About Robin

Owner of Meridian Jacobs, farm and fiber shop. I raise Jacob sheep, teach fiber arts classes, weave handwovens for sale, and manage the store.

Weaving on the Go

Posted on June 12, 2015 by Robin

I have been gone for a few days but took a rigid heddle loom with me. What an easy way to enjoy weaving away from home. These are scarves in 3/2 cotton (which I have in the shop but isn’t on my website). A pressing when I get home will give them a more finished look.A wool scarf in Jaggerspun Maine Line wool. These three scarves are samples for a couple of classes, the new Color on the Loom (in July) and Learn to Weave on the Rigid Heddle Loom.

The following photos are of recent weaving in the shop.Jacob scarves with detail below.

Another warp of Jacob scarves.

I had the idea of weaving a wool checkerboard to sell through the Fibershed Marketplace and at the Artery. 924 checkerboard But first I used cotton–the same 3/2 cotton as the scarves in the first photo.

Using the the last of the warp I experimented with different weaving order. I think its interesting that at different angles it looks as though I used other colors but all the yarn here is black and white. By the way, I know that checkerboards are traditionally red and black but, oh well…

I don’t have a photo of the wool checkerboards yet but here are the checkers I made from horns. What do you think of the oblong shape?

In this photo the checkers haven’t been finished.In other weaving, this is the latest issue of Handwoven with my Yarn Lab article in which I compared fulling and felting of Imperial Yarn Company’s Columbia and Erin yarns.

Ginny’s Recovery

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Robin

Ginny is at that age where I realized that it was time for her little operation. I’m going to be gone off and on this summer and after I looked up info about dogs coming into heat I realized that I couldn’t leave and think that someone else might have to deal with that. Ginny was a sad puppy when I picked her up from the vet office Wednesday evening. They hadn’t done the spay operation until the afternoon so she was still woozy and tired all night. The next insult was The Cone, but it didn’t hold her down long. She figured out how to pick up her favorite Toy even if i was underneath the cone. This is one day after the spaying and she expected me to throw the Toy. I guess she didn’t read the instructions. This is the next day (2 days after spaying) and she is rolling around with Rusty. No jumping or climbing here and only a little bit of running. Maybe I can discontinue the pain killers.

Dyeing with Cochineal

Posted on June 7, 2015 by Robin

Last week my long-time friend, Irene (owner of Cotton Clouds) visited with new friend, Rocio. Rocio is an expert natural dyer and she showed the rest of us how to dye with cochineal. We started in the theater (aka garage) to watch a PowerPoint presentation about cochineal.Cochineal is an insect that lives on a particular species of cactus. It is harvested and dried.The red color becomes obvious after the dried insects are ground.

These are some of the scarves that Rocio has dyed.

Dyeing with cochineal is a multi-step process and those steps differ depending on whether you are dyeing protein fiber (wool, silk) or cellulose fiber (cotton). Participants were able to dye both.

Preparing mordant bath.

Squeezing out fabric.

Mordanted scarves and sample pieces hanging to dry.

Adding ground cochineal to the pot.

Stirring one of three pots we had going. These pots simmered while we moved on to the next step.

Rocio showed us how to use varying concentrations of mordant solutions to create different shades of color. From two “mother” solutions, one with iron and one with alum, we ended up with nine different concentrations.

When stamped on fabric you get those shades seen in the squares.

When the cochineal pots were ready they needed to be strained.

Fabric was dyed…

…and rinsed.

Leftover dye was saved and now is in my freezer waiting until I have time to use it.

Rocio and Irene with some of the scarves dyed that day.

Since I was the hostess I didn’t have time to dye scarves but I did make a sample using the different mordant concentrations. Rocio says that if I wash this in a wheat bran solution the gray areas will turn white. I need to try that.Happy dyers at the end of the day. Oh..dogs were there too. Look at Rusty’s blog for photos.

Dogs in Our Lives

Posted on May 27, 2015 by Robin

This post started as a way to show what Rusty looked like at the age Ginny is now. Ginny is 7 months.I got Rusty when he was 6 months old.

