roll crusts and and place in pans, prick with a fork and bake at 425 degrees for 10 minutes. (The recipe really says to bake it at 450 degrees, but I find that 425 works better in my oven and makes a more tender crust.)

Happy to say there is NO Easter candy in our house this year. :-)

Lambing is pretty much done

2011-04-17T10:10:00.007-05:00

I am so glad to report that our lambing is pretty much finished here at River Oaks! We've got just one moorit Shetland yearling left to go and I think it will be a month or so before she delivers.

I can finally go to bed at night without a quick run out to the barn and wake up without feeling the need to run out there again. I exposed 12 ewes to rams last fall, including nine first timers: four yearlings, and three 2-year-olds and two 3-year-olds; 11 were bred. We've had 15 lambs born so far. Five sets of twins and five singles. We'll probably will get a single out of ewe #11.
We had a total of 6 rams/9 ewes. I was surprised to get a majority of ewe lambs again this year. I know I'll pay for this later. :-)

Freya and her twin ewe lambs

Heddy's ewe lamb, so cute and pretty friendly.

Heddy's ewe lamb again...

Camille and Darla's ewe lambs, notice the difference in their birth coats.

Darla and her moorit ewe lamb

We lost one Shetland/BFL cross ram lamb to the elements in March - remind me to never lamb in March again! It's just too cold and fresh green grass is just too far away.

Of the seven BFL lambs, we have 3 rams/4 ewes; three are natural colored and four are white. I really need more white BFLs and more ewes, so I am happy with this ratio.

Yearling Rhisa wrapped up the BFL lambing on April 15th while I was out of town at an arts conference. I raced home as fast as I could when Stan called saying he found a BFL lamb with no mom to claim it. I supplemented the baby and we held Rhisa twice before she got the drift of things during the night. I was so happy to find him nursing like an old pro the next morning. Good going Rhisa!

Our only Shetland ram lamb so far, he's out of Cleo, a shaela gulmoget.

Of the Shetlands, we have six lambs, 1 ram/5 ewes. All are gulmogets, three black factored and three moorit factored (all out of black factored ewes). The sire is Sommarang Hansel, he's a very interesting silver/pewter grey color, BB/Bb. It will be interesting to see what the last moorit ewe produces. Depending on when she lambs, there is a possibility that she could be bred to the BFL or the Dorset cross ram. Yikes!

I just have to share this photo of Rhyn and her daughters. Amazingly, they all lined up and looked at the camera for me one day. :-)

Rhyn and her four natural colored daughters: the 2011 twins on the left, Rhisa (2010) behind her and Rhaya (2008) near the pole barn door. Rhyn also had a natural colored ram lamb in 2009.

Shetland lamb photos ...

2011-04-06T12:47:00.000-05:00

Taking a moment to quickly post photos of the three gulmoget lambs that were born here in the past few days...all sired by Sommarang Hansel.
The newest addition is River Oaks Darla's petite little ewe lamb...

She's just what I wanted!

And here's River Oaks Camille's ewe lamb. Being an F3 Minder, she's got that long birth coat. It doesn't mean her fleece won't be fine though.

Here's another shot of her and mom, she's very independent and causes her poor mom no end of worry.

And this is River Oaks Cleo's ram lamb, he is just the cutest and friendliest little polled guy! And that fleece is going to be NICE.

Okay back to work finishing up the Shepherd's Harvest Booklet, it will be avialable for download from the website shortly!

First Shetland Lamb of 2011

2011-04-02T17:14:00.004-05:00

It's a boy! And look Ma, no horns!

He came a day early, but he's a good size lamb. After three years using a gulmoget sire, I finally got my wish for a brown gulmoget lamb! But now I'd like to refine my order to a brown gulmoget ewe lamb. I think he's modified, he's definitely not a dark moorit color. His sire is Sommarang Hansel, a polled grey gulmoget, and his dam is River Oaks Cleo, a shaela gulmoget with side dusting.

Does that top lip look like sugar lips or just lighter because he's modified?

I will take more photos when he's dried off better. I haven't been weighing the lambs this year, so I can't say exactly what he weighs, but I would guess around 7.5 to 8 lbs. He was kind of laid back about getting up and eating, but he found the faucet right away and has a nice full tummy already. Not sure how long Cleo was in labor, I just happened to find her about to deliver this afternoon.

Here's a shot of him and his mom tonight, he's got more white on his face than I realized this afternoon.

I think Camille, an Ag grey gulmoget, will be next. According to my notes on the calendar she's due on Monday.

Quick post - busy working on the Shepherd's Harvest Booklet

2011-03-29T08:47:00.013-05:00

Just a quick post as I take a break from doing the Shepherd's Harvest booklet.

I got my Bluefaced Leicester yarn back from the processor already. I love it! I only had three pounds of roving spun, but I'm thinking I will send 4 pounds of my Shetland/Bluefaced Leicester top to be spun into yarn too. I had a little unexhausted dye left in the crockpot, so I dyed 4 oz. of the BFL yarn Peacock Blue. I'm thinking I may use it to quickly make another Tomten baby jacket according to EZ's directions.

I'm having reservations about the one I knitted in the self-striping Bernat baby yarn using stockinette stitch. I think there was a reason that Elizabeth Zimmermann used garter stitch, especially in the sleeves. I've pinned in the zipper, now I just need to stitich it in place.

Rocky is sacked out just behind my computer chair, he's dead to the world. But it's time to go do chores and you can bet he'll spring into action when I get my boots on.

The BFL lambs are already a week old and growing like weeds. I banded the tails of the youngest four yesterday. I didn't want to do it sooner when the temps were so cold at night. I figured they had enough stress with that. You can see by the above photo that they've all adjusted just fine.

Now that things are warming up again, life is much easier. We got the van out of the mud and snow yesterday. Yay! Thanks to our neighbors for their help and to our son Matt who was in a hurry to get to work in the cities. Sorry about all that mud on your jeans Matt.

Rocky, formerly The New Pup

2011-03-24T13:34:00.000-05:00

Thanks to everyone for all the name suggestions for our new puppy. Stan decided to call him Rocky because when he first went to look at the pups, this one was batting rocks around.

We're finding that Rocky is pretty smart. He wasn't housetrained in the least when we got him, but it only took two days of training before he caught on. Even during the nasty weather we've just gone through, he's been vigilant about doing his business outside. Okay, in the worst of it he decided the deck was far enough, but I am very pleased about not having to clean up any more messes in the house.

Stan is really happy with how well Rocky retrieves. He uses a bird wing for this, which makes me nervous about the chickens' future safety. So far Rocky's been okay with the chickens, but I am happy he's learning to respond to a sharp "No!"   The other day he barged confidently into the goose pen. I called him out of there as fast as I could, those ganders could really hurt him. And then he came into the ram shelter and jumped a panel so he was right in with the boys. Harwell chased him around for a while before I could get him back to safety.

The cats are getting used to him. At least they don't hide anymore.  He will bark at them and they growl at him. Hopefully it won't be too much longer before they get along.

He's a real chewer too, he loves the sheepskin in Ozzie's kennel - another warning sign? I took it away and give him an old rag rug. I found my boot in his kennel the other morning and this morning he had Stan's favorite cap.  Life with a puppy - how long does last?  Wish me luck.

2011 BFL Lamb Crop so far

2011-03-24T12:35:00.000-05:00

After 3 years of my Bluefaced Leicester ewes just having single lambs, this year we got three sets of twins. All were born without difficulty and the moms were attentive right from the start. The ram lambs were a little slow to figure out nursing, but they did, and now life is easy again.

We got a set of natural colored ewe lambs and a set of white ewe lambs and a set of white ram lambs. We still have one natural colored BFL yearling ewe left to lamb in April, so the fun isn't quite over yet. :-) Also have one 3 yr old natural colored BFL ewe that looks like she's open, but I'll wait until summer to see if she lambs late.

I'm very pleased with Ward Harwell's performance as the BFL flock sire this year. I hope all the lambs inherit his fine fluffy fleece.

We've had some nasty weather lately. The wind was awful on Tuesday and my pole barn's slider is frozen in place (see it in the photo above). I decided to block it with some small squares before the snow hit. Stan, bless his heart, tried to bring the bales over in back of the van and it just sunk down into the soaked ground - darn! The bales really helped to block the wind and a lot of the snow, but Wednesday morning snow covered the hay feeder and even the big round bales I have stored 20' inside the building.

Here's the van this morning. Hopefully with the low temps we had last night the ground will be hard enough to get it out soon.

Lanora's Twins

2011-03-21T16:42:00.001-05:00

I checked the barn by flashlight early this morning and Lanora was standing up while everyone else was lying down, but other than that all seemed well. Went back out around 9 a.m. and found her with two white ram lambs.

The thing about BFLs is that the lambs are not real bright as compared to Shetland lambs. These boys are STILL having trouble connecting with the milk counter at 4 p.m. The video clip above shows how close they come without actually hooking up. Hopefully they will figure it out soon! I can't stand to watch. They don't want to be helped either. I milked out Lanora and gave them each a bottle of her colostrum and some powdered colostrum supplement to keep them going until they figure things out.

Leora will be next. She was taking a lot of interest in the older lambs this morning after her mom delivered the twins. We have a winter storm warning starting in the morning, I wonder if that will bring on labor for her. She's a first time mom.

Scarf Class and Shearing

2011-03-19T19:26:00.000-05:00

It's been a busy few days lately. Last night's scarf class at Pine Center for the Arts was a lot of fun.

It always amazes me the way people choose colors and embellishments. I marvel at their choices and the resulting scarves. I know they must think I'm nuts, but I do get pretty excited about fiber.

We had nine students and only 5 tables, so they worked two to a table. We used silk gauze and various wools blended with tencel and silk and then embellished with silk, wool locks and some brought yarns from home.

None of them had ever felted before, except for an art club friend of mine who took the class before and came back with two friends. No one had problems and all their scarves turned out beautifully. Here's a shot of Leslie's scarf before fulling.

I think most of the students were happy with their scarves - I know I was thrilled with them. I'm sorry I didn't get photos of all the students' work. When I left the building, moon was bright and the art center windows were totally fogged up from all the physical effort and the hot soapy water. :-)

Then I got up bright and early this morning to set up the barn for shearing. Jim Peterson arrived right on time at 8:30. He didn't take long to get set up. He sheared our 16 sheep plus a Shetland Mule ewe that we gave to our old neighbors a couple years ago. Her fleece is really nice and I get to keep it. The weather was great for shearing -- our highs will be close to 50 the next two days. Just perfect!

Four of my five Bluefaced Leicester ewes were bred - including Rhisa the natural colored yearling. Her three year old full sister Rhaya did not take again this year. I'm afraid she will be moving on...

