Shearing, locks, lambs and a garden

 The alpacas and 3 of the Merinos were shorn this past Wednesday. The alpaca fleeces were fine, but the ones that really excited me were the Merino fleeces. All of them were very fine, but the finest and loveliest color of all was the Moorit one top left. It was variegated from deep chocolate to taupe. I have already washed that fleece and I am working my way through the rest other two.

 I am having a lot of trouble finding a shearer who is willing to do angora goats. Nathan Good sheared the alpacas and Merinos, but he has already told me that he was not willing to do the angoras. If anyone knows someone on the east coast, I would  love to know. I have called quite a few listed on the American Shearers Association page. Most are not returning calls. Some have bad numbers.

 Columbian obviously got pregnant by a Merino ram, since her lambs look just like him. These photos were taken a week ago when they were a day old. I let them out in the front yard today. They are almost as big as she is. One ram and one ewe with sweet faces.

 I am still waiting for Blackie to deliver. On the day that Columbian delivered, she thought she had babies and went looking for them every time the lambs bleated. She even went so far as to nuzzle Left a few times. It was funny to watch. Of course, she is getting bigger and bigger and is definitely overdue based on when I pulled the rams. Marc said she will have them some day. Maybe...

I am spinning, felting and washing fleeces. The one big advantage to Maryland is that I can now have a garden. With all the rain that we get, it is looking pretty good. We are eating lettuce and three kinds of radishes from the garden. I have a spicy kind that has ruined the traditional ones forever. My turnips and rutabagas are getting close. I will be harvesting sweet peas this evening. The chickens are loving the radish tops, lettuce and whatever else I pull from the garden. I really love the varying shades of green. They are my inspiration for a few yarns.

Spinning Yarns and Gardening

I am bouncing all around in my color and fiber selections right now. The coiled one is going on my eshop, while the rest will go in the physical shop here in Woodbine, Maryland. I am alternating between listing on my own shop: http://www.uniquedesignsbykathyshop.com and my etsy shop: http://www.uniquedesignsbykathy.etsy.com.

I am not sure whether you can tell what is growing in Watusi's pasture, but it is ragweed. The goats, sheep and alpacas had all been eating around it. My neighbor finally informed me the other day that it is ragweed. Sure enough, I did an Internet search, so I could be sure, and then I was out there mowing it down. It really needs to be tilled under, but then I would not have the grass and other "weeds" that Watusi has been eating. It pulls up fairly easy, so I am weeding a little each time I go out.

This is my real garden. The sunflowers are over 5 feet tall. They tower above me now. My beans, cucumbers and tomatoes are growing in their shade and twining around their stalks -instant trellis. Where the wooden pegs are in the rear of the picture is the last bed that Marc helped me dig. I have peppers, stevia, catnip and corn with a few more sunflowers in that bed.

This is my first cucumber. I have not harvested it yet, since it is so small!

I have some really great neighbors, who started their gardens while I was moving in and doing kid and lamb deliveries. They have been keeping me supplied with different types of squash, peppers, zucchini. Ruth gave me basil and tomato plants. I cut 2.6 pounds of basil off and stripped the leaves this weekend. I dried a quart and used the rest to make and freeze pesto sauce. In two weeks, I will be cutting a bunch more. Gardening is occupying almost as much time as gardening. I am almost ready for chickens. Marc mentioned them when he got back from Tucson last week. Guess he misses them also. We need to figure out where we want to put them, since we don't want to lose them to the dogs.