200th post giveaway

I just realized that the MCACA post was the 200th post on this site!  We should celebrate N'est pas??

First though, here is what has been going on in our neck of the woods.

Eggs!  Of all sizes and shapes. 

The first one is a "hiccup" egg which was wee tiny and weighed .41 ounces.

The middle egg is your average egg (darn- forgot to weigh it!).

The third egg was an 'I can believe she survived that" egg.  It was 3.47 ounces.  Double yolked and huge!

We found another hiccup egg by the waterer that was almost round.  The first one was found there too, like when the hen bends over the wee thing just pops right out...a "what was that??" moment.

Pork!  From my friend Sara's farm. 
Yummy organic goat milk fed pig (she has dairy goats too and evidently an excess of milk).

These pork chops were pan cooked in Marsala wine, garlic (ours), thyme, salt and pepper.  A slightly modified recipe from "Mastering the Art of French Cooking"; a must have cook book.

There are now TWENTY pounds of home grown bacon in our freezer.  I'm giddy!

Fiddle lessons! 

Once a week, our friend Jeff is teaching Lila the rudiments of handling her fiddle....

and squeaking out some notes on it also.  Practice Practice Practice!

Garden expansion!  Will is connecting all of the beds in the front yarn adjacent to the front pasture.  I need to get out there and figure out how much space that is....it is big!  There are perennial beds scattered amongst the veggies and it is a lovely sight in the summer.

He has had a consistant helper...this Auracana hen follows him around and picks out any beetle larvae, worms or ants he might drop out of those clods of sod.  It is very funny to watch her out there.

So, that leads us to the 200th post giveaway!

I'd like to give someone luxury fiber samples to give a whirl on their spinning wheel or drop spindle.  Or, for a non-spinning winner some bamboo knitting needles to try out.  Just leave a comment on this post by Monday April 30th.  On May 1st I will select a winner using a random number generator!

We may also have a litter of guinea pigs by then as well....

Thank You MCACA!

Awhile back I mentioned that my friend Susan and I had received a grant from Michigan Council for Arts and Cultural Affairs (MCACA) in order to offer an after school arts enrichment class in the Fiber Arts at the Three Lakes Academy (TLA). 

 The class has come to a close and I have a few things I'd like to share about it.

The idea of providing a hands on fiber arts experience to a small group of children who would then inturn expose a multitude of others was the original intent of the project.  The grant money was used to provide expertise, equipment, and supplies which can also be used in the classroom by TLA staff and thier students.  TLA will have the support of the project directors and our local spinning and weaving group to help keep tradional skills alive.

The class met weekly for two hours after school where the children learned about the history and science of wool; making yarn on a drop spindle; wet felting; natural and chemical dyeing; introduction to knitting; introduction to weaving on lap looms, rigid heddle looms and potholder looms; and basket weaving.  Everyone at least tried to do the project and had good attitudes even when frustrated.

It wasn't all rosy; we took on more topics than we or the kids could hanlde in such a short time frame.  The schedule was pretty rigorous and demanding of an attention span that was taxed after being in school all day.  We took a survey of all the participants after the class was over and they gave us wonderful feedback about what they liked and didn't like so much and where they would have liked to have spent more time.  This will be useful for future classes.  The most encouraging thing was every child wanted to continue with some aspect of the class.

Many people volunteered their time to make the project a sucess; the school administrator, her assistant, adult volunteers who came to each and every class, and our local spinning and weaving guild who helped out with advice and labor.   Portage township provided the class space at no charge, the Manistique Lions Club matching grant funds for the project, and the Erickson Center for the Arts provided encouragement, grant support and much needed and helpful advice.

  

Sucess of the project can be viewed in many ways; items produced by the children include hand woven market baskets, tapestries woven on a loom (many still in progress!), small quantities of yarn spun on a drop spindle, yarn hand dyed by each child, a swatch of knitting or knitted item, wet felted pouches, and the ubiquitous potholder.  Non-material measures include an increase in self confidence, dexterity, hand-eye coordination, team work, responsibility, and new found artistic abilities and skills.  These are priceless discoveries for children and adults alike.

The children's work from the Fiber Arts class will be displayed and hands on demonstrations given at a school wide learning fair in May.  In addition, students will be recruited to help out with demo's and learning events at the second annual Ewe-per Fiber Fair on July 7th in Curtis.  Most importantly, the students that took the class volunteered to be mentor for other students learning the fiber arts at TLA and take a great deal of pride in their accomplishements.

I'm very proud of them all!



The Roosters have departed

Last week was spring break for the kids.  The lovely weather we had the week before that was sunny and in the 60's and 70's evaporated and we were left with gray weather in the 40's most days.  Still above our average normal temps but not terribly exciting spring break weather.  There were trips to the library, a trip to the movies, and general mayhem at home.