Hansel covered 5 of his 6 ewes, only the little moorit didn't take. I've been wondering what Hansel's fleece was like under the coat he's been wearing. And it's a lovely grey! He's registered as a grey gulmoget and that seems to be right - unless one would call him emsket? There was a spongy layer of lighter coloring, you can see some of it in the photo above. But he is still grey on his saddle and according to his pedigree he can't be Ag. It's going to be so exciting to see what color his lambs are. He sired a set of twins born at Meghan's farm, one mioget and one emsket.

Yearling granddaughter of Bramble Hetty looks just like her.

Hattie's 2010 Ag grey lamb, that we called Pepper, has a lovely light grey fleece. She looks so much like her grandmother (Bramble Hetty) that I decided to change her name to Heddy. She's bagging up along with Darla, shown below next to her twin sister Ginger. Ginger and Heddy were coated too, so now I have sheep laundry to do. I'm looking forward to skirting their fleeces.

The Shetlands are due to start lambing in early April. Rhisa is due in late April, or early May (if Pokey is the sire). I don't know when the two white adult BFL ewes are due, their bags look like it could be any time now.

The New Pup

2011-03-17T12:57:00.000-05:00

Well, here he is. We're still thinking of a name for him. He's eleven weeks old and has some big paws, wide chest and head. He was not happy in his dog crate last night. After listening to the whining and yipping and putting him out in the garage, we found he was much happier (and quieter) sleeping on the floor next to Stan. Ozzie is letting him know the boundaries. And I have a new companion under foot constantly. The cats have not come out of hiding yet. He was smart enough to stay away from the geese this morning too.

My days will be getting busier

2011-03-16T17:18:00.000-05:00

Check out the fat tummy on Hattie's ram lamb

If lambing and preparing for my slightly overbooked felt scarf class on Friday night, followed by shearing bright and early on Saturday morning wasn't enough, my husband has decided that NOW is the time to buy a new puppy. A hunting dog puppy. A yellow lab, a male. He's on his way to pick it up right now.

He wasn't crazy about getting Ozzie, our Australian Shepherd seven years ago, and he was hesitant to bring home the big old lovable Great Pyrennees/Akbash guard dog in October 2009, but he didn't stand in my way. So I am not going to stand in his way with this puppy. But something tells me that I will be the one taking care of this new hunting dog. Oh well, we'll get through it and Ozzie will be happy to have a friend again.

My table is piled with wool and silk I dyed yesterday. I want to make a few sample scarves for the class and I'm very anxious to make some felt birdhouses. But I don't seem to get much done when I'm checking the windows and the barn cam frequently for ewes in labor, and it is an absolutely glorious day outside! The mother hen and her chicks are enjoying being outside in the sun.

Hattie delivered twin BFL-sired ram lambs in the wee hours of Sunday morning. I went out with a flashlight before dawn to find one of them frozen solid in the ice just outside of the hoop house. The other was up and nursing. He's a little chunk! We've only lost one other lamb at birth before and it was SO sad to find this one. Hattie licked him off very well, but he must have gotten too chilled out in the wind (with temps around 15F) to get up out of the puddle of birthing fluids. Life goes on and I'm making sure the two BFLs who are due anytime stay locked inside at night now -- even though the weather is much nicer.

And the lamb races have officially begun! Rhyn's twins and Hattie's ram lamb run in and out of the pole barn while the ewes are eating. Bouncing baby lambs surely do lift the spirit! Watch for puppy photos in the days to come.

Rhyn's Twins

2011-03-10T21:34:00.001-06:00

Rhyn's twin ewe lambs at 24 hours old. What a difference a day makes!

Here they are at birth last night.

I really lucked out with the temperature. It was 31 degrees (above zero) when they were born and then the overnight low was 25 degrees. So no heat lamps needed overnight. I did have one on during the lambing though.

Rhyn did a super job. Unlike her past three deliveries, she let the babies nurse right away. And they latched on quickly. For now I'm calling them Big Rita and Little Rita, reminiscent of two Ritas in our church when I was growing up. They were sister-in-laws, the tall one was called Big Rita and the shorter one Little Rita. Gosh, wouldn't it be awful to be known as Big (insert your name here)? But the names seemed to fit these two since I always use R names with Rhyn's lambs. If I offer them sale after weaning (I have enough natural colored BFL ewes) the buyers can choose proper names.

Next up is Hattie, my heart just goes out to the poor old girl who is carrying Shetland Mule lambs. She's been laying around a lot lately and her 2010 ewe lamb is always at her side. She's given me twin ewe lambs two years in a row, so I'm expecting ram lambs from her this year. And I'd be happy with white ones.

Yikes!

2011-03-04T14:56:00.001-06:00

My apologies to all the non-sheep folks out there, but this photo shows what's got me worried these days...

This is Rhyn, I had her as being due on March 10th (147 days after seeing her get bred). But now I checked my little lambing calculator book and it says she'd be due on the 8th. The good news is temps should be above zero next week and I'm not worried about the snowstorm in the forecast, we have plenty of shelter from the snow.

Rhyn has a history of not wanting her babies to nurse for the first 12 hours or so after lambing. Last year the combination of a reluctant ewe and a lamb who stubbornly refused to be hooked up to the faucet had me totally exasperated. But once she's ready and baby figures things out, Rhyn is an excellent mother and I forget about all the hassle she causes me. This year I might just resign myself to supplementing the lamb(s) until she's ready to let them nurse. But this is the biggest bag I've seen on her yet, so she may not be so reluctant this year.

On a lighter note, my federal taxes are filed now. Yay! The kitchen table is finally cleared and I can finish framing my pasture series pieces.

Next week I start in on the Shepherd's Harvest Sheep & Wool Festival booklet. Mark your calendars for May 7-8 and plan to attend the festival if you're in the area! I'll have a booth there -- hopefully my Shetlands will be done lambing by then. :-)

Something New has arrived!

2011-03-02T16:14:00.001-06:00

The Laundry Alternative Spin Dryer I ordered from Dharma last November finally arrived yesterday.

It's bigger than I remembered (I got to use one at the Midwest Felting Symposium). My hands get sore wringing the water out of my felting projects, this will help. It's amazing how much water they can get out in just a few minutes. I can't wait to use it when I get done with all the paperwork projects that have kept me so busy lately.

I did mange to find some time to drumcard a lot of wool last week as I was sorting through all my washed fleeces to be shipped out for processing. I sent 25 lbs of washed wool to Zeilingers for combed top and batts. I also decided to have some BFL roving spun into yarn at Rach-Al-Paca Fiber Mill in Hastings MN. I had to wash it first to get the carding oils out. Washing roving and combed top was easier than I thought it would be -- I'm happy to report I didn't felt it. :-)
The white skein the photo is some BFL/Shetland wool blended with nylon for sock yarn. It was good to spend a little time spinning again. I've got 3 more ounces to spin up and then I can knit some socks! The batt is BFL/Shetland blended with Tussah silk. That will be used for felting.

Here's a shot of Ozzie from last week. He's always a step ahead of me. It's nice to have a companion when I do my chores.

The mother hen has turned into a barracuda protecting her chicks! But it's so cute to watch her cluck when I bring out treats. The chicks love bread crumbs and bits of apple. They are already three weeks old and getting beautiful buff feathers (this photo is from last week). I'm keeping a heat lamp on at all times, but their water still freezes. I can't wait for spring to come!

Lark Books 500 Felt Objects

2011-02-26T18:37:00.001-06:00

I am on cloud nine! In today's mail was a notice that my wet felted piece, "Portrait of Lena" was accepted for inclusion in the upcoming Lark Books publication "500 Felt Objects".

I just can't believe it! That piece was magical for me right from the start. It won several ribbons before it was sold to a renowned photographer who lives in Paris, France - sob, sob.

It was really hard to photograph, so I had it professionally done by Petronella Ytsma. The photo above is an edited version of her photo.

Maybe I should do a portrait of my ram Harwell, but call it "Portrait of Ole". ;-)

Lambing is just weeks away

2011-02-19T08:29:00.002-06:00

Natural colored BFL ewes pregnant Rhyn on left, and her daughters Rhisa and Rhaya

I'm nervous about lambing in March. Last October when Harwell jumped the fence I didn't care for the idea all that much and now it's time to pay the piper. The weather this past week was absolutely wonderful, I hope we get more like that in March.

I don't want to jinx myself by saying this, but Rhyn is looking like she might have multiples this year. That would be a first for us and her. We've only had single BFL lambs, but the good news is that they have all thrived. Rhyn is due on March 10th and is already doing that grunting kind of breathing that pregnant ewes do when they get close to lambing. Notice that cute little Pepper in the back on the left. I love her little pink nose! And that's Freya lounging on the right in the back. The Shetlands won't lamb until April. Except for Hattie who is due on March 12 with BFL sired lambs. She was the one cycling when Harwell jumped the fence to get in with the Shetland ewes and wound up hanging by one foot. Oh that was scary!

It's obvious that we won't have shearing done before the BFL lambing this year. So I just hope the ewes are in good condition under all that wool. I've been supplementing our low quality hay with corn and alfalfa pellets, but I'm hoping to get some good quality alfalfa or orchard grass hay soon.

I've already got the barn cam set up. I did that when I put all the sheep together (rams and ewes). I had to make sure our little Shetland ram Hansel didn't get killed by Harwell who is at least three times his size. Reuniting the whole flock went fairly smooth because the rams were interested in the new ewes so they didn't concentrate on trying to kill one another. I left them that way about two weeks and then separated the boys because they sure don't need to compete with the pregnant ewes for the corn and alfalfa pellets.

I took this photo of the boys out the window yesterday afternoon. Shetland ram Hansel is in the coat on the left and Pokey the Dorset cross, Socks the Shetland Mule and Harwell the BFL ram are on the right. Notice how low that hog panel is. Harwell could jump it easily and head back over to the ewe pen, but thankfully they have all stayed inside.

So the days of checking the barn cam and checking bags, comparing notes to last year's bag sizes and lambing dates are back. It's really kind of exciting! And the chicks are doing fine outside with the mother hen.

Art Show Over, now what? Taxes!

2011-02-14T13:50:00.003-06:00

The Vasaloppet art show was especially nice this year. So many different types of work!

My felt pieces and photo

The Junior High students were taken with Keith Raivo's metal sculptures and Kathy Hovland's voluminous painted vinyl piece in upper right.

A few of the kids also took a few minutes to cut pre-felts into mosaic pieces for me. We had buckets of the 1st grade students' puppets from a recent artist in residency gracing the tables at the show.

The felting demo on Sunday was the last public component of the grant I received from the East Central Arts Council for the felt rolling machine.* I decided to make a felted bag following the method I saw on Heather's Wool love Functional Fiber Art blog back in December, but I chose not to do the peanut shaping for my bag.

I used some dyed Romney fiber with a Black Shetland lining and the mosiac pieces cut from the pre-felts made at Sticks and Stones last fall. It turned out okay, but I'm contemplating various options for internal pouches and an alternative closure (rather than the flap).

