Hot Hazy Days

sheep in the back field...shady grove and yummy grass

The sheep are jumping over the creek again to graze up in the back field, finding shade and great grasses to cool and fill them. The heat continues, which is rare for Maine. We're going to break 90 again today and probably again tomorrow. Their fleeces are not growing in too quickly in this weather - who can blame them? It's still too hot for me to think about knitting - which just involves handling a little wool...not wearing it! Eager to get Bill and Obed into their gentlemen's suite and hopefully have some very controlled breeding this year. Soon enough, we'll have cool mornings and frost on the pumpkins. And, sheep eager to breed.

May Lambs

A perfect late August morning. I can hear the surf from the deck this morning - so quiet save the chirping of hundreds of birds. I love these mornings. Second cup of joe and dog at my feet. 'I wonder what the poor people are doing today' is a line I hear during moments like these...echoed through generations, I think. We could be sitting as a family just about anywhere, and my dad would share this question. It's taken me nearly my whole life to date to really figure that one out. So. Here I sit, feeling pretty lucky. Getting ready to rig up the pen for Bill and Obed the wether...it's that time of the year, and I have to separate the ram before it's too late. This picture is of another kind of 'too late' - my May Lamb #1. She arrived while I was in NYC for Caleb's graduation, and Jed took control with the assistance of Jess. In this great photo (also from Jess!), Jed is probably grinning ear to ear behind that little head - taken when the lamb was just several hours old. After some harsh lessons on why not to have lambs in May, I will be sure to separate the ram again from all ewes after Thanksgiving.
She's a beautiful little lamb and while I would love to keep her, she is ready to go to a new home, preferably with her sister...also black and wicked cute (and born the following morning while I was still in NYC).  I'm hoping that after this weekend's Acton Fair and the article that Nate arranged in the Tribune, I may have some buyers. It's exciting to know that more people are becoming exposed to the breed through all of Nate's work at the fairs and with 4-H. I am really happy that I gifted Hendricks and Tulip to him.
I'd like to start breeding more deliberately, so I'm going to be looking for new homes for next year's lambs soon. Think I'll write to all of the vineyards in New England. They make good little mowers in vineyards and could see some bartering potential there.

Wooly Beasts

How quickly the wool will grow once we get cooler weather!

This is another great photo that Jessica shared with me - taken the week before they were shorn  this spring. That's Tulip behind her Mom, Bella in the foreground. Bill is to her right. Bella and the twins from 2009 are up in front. 

Salty Ewe Knit Lids

The Wagner Women!

Last Christmas, my good friend and reliable, stand-in shepherd Jed was really kind and bought a dozen of my hats to give as gifts. I love that every year he tries to support local people in his shopping, and I was so thankful to have his holiday business last year. This photo was shared with me by his significant other, Jessica. He gave her a hat made from my old Jacobs, dyed naturally with plants, and Rollie's beautiful brown. He knew and cared for my Jacobs and so he wanted Jessica to have a hat that was made from all of the sheep at the Salty Ewe. Her sister and mom received hats that are 100% babydoll - the sisters' hats are knit from Callie's gorgeous oatmeal wool, some dyed with cherry kool-aid, and her mom was given one that was knit from Bella and Callie. It's a beautiful picture, and I love that they modeled them so perfectly for this shot...the winter wonderland in the background frames their happy faces with more natural beauty. And, don't they look warm in their Salty Ewe Knit Lids? Many people who have sensitivity to wool have found the babydoll to be much more comfortable than more common wool fibers, which is an added bonus to these amazing little sheep. I never find myself pulling off my hat to itch my forehead when I wear mine, which is something that happens often when I wear wool hats. So, thanks so much to Jed and Jessica, and to her beautiful family, for sharing this shot. Going to start knitting the 2010 series as soon as we start having more fall like weather...tough to do it when it's 85 and sunny! Working on getting them into a shop in Kennebunkport but will have them available online if that does not work out. Will keep you posted. It's going to be hat season again soon enough!