Both of the boys were begging for cooking "lessons" so meals took longer to prepare, but it was great fun.  Here is one shot of Duncan helping out with dinner after a shower.  He is getting rather long-legged and outgrowing his bathrobe!

The biggest news over this week was....we finally butchered the four speckled sussex X buff orpington roosters.  They were SO handsome and pretty nice roosters, but five Roo's around the house is a few too many.  They were beating up their poor father Goldy (who is a sweet old guy) and starting to run the hens ragged so "something" had to be done.

Backtrack:  I just realized I never told the story of this clutch of chicks.  Last August, while in New Hampshire, the speckled sussex hen (yes, the same one), laid a clutch of 14 eggs hidden in plain sight under an apple tree in the back yard.  We discovered the nest the first part of September accidentally because I heard some wee peeping noises and finally saw her in the grass at the base of the tree where she was happily sitting on pipping eggs.  Ten of the fourteen eggs hatched, which left us with ten brand new chicks just before the weather turned....(long story short- new coop in the backyard made from our neighbor's fishing shanty...true Yooper coop!).  Four of those ten were roosters.

We put it off until Sunday (fortunately the weather was cool and perfect) mid afternoon.  Neither Will nor I had ever killed or cleaned a chicken before so we were a bit trepidacious about it but all turned out better than we expected.  We used a killing cone on a stand for the grim part, and I skinned the chickens instead of plucking them.  I hate the smell of hot wet feathers and probably wouldn't eat the birds when my strong sense of smell/visual recall kicked in.  Skinning went well as did the gutting...not much holding in all those internal organs!  I have skinned birds before doing study skins and processing ducks (breast meat only) but this was a little more personal since the Roo's were raised here.

These are egg layers, or dual purpose birds, not the mutant cornish cross birds that can't reproduce on their own and that literally eat themselves to death.  The breast meat is darker and not as large, and the legs are much longer, larger and darker. It took them five months to get to this size (and I forgot to weight them).

They sat in a bucket of ice water to cool down and then went into individual bags on ice in the cold garage to cool down gradually before going into the freezer.  Two of the birds had odd breast bones/keels; they had 20-25 degree  bends in the bone (it looks like a zig zag)...perhaps an injury as a chick?

Sam watched the first bird and went inside, a horrified smile on his face.  When we came in after the deed was all done he asked what was for dinner.  I told him we were having spaghetti and he said "Good. Cause Duncan said if we were having a chicken  that he knew, he wasn't eating."  I'm sure they will forget as time goes on...

Setting Up Shop

One of the suppliers I have been buying from no longer allows the sale of their products on Etsy, so I've decided to set up an online Farm shop on this site.  It is just over there (imagine an arrow pointing to the right side of your screen...yes, there you can see it!), and is still under construction.  I'll have to take a day off to get it completely set up and populated with goodies.  I started out with the "Knitting Tools and Supplies" page and the fiber page will be next in line.  I'm not going to abandon my Etsy shop- I just love the Etsy philosophy so much- this is in addition to it so I can sell the full line of supplies available to fiber artists.  After all- you are worth it!  :)

On another note; the snow is GONE, the rogue roosters need butchering, and the wee babydoll sheep had thier coats changed.  Fiber is growing under there! 

Goats at my Hotel

This work conference that I'm at this week is at a place called "The Riverwood" and it is in Otsego, MN.  There is a small fenced in area on one side of the conference center that was empty last night, but when we were let out for a break (like small children running out into the sunshine) I grabbed a plate of veggies and dip and went outside. 

There were goats behind the fence.  Six of them.  They were Boer goats.  They were hungry.  My plate was empty somehow, though lots of dip remained.  I received goat communication and then realized I was so hungry for vegetables and went back for more.  No camera.

Daylight "Savings" Jetlag

I'm not a big fan of day light "savings" time.  Just when the morning was getting light enough to complete chores before work (sans flashlight), some one gets the bright idea to mess it up, and make it light outside when it is time to put the kids to bed.  Brilliant!!! 

This week I'm in Minneapolis MN for a conference for work (Northwoods Climate Change).  A magical time zone change was crossed driving from MI to MN so I am back to pre-daylight savings time again.   I have no idea what time it actually is.  My laptop says 11:13.  My cell phone says 10:13 (and I don't know how to change it!).  The clock in the hotel says 10:13.  The clock in the travel car was off by an hour and fifteen minutes which was extra confusing.  And, the ride from Curtis MI to Otsego MN took ELEVEN hours minus a 45 minute hiatus to Duluth- it rained all the way.  Garlicky Alfredo at 8:30 and a Newcastle brown ale.  No veggies with dinner- I feel deprived, and I need to brush my teeth.  Maybe the garlic counts for veggies.