My son Matt took videos of me doing the demo. Here's a little segment:

* This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council with funds provided byt the Minnesota Ars and Cultural Heritage Fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on November 4, 2008.

Vasaloppet Art Show/Chick Video

2011-02-10T08:32:00.000-06:00

Well it's down the wire now. My Vasaloppet Art show entries need to be in by 10 a.m. tomorrow. Time to finish up the framing and get ready for my felting demo on Sunday.

I'm thinking these are the pieces I'll put in the show this year. They are a dramatic departure from my usual representational work, so we'll see what happens.

They are all part of my "Pasture" series. Last summer we had so much rain and so many storms, there were lots of trees down and twigs all over the pastures. At that time I was pondering what living in rural America means to me. That was the theme for a fall 2010 show that the local art and photography groups were planning. I was thinking of how rural people's lives are so connected, intertwined and so rooted in a place. The roots on the twigs I was gathering began to look so elegant and interesting in my eyes. I collected them as well as several small trees that the sheep had stripped the bark off. Once dead, the small trees were simply pushed over, bringing a bit of roots with them. I'm excited about incorporating them into some felt work too. Not sure how that will work yet.

I also hope to put a frosty pasture photo, similar to the blog's banner, in the show. It would give a sense of where the twigs came from. So today is D-Day, gotta get this all pulled into shape and ready to hang tomorrow morning. I'm not sure about the black frame, the piece definitely looks better in a black frame, but it will stand out when hung with the rest of the pieces.

On the weather front, it's bitter cold outside, about -20F on our thermometer, but I just heard the weatherman say that Mora is at -26F. Temps the last 4 nights have been in the double digits below zero, so I brought the mama hen and chicks back into the basement. I'll put them back outside tomorrow when the BIG warm up comes. For those of you wanting a bit of spring, I shot this video of the hen and chicks last week. It might help.

Hatch Completed- new photo added

2011-02-03T18:09:00.002-06:00

This picture tells the story.

The other two chicks have now hatched and the little Buff Chantecler family has been moved to larger quarters.
That young hen didn't get off the nest once in the 48 hours she was inside the house. So nothing to clean up in our spare room. But the minute I put her and the three chicks in this bigger crate, well, all I can say is "Whew!!!"

The next few days are supposed to be nice here in Minnesota, so tomorrow afternoon they will return to the barn and I will hang a light over the chick waterer to keep it from freezing. The hen will keep the chicks plenty warm. I can't say enough about what a good broody hen she has turned out to be.
Hopefully I can get a photo of all three chicks before they go back outside. They are like peas in a pod!

Update on 2/4/11: Well here they are this morning. The one in front does look a little lighter than the other two.

Okay, I admit defeat!

2011-02-01T10:18:00.002-06:00

Well I can't believe that I let my doubts get the better of me this morning. The temp was just below zero but the wind was so cold and coming from the east, right in the door of the chicken's barn.

Yes, I broke down and brought the broody hen into the basement. It's supposed to be cold today, tonight and tomorrow and then warm up quite a bit at the end of the week. One chick has hatched but the two others haven't even pipped yet. By candling the eggs I can see one of the unhatched chicks has broken into the air space and the other is still alive, so hopefully both will hatch soon in the next two days. Having them in the basement will allow me to keep a better eye on things. Yesterday the geese got into the broody hen's area while I was gone. Thankfully they must not have disturbed her too much.

But the pungent odor of a broody hen's daily poop is something that will make your eyes water. You certainly don't want that in your house!

I can't wait to see that chick though, so far I've only felt it's little legs under her. I just hope it's not half Salmon Faverolle. The rooster likes the old Salmon Faverolle hen and it was obvious that only one of the hens was laying fertile eggs. I've got six Buff Chantecler hens and I was hoping for Buff Chantecler chicks. Oh well, the feet will tell the story of who the mother is. Salmon Faverolles have 5 toes.

Update: I heard some peeping from the basement just now. So I ran down and I got to see the little one and snap the photo above. It looks like a purebred Chantecler - haven't checked the feet yet.

Fiber Art, Minnesota Grown and Broody Hen Update

2011-01-25T18:26:00.002-06:00

It's been another busy week here. I taught two Nunofelt scarf classes on the 17th and set up another one on March 18th at the Pine Center for the Arts in Pine City, MN.

I've been working on matting and framing several new pieces. After reading Jeanne Carbonetti's latest book, "The Heart of Creativity" I let my ego step aside and just let the pieces flow out of me - this resulted in SIX new pieces. The one above is made from the scraps of my felt jacket and twigs from the pasture that I collected last fall. Now comes the uneviable task of framing them all. That's the worst part about doing 2-D work, IMO.

On Thursday Casey Derosier from Minnesota Grown came out to interview me for her Livin' La Vida Local blog. Wednesday I should have been cleaning the house, but I was frantically framing those felt pieces.
So Thursday morning I quickly straightened up the house as best I could before Casey arrived at 10 a.m. It was a good thing I did because I didn't realize how much we would be doing that day! She wanted to see it all, the sheep, washing a fleece, carding, combing, spinning and felting. Luckily I had one raw fleece left from last spring's shearing. It was a dark Shetland Mule fleece.

I wanted us to make something cooler than just a little sample piece of felt, so we decided to both make nuno felt scarves. Casey's holding mine in the photo above. I hope she got some decent photos for her blog and I hope she had fun.

Broody Buff Chantecler Update: She had 10 eggs under her. I candled two of them when she hopped off the nest the other morning when the overnight temp was -25F. I was worried about the eggs that night because we have no heat in that little barn, but she seems to have things under control. Those two eggs were clear as a bell, darn! I marked them with a marker and tucked them back under her.

The next morning it was -18F and she hopped off again when I arrived to feed everyone. I candled them all and found that seven eggs were infertile and three had live chicks. That tells me the rooster has a favorite hen! Lucky for him that at least three eggs were fertile. Temps are warmer now and I hope the viable eggs start hatching this weekend.

Tomten Sweater Update: Almost done with the baby tomten done using in stockinette instead of garter stitch. I misunderstood the hood directions and made a very small hood. So after I finished up the sleeves (I hope I made them long enough!), I went back and ungrafted the hood. Thank goodness I have enough yarn to add about 12-16 more rows to it and the color sequence matches up perfectly! I plan to put a zipper in the front and then block it to help with the shaping.

Broody Buff Chantecler Hen

2011-01-19T09:27:00.001-06:00

Patiently waiting....

Last time I saw her off the nest, she had nine eggs. That was over a week ago when I separated her from the rest of the flock. She's setting so tight I wondered if she might be frozen solid in there. But when I put my hand in she growls so I know she's still alive. Apparently she's eating and drinking the water I set out for her before it freezes up.

I haven't candled the eggs and I didn't start any backup eggs in the incubator. I didn't want to hatch out more chicks than she can keep warm. We'll just go with whatever she manages to hatch on her own.

The hatch is due to begin on Jan. 29th. Here's hoping that our one-eyed rooster isn't shooting blanks! That can happen to a rooster if he gets a frostbitten comb. The Chantecler breed was developed to be hardy in cold weather and they don't have large combs. Keeping my fingers crossed, it's been a long time since we heard the pitter patter of little chick feet around here. :-)

Master Felter's Class in Mora?

2011-01-14T10:09:00.001-06:00

Lots of exciting things going on here this week! One is a secret for now, but the other needs to get out there right away -- here it is.

I am working on organizing a possible master felter's class to be held this coming September in Mora, MN. (Mora is 65 miles north of Minneapolis.)

Elis Vermuelen of Zeeland, the Netherlands will be the instructor of the two-day session. Elis is the co-founder of FeltUnited, International Day of Felt. She is an outstanding artist and felter. To see her work, visit her website or checkout her blog link to the right.
Exact dates for the workshop have not been set yet, but the possibilites are sometime during the week of Sept. 12-16th or the 26-30th. Project possiblities are a wooly bag or boots, a spikey hat or scarf.

Once I find out the level of interest, I can move forward to finalize dates and project(s). The cost of the 2-day workshop is looking like $250 plus materials.

If we go with the last week of September, we may be able to offer a glass button making class with Jone Rakoski as well.
Elis' class will be for people with prior felting experience - it's not a beginners class. If you are interested, please contact me at becky at riveroakssheep dot com or by phone at 320-679-4117.

I hope we get enough interest to make this a go!

A Productive Day

2011-01-11T20:57:00.002-06:00

I feel like I got a lot accomplished today...I learned something new, dyed some BFL/Tencel batts for my scarf classes next week, and updated two hats that had been big flops.

First I learned how to make my own French Vanilla coffee creamer! You all probably know how to make it already, but it was a revelation to me. Stan and I are addicted to that stuff and it's expensive in the local grocery stores. WalMart (25 miles away) has it cheaper, but driving 50 miles roundtrip seems a bit counterproductive. So this morning I finally Googled "how to make coffee creamer" and found out that all I have to do is combine a 14 oz can of sweetened condensed milk with 14 oz milk (we drink skim milk) and a tablespoon of vanilla in a glass container and mix thoroughly. Wow! It's so easy and I actually think it tastes better than the name brand stuff we've been drinking. Also, I don't need a science degree to decipher the ingredients, it's just sugar, milk, and vanilla. There are no preservatives, so it will only last two weeks in the fridge, but we'll go through it in less time than that. I'm thinking we'll save at least $1 to $1.50 a batch making it ourselves, not to mention the gas savings and less plastic in the recycling bin.

Here is a shot of the updated Shetland hat. I started it a few months ago and I had ripped off the Romney fiber because it wasn't attaching, so it was a VERY thin Shetland hat. Today I needled on leftovers from the dyed batts I used for the colorful felted jacket (Shetland/BFL cross). After needling it in, I wet it down and worked in the colored fibers. I like it much better now! The color in the photo below is more representative of the actual hat than the color in the front view above.

I also dyed the Finn hat I made a couple months ago. I loved the sturdiness of the felted Finn wool, but I hated the white color with blue silk caps felted in. Now it's a purple/blue hat. I still need to add a hat band.

I've got two projects on the needles right now. One is a baby sweater for my niece's baby shower and the other is a lacey scarf knitted from laceweight yarn which is Suri alpaca blended with my BFL and nylon. Thanks to Susan Simonton for sending me a sample of the yarn she had made. It's very nice stuff! One of these days I will get that scarf finished - I'm half way through it now.

The baby sweater is my take off on Elizabeth Zimmermann's Tomten. I wanted to use acrylic yarn for it since new moms don't have a lot of time to care for wool garments, so I went with Bernat Baby Jacquard yarn. But once I got started, I just couldn't stand to waste that self-patterning yarn in garter stitch. So I'm doing the Tomten in stockinette with garter borders. I hope it turns out okay.