This post has evolved into photos of the other dogs that have been in my life. I am clearing off my old computer before I get rid of it and I found photos that had never been transferred. Then when I searched dogs on my computer I found old scanned photos too. So here you go.This is my mom sometime in the mid-70’s. Murka is the German Shepherd that was our family dog. Blue is on the couch–he was my mom’s dog that she found somehow. I have forgotten the story. Katya or “Kat” is on the table. She was my half-Keeshound (supposedly the other half was coyote) who was very loving but timid, especially of men…like Bonnie and Maggie, who both came to me later. I had Kat through my moves to Utah and Arizona, but she died before I came back to California. Then there was a no-dog period although mom had Blue. When the kids were young and we lived at the dairy we had Brandy and Flash, both rescues of one sort or another. Brandy was given away by someone who also gave us a huge bag of all the flea and anti-itch things that didn’t work on her and Flash was found in a parking lot by a veterinarian I used to work for. I got him as a puppy. Brandy died while we were still at the dairy, but not long after we moved to our current location in 1999 we got Benny, rescued in the Safeway parking lot. Doc, on the left, showed up as a lost dog and was later identified by his owners from just down the road. They took him back but I told them that if they ever wanted to give him away I’d take him. They moved and didn’t want him. He was a wonderful dog, but was killed by a big truck on the road when he chased Benny, who is the only dog we’ve had that would leave the barn to run to the road.I got Rusty after Flash died, but while we still had Benny. My son and DIL got Sam the next year.This is what Sam looks like now. He outweighs Rusty by at least 50 pounds. That’s his buddy, Kirin, who is even bigger now. Bonnie came later. She is the only dog that I have given away but she went to a life that is much better for her. That’s a long story that Rusty has told in his blog.Rusty’s role is as a herding dog. He helps me when I need it but doesn’t have nearly as much work as he’d like.Benny died a few years ago and I wanted to get a dog as a buddy for Rusty. That’s when I got Maggie through Dog Spot Rescue. Rusty told that story too. So now there is Rusty and Maggie……and Ginny.

Ginny is the only dog here that likes to play with toys. While I was working in the garden she dug that hole specifically to bury her toy. Rusty has the last laugh.

A Spring Morning in the Pasture

Posted on May 26, 2015 by Robin

I was going to write this post about ewes and their lambs but found a lot more subjects to photograph–not all sheep. Loretta and triplets.Ginseng and twins. Look at the horn spread on that ram lamb. They all have lilac coloring.This is Foxglove’s ram lamb, also a lilac.Puddleduck Melinda and one of her lambs. Alexandria.Eliza.It is balloon season. Rusty is hiding in the barn. These ewes were waiting for me to change the fence and let them into that tall grass but I was distracted by other things. Do you see the bird on the fence behind them? Don’t look too hard for it. See it below.I looked it up. Western Kingbird. I know my birder friends will tell me if I’m wrong.I think there is pair nesting nearby. I was mowing the pasture later in the day and they followed the tractor catching bugs. They would zoom off toward the trees and then come back for more. Balloon getting lower. In the meantime… Hawk with prey …I saw this hawk being harassed by another bird. Hawk with prey (1) I didn’t know until I zoomed in on the photo on my computer that the hawk had something in it’s talons.

Balloon has landed and now I can change the fence. Happy sheep.

Walking in the Woods

Posted on May 24, 2015 by Robin

I went to a party at my kids’ house in Pollock Pines but I went a few hours early to do a little hiking. They were busy with getting ready so I went off by myself. I don’t do that very often–at least not somewhere other than around here. I guess I wasn’t completely alone because I had Ginny with me. I couldn’t take all three dogs because the property below where my kids live is part of the Sly Park Recreation Area and dogs are supposed to be on leash–I can’t deal with all three on the leash. Besides I didn’t want three dogs party-crashing.

This is a leisurely walk, all downhill at the beginning and then around the lake. As usual I had my camera and this time it didn’t matter how long I sat in a field of yellow flowers to get the right photo. There are hiking and horse trails all through the area and I walked down one that……meets up with a short nature trail that follows a creek on it’s way to the lake.

There is a cedar bark dwelling replica just off the trail. Sly Park, Jenkinson Lake This is Jenkinson Lake. There camping areas all around it and lots of people on this Memorial Day weekend. I had Ginny on the leash and she had a lot of lessons in good behavior when meeting kids, bikes, etc. Matt had told me that it was about 10 miles from their house, around the lake, and back. When I was standing here I though that maybe I’d do that instead of just an out-and-back walk. I would continue to the left in this photo, go around the dam in the center of the photo and back to their place.After walking some more I came to this part of the lake and decided that maybe an around-the-lake walk wasn’t going to work for today. This is a finger of the lake that juts back up the valley and I would have to walk all the way around this part and the main part of the lake in the other photo. So I went a little further up the west side here and then turned around but took a higher trail back that avoided some of the crowds that were nearer the lake.This is Ginny sitting on the dock. She didn’t seem to care that the ground under her was rocking.That low growing shrub is mountain misery and here are some close-ups. Mountain misery, Chamaebatia foliolosa Mountain misery is unique to the western slope of the Sierras and there is a lot of it. It has a pungent oily sap and can play a role in preventing erosion to hillsides in the years following major fires. On the other hand those same deep far-reaching roots use up a lot of moisture and may prevent other plants from becoming established. Mountain misery, Chamaebatia foliolosa I don’t live in the mountains so don’t deal with it as a “weed” and I like the fragrance–it reminds me of the forest after a rain.I came across a small area of striking yellow on a south facing slope. I didn’t identify these flowers but in their midst I found some… monkey flower, Mimulus sp …monkey flowers. At least I’m pretty sure they are Mimulus but I don’t know which species.What I noticed first about them were the seed pods. Monkey flower, Mimulus sp seedpod What I noticed first about them were the seed pods.

