Got Wool?

The Links are coming to shear tomorrow. Always a big day at the farmette, and this year will be a bumper crop with ten full fleeces. I am excited and also eager to find a mill to work with in the coming years.  Spent some extra time in the barn yesterday afternoon and got some great shots, so I will let the images speak for themselves...

peeking from behind mom

Bella and Mercy

Miss Callie, the matriarch

wooly palette

Finding Feathers. Looking for Orioles.

It's May. The Winter of 2011 is over. Finally. We have green grass, buds on trees and flowers blooming everywhere. The geese are returning along with a multitude of other species of winged creatures, including an incredible finch who has been impressing me for years with his repertoire but has only just allowed me to see him. I have a small birdhouse that he's claimed, and he has been entertaining me every morning with his cheery song list.

Yesterday morning, something happened that just felt too special to not mean something significant. I wandered out into the pasture to drop a small pile of hay for the girls, as I often do when the grass isn't quite enough to sustain them for the day, and I found an incredible feather on the grass very close to where the sheep have their morning meal. I picked it up, looked into the sky (like the bird would still be up there, really?) and smiled at my Annie Dillard moment. Upon walking into the barn, I found another incredible feather on the hay strewn floor; this was especially weird, as the feather was in perfect shape and the barn doors had been closed all night. How the sheep did not trample the delicate thing is a mystery...right along with how it got in there in the first place. Holding both of the these feathers and smiling away as I walked up the hill to the house, I could not believe it when I found a third feather on my front step. Granted, this one was small and probably a result of either Loki or Odin bothering a bird in the front bushes, but it was resting in the center of the step and impossible to miss as I walked into the house.

three feathers

After doing a little research yesterday, I believe the grey and white one (which I found first) may be that of a peregrine falcon. From what I found online, it appears that the other large one could belong to a red-tailed hawk. The little one is from either a starling or a robin, I believe. Whatever they are and from whomever they fell, I feel pretty lucky to have found them all.

And, on another aviary note, my attempts to lure the orioles back to my yard have begun. I sliced two oranges in half and impaled them onto branches of my forsythia bush, close to where they had made a nest several years ago.  The old lilac that they had called home several years ago came down in a wild storm and their beautiful, empty nest came down with it. I admired the beauty and craftsmanship of their nest for years before it finally decomposed and I added it to the compost pile. Hoping for their return ro to be able to enjoy flashes of bright orange birds for months to come.

Oranges for Orioles

End of April

Not sure where the month has gone but admit that it can't end soon enough. We have had snow, rain, sleet and hail along with some of the coolest temperatures in April that anyone can remember in Maine. There have been a few - very few - warmer days with sunny breaks but not too many. Things are slowly beginning to get green and trees are just starting to bud - creating allergic reactions among many. After so many months of no pollen, no dust, no mold (since everything was frozen!), the appearance of all these elements at once can be overwhelming to the sinuses and head. The ground around my house is covered with trout lilies, and a few started top blossom yesterday in the heat. They are beautiful, tiny little flowers that always signal the arrival of spring weather.

trout lilies - first to bloom

The lambs have been moved out to the big pasture with the other ewes and Bill is back in his suite. Hose is out again so my trips up and down the hill with buckets of water are over for the season - a relief. Barn is mucked - thanks to the strength and willingness of a strong, young man (perks of the day job). And, Henry continues to settle in and find his niche at the Salty Ewe. He is a gem, and I am feeling pretty lucky to have found him. I think he feels the same way.

Snoozing on the loveseat

Henry the Dog

kisses.

Time to Shed

W-O-O-L

The sheep are enjoying full range of the field again. Still too swampy for them to cross the brook, but they will get over there eventually. We're having typical spring weather with everything from rain to snow to hail and strong winds. Sunny days help to dry us all out and to make everything look a little greener.

For as long as I have had sheep, the Links have been shearing for me. Roger, Jr. and Roger, Sr. - two of the nicest men you'll ever meet and very well-versed on all matters sheep. Some years they come together, and other years just one of them will come. They shear a majority of the sheep in southern Maine and have been at it for years and years. I am hopeful that they will get over to the Salty Ewe sooner than later this year. As you can see from these great pictures that my friend Lori took on Saturday, they are in need of a close shave!

The lanolin in the babydoll's fleeces is pretty intense, and last year they were slipping and sliding on the tarps that we put down in the barn for the shearing. I have started to have a slight reaction to it as well, and so I am trying to minimize my contact with it until it's washed. Wearing long sleeves and gloves is necessary when handling them for any reason, though. Luckily, the lambs do not have that effect on me - their coats are still too short and lanolin not too heavy on them. So, I get to pick them up and pet them as often as I like. Which is often.

Beautiful Bella

Spring, Finally.

crowded house

The weather has finally shifted into Spring Mode. A week ago today, we had a good old fashioned nor'easter and even though we all knew it would melt quickly, the fact that it was howling and snowing sideways on the first day of April was mother nature's way of tricking us all in Maine. Up in the mountains they got over a foot, but we got away with just about 6" and then it turned to sleet, freezing rain and then just good old rain. The sheep stayed in all day and kept dry. Hard not to notice how crowded the barn is these days on the rare occasion that everyone is inside of it at the same time. They manage nicely.

Bella, the good momma

This weekend is supposed to be sunny and warm, so it will be nice to be outside working in the yard and maybe even getting into the garden beds a little. One bed of garlic is coming up beautifully, but I think I may have lost a whole other one. There are tulips starting to pop up from beneath the layer of leaf mulch that I put down in November, and pulling away that dusty brown covering to reveal all that new growth is always one of my favorite spring chores. And, after such a long and difficult winter nothing I am doing outside feels much like a chore. Rather it's a pleasure. Having a little pup dancing around my rake and diving in piles of leaves makes it even more like fun.

Henry

the new boy

Henry joined the menagerie at The Salty Ewe on Wednesday. He is a lab mix from Indiana. Puppy love.

Henry.

He's doing beautifully with house training - no slips yet! First meeting of sheep was hilarious. Cats still not too sure, but they'll all work it out. His little personality is huge already; Henry is a joy.

scissor teeth