Rain, Finally!

We are finally having some rain. Yesterday, it rained on and off, lightly, pretty much all day long. Today is cloudy and windy, with heavy rains coming in tonight and tomorrow. The creek will get too high for the sheep to jump over it, but this morning they were all over in the back field again. Beate and I took our walk around the field, checking fences and keeping an eye open for deer and turkeys. Didn't see either, but did see a grey fox. So did Loki, the fearless cat. It was a funny and scary sight at the same time to see the cat taking off in hot pursuit of the fox, who ran as fast as it could to get away from Loki. I keep telling the cat that it's not a good idea to chase foxes, but for some reason I do not think he's listening to me. The sheep were oblivious to the entire event, which lasted a whole 30 seconds. They kept grazing and grazing without a care in the world. Only when I took out the camera and tried to take some pictures of them did they start to run. I guess they're camera shy?

Late August

Hard to believe it's the last week of August. The garden is producing copious amounts of cucumbers, zucchini, lettuce, acorn squash and several varieties of tomatoes. The eggplant plants look great but have not produced many eggplant at all (though the ones I did get were dee-lish), and the yellow squash is not too productive either. We have had so little rain this summer that regular watering has been necessary, and the locals at the farmers market say that the heat is what has stunted the eggplant and summer squash. Makes me feel better to know that no one's had luck with some of the crops that have done poorly for me this summer...in spite of the primo baa-doo. The beautiful pansies that I bought two years ago at Snug Harbor Farm (a favorite!) have come back, as promised, and they have been blooming all summer. Shocking to me, as I thought pansies were really a cooler weather flower.  I put them in a stone planter that I made many years ago, and they sit on my front porch where I get to see them many times, every day. The white clematis turned out its one, token blossom, but I enjoyed it for almost two weeks; it is almost 6" in diameter and each petal is perfectly formed. Not too sure why it only has one bloom per season, but that one flower is spectacular and worth the wait. The sheep have been keeping the field nicely mowed after Bill bush-hogged it, and I have enjoyed watching them jump over the creek, one by one, and go up to the back field to graze. They are a beautiful sight up on the hill, under the stance of trees. It's almost time to pull Bill and the wether out from the ewes, and I'm rigging up a new system this week to hopefully help me control the breeding more than I have been able to in past years. Always something to do here at the Salty Ewe. But, today I am taking it easy, waiting for the rain, and probably making yet more loaves of zucchini bread.

Tansy, Carrot Tops and Jewelweed

Had another great day of playing with wool and dyeing yesterday with Lori. Her studio is a fiber haven, or maybe even heaven, and it was really fun to spend some time looking at all of her fibers in various stages of completion. From an incredible hank of her chow chow Jeric's fur to baskets full of llama, sheep and goat fibers, her work space is a tactile playroom. There are wheels and the new picker, many photographs and books, great music and fun ephemera everywhere...a beautiful picture window that looks out onto their lovely backyard. The dye pots were scattered all over the house, with carrot tops upstairs in the kitchen, tansy and jewelweed downstairs in different rooms (it's a plug thing!). I'd picked a bunch of the jewelweed early yesterday morning before driving to Worcester, and the other two dye baths were Lori's contributions. I tried some plain white wool into all three baths and then also took some of the light cochineal wool to try, too. Seeing them all spread out to dry this morning, a beautiful graduated palette  of yellows, greens and oranges is a sight that makes me happy; the friendship and experience of sharing a common interest with an old friend makes it even better. Excited to have it all spun up and start to knit some hats with it all! In the image, from top to bottom, are tansy, carrot tops and jewelweed; the white is first and then the light cochineal. The white fleece was placed alongside to give a comparison. It was a fun day...