The deep green of the trees was in striking contrast to those yellow flowers but the new growth of the trees is a contrast of greens in itself. Back to the more shady woods, taking one of the trails up to the house.

Wild rose.

I don’t remember this one but do you see what is on the leaf?

Sly Park, Jenkinson Lake Don’t tell Rusty and Maggie where we were. I feel guilty leaving them home. This was fun for Ginny and me and Ginny got about 6 miles of on-leash work on manners.

At the Loom

Posted on May 22, 2015 by Robin

The name of my blog is “Life on the Farm and at the Loom, but I haven’t written many weaving posts lately. Here are a few of the more recent pieces.

Chenille scarves. About a year and a half ago I challenged myself to use up all the odds and ends of chenille that I had accumulated. Here is a blog post with the photo of the original pile of chenille. I ended up with warps for 44 scarves. I wove several last year but then started focusing on the show I had last fall. Last month I started weaving these scarves again.

I put a warp on the 46″ Schacht loom a few months ago but then had to stop weaving while I waited for tendonitis in my shoulder to get better. The yarn is Imperial Yarn Company’s Columbia and there was enough warp for three blankets. I just took these off the loom but need to do fringes and wash them.

The AVL has warp for three queen size blankets that are a commission.

. Here is the front of the loom. I had to stop working on this when a cable broke today.

A friend asked me to dye a jacket that she found at a thrift store. She wanted dark brown. It’s hard to see but one of those threads did turn the dark brown that it was supposed to but the rest of the yarns dyed a brick red. Fortunately she likes that color too.

These are 35-yard mini-skeins of Titus, a new yarn that I carry. I wanted to create a project that used all the yarns in this sample pack..

…and this is what I came up with. I used this as an idea to develop a class in Color on the Loom.

I’ll show photos of all these blankets when they are finished. The transformation is always amazing.

El Dorado Forest After the King Fire

Posted on May 11, 2015 by Robin

Yesterday the dogs and I drove to my son and DIL’s house to go on a hike. We drove up Ice House Road into part of the El Dorado National Forest that burned from last year’s massive King Fire, parked the truck, and started walking down one of the dirt roads. We found stunning beauty and tragic devastation at the same time. Eventually we made our way down to the South Fork of the American River, finding a new spot that M & K are putting on their personal favorite-place maps.

I have lots of landscape and flower photos. For dog fun you can check out Rusty’s blog–after I am finished and he can get on the computer.We stopped along the road in a beautiful park like landscape with lots of wildflowers… …but when you look up you realize that all the trees are dead. I ID’d some of the flowers. Yellow Star Tulip, Calochortus monophyllus.

This one I don’t know and if I take time to try and find them all I’ll never get outside.

Pretty face, Triteleia ixioides.

Some kind of iris.

This looks like Sugarbush (Rhus species) when I looked it up but that is in S.CA so I don’t know which species this one is.

Monkey flower.

We saw all those flowers on the way to the river.Sam and Kirin are strong swimmers and spent their time going after the toy that Matt kept throwing for them.Notice where my dogs are. Rusty spent most of his time looking at sparkles in the rocks, Ginny went in the water but was intimidated by the big dogs and the deep water and Maggie lives in her own world (did you see her on the right?)Walking back to the truck.These trees are dead but this gives a glimpse of what the forest might have been like if periodic fires had been allowed to burn during the last century. When fire burns light brush and debris off the forest floor it opens the forest up to light and allows other vegetation to grow, at the same time preventing the fires from burning into the tops of the trees. Wouldn’t this be a beautiful site if this had been a much less damaging fire and the vegetation cycle was just starting all over without having killed the trees? The King Fire that burned 97,000 acres was human set. It was not an accident. It was set on purpose. My son and DIL work for the US Forest Service and were directly involved with the suppression of this fire that burned only a few miles from their home.It had tragic consequences for people who lost their homes and was a devastating blow to the El Dorado National Forest. There were peripheral impacts as well to thousands of people who have nothing to do with actually working as fire fighters or who live in the forest. Think of it as a ripple effect. We were on one of those ripples. My other son took the summer off from his regular job on the El Dorado Hotshot crew so that he could compete in the Tahoe Ironman. He had trained to be at the top of his game. The event was cancelled just moments before it was to begin due to the horrible smoke in the Tahoe Basin. Here is the story I wrote then. This is one tiny example of how something impacts lives far removed from the actual horrific event. Imagine the number of weddings, vacations, jobs, etc that were impacted over the course of this fire activity. And all of those things pale in comparison to the direct consequences of the fire–the environmental impact, loss of property, etc.