Another Felted Jacket

2011-01-03T08:49:00.000-06:00

I finished another felt jacket yesterday - well, I still need to add the buttons and decide on pockets or not - but the hard parts are finished anyway and I'm already thinking about the next one. :-)

I thought I would share the story of its development here.
I like incorporating silk gauze into the felt for added strength and drapability. So the first thing was to dye 4 yards of silk gauze black so it would blend in with my natural colored Bluefaced Leicester fiber. I had Zeilingers woolen mill in Frankenmuth process my BFL fiber into 2 pound batts 45" wide x 80" long. So all I have to do is peel off a layer and place it on the silk. The silk gauze is on a sheet of plastic with bubble wrap underneath - all the layout is done on my kitchen counter. The bubble wrap is actually a sturdy pool cover - 40" wide and 8 feet long. I put another thin layer of fiber perpendicular to the first layer.

This is actually a vest layout, I didn't cut the front center until after the prefelt was dry for the jacket. But it was the same layout process as used for the jacket.

Once it's completely covered with the two layers of fiber, I wet it down with cool soapy water, cover with another sheet of plastic and the rolling begins! First by hand and then in the rolling machine downstairs.

This is the rolling machine, but not the jacket fabric being rolled. Picture the roll completely filling the width of the rolling machine to get a better idea. Next time I should take photos as I go!

Lots of rolling from all directions, water leaking out the ends, trying to minimize wrinkling the fiber and the silk. But the goal here is just to get the wool to penetrate the silk so they stick together. After several sessions on the rolling machine, it's holding together and I can take it back upstairs to my kitchen sink. With the plastic and bubble wrap removed, I put it in warm soapy water and then toss it for a little while. Once it's hanging together pretty well, I rinse and hang this "pre-felt" to dry. In order to make a jacket, I need to make another chunk of fabric for the sleeves. The second piece is 40" by 64" long.

The next morning the pre-felt fabric is dry and I cut out my pieces. This is just a matter of folding over the long piece and cutting up the center of one half and making a neck hole in the center. The sleeve piece is folded lengthwise, cut in half and a triangle is cut from each end. The sleeves are basted to each side of the body rectangle and the side seams are basted. A collar is cut from the triangles and basted along the neck edge. Here is how it looks at that stage.

Then the fun starts, I put the jacket in warm/hot soapy water and start tossing and squeezing it. I work areas where I want more shrinkage to occur. The worst part of this process is trying to squeeze out excess water so I can try it on. I get soaking wet during the fitting process.

With felt, you can simply cut away parts you don't want. So it's easy to clean up edges and redesign your stupid looking collar after the fact. I decided to make this one into a shawl collar.

Then I cover my dress form with a garbage bag and put it in the bathtub to drip dry. It's hard to leave it alone until it's dry the next morning. I've ordered a spin dryer which will help get it damp dry in just minutes. I can't wait until it arrives! My hands get sore with all the wringing and manipulation of the fiber in hot and then cold water. But it's really fun to make these jackets. During the fulling process the felt reminds me of clay because you can shape it. I purposely made this jacket more subtle than the last one I made. I didn't add any embelishing fibers to the surface. But if the mood strikes, I can always needle felt on some colors and wet it down and shape in the waist a bit more.

Yesterday morning...

2010-12-28T15:36:00.006-06:00

Merry Christmas!

2010-12-25T08:58:00.002-06:00

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!
I know I posted the wiseman photo before, but I thought it was worth repeating for a Christmas post.

When you live on a dead-end, not a lot of holiday lighting is necessary!

Matt, Ozzie, Kitty (in the bag) and Alex, 2010

Left to right: Rhisa, Socks, Rhyn, Rhaya (naughty girl), Leora, Pokey, Lanora. Not pictured, Harwell and the Shetlands

Unfortunatley Ozzie blinked and the kitty hopped out of the bag, so no retakes.

I'm off to quickly throw together the obligatory greenbean casserole and celebrate with the families in the Twin Cities.

Felt Garments!

2010-12-21T09:35:00.001-06:00

Handdyed felted jacket made from Shetland Mule fiber. I just need to add the buttons and maybe tweak the sleeves a little. The scarf is nuno-felted handdyed haboti silk with a merino/tencel blend.

Stan's vest felted from natural colored Bluefaced Leicester wool and silk gauze.

I have a long way to go in learning how to make felted garments, but so far I've made a vest for Stan and a jacket for me and I'm having a blast. Yes, Christmas is looming up this weekend, but I've been on a creative bender. Good thing we aren't exchanging a lot of gifts this year and everyone knows it.

I started sewing in 4th grade. I remember that I made a corduroy jumper. I was thrilled with it until my mother mentioned that the nap didn't match (so the fabric pieces took the light slightly differently). Drat!

Well, that became the story of my sewing life. Along with my friends, I sewed quite a few of my own clothes during high school, but I never felt I was good enough at my finishing skills. My hem stitches always seemed to stand out like beacons at sea and my zipper stitching always looked a little crooked.

I suppose it's like when you wallpaper your own rooms, the tiny imperfections that no one else notices glare out at you. Gosh, now that I think about it, that's how it is with painting too. It's taken me years to realize that most people will take things as they see them, they don't pick out all the tiny little inconsistencies, they just take in the overall impression and go one their way.

Anyway, I find myself again delving into garment making. But this time with felt! The cool thing about felt garments is that the felt becomes clay like during the fulling process and you can shape it to the desired size and shape. And even cooler is that you can wet it back down and reshape fairly easily - at least up to a point. And best of all - NO hems required! No facing required either. :-)

Breeding Groups/Breeding Plans

2010-12-12T13:26:00.000-06:00

Lots of snow here in Minnesota this weekend. It's worse to the south of us; so much so that the MetroDome roof has collapsed and there's no Viking game today. The temps will be getting down in the teens and twenties below zero and the wind is cold. The sheep don't seem to notice, they have plenty of bedding and shelter.

In this kind of weather I am really happy to be down to just two groups of sheep again. I decided to let my Socks, Mule wether, and Pokey, the Dorset cross ram lamb, run with the Bluefaced Leicester breeding group about a week ago.

Harwell's been in with the ewes since October, so they should already be bred, but Pokey is my back up ram just in case. As a ram lamb last year, Harwell didn't get his two ewes bred. Pokey's little, but he's spunky. The unnerving thing is I've actually seen him trying to mount a couple of my natural colored BFL ewes and they've been standing for him. The first time I saw it happen it was with the ewe lamb. I figured that was okay, she just didn't take the first time around when Harwell covered her (which I witnessed). Then two days ago I saw Pokey going after an adult BFL ewe, it may not mean that they're still open, but with lamb prices the way they are now I want to make sure all my ewes are bred this year.

The other change for this year's breeding pens is that I am not planning to break them up until shearing time. I really enjoy having the Shetlands and Bluefaced Leicesters in separate pens where I can feed them differently and all three of my rams are very manageable. The BFLs eat a lot more than the Shetlands. In past years when running all the ewes together I've wound up with fat Shetlands and skinny BFLs. We'll see what happens this year -- I'll probably have fat Shetlands and fat BFLs. :-)

I finished knitting the BFL reversible cable scarf and started in on Elizabeth Zimmermann's watch cap pattern using some handspun, hand-dyed Finn yarn. The spring of the Brioche stitch is really luscious in using the three-ply Finn yarn. I just hope I have enough to finish the hat, otherwise I'm going to have to spin up some more.

Homemade Sheep Covers

2010-12-09T20:23:00.001-06:00

After seeing how tight the size C Rocky Mountain sheep covers were on my Shetland ewe lambs, I made three more coats out of some white canvas fabric that I had on hand. I hope they hold up during use.

In the back of the photo above is size C tan Rocky Mountain Sheep cover. In the center is a homemade version just a little larger and the one in the foreground is larger yet. I made another that was even larger, but was surprised to find that it wasn't long enough to fit 4 year old Hattie. Back to the drawing board for my yearling and adult ewes.

I put the smallest homemade coat on my moorit ewe lamb. It's kind of big, but I think it will work. The black ewe lamb in the photo above is wearing a nylon coat of a different brand. A little too small.

As I was sewing these, I thought to myself that the Rocky Mountain coats would probably fit if only the front was a bit wider. So I extended the front of one and tried it out on my Ag grey ewe lamb, shown on the right in the photo below.

It seems to have worked. I'll probably extend the other two C's like that too. Hansel (on the left in the photo) is wearing a D which fits him well for now.

Instead of elastic for the legs, I used an orange fabric strap from a rachet tie-down system I found on clearance while looking for 1" elastic.

I'll try to get better photos in the daylight. I found it easy to get the coats on the sheep while they were eating. They get so focused on their food, I can just go up and slip the coat over their heads and then fiddle with the legs while they're chowing down.

Weekend Adventures

2010-12-07T11:47:00.003-06:00

The new Minnesota Lamb & Wool Producers logo on the tote bag I got at the auction on Saturday night. The old logo is on the 2010 directory at left. On the right is the Bluefaced Leicester cable scarf I struggled to knit during the conference. It's going much easier at home where I can concentrate better.
On the table is a quilt I bought at the auction. It was done by Kathy Munkelwitz of Isle, MN. Kathy and her husband raise North Country Cheviots and she is famous for her quilts.

What a weekend! It all started with a horrendous drive to the Twin Cities on Friday afternoon in rush hour traffic and snow. I started out at 2 p.m. with plans to meet Terri Drimmel at my son's place in St. Louis Park and ride together to the 8 p.m. Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers Board meeting. Being the secretary, I hadn't missed a Board meeting and I certainly couldn't let a winter storm warning keep me from attending the annual conference being held on Saturday and Sunday. Normally the trip from here to Morton would take about 3 1/2 hours. I got to my son's at 5 p.m. and Terri didn't get there until 7 p.m. There was just no way we would make it in time for the 8 o'clock Board meeting. Oh well, at least we made it Morton, MN safe and sound a little after 10:30 and we had a great time the rest of the weekend.

This is a photo taken while driving through the snowdrifts on the unplowed roads in Terri's little VW Rabbit (later dubbed a snowmobile). If you click to biggify, it looks like there's a wise man bearing gifts and heading north in the road in front of us!

After working on the new logo for the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers, it was so cool to see it on merchandise. I just had to buy that huge tote bag when it came up for auction on Saturday night. The sheep heads on the logo were inspired by a sheep I did on an emu egg years ago.

The Board wanted to include a black face and a white face sheep in the logo, so I overlapped two heads and colored one in. The other Board members liked it and the graphic designers cleaned it up to what you see on the bag. Very simple and carrying a feel of the old logo forward.

I'm so happy to be home again with all the white sparkling snow on the ground. I've made some progress on the cable scarf since I got home. Thanks to Terri Drimmel for her suggestion to use the mini-quilt I bought on the table, I love it! I'll bring up my poinsettia from last year when a few more leaves turn red. It's a little leggy and there's an aloe vera plant sharing its pot right now, but it will have to do for us this year.

