Walking around the farm.

None of these photos have been edited in any way. The blurs you see are the animals in motion.

Above left is Mounds, a Rambouillet Columbia cross, who I bottle fed from day two. She was a gift from a friend in Arizona. She will never have lambs again, but she is worth keeping because where she leads the more skittish sheep will follow. As good as a herd dog!

The goats were not overly interested in walking up to the hay field, but they were hoping for grain.

Did an udder check on the Merinos and two of them are getting pretty close. Next weekend I might have to move them to the front yard, so I can keep an eye on them. For now, they are roaming the pastures and loving it.

We were partway up the hill and the Merinos abandoned us. The buck that is rubbing Marc has a happy little harem. Maybe not so little, since I put all of the yearling and adults in with him recently. I am trying to decide where to put him when I pull him out. Next weekend I will put him with the other bucks and see how things go.

Can you spot Silver, our barn cat? Hint - he is silver/gray.

He is a very sociable cat. He followed us the whole way. Water fascinates him. He walked on the pond a few weeks ago when it was frozen. He does not have enough fear.

Goats were so desperate to get their share of grain that they raced us down the hill. We try to feed from the far side, since you can tell by the blurs how quickly they were moving.

As we fed the Merinos in the upper garage, the two Suris came up. They would like grain but won't walk through the gates without extra encouragement. Works for me, since they tend to take over any area they get into. No grain for them, since they really don't need it.

Those clouds you saw brought us a little snow with a lot of wind. We put all of the animals in areas with shelter and fed them early. The storm moved through quickly and it has already melted. 

 If you need any lovely fibers from my animals, please check out: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.blogspot.com. I have been stocking it with a mix of fibers, patterns and finished goods.

Merry Christmas.

Snow and more snow

The world outside looks like a black and white photo. If you visited today, you would not think we have any animals. They are all in the white barn, garage and shelters scatter around the pastures. The angora goats have yet to step outside since it started. The Merinos obviously do not care as much. They have been pawing at the ground to expose the grass, although there is plenty of hay in the barns.

I am currently spinning some red mohair that I dyed maple sugar. My dyes from Tucson are losing their color due to the humidity here despite the jars having been securely closed. Not a very soft mohair, but plied to a chamois colored mercerized cotton it is definitely wearable. 

This is the last skein that I have added to Etsy. My current intern has been doing a wonderful job of showing me new tricks to use on Etsy. I have taught her to drop spindle and she is now borrowing my Schacht and spinning away. Wish I had had a good teacher when I started out. It took me three months to master the wheel. Impatient people should not try to teach! She is becoming obsessed. There is just something rhythmic about the bobbin flying around and filling up with yarn that soothes the soul. Try it, if you have not!

I will be at the Chantilly Sugarloaf show this weekend. Next Monday I will be setting my shop up for three months. Next show is in North Carolina in April.