Apples and Sheep

It's that time of the year again. The sheep are getting drunk. I couldn't figure out what was wrong with one of the ewes the other day, but now I know she was either tipsy or hungover. Those apples! I learned the hard way many years ago with the Jacobs - that too many apples will get a sheep drunk and also cause nasty scours. I will never forget how hard I laughed to see the spotted sheep burping and stumbling about, nor will I forget the horrendous mess a flock of sheep with the runs will make. It was awful, and since then I have limited the number of apples that they have. But, with so many old growth apple trees around, the smell of them lures the sheep through and under fences. They drop onto Obed Lane from a beautiful tree on Clara's land, and sometimes the kids will pick up windfalls and toss them into the pasture. My two trees look pretty good after last year's pruning, and they are starting to drop some smaller apples already. Clover got her head stuck in the fence last night trying to reach some of the apples that had fallen, and after a bit of struggling I got her free. Going to keep some wire cutters in the barn for future emergencies. And maybe move those fences next spring so the temptation will be a little further away.

BaaDoooo

A neighbor appeared at my door the other day with a beautiful bowl full of peaches - a hand thrown bowl and fruit from their own trees - hoping to trade me some sheep poo. I promptly bit into one, slipped on my shoes and walked down to the barn to help him load up some black gold. I finished the peach before I got down the hill. David and Diane live down the road and own a beautiful pottery shop in town, and they pedal their bikes to and from, past my house, several times each day weather permitting.  I have known them for nearly twenty years now, having taught their son Paul when he was in seventh grade and then moving into the neighborhood shortly thereafter. We loaded up some containers he'd brought and chatted about how lucky we are to live in such a beautiful place - really so sheltered from reality in many ways, but a simple and quiet and good life. They throw pots and sell them (The Good Earth in Kennebunkport) and have a beautiful family, including a cute new granddaughter who's come to see the lambs. My day job is allowing me to live a charmed life and slowly pursue my passions and potential second career.  We both agreed that we were indeed fortunate. And then I told David that I had definitely gotten the sweeter end of the deal; the peaches are some of the best I have ever eaten. He took home some goodies from my garden, too... a little lettuce, some orange and red cherry tomatoes, a cuke. The gardens are flourishing this year thanks to amazing sun and the primo black gold. And, his compost is a little richer now with the new load of baa dooooo.

Passion

When I think about following one's passion, it dawned on me that sometimes it takes a while to figure out exactly what that means. "Follow your Passion"... I have a magnet on my fridge that reminds me of this each time I look at it, but it's taken me a while to figure it out. Raising the sheep for almost ten years now, it's pretty clear to me that this is a passion; I never would have known that, though, unless I had tried it and stuck with it for a while. The evolution of the Salty Ewe Farm has taken some time, and my new interest in dyeing is exciting because it already feels like another passion. The way I look at colors in nature is different now. The way I look at nature is different. Weeds have become potential rainbows and inspiration is everywhere. No coincidence that my passion plant bloomed this morning for the first time all summer.

It's Official

I finalized the colors on my new business card yesterday with Heather Dutton at HangTight Studios. She was recommended to me by a neighbor for help with a benefit concert poster several months ago, and another friend encouraged me to ask her to help me develop a logo and business card. We met yesterday for the first time when I went her her studio and worked on the final touches - changing a few things around and deciding on colors. Her talent is awe-inspiring; the visual stimulation in her space was overwhelming in a positive way, and I found myself rewinding to the Mohawk design room again as I studied her collections of designs on the wall. Seeing people who follow their passions and create lives that are rich in so many ways makes me feel like I can do it, too. I love the design she came up with for The Salty Ewe Farm and am really thankful to have had her help with this project.  Those cute babydolls now have an image that suits them perfectly, and the farmette feels official.  Many thanks to Heather for such a great design. I could not have asked for more!