I think with all this warm weather and rain when I get home there won't be much snow!  Hopefully some sap is falling into those buckets though....could be a maple syrup rationing year!

Marching in like a Lion

I've always liked the March weather predictability mantra "in like a lion, out like a lamb" or vice versa.  It seemed to work when we lived in Southern Michigan, but it doesn't work in the UP at all.  It is always "in like a lion and out like a lion".  We've come to accept that; it is March in the UP after all and it does mean that April is on its way and maple syrup time and spring ephemerals.  So, even if the weather is not rosy our thoughts and hopes are.

I've been spinning a bit all winter and had accumulated a few skeins of yarn I didn't have plans for so put them in my Etsy shop yesterday.

This is a skein of BFL/Tussah (75/25) that I dyed with leftover dye from the kids Fiber arts class.  I didn't want to waste the dye and I was pleased the way the fiber drank up the dye.  The silk gives it such a lovely sheen, and it is VERY soft.  I have some of the undyed fiber in my Etsy shop for sale also.

When we take our annual trip to New Hampshire, I like to visit River's Lee Farm which is just down the road from Josie and Alis's house.  This is border leicester lamb and alpaca.  It reminds me of gazing across a freshly plowed field at a very blue horizon.

This roving too was from River's Lee Farm.  More Border Leicester and alpaca.  It is a pretty blue with purple flashes here and there.

This was roving I purchased at the Chippewa County Fair last summer from Maple Row Farms.  I call it "Strawberry Fields".  It is Romney lambswool.

This is also Romney Lambswool from Maple Row Farms- it reminds me of Mardi Gras colors.

Moorit Shetland from our own farm- Liz and Fallon donated the fiber for this skein.

Recycled Sari silk and black Shetland from our farm.  This is VERY soft and flashy.

The bunnies have been working hard all winter making fuzz also.  The torts (chocolate, black and blue) have such a lovely cream colored fiber.  I had been hoarding a bit of it and finally got it in the shop along with some new fibers from Ashland Bay.  When that box came I dove in and didn't come up for air for some time.  There was silk (both Honey tussah and bleached), cashmere (!!), baby camel down, baby camel & silk, alpaca & silk, mulit colored merino, ecru merino, and Bfl & silk.  Yumm.  Check them out at the Etsy shop or come on over and give them a feel at the farm.

I've also picked up a few knitpicks items to try my hand at:  the options Harmony Wood circular needles, ball winders (for $21.00!), birch yarn swifts and various knitting tools.  They are going over well here at the farm shop and online. 

Having Fun!!!

Pre-emptive Posting

I realize that I said in the last post that all has been quiet here...well, it continues to be so and perhaps that is a good thing.  I called this a pre-emptive posting because one of my dear brothers in law is so fond of nagging me when I get behind, and he apparently is busy with Mardi-gras celebrations so I'm sneaking one in on him.

The new-old bunnies came home- only two of them.  The wee black kit with the white markings was kept by her owner to try to groom with her bum hand.  I brought home puir wee old Wensleydale, who looks like an old droopy eared man with sparse fine hair (he is five), and Briar, whose initial grooming consisted of me trying not to be bit- somewhat unsuccessfully.  Grrrr.  Two other bunnies were placed with a fiber fan/dog groomer.  She definitely is a competent groomer.

Work is annoying as only paid work can be.  That's all I'm going to say about that.  Unless prodded of course.

I'm awaiting my first Ashland Bay order...eagerly I might add!  Camel/silk, baby camel, cashmere, alpaca/silk, tussah silk, merino, BFL/silk, multi colored dyed merino....When it comes I just might disappear into the box for a day or so....more excuses for not posting.

Winter Carnival was this past weekend...a little freaky because there is only 12 inches of ice.  I have a healthy fear of drowning and was glad to hear Lila wasn't thrilled about going. She and I went to spinning in the morning and then to the Kitty Donohoe concert at the arts center.  A lovely singer/song writer from Ann Arbor who kindly sang "the Maple Syrup Song" at Sam's request. The weather has been above average, but going back to normal so visions of tapping trees are growing dim until March likely.

Only two more weeks of the after school arts enrichment course in the fiber arts.  We are wrapping up basket making and then have one last week of "catchup on whatever you want".  I won't know what to do with myself on Wednesday afternoons!  I am contemplating some sort of course in master spinning (because I have nothing else to do and apparently am a glutton for punishment)...there seem to be a few options out there.  I'm wondering of anyone has completed any of the North American courses and have a recommendation?  Or you can just tell  me I'm being silly and get on with it....

All is quiet...

