A Week of Contrasts

 Sunday morning the East Friesian had a ram lamb weighing over 9 pounds. I was thinking that she had twins based on size, but nope! Just the one big lamb.

 Last night I did my final check at 8:30 and discovered that Cloudy (mom) had twin babies. Thought for sure the the ewe lamb was dead and the ram just about. They both cried when I picked them up, so I spent two and a half hours drying them with a blow dryer and waring them up. Then I finger fed them colostrum that I saved last year and got them sucking. By 11 the ram was standing. I held both of them on the mom to drink and then left them to settle in. I went back out at 1:15 and both babies were walking around and popped onto mom when she stood. I have had to supplement today. They are very small for Merino babies.The mom was in the barn and front yard area where I have been feeding grain, so I think she had them prematurely. She is a first time mom and was fortunately relaxed enough to let me handle her and her babies. I am naming them Angel and Candle in honor of the Christmas season.

 Our barn renovation is moving along. the front is almost done, the downstairs windows are in and big picture windows are behind the blue tarps.

 I plan to move my shop to the area behind the french doors, so that will be the first thing that people see when they come into the barn. I am going to turn the current shop space into a studio, so I can work in the barn and heat only a small area. We plan to put a catwalk around the upper area for roving storage.

 I am busy weaving on my Majacraft loom. I have decided to turn the piece into a vest. The back is done and I am a fourth of the way down the front.

I managed to get close up photos of the peachicks this morning and I can now tell that I have three cocks and one hen. The mother is the second from the right and the hen is to her right. You can tell by enlarging the photo that their wing feathers are the same. The cocks have speckled feathers like their father.

Upgrades, Renovations and a New Aviary

 I am slowly adding to my etsy shop: www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com and my finished goods page: www.artweaving.etsy.com. Above is a lovely supercoil in natural colors that has kid mohair and tencel. Perfect for embellishment.

 Due to all of the traveling that I have been doing, my right leg has developed serious issues. My sciatica has flared up dramatically and I can no longer spin more than half hour on a regular wheel. Since spinning is my major passion, I invested in two different electric spinning wheels. Featured above is the Spinolution Firefly. I also bought the Ashford espinner. I love both of them and will usually take the Ashford to shows since it is smaller. This weekend I am taking the Firefly to the Maryland Alpaca Fiber festival. I am already set up in the dining hall. I am so excited to be there since it is warm and a lot of the vendors are my friends. Great place to hang out for the weekend. It also has the advantage of being only 15 minutes from home, so a lot less driving.

 With six peafowl now, their own aviary became a must. This is the beginning stages. It is almost finished now. Just the door to hang on the shelter. We moved them into it last night. They are edgy, but it is better for them to not be with the chickens.

We decided to have our barn restoration begin now. The guys have almost finished replacing the doors and windows on the front. It is already warmer since the wind is no longer whistling through the slats. I love being able to open the doors by myself. The hanging doors were designed for big husky guys to open. The front is now white till they finish all of the windows. It will be repainted red once the new wood is all in place. Of course, when they started removing the bad sections, they found lots of water damage and termite damage - none current, so it will cost us more than expected, On the Mark Construction is doing the work. They are very diligent and will hopefully have the exterior done by the end of the year.

Shop, Rug Hooking, New Landscape and Peacocks

 My shop will stay set up all year round now since I have enough yarn to fill the racks even with yarns pulled for shows. I am starting to have some of my Merino and Kid mohair blended to create lace and fingering weight yarns, so I can design patterns and have yarns to go with them. Some of my patterns require specific yarns which will become limited editions. Seems like everyone wants the exact same yarn and color that I make my models out of. Unfortunately, it has become tedious and they are no longer unique, if I am always spinning the same yarns. So make yourselves notes to buy it, if you want it.

 We are currently waiting  on a bid for our red bank barn to be remodeled and climate controlled. I would like to move all of my fiber stuff to one place and be able to work in the barn.We have ideas for the interior being redone, but the holes in the walls have to go first!

 I went to the MAFA show in July and came home determined to try something new. I have been fascinated for a while by rug hooking and my friend, Loris Blanchard of the Wool Farm, got me started on a sample piece last year. I am now experimenting using my art yarn on monk's cloth.

 This is one of the skeins that I spun in attempts to recreate the colors for my first rug hooking project. This actually represents what our grass looks like now. I love it, but have posted it for sale on my Etsy shop, since the landscape that I have chosen is from early spring.

 I am going to use this photo for my landscape design. I will be editing out the tree shadow and simplifying the smaller details.

Last, but not least, Marc and I added peafowl to our menagerie. My uncle passed away a few weeks ago and I have decided to live my life to the fullest. Peacocks were on my bucket list. Marc always denied my request saying that they are "dirty and loud." Well, the dogs and Skyler are much louder. It is fascinating to watch their stately strut. They are currently in the aviary till we are sure that they will stick around. The male spreads his feathers when he sees me coming out with treats. He has been losing a few feathers - some big and some small. Soon I will have enough to spin a feathered yarn with the small ones. I am amazed at how many types of feathers they have beside the impressive tail feathers with the eyes.

This is a good time to visit the farm. Just a reminder - call first since I occasionally have to run off somewhere, and be sure to not wear your best shoes, since we occasionally rotate the sheep and goats on the front yard.