Girl's Best Friend

Beate, the amazing frisbee dog. At almost eleven, she is starting to show some signs of aging. When the frisbee comes out, though, you'd think she was two again. Runs like the wind to jump and twist to try to catch the flying disk - usually successfully if my tosses are good enough.  Each morning, on our walks down Obed Lane and across the field, then down Bufflehead as far as the season allows, her rhythm is as natural as mine. On those morning walks, and as time passes and neighbors change, the frisbee remains constant. We spooked a group of wild turkeys the other morning - think that there were ten or more. Several flew straight up above our heads to the treetops, and a few more flew low to the ground across the field towards the woods. One, lone turkey was left in the field while the others called to him from above and afield. I stood for a few minutes and listened and watched. Then, realizing that Beate and I were keeping them from congregating again, we walked on and left them to their flocking, me with an empty coffee mug and Beate with a soggy frisbee dangling from her mouth. She has lived up to her name for sure so far. My model senior citizen canine companion. B.

Good Timing

Everything comes down to timing, I think. When I decided that it was time to name this little farmette and try to make it a more sustainable hobby, the history of this land and neighborhood was an important consideration for me. After all, I really started with the sheep because I knew that if I did not put animals on the pasture where there had been cows for a hundred years, the town would probably not allow it.  As a grandfathered use, my flock is just as welcome in the neighborhood as the newest McMansions. The old Leach Farm is now a relative sprawl - advertised as clustering - of large homes with very manicured grounds (and a lot of impervious surface which has added to the wetness in my pasture over the years) Recently, a new neighbor  purchased Frost Woods and has proposed a nine lot subdivision. He put up a gate on Bufflehead Lane within months after moving in, and that was the first sign. The complete disregard for history and for the working class families who have called Turbat's Creek and Wildes District Roads home for generations is really sad. The almighty dollar. Greed and avarice. Karma.

You see things when you're ready to see them - no sooner and no later. Sage words from someone who helped me not only to realize this but also to put it into practice. The sheep slow me down and bring me a peace that a greedy person could probably never feel. I see that now and cherish the old Shuffleberg Farm, the new Salty Ewe.

Big Doin's at The Salty Ewe Farm

One of Toddy'a favorite sayings was "big doings", but it was always shortened by dropping the "g".  It meant, as I think is probably pretty obvious, that something important or exciting was happening. This did not always necessarily involve positive doin's. Yesterday's events here at The Salty Ewe were definitely positive and certainly would have had Toddy's nod in the Big Doin's department. The flock was officially tagged and registered with the national scrapie program (thanks deeply to Nathan again...my stomach is still not strong enough to do certain things, and piercing sheep's ears is definitely on that short list). This means all kinds of things - from being legal to sell and transport sheep across state lines to supporting an important program that makes sheep's health and well-being a priority through the monitoring and reporting of any illnesses, sales, births or deaths. It feels good to take this step toward becoming a more serious sheep farm.

wearing the black sheep

I learn so much as I go; maybe this is another reason why I love doing this so much. I accidentally bought syringes without needles, and so the worming almost didn't happen with the tagging yesterday. Thankfully, Nate had one with him, and so we managed to get the whole big doin' done in less than 30 minutes. Imagine. All these years of raising sheep and in an afternoon I become a real farm. Definitely Big Doin's.

Sheep and Shuttleworths

In an earlier post, I mentioned the wool in my genes. Here's a shot of part of the article from Fortune. The full-paged color shots of the mill, looms and carpets are impressive (but would not duplicate well given my limitations with images now - using photobooth!). My memories from childhood about the mills are pretty specific - almost always going in on a weekend with our father...riding the old elevator and being afraid it would get stuck or someone would fall down the dark shaft...running up and down the rows upon rows of huge rolls of carpet...and once going in during a work day and seeing the people who were designing the carpets. That was the only part of the whole carpet business that held any kind of appeal for me (well, that and my father's trip(s) to Australia and Europe to look at wool, etc. Am sure there were some scotch tastings, too and a golf game or two). So, in reflecting on those early childhood memories of the Mills, it's really not so surprising that the dyeing has really caught my interest. Struck something pretty deep down in there that is speaking and resonating in me, and so I will pay close attention to what those ancestral voices are saying to me and will tend the flock for now.