Whew! I didn’t intend to go there with this post. Let’s move on. The oaks surprised me. The fire didn’t kill them. I’m curious to know if they will remain when (if?) this area is logged.

The next photos are the scene we drove through to get to where it looks much prettier.These areas are being logged to remove the dead trees while there is still value in the lumber. This is an interesting article about the post-fire logging and rehab.

This is a demonic looking machine. At the end of this long arm there are claw-like grippers and a chain saw. A sad landscape.

Farm Day – May 2015

Posted on May 9, 2015 by Robin

Where is Dona when you need her? As much as I like taking photos I don’t take very many on a Farm Day because I’m distracted. Seven Farm Club members were here this morning to help with some specific tasks.

We accomplished those easily all the while enjoying each other’s company. This is such a great group of friends First we caught all 76 lambs. We weighed all of them and vaccinated the older ones. We chose four ewe lambs and 4 ram lambs as the most likely options (narrowing it to 2 each later) for taking to Black Sheep Gathering next month. Because my flock lambs in March the lambs are still young and it’s hard to think who I might want to take to the show in June. We also caught the 4 yearlings who did not lamb this year to choose which of them I’d take and also to replace their lamb ear tags with larger easier-to-read tags. After we finished with the lambs I showed Gynna how to go about halter breaking lambs that she is going to take home with her in a few weeks.The birds were happy when we finished in the barn because then they had free access to their babies without worrying about all the people and dogs.

Timm Ranch wool ready for the mill

After lunch Kathleen, Gynna, and Peggy went to the barn and helped me change this pile into……this one. By sucking the air out of the bags with the shop vac we condensed that pile of wool into about half the space. That’s a much easier job with more than one person.

Ginny found an out-of-the-way place to sleep.Later this afternoon Dan put the mower on the tractor and I mowed the pasture behind the barn.

I’ve been trying to clean out the freezer and I found a turkey the other day. It’s in the oven now and I’m getting ready for turkey dinner (without all the trappings because that would take too much work).

Planting Tomatoes Across the Road

Posted on May 5, 2015 by Robin

We finally found out what crop was going in across the road.We suspected after the soil was worked over and over and finally bedded and rolled smooth and flat like this. Then for a few days these tractors and other supporting equipment (water truck, fork lift, portable toilets) were parked at the edge of the field. On Sunday planting began. Although I’ve seen the tomato planters (people and equipment) working from a distance I didn’t know how it all worked. There are six seats for people in the front and several shelves for flats of tomato seedlings on the back of the transplanter. (I looked it up and that’s what the equipment is called. One brand name is Ferrari.) A truck hauled in huge wooden crates full of flats of tomato seedlings and the forklift moved the crates from the truck to where they were needed. I walked over there Sunday evening and took more photos.Here are empty crates filled with the seedling trays. They struck me as interesting.

I looked up on Google how the transplanter works and found videos of some smaller ones. In those the person places individual seedlings into funnel shapes that are part of a revolving horizontally positioned disc. There is more to it than that but as the disc goes around and the tractor moves forward the seedlings drop through the funnel thing into the ground.In this equipment there were no horizontal discs with funnel shapes. Instead the seedlings drop down between those two metal “wheels” in the very center of the photo. (The wheel in the foreground is the one of another pair, but the other wheel is just out of the photo to the left.) You can barely see a left-over tomato seedling between those wheels. At least I can because I know it’s there. So the person sits on that yellow seat (and there is another right under where I am taking the photo) and places the seedling in position but I’m still not sure exactly how that part works. Part of the equipment is making a small hole or furrow into which the seedling will fall. At the same time the tractor is driving forward (towards me, the photographer) and the metal wheels serve to fill in dirt around the just-planted seedling. At the same time there are water barrels on the tractor and somewhere that water is being injected into the soil right around the roots.Am I getting a little carried away here about something as mundane as planting tomatoes? I am fascinated with the combination of automation and requirement for people. And living in the Central Valley of California one could use this as a platform to expound on social issues, political issues, and water issues. But right now I’m just interested in that simple question of “how do we get tomato sauce?” because I’m pretty sure that these are processing tomatoes.

I walked around the field (my usual walk Across the Road). The field wasn’t completely planted yet and this little seedling was on top of one of the crates still full of seedlings. I was pretty sure that it wasn’t going to live through the night so I carried it home and planted it. We’ll see if it can keep up with all of it’s kin (if I can save it from gophers). The part of the field that was planted has two rows of seedlings in each bed. They pulled a ditcher along the edges and are beginning to irrigate today. Stay tuned to follow the story of the Tomatoes Across the Road.

Meridian Jacobs' Blog

Life on the farm and at the loom.

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