Lady slipper orchid, little red poinsettia from last Christmas, 2 year old vinca vine trimmed back and flowering and a few leaves of the big old mauve poinsettia plant are showing on the right.

I can't believe it's already time to pull out the Christmas decorations! That and lots of felting to do. Yesterday I experimented with making flowers from pre-felt. Here's one on the Black Shetland hat I made a few weeks ago which is on my mannequin head (with her new wig)...

Okay, time to get to work around here! ;-)

Thanksgiving and a Finished Object

2010-11-29T19:33:00.001-06:00

Handspun, handknit scarf from River Oaks Lucy's lamb fleece and a big ball of handspun alpaca laceweight.

I had a great Thanksgiving. Stan had to work, so I went down to my mom's with homemade pumpkin pie and fruit salad in hand. Our two boys came separately since they live in the cities.

Most of the family was there except for Dad and my youngest brother. My sister had chopped off her hair earlier in the week so she wore a secondhand store wig to cover it up. The wig didn't stay on real well and it became the object of much laughter and photo taking as the men had a blast trying it on and feeling 25 years younger with a full head of hair again.

I was glad I didn't have to hurry home to close up the chickens or feed the sheep. We worked on a puzzle and went to check out my brother's rental space that he's making into an art studio and gallery.

The space used to be the hardware store in our small town. Going back in there brought back so many memories! My earliest memory of that store was of the time I was about four or five years old, my younger brother was three or four. We were there with dad who was busy talking when we found some really cool cowboy hats. We just went back out to the station wagon (there were 8 kids in our family) and dad didn't even notice the cowboy hats when he came out. But Mom sure did when we got home! Back we went to return the hats and appologize to Mr. Fortin. That was 50 years ago.

Back to Thanksgiving, my younger brother of the cowboy hat caper was in Peru this past year and brought back 11 ounces of handspun lace weight alpaca singles and the wooden spindle in the photo above. I find it curious that there is no hook on the spindle, don't they need a hook on their spindles in Peru? It's got a nice weight to it, but I am all thumbs when it comes to spindle spinning even with the luxury of a hook attached.
Just imagine how big of a pi shawl I can make with 11 ounces of laceweight alpaca! I would say there's at least 1200 yards there.

My Black Friday shopping consisted of buying stamps while shipping out a hat and then heading to the "One More Time" store in search of a wig for my mannequin head. Seeing no wigs on display I asked the ladies at the counter and out came a box full of wigs and hair extensions. Low and behold, there was a Daniel Boone style fake fur raccoonskin hat I had made for my son when he was little! I made it the year that John Lennon was killed. I remember I was in the midst of sewing all kinds of clothes for Christmas that year when I heard the awful news. Anyway, I donated that hat years ago, and it was fun to see it again - maybe I should have bought it back. But I didn't, I bought two wigs for my mannequin instead. It really makes a difference now that she has hair -- I think my hats look more elegant on her without the hair...

The scarf in the photo above was finished yesterday morning. It's made from River Oaks Lucy's lamb fleece. Lucy is a grey katmoget (some would say black katmoget because she's not Ag grey). She lives with Garret now. Anyway, I handcombed some drumcarded batts of her lamb fleece and spun up about 1 3/4 ounces of it into a springy super soft yarn years ago. I've been waiting for the right project to use it on and I think I found it in this Easy Leaves Scarf pattern from www.krazyawesome.com/knitmonster . There was enough yarn to make this scarf about 45" long after blocking. I like all the variations in color that came from all the hand processing and the fact that Lucy retained a lot of color in her fleece. I'm glad to finally have a new handknit handspun scarf to replace the one I lost last winter.

Dyed Batts and BFL/Tencel Fabric

2010-11-23T08:49:00.000-06:00

I've been dyeing again. I love taking the wool out of the crock pot and seeing what has happened to it. I love the unexpected colorways that are created when colors "split".

This is the BFL/Tencel blend felted into a lightweight sheer fabric, it's soft enough for scarves, but I may make another length of matching fabric so I can try making a flowing jacket from this. I love the luster!

These are both 9 1/4 oz batts of Shetland Mule fiber (50/50 BFL and Shetland). The teal on right is much prettier than the photo suggests, it reminds me of northern lights. The multi-colored on on the left was just an attempt to use up the leftover dye in two crockpots (as is the fabric at the top of this post). It's very pretty in real life too. These Mule batts were a bit coarser than my other batts and I had planned to use them for bags, hats, slippers,etc.

I may start selling some of the dyed batts. They are super easy to felt. I was going to keep them all for felting myself, but I'm feeling a bit overwhelmed by all the fiber on hand these days.

And I've still got several pounds of Shetland wool to be sent in for processing. I'll probably just go with roving rather than more felting batts.

Felting Video from Sticks and Stones

2010-11-21T14:22:00.002-06:00

Finally! I can link you all to a video of my felting demo at Sticks and Stones this past September.
My son is a videographer. He filmed my booth the first day of the festival and condensed it down into this short video...
http://www.youtube.com/mattutecht#p/u/3/Up0isWBOCOg

I think it's so cool to see the variety of people and ages working side by side experiencing the magic of making felt!

I got 26 pounds of wool batts back from Zeilinger's last week. They did an excellent job as usual. I've been dyeing Finn top in the crock pots (above) and today I'm felting a Bluefaced Leicester/Tencel blend. The Vikings are just too hard to watch this year.

Living in a Small Town

2010-11-16T14:02:00.002-06:00

Who would have thought that bringing my husband into the hospital for a colonoscopy yesterday would have brought in some extra money?

First of all, one of the workers in the surgery department bought a tanned pelt from me at the craft fair this past weekend and after getting it home she decided she wanted the more expensive full fleece pelt instead. So I brought it in for her when I came back to pick up Stan.

Then when I went into the recovery area to get Stan, a nurse stopped me in the hall and forced $20 into my hand - saying that years ago (probably around 2004?), she had been undercharged for some Ukrainian egg decorating supplies by my friend's daughter who was minding the little shop we had in town back then. Oh my gosh, isn't that amazing???

I have to say, it's really nice to live in a small town with good people.

Oh, and to top it all off, Stan's colon was clean as a whistle and he's good to go another 10 years! :-)

A Lady Slipper Orchid on a Snowy Day

2010-11-14T09:03:00.001-06:00

Yesterday I did the Holly Fair art & craft show in Mora. It was my first time as a vendor. Yes, there was a winter storm warning with 6-11" of snowfall expected in 24 hours, but that didn't stop the craft fair. Thankfully it was close to home for me and the roads were just wet going in, but slippery and slushy coming home.

The hardest thing about doing craft fairs is not buying a lot of other people's stuff. I just couldn't resist this Lady Slipper orchid -

I hope I can keep it alive, the guy said a cool windowsill on the north side of the house and let it dry out well between waterings. He also said there's a little side shoot coming along that should bloom in February. That funny looking plant on the left of it is a Pregnant Onion that I cut back because it was growing crooked. I got its parent plant years ago for $1. I gave the original plant away, but I found this little bulb growing in some old potting soil this summer. So I guess I was destined to have another pregnant onion plant.

But back to the orchids, it sounds like they can be as addictive as the Shetland sheep, so many different colors and textures, you can't have just one. But the first step is to see if I can keep it alive. I just love it!

I also got the cutest little egg cup scented candle. After my recent night without electricity, I appreciate candles more. Plus, I figured once the candle is gone I can display one of my eggs in it. I also got a local author's signed book, "True Tall Tales from the Land of Sky Blue Waters" and some homemade candies from another vendor.
After the craft show I had to buy groceries -- my least favorite thing to do. But when you're out of milk and bread, you'd better stop. The orchid is in the car and it's cold out. So I quickly grabbed the essentials and tried not to talk too long to anyone, and then the check out lines are all winding around the front of the store. Just my luck! Okay, so I drive slowly home through the slush and the sheep greet me with HUNGRY bellows. Unload the orchid, groceries, and the craft show stuff and head out to feed the sheep. Snow from the roof of the pole building piled up about 3', and it's very wet, compacted, and heavy. Sticks to the shovel. Okay, fed those sheep and head over to the Shetlands. Big armload of hay for their feeder only to find they had tipped over said feeder. Dang! I hate when that happens. I tossed a flake off to one side to get them away from my legs and tried to right the feeder with my free arm. I think we'll pound some T-posts to tie up that feeder so no one gets hurt.

Inside the little red barn, I see the little Buff Chantecler hen who has just recently started laying. She's settling in a corner of the barn, hollowing out a nest spot for her next egg. She's picking up bedding with her beak and tossing it over her back. Oh, so cute. But I was too just tired to wait for the egg's arrival...hopefully I'll find it this morning. I've got to get out and take photos of the snow covered landscape. Yeah, snow!

My New Ram/A Spinning Lesson

2010-11-11T17:54:00.000-06:00

Life has been so busy lately. Two art shows to submit work to in six days. Writing another grant application, and a new polled Shetland ram!

Last Friday LeeAnne came over for a spinning lesson on the new Louet S17 she bought. I was really happy that her wheel was so easy to spin on, perfect for a beginning spinner and with the big Louet bobbins, great for anyone who wants to make big skeins. Before long she was plying her very first skein from a center-pull ball like an old pro. And look at how balanced that very first skein turned out! So exciting to see a spinner in the making.

On Sunday I traveled over the river and through the woods (a national forest in fact) to pick up my new polled ram lamb, Sommarang Hansel. I am very happy with him and excited to see his lambs next spring.

That's him in the back and River Oaks Pepper in the front. She's Ag grey carrying brown, he's registered as a grey gulmoget, but he carries brown and looks more like a fawn or emsket to me. Breeding him to three gulmoget yearling ewes should give me lots of gulmoget lambs in the spring. Hopefully some full polled ram lambs.

Today I finished up a grant application and got it submitted. Now I'm getting ready for the Holly Fair in Mora on Saturday. I wish I had more scarves done. I might have to do a scarf-making marathon tomorrow. I wonder how many I could make in one day...

But the thing that really topped off my day was finding an egg in the chicken pen tonight. I'm not sure if it's from my old hens or the 6 month old Buff Chantecler hens. The old girls haven't laid an egg in several weeks and I just can't bring myself to buy another dozen eggs at the grocery store. I hope this is the start of lots more eggs coming my way. My neighbor is really anxious to get them again too.

FeltUnited 2010 Exhibit

2010-11-02T13:37:00.001-05:00

The FeltUnited 2010 exhibit is now online! Check out the website, http://www.feltunited.com/ to see all the creative and inspiring work that felters around the world did for the 2nd International Day of Felt. If you look hard enough, you might see some of mine in there too.

And while you're on the FeltUnited homepage, you may want to take note of FeltUnited Day 2011 and start thinking about what you're going to do that day (if you're a felter). The color scheme for next year is blue, purple, red. I love blue and purple and I can't wait to get started!

Here are a couple hats I made the other day. Still experimenting...

