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.

Irrigated Pasture

Posted on July 18, 2025 by Robin

I am in Michigan now (more on that in a future post), but having a chance to go through photos for planned blog posts. I took these photos last week when I switched the sheep to the last paddock on the west.

Irrigated pasture full of clover in bloom.

A view of the pasture with lots of clover. Most is white clover, but there is some strawberry clover as well. The dry grass is annual rye which has dried out. I have written extensively about the pasture project, seeding, and what is growing. If you’re interested search posts from November 2024 through spring 2025.

Interior view of an owl box. No owls, but evidence from feathers and pellets

Part of the pasture project included two owl boxes. I can’t see inside them without a ladder. However, I can open the door on this one and hold my camera up high enough to take a photo of the inside. It’s obvious that it has been used, but I don’t know if it is used currently or not.

Blue chicory flower with bee in the center.

Chicory is one of the plants that was in our seed mix but I don’t see as much of it as I do the clover. After reading articles about native bees I think this is probably one of them.

There have been challenges on the north pasture. The annual ryegrass, which was not part of the seed mix, grew so quickly that it took over some areas. There is clover growing, but a lot was shaded out by the ryegrass that was trampled as the sheep were turned out.

Tall dry grass in foreground with green clover growing beyond.

These are patches that I lifted up to show how tall the grass is. It has effectively mulched parts of the field. Dan recently mowed this area to try and break up this thick grass. We’ll try hand seeding some of these areas before irrigating next week.

Sheep on pasture with orchard in background.

Back to the south pasture. You can still see the dry ryegrass, but it was mowed or grazed before it got as tall as that in the north pasture. There is plenty of clover thriving under it.

Jacob sheep grazing green clover and dry grass.

Another view of this paddock.

Close up view of green clover plants with white flowers

And a close up.

Sheep are finding plenty to eat.

Grandkids’ Visit – Part 2

Posted on July 14, 2025 by Robin

This and the last post are really just my way of keeping a scrapbook. This is part two of the grandkid’s visit.

Grandkids eating lunch with a view of the California State capitol in the background.

I chose the State Capitol as our destination for one of the days they were here. I had to look this up. Capitol: the building where lawmakers meet. Capital: the city that is the seat of government. So this photo shows the kids in the Capital (Sacramento) in front of the Capitol. After snacks, we wandered through the Capitol. I hadn’t realized that there is a big part under renovation. The politicians are mostly at another building right now but the old Capitol is open for visitors.

There are many room to view and museum type displays in some of them. You can wander through the building with or without a tour guide. The dome is impressive.

Kirby sitting on the ground with two Jacob sheep on halters.

Back home, Kirby spent time each day with the sheep that were going to the show in Oregon.

Two kids standing in the aerial yoga fabric nets while the instructor shows how to hold on.

I set up a private lesson for the kids at YogaCoreFit in Vacaville where I go for pilates workouts.

Two kids in the hanging fabric baskets at an aerial yoga studio.

They offer aerial yoga but the kids classes are on weekends and we couldn’t make those. So Kasen and Kirby had a private class with Carol, the owner.

At an aerial yoga studio with boy hanging upside down and his sister and grandmother next to him.

The kids really enjoyed this. Kirby says that when she grows up and has a horse ranch she will also have this aerial gear to use.

Family photo of two adults and two kids and a dog.

We visited my brother and sister-in-law in Fairfield.

During the second week of the grandkids’ visit Kasen went to stay with the other grandparents in town and visit with lots of cousins while Kirby went with Dan and me to Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon. Blog posts here.

We got back late Sunday night and took Monday to recover and continue the visit with Farm Club friends who were in Oregon with us or stayed here to take care of the place while we were gone.

Two kids and two adults standing in a pool of water surrounded by forest trees and granite rocks.

On Tuesday we squeezed in a visit with Matt and Kaleena near Pollock Pines.

Two girls dressed in pink with a spotted Jacob lamb.

The cousins came to visit Tuesday evening because Kasen and Kirby were leaving on Wednesday. This is play time with Sparky.

Grandkids Visit

Posted on July 12, 2025 by Robin

The Texas grandkids were here for two weeks at the end of June. They are back home now, but I’ll share some photos of the first week of their visit.

Kasen, wearing yellow sweatshirt, in pen with Jacob sheep.

The first morning they were here we spent time in the barn. This is Jade (the sheep) asking for attention from Kasen.

Kirby found that Sparky is a little bigger than during her last visit three months ago.

One of the goals of this visit was for Kirby to accompany us to Black Sheep Gathering in Oregon to show sheep. I had started halter breaking some of the lambs, but now it was time for Kirby to get involved. We moved her sheep to a separate pen where she could easily work with them.