Skunks and the State Fair

Odin the cat would not come in last night, so when I heard a small crash at midnight, I instinctively jumped up and let the dog out to inspect. Bad idea. Chasing ensued, strong scent of skunk permeated the cool night  air and seeped its way into my whole little house within seconds. Still no cat. Thankfully, dog was not hit. Just the house smelled. Eventually, the cat decided he would come in and then we all slept soundly until dawn. Smell has subsided, mixed with a little salt air and some salty ewe poo, and it's a typical morning here at the Salty Ewe Farm.
No segue here, but Nathan took Tulip and Hendricks to Bangor last week and they were quite well-received. Did not do too well in the natural colored class, as I expect their fleeces are still too short to be judged, but I am not sure. He did tell me that there were not enough Babydolls being shown in Maine to be judged as a class, and so I am hoping that maybe we can try to change that. Apparently, there need to be at least four or five animals to create a classification. I may be naive, but would there be any drawbacks to having the breed represented in fairs and shows? From what I have read online, other states so have the breed in competition. Since I am one of three breeders of Babydolls in Maine - Romney Ridge and Spinakees the other two - maybe there is not enough interest? It'll be interesting to find out.

Learning Curve

clotheslines works far better than maple branches.
gloves are a must.

Alchemist of Monkeytown

I've got little hanks of colored wool draped from some branches of an old maple tree that hang over my front porch, and several more hues are soaking in water and dye bath as I type. Hoping that the pink on my fingertips does not wear off on the keyboard; need to invest in some good gloves. And a few big, old pots.
Playing with color and wool all at the same time feels really right (and fun!) to me - and I'm eager to continue becoming the alchemist of monkeytown. Today I used some of the Earthhues cochineal that I picked up at Halcyon Yarns in Bath on Wednesday - and dyed several shades of wool in the deep fuschia bath - Una's white fleece, Callie's oatmeal, and Maya and Rollie's browns; the latter two are soaking overnight. Also tried soaking a little of the goldenrod, too, and it looks amazing. A sherberty orange, with variations in orange, yellow and fuschia. I'm diggin' the dying and feeling a little bit giddy about what doors this may open for me. Or what doors I go knocking on. Who'd have ever thought that I would become anything remotely similar to a chemist. A color chemist. Alchemy in the Heights. 

Flock

Sitting on the back deck looking at the flock. Good cup of coffee, favorite Sunday tunes, dog at my feet, warm sun on my face and birds galore. Needed to wear a chamois shirt on the walk this morning and think I could almost see my breath when I stepped out at about 6:30. A perfect morning for the first of August. The sheep are grazing up along the bank along Bufflehead, where we secured the fences a few weeks ago after the great escape. They've worn a path along the ridge and are eating all of the bushes and grasses up to the fence - which makes Bill happy. It would have made Jim Emerson happy, too. The little flock has really made a lot of people pretty happy over the years. Faye and Janet used to count them several times daily, an activity that I know made them happy when they were in the final years of their lives. Bill the ram is named after amazing Bill Wildes, my neighbor and friend. He is a piece of work and loves the sheep and watching me learn as I go with them (gives him a lot of fodder for ribbing me). The kids down Obed Lane have grown up watching them, often talking and singing to them on their way to or from the school bus. One of the little guys will frequently pause to take a leak as soon as he gets off the bus and runs down the lane a bit, and it cracks me up that he does this but also sometimes talks to the sheep while he's standing there for a few seconds. I see all this from the deck. Innocently. Where I sit and write this morning. Enjoying the blogging way more than I thought I would, and definitely way more than I enjoy the mucking. Which I will also do today. Later.

After another cup of coffee and a little more flock watching.