This is a Finn wool hat embellished with silk. I love the Finn wool for felting! It makes a sturdy hat that holds its form well. The neck tie is made from the brim trimmings.

Oh darn, blogspot won't let me upload the Black Iset Shetland wool hat. I'll save that for another day. It's very thin, only two layers of Shetland. The beautiful lilac Romney/Targhee roving I had planned as the outside layer didn't want to felt so I ripped it off. That's what I love about felting, you can always change your mind and go with the direction it takes you.

A night without Electricity and a new determination

2010-10-28T13:42:00.002-05:00

After spending Tuesday night with no electricity, I was determined to make good use of the daylight on Wednesday. I made another hat from my Black Shetland top and a wool/angora blend batt that I bought from Leslie Sampson at the Midwest Felting Symposium. The good thing about making a hat is that when you're done, you're done -- except for sewing in a label and maybe an embellishment. I've also been working some felt pieces for two upcoming art shows and I'm knee deep in mat board and frames.

Stan was out of state duck hunting for the past few days. Not good timing with the nasty weather we've been having. Our yard is full of big branches from the willow trees. I suppose that a fallen tree was what knocked out the power on Tuesday night for several hours. I'm thinking that is the first time in my life that I've been home all alone (except for the dog and two cats) when the power went off at night. Growing up the fifth in a family of eight children and then marrying and starting a family in my twenties, I really haven't been alone as much as I am these days. And I'm not complaining, now that the boys are gone, I am free to do all the things I've always dreamed of doing. And my cluttered up house is strewn with those things. :-)

Anyway, back to the dark and stormy night -- using my digital camera for light, I managed to find some matches stowed away with my Ukrainian egg decorating supplies. And I found candles stashed away in various cupboards. Eventually I had candle light in the living room and kitchen. Then it was like in the horror movies, me going down in the basement holding a candle. And when I finally found a flashlight in the basement, I headed out into the stormy night to close up the geese and check on the sheep.

Luckily there were no axe murderers in the garage or out in the barn, but it was kind of spooky with the garage door rattling and the wind and rain whipping my face. No, my sheep were NOT standing out in the weather like some people report theirs do. My sheep have the good sense to come in out of the rain and the near hurricane force winds. Now the geese are another story, they will stand out in the rain and the hail, heads pointing to the sky and just weather the storm. But at least they were back inside their pen and I locked them in for safety from predators.

I am really glad to have adequate shelter for all my sheep and birds -- the calf huts, the pole barn and the lean to -- it makes me feel better knowing that none of them have to stay outside in really bad weather.

After making sure all the outside animals were locked up for the night, I came back in to my candlelit living room and kitchen. The smell of the candles was wonderful, I got out my Louet S51 and started spinning some BFL top. The winds howling outside, the wheel turning, the quiet repetition of the treadling, and the cats curled up in the periphery of the candle light, it was actually pretty nice! I did my yoga and spun a little more yarn. The lights flickered on intrusively for a second. I was kind of glad that they didn't stay on. I went around and made sure all the switches were set in the off position before turning in for the night around 9:45. My 5 pound wool comforter kept me warm until the electricity came back on during the night.

Makes me think about what it would be like to slow down, enjoy the silence and being in the moment more often. So Wednesday the TV stayed off and the only radio I listened to was classical music as I was felting that hat. Which, by the way, was sheer joy with the aid of the felt rolling machine. I am finally getting the hang of how best to use it. And it's a good thing because there's lots more felting to be done around here!

I'll close with a shot of the Shetland gander. It's hard to tell what really goes on inside that little pea brain of his. But he is kind of cute with that inquisitive nature.

Get Away to the North Shore/Harwell's Bad Morning

2010-10-22T08:10:00.001-05:00

Here's a shot of Stan during our recent jaunt up to Grand Marais, MN. This was taken on artist's point and I don't need to tell you that I didn't go up there myself. I know it wasn't dangerous or hard to get up there, I'm just not a fan of heights. While I appreciate the awesome beauty of the lakeshore and the rocks, I have to say, I find that landscape cold and heartless and somewhat frightening.

I've never liked heights, boats, bridges, or airplanes. I just like to keep my firmly feet on the ground. So the walk along the top of the wall out to the lighthouse had me taking baby steps and trying not to look out at the vast expanse of water on one side or down at the rocks below on the other.
Then yesterday morning the sunlight coming through the clouds shining on the ram pen caught my eye and I had to get out there to photograph it. The colors were amazing, but the lighting was too low and this is what I got...I'd love to do a painting of it. That's Socks on the left, he's Lena's twin brother...on the right is Harwell, the fence jumper.
I found Harwll Saturday morning hanging from the fence by one hopelessly tangled back hoof. At first I thought he was dead - I didn't know how long he had been hanging there. It was awful. I ran and got the hoof trimmer to cut the panel away from the post that was holding it up and when I did, his body flopped to the ground. Then the panel was at an even worse angle for his ankle. I had all I could do to position the 16 foot hog panel in such a way that I could extract his hoof without breaking it. He was in obvious pain, only making a few groaning noises as I worked on his hoof. Once I got it loose he just rolled onto his back and laid there. I rolled him to one side and ran into the house for NutriDrench, Banamine, Vitamin B Complex and a quick call to the vet leaving a message for her to call me back.

When I returned he was on his back again, I flipped him to the other side and that seemed to help a lot. His head came up and I gave him some NutriDrench. I was starting to get the Banamine injection drawn when the hussy Shetland ewes came closer to the action, I couldn't believe that Harwell got to his feet and tried to limp toward them! I got them out of there and offered him a little alfalfa hay. He must not have been hanging upside down long, because he had a good appetite. The vet called back and advised Banamine twice a day for three days to keep the swelling down and to keep him separated from the ewes for a while.

I gave him one shot of Banamine and he was feeling pretty good, his limp was much better and he even jumped that same fence again as I was tying it back up! He was after Hattie, our oldest Shetland ewe. She was very happy to stay with him while I got the rest of the Shetland ewes safely behind a 6 foot high fence as far away from the boys' pen as I could get. So all is well that ends well, looks like we will have some Shetland Mule lambs in March along with the BFL lambs. I turned most of my panels so the narrow spacing is at the top now and we were able to take our trip as planned the next morning without having to worry about more Banamine injections. Harwell still has a slight limp, but he jumps between ram and ewe pens at will. I'm just glad the Shetland ewes are all safely behind the tall fence.

Lamb Stew

2010-10-20T12:55:00.000-05:00

If only you could smell this through the computer...

We love lamb stew. Now that the weather is cooler, we have been eating good again.

Here is the recipe I use for lamb stew, it's very easy and made from ingredients I normally keep on hand.

1 lb lamb stew meat (coat in flour - seasoned with your choice, I use Lawry's seasoning salt and brown in a small amount of hot fat/oil)
Add 3 cups water, 1-2 cloves minced garlic, 2 tsp salt and 1/4 tsp pepper. Cover and simmer on low for about an hour. Add 4 medium sized sliced carrots and 4 medium sized potatoes, pared and cubed, a medium chopped onion, and 1 tsp dried crushed basil (or as much as you like). Cook uncovered for about 25 minutes until the vegetables are tender. Add 10 oz. frozen peas (or 1 can peas, drained) and parsley (if desired). Cook about 5 minutes and it's done. Yummm!
I usually add a couple more cups of water when I add the vegetables.

No need to keep obnoxius rams around when there's lamb stew to be had!

New Chickens!!!

2010-10-10T18:00:00.001-05:00

Thanks so much to Kim for gifting me with her beautiful young flock of Buff Chanteclers. I picked them up on Thursday last week and they are slowly but surely making themselves at home here.

I'm sorry that Kim's plans to build a new chicken coop for them to live in this winter didn't work out, but that's where I came in. My flock is down to just three old hens who have survived the coyotes and fox strikes. I'll try to keep these guys safe.

There are six hens and a one-eyed rooster. That's him and his good eye in the photo above. I am hoping to hatch out some purebred Buff Chantecler chicks next spring -- or better yet, letting them hatch out their own chicks. I've never had Chantecler chickens before but from what I've read, their claim to fame is that they are so winter hardy and lay well through the winter. We're only getting one egg a day from the old girls right now (if we're lucky), so I can't wait for them to start laying.

BFL Breeding Group Together/New Polled Shetland ram

2010-10-04T17:27:00.000-05:00

Harwell decided it was time to join the ewes again. As I was rushing through feeding the sheep before heading out to the exhibit on Saturday morning, I heard the unmistakeable nicker of an amorous ram in the ewe pen. Dang, that ram had done it again! I don't know exactly how he does it, but I'm pretty sure he just jumps over the fence. I really didn't want him anywhere near my yearling Shetland ewes or the Shetland ewe lambs, so I had to take the time to get him and the BFL ewes into a separate pen.

Harwell had this same idea about a month ago. I let him stay with the BFL ewes for a week then. They like being with him, and they look so good together, but I'm really worried about lambing out BFLs in temps of 20 below next February. Well, we're in October now and lambs would be born in early March, so I'll let them stay together. I realize March temps can be 20 below too, but I'll just have to hope for the best.

I'm very excited about getting Sommerang Hansel, a polled grey (non-Ag) gulmoget ram from Meghan Namaste in late November. I saw him at Jefferson and was disappointed to find out he had already been sold (to Meghan). Well, you just never know how things will turn out, Meghan has agreed to sell him to me after she's done using him this fall! I have three black factored gulmoget yearlings to breed him to and one black ewe (River Oaks Hattie). All but one of my ewes carry moorit for sure, and so does Hansel, so I should definitely get some moorit gulmoget lambs in the spring! And hopefully some full polled boys with fabulous fleece. Fingers crossed!

On the BFL lamb wish list, I'm hoping for lots of white lambs in the spring. Harwell is white but carries color and so do both my white ewes, but I'm hoping the white comes through more than the color next year. I just can't seem to get enough white BFL fleeces. I don't mind healthy singles from the BFLs, but twins would be a nice change of pace.

Exposing Myself...

2010-10-03T15:12:00.000-05:00

When one of the visitors at my FeltUnited exhibit yesterday used the above term and I knew I had the title for this blog post. :-) Yes, the purpose of the exhibit was not only to expose myself and my work to the public, but also to expose visitors to felt and all the wonderful things you can do with it. I have to say, felt just speaks for itself.

Back in March, I wrote a grant application to purchase a felt rolling machine. My plan was to get the rolling machine in July, figure out how to use it in August and September and then do a community rug project for FeltUnited Day. I really wanted to incoporate FeltUnited Day into the plan because being an international celebration of felt, it's such a wonderful way of uniting felters the world over. But that meant that I had only one week between events to make my first rug ever and get an exhibit of my work ready for display.

