'Tis the Season

We're finally having Winter-like weather in southern Maine, and while we still haven't had any accumulating snow, the temperatures have dropped significantly and the skies are looking darker and more foreboding these days. The northern part of the state got a lot of snow on Monday, and while I am not ready to start the shoveling routine yet, I admit the the perks of copious amounts of snow do make the day job more appealing. Snow days as an adult are so much better than they ever were as a kid, and I am always as excited as the kids about predictions of big storms and possible snow days.
The sheep's fleeces are growing in quickly now that the weather's turned cold. I sunk my hand into little Obed's coat this morning and my fingers sunk in well above my knuckles - so, judging he's got a nice 4" fleece at this point. I am going to try to enter his fleece and some others into the Common Ground fleece show next September. I've never thought too seriously about coating them, since I love looking at their colors and the palette of wooly hues out there, but if I am going to get more serious about their fleeces, I will need to pay more attention to the stray hay this winter. Am going to look into some new feeders that I saw at Common Ground - canvas bags that hang from the wall, allowing the animals to pull out the hay they want. We'll see whether they work for my flock and if they help to minimize veggie matter in the wool.

Loki and Odin

It's all a big learning curve, that's for sure. One more thing that makes me happy about living at The Salty Ewe with all of these peaceful critters ... all the critters - Loki and Odin, Beate and the wooly wonders.
They are my little animal family.
Like Randall Jarrell's The Animal Family, a beautiful book that I first read many years ago, I am surrounded by fur and wool and love. And, though I am not a lonely hunter, I find great comfort and solace in their company; the substitute family that I call mine is no match for the real animals to whom I am related (all of whom live too far away for my liking (whose blood has thinned and coats have shed to suit their Southern climates) but they do the trick in a pinch. 'Tis the season to be thankful and joyous and peaceful. And, that I am.

My Beate