It has been a pretty low key couple of weeks here at the farm, though we still seem to have plenty to do.  The weather has been so mild the woolies have really enjoyed basking in the warmth, eyes closed and faces pointed to the sun.

Lila recently had her 11 year old vaccinations so she and I made the trek to the big city of Marquette- a girls day out.  Did the pre-requisite shopping trip to Target where I bought Sam Fin three new pairs of pants...he grew an inch and a half and all of a sudden the pants drawer is emptier.  Lila and I went to the "Pet Stop" and bought some Guniea Pig food and a larger cage for Duncan's  GP "Jewel".  She seems to like the extra room.  Onward to downtown Marquette to meet my friend Karen for some Thai food on Front Street.  It was a lovely lunch.  Lila's comment was "you guys sure talk a lot"....well, yes!  After Lila received her poking we did some grocery shopping and picked up a pizza at "Main Street Pizza" to take home for family movie night, knowing their wouldn't be time on to make a home made one when we got home. 

The big event this week is that I am picking up some bunnies from a friend that need to be re-homed.  Unfortunately their owner has nerve damage to her wrist and can no longer take care of them.  Four of them are angoras from our farm.  She bought two of them from me last year and rescued three from other people (who bought two of them from me in 2010 and 2009).  Two of the rescues were in pretty bad shape and she nursed them to health.  This was a difficult decision for her and I expect we will both be in tears when I go to pick them up.  The good news is that two of the angoras are being rehomed to a lady who is a dog groomer and rabbit fancier so I know they will be in good hands.  I'll be keeping three of the angoras (somewhere...) and the sixth bunny is a white lop who is going to be loved by a little girl in Lila's class.

This one is coming home-she is a cutie too.

There will be no baby bunnies at our farm this year because it is so hard to find people who have either the willingness or time to dedicate to care for them and it just isn't fair to the rabbits.  The percentage of bunnies that went to good homes that I have sold over the past three years is dismally low and it makes my heart heavy.  SO- we will enjoy all of this bunch into their old age and then see what we shall see!

On a happier note, I've opened a dealers account with Ashland Bay and am contemplating what I'm going order this first time.  The choices are rather dizzying and there are some scrumptious fibers available!  I have a sample set of everything and have spent some hours fondling the samples.  I also have had the pleasure of spinning a few of them already and I am IMPRESSED!  :)  So, Spinner's End Farm is going to offer both local, homegrown fine fibers and well as dabble in global luxury fibers.

So far, I'm thinking about Camel down blended with Tussah silk, alpaca blended with silk in four different shades (I've spun this- it is like Crack for spinners); Baby suri alpaca top, Cashmere top (OMG!), BFL/silk blend (this spins up great and has incredible sheen) and some Tussah silk.  Oh and they have a lovely merino top that I'm planning to handpaint.

  Camel Down and Silk

Black Alpaca and Mulberry Silk

Chocolate Alpaca and Tussah silk

Medium Brown Merino

BFL/Tussah silk (This takes dye really well!)

Any ideas our there for other fibers you'd like to see?

Gummer Sheep and other Geriatric Creatures

I'm wondering if anyone has any ideas about supplemental feeding gummer or broken mouthed sheep?  Chunk, from the post below, routinely comes into the barn for a couple of cups of either sheep feed or pelletized alfalfa but she is still losing condition (and is no longer living up to her name).  The "Sheep and Goat Medicine Book" mentions supplementing geriatric sheep with a high fat feed such as cottonseed which is readily available in southern states (not likely readily available here), but no other high fat content supplement is mentioned.  I'm wondering if sunflower seeds would be a good supplement or if anyone has any other ideas?

I hadn't thought much about aging animals until recently. We have a llama who has a bum knee and has lost social status who has lost condition and this winter has had more problems putting weight on her leg (surgery for this type of condition is in the few thousand dollar range).  We have two sheep that are just turning 10 (Chunk and Fallon) who are losing condition (Fallon isn't bad- she still has most of her teeth), and Amey who is only 4 but has never thrived since a wee lamb and is painfully thin.  Waters, the lab cross, is 12 and CeCe the Newf will be 10 this year.  We have many more younger animals of course, but we apparently are going to need to plan ahead and figure out to what degree we are able to care for our animals so that they are leading  (relatively) pain free and happy lives.  Everyone still seems happy if not completely fit.  Will and I did agree that perhaps the most humane course of action for Pikachu the llama would be to not have her endure another winter.  We shall see when the time comes...perhaps she will rally this summer and we will find Chunk and Amey a yummy supplement that will "chunk" them up.

We WILL be sure to dig a big hole on the property when the ground thaws....just in case.  A grim and perhaps impossible task to do in the grips of a frozen winter.