I didn't know back in March that I would be working and selling lots of things in the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producers booth at the State Fair, or that I would be judging the Handspun Skeins at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival, or that I would be travelling to meetings and in the midst of serious decision-making with the Shepherd's Harvest planning committee. But in order to fulfill my grant project, that rug was getting made last week one way or another. And I have to say, it was quite a challenge at times. Two pounds of wool and too much water added made for some technical difficulties. Which was actually a very good learning experience. Here it is:

Yes, it's primitive, but it's a rug! I love the colors, and I love walking on it. Not that I've gotten to do much of that yet because I don't want to get it all dirty. It still needs to hang at the elementary school so the kids who worked on creating the pre-felt for it can see the fruits of their labor.

The blue background was done in two sections in the kiddie pool and the other colors were cut out of the prefelts people made in the ziplock bags last weekend. I needled them loosely onto a one pound batt of wool that I had dyed green. The entire rug is made of wool from my Shetland Mules (50/50 Shetland/Bluefaced Leicester). It took the dyes well and felted well.

I wetted it down (too much) and tried to roll it up and get it downstairs without getting susdy water all over my house.

After several hours of rolling and unrolling, flipping and turning and rolling some more, the felting was done and the fulling was underway. I love the fulling process, it involves squeezing and dropping the wet soapy felt until it shrinks down and starts to pucker up a bit.

These three worked on making prefelts last week and I was happy to see them and their mom come to see the finished rug. There are lots of prefelts leftover, I could make a whole SERIES of rugs with them - and I just might!

This is my friend Sue, who helped me get the exhibit set up and served the refreshments. I always appreciate Sue's help and excellent listening skills. I don't look forward to her and Toby heading south for the winter, but somehow I'll manage.

Some of my pieces were works in progress, like the nuno-felt vest above. I just need to hem the silk and finish up the shawl collar. The fabric for this vest was one of my first projects on the rolling machine.

Thanks to Barb for sticking around for the nuno-felting demo. Thanks to everyone for coming including my aunt and uncle from St. Paul, MN. There was even a visitor from from Hungary!

Now that FeltUnited Day is over, I look forward to exploring more feltmaking on the rolling machine - including more garments and more rugs.

This activity is funded, in part, by a grant from the East Central Arts Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the Minnesota Arts and Cultural Heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

Pre-felts made, next comes the RUG

2010-09-27T08:26:00.003-05:00

What a weekend, making pre-felts with all kinds of people! From the littlest toddlers to grown ups...

Some worked in gallon size ziplock bags, some stomped the wool in the kiddie pool, that was so much fun to watch!

My son videotaped the action on Saturday. I so appreciate his help and also Judy Broekemeier's help in recruiting volunteers to stomp on Sunday. Special thanks to all the wonderful young people who abandoned their shoes and socks and stomped!

And this is a shot of what they did with all that stomping.

The best part for me was seeing the participants' faces and telling people all about felt and how it is made from WOOL - no spinning or knitting needed.

I now have 50 squares in yellow, blue and green and two big dark blue chunks to incorporate into a community rug. Lots of work to do this week to get ready for my FeltUnited exhibit on Saturday, October 2nd! (Complete details on that are in the previous post.)

Oh and for all you knitters, I had to get a photo of this adorable little girl and the cute sweater her grandmother knitted decades ago. It has been worn by several family members over the years and it's still in great condition. I think I can figure out how to make one like it by tweaking a somewhat similar EZ pattern knit from the top down in 'Knitter's Almanac'.

Felting Demos & Fiber Art Exhibit

2010-09-21T09:09:00.001-05:00

I've been going crazy trying to keep the rams separate from the ewes and getting ready for my big grant projects this weekend and next weekend.

The public is invited to join me this weekend in making felt for a community rug. The felting sessions will take place at the Sticks and Stones Art and Cultural Festival from noon to 2:30 and 3:30 to 6:00 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 25th and from noon to 3:00 on Sunday on the grounds of the Kanabec History Center in Mora, MN.

The weather forecast looks good for doing a rug stump in a kiddie pool, but I will also have the option of felting in ziplock bags for those who don't want to get their feet wet. Participants can even make themselves a felt pin to wear proudly on FeltUnited Day, October 2nd, 2010.

Which brings me to the second part of my grant project, my FeltUnited Fiber Art Exhibit at Made of Mora on Saturday, October 2, 2010 from noon to 4:00 p.m. This is where the completed community rug, made from the prefelts created by participants at Sticks and Stones, will be unveiled.

In keeping with the spirit of FeltUnited, I will have my recent felt pieces on display and I'm inviting other felters to join me in displaying their felt creations too. The colorway for FeltUnited this year is yellow-green-blue, let me know if you've got something in that colorway to display and we'll reserve a space for you. Felters are invited to wear their felt creations too. We'll take photos to submit to the official FeltUnited website for inclusion with photos of other events taking place around the world on that day.

Okay, no time to spare now, it's back to work for me. Hope to see you soon!

This activity is funded in part, by a grant from the East Central Regional Arts Council with funds provided by the Minnesota arts and cultural heritage fund as appropriated by the Minnesota State Legislature with money from the vote of the people of Minnesota on Nov. 4, 2008.

Boys will be Boys/Getting ready for WSWF

2010-09-07T19:30:00.001-05:00

Last Friday while I was working at the fair, our BFL ram, Ward Harwell, managed to get in with the ewes. Fortunately Stan noticed and got him back in the ram pen with a bucket of corn. Then when I looked out at the sheep on Saturday morning, there he was again in with the ewes.

I took the camera along to document the possibility of February BFL lambs, but I forgot to put on my glasses. When I got up closer, I see that Socks, our wether managed to accompany Harwell this time. I decided to let Harwell have his way and I put the BFLs & Socks in a separate pen. That way I can feed them separately from the Shetlands.

While I was out there with the sheep, I distinctly heard a goose next door. The neighbor boys have gotten into poultry this summer and I wondered if they had gotten themselves some geese too. So I stepped over our newly fixed fence...

(freed from the huge oak that was pressing down it just days before) and took a quick look at the boys' bird pens. No geese in there, just chickens. But when I looked up I saw this:

So I took a couple photos, zooming in so I could get a better look when I downloaded them to the computer. I mentioned to Stan that I saw a bunch of geese in the neighbors back yard hanging out by their chickens. Well, the next day Stan is chuckling away and tells me the neighbor boy asked if I had seen geese in his backyard. It turns out the neighbor kid was up in his tree stand with a goose call the whole time and had gotten a good laugh out of watching me taking photos of his decoys. What a stinker! I really do need to wear those glasses whenever I go outside. I didn't realize Saturday was the opening day of the early goose season.

I picked up the last of my inventory at the state fair today. Not much to bring home thankfully. Next year I will be better prepared. Working in the booth was a real education -- so many people! Friday morning's cold temps were a real boon to sales of hats, mittens and socks. :-)

On Sunday we went to my dad's place in Wisconsin. It used to be our family cabin, dad moved up there to live about 20 years ago. I remember all the summers we spent canoeing and swimming in that creek and the nearby lakes. It's cool to see our kids carrying on the tradition now. In this photo, my sister and brother are in the canoes...

And now to get ready for the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival in Jefferson, WI this weekend! Our 1997 Chevy Venture has 231,000 miles on it and Stan was nervous about me taking it on yet another long trip like that.

This "after the storm photo" from last month shows my little red van.

But that little thing just keeps going and going like the Energizer Bunny. The problem with it is the windows can't be trusted to go back up once they go down and the back hatch door can't be trusted to actually open. Lots of little things like that add up and it's getting pretty rusty. So this morning we bought ourselves another Chevy Venture:

This one is a 2003 so we're in the current century now! I like the fact that it's the longer version, I wonder how many dog crates full of sheep it will hold.

A Ribbon at the Minnesota State Fair!

2010-08-25T07:47:00.001-05:00

"Portrait of Lena" took second place in Fine Arts exhibit, textile category! This wet felted piece has been very, very good to me.

Busy Summer!

2010-08-23T08:55:00.001-05:00

Just a quick update this morning, lots to do before the sun sets tonight.

Merino tencel nuno felt yardage and the cute planter I got at the auction. Before the hail storm.

The insurance adjuster has come and gone, we had damage to the roof of the house and the entire roof of the pole building. Now if we have to fix the pole barn roof, I'm thinking we should add at least one lean-to on it to house the sheep. Actually I'd love to add one on each side. I've always let the sheep access the barn via the slider, but I hate trying to keep that area clear so the slider is operational. Anyone have lean-to ideas or plans to share? I'm thinking if we add 8' on each side, we should put a door in the existing walls so it would be easy to feed the sheep without going outside.

The good news about all the storms and rain this summer is our pond is almost FULL already! We took this photo last week, it's probably even a little higher now. Hopefully our hay guy will get his cattle in there soon to make use of all that forage. While we were there, I checked on my pumpkins, watermelon and cantaloupe plantings in the compost piles. They were like a jungle covering all three piles. I made the mistake of picking a watermelon. It was not ripe yet, but chickens and sheep loved it. My neighbor says not to pick watermelons until after the first frost. My mom says they're ripe when the little curly things near the stem dry up. Does anyone know? And would the same hold true for the cantaloupe?

It was too hot this summer to mulch my salsa garden and my tomatoes look terrible. I grow Brandywines and they usually keep vining and producing well into the fall. But this year the plants have blight, it's been so wet. I'll have plenty make juice and salsa with though - if I get the time!

I am so busy trying to get things ready for the Minnesota Lamb and Wool Producer's booth at the State Fair. I resisted dyed the scarf above last night. I'm bringing my stuff down tomorrow and will stick around to help set up the booth. Then I get to attend the "Sneak Preview" of the Fine Arts Exhibit. My wet-felted piece, "Portrait of Lena" was accepted into the show. I can't wait to see it hanging at the State Fair!

"Portrait of Lena", photo by Petronella Ystma

I'll be working 5 days in the MLWP commercial booth at the fair (it's in the dairy building, near the haunted house); I'm just hoping I'll have the stamina to hold up for all 5 days. I think it will be a great learning experience even if I don't sell all that much stuff.

This morning Stan & I are going to have eye exams and order new glasses. My poor glasses are totally bent out of shape. I take them off for close up jobs and there were so many times they fell in the hay and got stepped on. The most memorable was when the first lambs of 2009 were born and they fell into the hay. I was horrified to see Ozzie (the Aussie) take off with them, crunching all the way. It's time to get new ones and quit trying to reshape the old pair.

Another storm, another fence

2010-08-13T12:43:00.000-05:00

Last Sunday morning this what we found. I heard the crackling of a tree coming down during the storm the night before. Our south perimeter fenceline is under there.

One of the big oak trees that gives River Oaks its name, just split in two. It keeps sinking lower, threatening more of our perimeter fence.

Here it is after Stan spent hours trimming it down, we've got a call in to a professional to finish the job.
That's a thick trunk! The good news is we'll have lots of oak firewood to keep us warm next winter (not this winter).

And this is what we found this morning, just days later, the north fence is under this. At least these are smaller trees.