Kirby also started a rigid heddle weaving project which she completed during her visit.

Kasen sitting at a loom and holding the shuttle.

I had a warp on this table loom and Kasen wove on it, using a variety of colors.

One of the days we drove to Marin County to spend some time at the beach. As is common on northern California beaches, it was windy and cold, but that didn’t keep the kids from playing in the water.

Two kids leaning on a sea lion sculpture above a sign for The Marine Mammal Center.

I had signed up for an afternoon tour of the Marine Mammal Center.

Kasen walking along the canal bank while the dog runs for a ball thrown in the canal.

Many mornings Kasen and I went for a walk while Kirby was still in bed and before it got hot. Ginny was glad to have someone to throw the ball.

Black Sheep Gathering 2025 – Sunday

Posted on July 10, 2025 by Robin

This post is Saturday at Black Sheep Gathering. Sunday was show day for Kirby. She had shown all of her sheep in the open show on Friday, but there is a special show for Juniors on Sunday. It starts with showmanship–where participants are judged on their animal handling and how well they present their animal. After showmanship they show the animals in the breed classes.

Kirby cleaning a lamb's feet near the sheep pen.

Cleaning feet to get Isabella ready for the show.

Four girls walking their sheep in a show ring.

Kirby was in the junior division (10 and under) for showmanship although she would turn 11 in July.

Eight children showing a variety of natural colored sheep in the show ring.

The breed shows were split into Primitive Breeds and wool types for the other breeds. This division consisted of Jacob and Shetlands. Since it is only Juniors showing in these classes we found some other kids to help Kirby show in the classes where she had two entries (ram lambs and ewe lambs), and Kirby helped them show in their classes. So the two Jacob lambs in this ram class are both Kirby’s. She ended up with first and last in the class.

Kirby with a Jacob ram lamb and a champion ribbon.

That first place ram lamb was awarded Champion Primitive Breed Ram.

Girl showing a Jacob ewe in the show ring.

Kirby’s yearling ewe, Lily, was the only yearling ewe in that division…

Kirby in front of Black Sheep Gathering sign with her champion ewe and the ribbon.

…and was awarded Champion Primitive Breed ewe.

Girl holding a Jacob ram lamb with the champion ribbon and trophy in front the Black Sheep Gathering sign.

Here’s the official photo of the winning ram lamb.

The junior show finished about 12:30, and then I hurriedly cruised through the vendor hall to finish up some business and collect my shawl from the fiber arts show. Back at the barn we started packing up since those who have to drive farther are released early. We got on the road about 3.

I love seeing Mt. Shasta on my way home from Oregon.

Black Sheep Gathering 2025 – Saturday

Posted on July 4, 2025 by Robin

Friday was show day at Black Sheep Gathering. On Saturday there was time to explore other parts of the gathering. These are random photos taken in the barn and the vendor hall.

Angora goat.

Valais Blacknose sheep

NCWGA show of Yearling Rams.

Handwoven Jacob shawl in natural gray, black, and white with reserve champion ribbon.

I entered the Fiber Arts show with a handspun v-shawl. There weren’t many handwoven entries but I got Reserve Champion for the weaving division.

I admired this small transparency with the image of a sheep on a linen background.

Array of small skeins of yarn arranged in rainbow color.

I spent some time at the Art Fiber Frenzy booth because I’ve been designing some pieces using the crazy yarns I find here.

Back at the barn we showed our Champion Ram and Champion Ewe in the class for the overall champion sheep at the show.

Then I posed for a photo with those sheep.

Seen in the parking lot.

Back view of handwoven Jacob shawl showing plaid.

Spinners Lead was at the end of the day. I had woven a second v-shawl from handspun Jacob to wear in this competition. I also wove a scarf for my sheep.

Two horned Jacob sheep with glasses on its face.

Breeze wearing her scarf and my glasses. (She did not wear the glasses into the show ring.)

Waiting for the judge’s placings. I was awarded Reserve in the category for sheep owners.

Black Sheep Gathering 2025 – Friday

Posted on June 30, 2025 by Robin

The map app shows that Albany, Oregon is under an 8 hour drive from here, but it took us about 9 hours pulling a trailer full of sheep. We had 15 sheep with us–8 of mine and 7 belonging to my granddaughter, Kirby.

Girl sitting on straw in pen with Jacob sheep and using her phone.

This is Kirby sitting with her sheep the first morning of the event. Shetlands showed first and then it was us.

Jacob sheep on halters tied to rails in pen.

The first two days of the Black Sheep Gathering sheep show are for the open show. The junior show is Sunday. I entered Kirby’s sheep in both shows. We needed at least three exhibitors to be able to have a Jacob show, and we were two of the three.

