Picures From Farm Show

In the morning the junior teams competed in a fleece to shawl competition. The Bountiful Bobbins from Adams County won the Champion Award for their shawl. So beautiful and soft it draped just like you want a shawl to sit on your shoulders. Congratulations girls. Well done. The Sheep to Shawl Competition in the afternoon And it wouldn't be Farm Show without the yearly butter sculpture. 1000 pounds of Pa Dairy produced butter sculpted into the products of PA.

Potosi Molina Goes To PA Farm Show

When the flock was sheared in December,to her dismay Molina was excluded. She had no idea that bigger things were in her future. Not that she enjoyed those bigger things but duty called and the Butler County Peddlers needed her charcoal fleece for their shawl. On Sunday she was picked of vegetation and ready for competition. That made her mad so when I grabbed her yesterday she rolled in the hay and undid all my picking. After a ride in a dog crate to Harrisburg,she sulked in her pen until she realized she could steal hay from the pen of the ram next to her. Sitting nicely for Don while the team looked on, Molina was unsure of this shearing thing. At first she cooperated but as her fleece pealed off she got feisty and began wiggling and fighting. All that wool came from one tiny Shetland lamb. Molina fought as Don pushed her bak to her pen. Feet firmly planted she skidded along the smooth cement floors. Good thing too. The nicely halter broke sheep behind her were getting impatient. Two and 1/2 hours later Molina was wearing her wool again. The spinners said her wool spun like warm butter and the weaver, Susan Lightner won the weaving award. But Molina was not done being Molina. Christine had to carry her back to the car to be put back in her crate for the trip home. Wish I had a picture of that but it was dark. Molina is fine and happy this morning but she is staying out of my reach.

Sheep Art

I found this 1919 magazine cover in an antique shop. Although the walls are full of sheepy art I couldn't resist buying it. There has to be an empty space on a wall somewhere.

Second Class Citizens No Longer

As I have probably said before, my Shetlands arrived on my front lawn in 2000, tossed there by an owner who discovered she was more a horse person than a shepherd. We quickly put up electric net fencing and they stayed on the lawn for 5 years. They were funny and the lambs cute. They never got sick and didn't need me at all except for a bale of hay and grain daily. I sold the lambs and fleeces and kept the nucleus flock small while focusing on my growing Bluefaced Leicester flock. My son,Tim always referred to the blues as the "Diva flock" while he loved the Shetlands and their quirkiness. It wasn't until several spinners who had purchased my Shetland fleeces at Maryland Sheep and Wool began to email and reserve fleeces did I start to notice the beauty of the Shetland fleeces. After all these years, I was suddenly spinning Shetland and loving it! Thanks to Garrett Ramsay the history of Shetlands and breeding for specific colors and fleece types became interesting. Now that the last Blues are almost gone, the Shetlands have become my solace. I spend so much time with them that they stand and look at me as if to ask "Is there something wrong?" I've tried to move them from their little lean to barn behind the stone wall into the big bank barn but they don't want to go. Shetlands don't seem to fit in a proper barn. They like to lie in the snow and eat it in place of water in a tank. The recently sheared Shetland fleeces were so beautiful and so varied in colors (thanks to Garrett's input) that I've got a new focus and not missing my Blues as much. The farm is off the market too so I guess the Shetlands will be first class citizens for a while.

Shearing time for the Shetlands. It's earlier than usual but the fleeces are clean and beautiful right now and the weather is warm so "let's shear". One little ewe will be a sheep to shawl shearing candidate at PA farm show in January so she was left out of the shearing group. She was not happy about it either. She stomped around outside the pen and demanded that she join the others. Her turn will come. This morning was a bit chilly. I found them burrowed in the straw in their barn, warm and cozy. They actually dig these burrow holes for themselves. Such fun to watch.

Oh Sam!

I kept one Shetland ram lamb this year. Son of White Pine Ruben and White Pine Selah so he's fine and soft katmoget just like his momma. Everyday at feeding, I'd part his fleece and wonder how soon I could shear him and spin his sparkling grey wool. Last week, I allowed Sam to go to a friend's house to breed some ewes. Sam had other ideas. Within days of getting to his new flock he tried to walk home. I've never had a rent a ram do this and was shocked when I got the word that "Sam was gone". Nooooo! Fortunately, my friend was relentless and searched for 5 days. She left no stone unturned until she found him in a small flock 4 and 1/2 miles from his starting point. He's home now with a fleece full of burrs and wait a minute vines but he's happy and so are my friend and I since it's hunting season. We only wish Sam could relate his adventures "on the lamb". (Booooo)

New BFL Roving

Masterton and Betsy moved to Colorado but not without being sheared first. Their fleeces were blended with silk and some bits of silk noil to create this super soft roving. Can't wait to get a whole day to just sit and spin.