My corn was about 7-8' tall yesterday. It's been knocked down so many times this year, I wonder if it will come back again.

Look at the cattle panel and tarp hoop house. We were planning to take it down anyway.

Good bye Shachah

2010-08-12T08:15:00.001-05:00

We said goodbye to Shachah the other day. We love that dog! He has a calm, sweet temperament along with the ability to run off any dogs that came in our yard, and Lord knows what all else he kept away. He barked quite a bit at night, especially when there was a full moon. He is a super cool dog, so smart with a real sense of himself.

Well, you might be asking, why did we give him away then? The answer is we only have 5 acres here and he needed more to guard. As it was, he guarded all three houses at the end of our cul-de-sac and he was damned good at it. The problem was that only two of the houses wanted to be guarded. LOL.

This was his winter vantage point overlookning the pond and the woods to the north and sheep paddocks to the south

He was fine over the winter just guarding the ewes in the pasture out back. But when spring came and the ground thawed, he became a Houdini that could get out of any place we put him - digging under and slipping through despite the barbed wire. And being a Great Pyrenees/Akbash cross, he had a mind of his own, did things on his own pace. We learned that it was best to just let him do his thing, because calling and chasing and trying to forcibly bring him home wasn't going to work. He never stayed away too long or went very far, or did any damage, but if he had a mission in mind, he was going to do it one way or another.

He loved to sleep on his back.

Eventually we just left our gates open at night so he could guard the whole place. Many a night I would go out with the flashlight to see what he was barking at, he liked having some back up. In the morning we'd look to see where he was. Usually we'd find him laying in front of our garage or out in the center of the cul-de-sac, guarding the whole end of the road. He was so cool.

Shachah waiting his turn for a drink of fresh water. Ozzie the Aussie got to go first.

None of the neighbors ever actually complained to us about him, but I just didn't feel right about having a large dog running loose at night and sometimes barking incessantly. So when Sabrina expressed an interest in getting another dog to replace her beloved Sally, I offered him to her. I had been thinking that hers would be a great home for him and it just seemed right.

She came over the other day and he took to her right away, it was just amazing. She has such a way with animals. We put him in the back seat of her truck and he rode the whole 3 hour trip to his new home without a problem.

I look forward to seeing and hearing how things go for him on Sabrina's blog. There's a big empty spot in our hearts without our "Big Dog"and I'm scared that whatever he was barking at is going to think it has free reign now, but in the long run I think we made the right choice for him and for us. If we ever move over to our 40 acres, I would get another LGD or two in a heartbeat. But hopefully Sabrina won't have to chase any more bears out of her yard with him around.

HATS!!!

2010-08-08T08:58:00.000-05:00

I've been on a felting bender for over a week now. Yesterday I finished two hats that were inspired by Suzanne Higgs' beautiful work and the hats I saw at the Midwest Felting Symposium. I think they will be warm in the winter with all those layers.

This hat is made from black Shetland and a romney wool/angora rabbit blend batting. I was unhappy with all the long hairs on it while fulling, but now that it's dry, I love the soft matt surface provided by the angora fiber.

This one is the Black Shetland liner with a dyed Romney wool and silk cap embellishments. I also made some felt covered buttons and the nuno/laminated scarf on the mannequin.

I finally finished this black Shetland hat about 5 days earlier than the ones above.

It seemed that the fedora style was the only kind of hat I could make, so I forced myself to try something different. Everything looks good on that head. I look terrible in hats myself.

Sorry for the lack of a decent background, I'm just too busy creating to clean up my work space. I will do a proper photo shoot of all the things I've been making at some point in the future.

Micron Test Results

2010-07-30T08:16:00.000-05:00

While I was gone at the Midwest Felting Symposium the micron test results for my flock arrived.
They contained some surprises and I am actually a little skeptical about some of them.

My finest fleece is from Camille, (F2 Minder with Holly and Roban Dillon in her pedigree), she's my favorite yearling ewe whose staple is 6" long and wavy, it stretches to 7" if pulled taut. Her results were 20.6 AFD, 6.3 SD, 30.4CV, 88.9 CF. I am retaining her.

Next finest in my flock was Camille's twin brother, Greyson, last fall his fleece sample microned at 22.6 AFD, but this sample came back at 21.9 AFD, 5.6 SD, 25.6 CV, 91.6 CF. Greyson sired our 2010 Shetland lamb crop and was put in the freezer this spring along with his shaela half brother, Sebastian, who was my third finest fleece at 23.1 AFD, 4.9 SD, 21.1 CV and 91.1 CF.

In fourth place was Freya, our solid-sided gulmoget yearling, 23.2 AFD, 6.2 SD, 26.6 CV, 86.0 CF. Freya has good length to her fleece which is why I'm retaining her also. She's not real tame, but one of these days I'm sure she'll come around.

Her twin Frieda has a shorter staple and came in at 24.2 AFD, 5.7 SD, 23.5 CV and 86.9 CF. I sold Frieda without papers the other night.

Eleven year old Bramble Cordelia (F1 Minder and dam of Camille and Greyson) came in at 25.8 AFD, 6.0 SD, 23.4 CV and 78.1 CF. She will be put down this summer and Camille will take her place in our flock.

Cleo was next at 26.6 AFD, and 7.0 SD, 26.1 CV and 71.2 CF. She carries moorit and has side dusting, but I like her longer staple.

Surprisingly our 4 year old twins, microned higher than usual with Hattie at 28.1 AFD and Hannah 29.4 AFD. Hannah had a single last year, so that might have something to do with her uncharacteristcally high numbers.

Leonie had the highest numbers of the Shetlands with an AFD of 29.6, she is double coated and was sold unregistered the other night along with Frieda.

The BFLs have a higher micron count, but their comfort factor is usually higher than the Shetlands.

Our finest fleeced BFL was our yearling ram, Ward Harwell, 24.6 AFD, 4.2 SD, 17.2 CV and 92.1 CF.

Two year old Leora, out of Beechtree Lanora and Beechtree Granite, was next with 25.1 AFD, 3.7 SD, 14.7 CV and 93.9 CF, then came her mother, Lanora, with 28.5 AFD, 5.1 SD, 17.8 CV and 71.6 CF (this AFD is higher than previous years also).

The natural colored BFL ewes, Rhyn and Rhaya came in at 29.6 and 29.2 AFD, 5.4 and 5.0 SD, and 18.2 and 17.1 CV respectively.

So the flock average continues to improve a little each year, this year it was 26.3 AFD, 5.9 SD, 22.5 CV. This is in contrast to 2006, the first year I did micron testing, when the average was 27.8 AFD, 7.1 SD, and 25.2 CV.

Photos from the Midwest Felting Symposium

2010-07-28T08:27:00.001-05:00

I had a great time again this year at the Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison, WI. The symposium is put on by Susan McFarland of Susan's Fiber Shop. She had a great line up of instructors form around the world again this year. The things made in class were wonderful.

I didn't take a class this year which made me a little sad, but at least I was able to go and get inspired by seeing what others are doing by checking out the gallery and the style show on Saturday evening.

Here are some photos from the gallery:

Vilte Kazlauskaite's piece made with raw wool locks.

Here's a fabulous felted fish by Pam McGregor.

I loved this purse by Paige Garber, there was a bird on the other side.

And this wonderful jacket, I can't remember if it was done by Lizzy Houghton or Char Sehmisch from Germany.

And here are photos from the fashion show:

This lady made the top, the bag and the hat in classes she took. I'm pretty sure she dyed the silk scarf also. Nice work!

And check out this dress made and modeled by Vilte Kazlauskaite. Leslie Sampson was co-emcee of the style show and you can see her in the background on the left wearing a felt coat with a very stunning embellished collar.

And here is Vilte in another gorgeous dress (above).

A swing coat and hat by Lizzy Houghton (below).

and here's the back view of that coat. Sorry the photos are so blurry, I couldn't use a flash due to the distance and the models were in constant motion.

And here's a beautiful top on Marlene Gruetner.

I wanted to see the rug stomp as I intend to do something similar at Sticks and Stones Art and Cultural event this fall, but there weren't enough children on hand to make it happen. Susan graciously gave me instructions on how to do it. Now I'm just hoping for warm weather that last weekend in September so I can have a successful rug stomp of my own.

One last piece by Vilte Kazlauskaite that was in the gallery.

From Heat, Hay and Humidity to Brunch and the Midwest Felting Symposium

2010-07-23T19:47:00.000-05:00

I bought 20 small squares of alfalfa at the auction on Wednesday for the lambs. We started weaning them on Sunday. I really didn't want to have to stack hay in the heat, but thankfully a nice young man hopped into the bed of my pickup and helped me load them up. Once at home our hay guy called to say that he was baling the rest of our field. So that meant we'd have to go stack it after Stan got off work since rain was in the that night.

When we got out to the land this is what we found.The baler was really buried, but Randy had gotten every bale off the hayfield.
It was so humid I was sweating like crazy just from walking back to check on the field and the pond. We had 2 1/2 inches of rain over the weekend and the pond keeps getting fuller.

As the guys worked on getting unstuck, I stayed in the shade of the pickup and played around with self portraits in the rear view mirror..

I kind of like the serious look of this one...

After the bigger tractor arrived and pulled the baler out, it was just a matter of time until it pulled the hay rack up to the pole barn and we had to get started unloading the 220 bales. We paced ourselves and drank plenty of water. We managed to finish up before dark, which was a good thing because there is no electricity over there. This was our view as we left the farm to head for home and a nice cold shower...

I love the big sky views over there. So with the 180 bales from last week, we've now got 400 bales of hay in the barn, I just hope my girls won't be too fussy to eat it this winter.

Yesterday I ran down to St. Paul to pick up my felt rolling machine (more on that in a later post!) and had brunch with my friend Bro (pronounced Brew). She brought lots of stuff to show me including her sock knitting and she wound up buying the nuno scarf that I had brought to show her. The color looks so good on her.

Now I'm off to the Midwest Felting Symposium in Madison WI this weekend with my friend Nancy Hoerner. We're not taking any classes this year, just going to see everyone and take in the felt gallery, the fashion show tomorrow night and the shopping. It will be so much fun!

It's all in the Presentation

2010-07-17T18:03:00.000-05:00

Remember that resist-dyed scarf I wasn't real happy with in my last post? Well, as I looked at the edges I saw some wonderful things going on. I decided to fold it and press it and what difference that made!

I loved it and I wasn't real surprised that it sold today. I am going to explore that technique some more.

There was a lot of interest in the nuno felted (laminated) scarves, and I've made plans to teach a nuno felt scarf class on Monday, August 16, from 2-6 p.m. here in Mora. There is room for 4 more students. If you're interested in attending, let me know.

We will be making a scarf like this aqua one... your choice of aqua-green as shown, blue-purple, or red-orange colorway. We'll be using silk gauze and either merino or a blend of my Bluefaced Leicester wool.