The first class was Yearling Ram and Meridian Elvis was the only entry.

Five people showing Jacob ram lambs in the show ring.

Ram lambs were next. Kirby and I had two ram lambs each. The other exhibitor had only a few sheep in the show and had lambs in this class. Thanks to Farm Club members, Doris and Chris, for helping to show. Thank you to Rachel for most of the photos.

Two people in show ring with Jacob lambs and Judge looking at one of them.

My ram lamb, Hunter, shown by Doris, and Kirby’s ram lamb, Gaston, were awarded Champion and Reserve Champion Jacob ram, respectively.

Four people showing spotted Jacob sheep in the show ring.

Kirby and I each had two ewe lambs. We also showed yearling ewes and aged ewes (2-year olds).

KJ Royalty is Kirby’s flock name. This is KJ Royalty Isabella.

Sign about Meridian Jacobs with champion ribbons displayed.

My sheep were awarded Champion and Reserve Champion Jacob Ewe and Champion Ram.

Girl in blue t-shirt on fence rail next to sign with champion ribbon.

Kirby had Reserve Champion Ram.

Kirby and Rachel wearing felt sheep ears on head bands

After the sheep show everyone was free to experience the rest of the Gathering. Kirby and Rachel became good friends and I’m grateful to Rachel for giving Kirby such a good time.

Girl doing handstand in swimming pool with only legs showing above the water.

Usually I pitch a tent in the lawn near the sheep barn at Black Sheep Gathering, but with Kirby and Dan along we decided to go for the neighboring hotel. There was an indoor pool and Friday night ended with pool play for Kirby.

More photos tomorrow.

New Camera (or is it a Phone?)

Posted on June 15, 2025 by Robin

I was able to trade in my ~~camera~~ phone for a new one and actually lower our Verizon bill! So I did it. Trying it out at chores time tonight:

Close-up of a vibrant pink flower with radial lines and a light yellow center, surrounded by green leaves.

Hollyhock.

Close-up view of a flower's stamen with pink and yellow petals.

Hollyhock close-up

Sunflower.

Close-up of a pincushion flower, featuring small white stamens against a blurred green background.

Pincushion flower, one of my newest dye plants.

Close-up of a chicken with distinctive feathers and red comb.

Chicken portraits.

Close-up view of a rooster's head, highlighting its red comb and wattles, with a detailed focus on its eye and feathers.

Close-up of a Jacob sheep with brown and white fleece standing in a field of tall grass.

Sheep named Roca.

Selfie with Sparky.

Wide view of a grassy field with sheep grazing and a blue sky above.

Very wide angle view from the barn to the southwest.

A wooden owl box mounted on a pole in a grassy field, surrounded by trees and a fence.

Telescopic view taken from the same location as the wide angle photo. This is the owl box at the south end of the pasture. In the wide angle photo it is about center along the treeline to the left of that telephone pole. I’m impressed!

Grazing and Irrigation 7- May

Posted on June 13, 2025 by Robin

I wrote posts a couple of weeks ago to create a photo diary of our grazing progress as we started grazing the new pasture. As usual I got behind. It’s crazy now to try and document this the way I had intended. Instead I’ll start with this week and see where I go with this.

This is yesterday’s photo. I have numbered all the checks from west to east so I can keep track of what I’ve been doing. They are 30′ wide. We started grazing this spring with the paddocks in the north field. This is the previous post about that before I went on to the first irrigation. When we switched from grazing the north paddocks to the south ones we started with fencing two checks at a time and the idea was to split into smaller areas with cross fencing.

I have to say here that the main challenge here is that we have no permanent fences yet. When this project began (see the first post in October) we had to remove all the interior fences. Dan had knee replacement surgery in April and he wasn’t able to get those fences up before we needed to start grazing that month. I am using electronet fence and that means piecing together lengths of net and moving it as I move the sheep across the field.

This shows the length of fence as I have moved it from one check to another before setting it up.

There is plenty of clover and trefoil, but in some of the areas it has been overshadowed by the annual ryegrass. That is another challenge. Annual rye was NOT part of the seed mix. There were three perennial grasses in the mix, but the ryegrass that was already in the soil took over. Fortunately it is a good feed, but it grew so quickly that it has been a real challenge to manage. This paddock is one that Dan topped with the mower several weeks ago and the clover is more visible here.

So far it seems that I can graze the sheep on each 30′ strip for two days. I could probably add another day but I want to move them across the field to try and keep up with that ryegrass. We also want to make sure that the clover and trefoil get well established before grazing them heavily. It is time consuming to move that length of fence from one check to another every two days, so this last time I moved only one of the fences to the west. There is no fence down the center of this photo. I moved the fence that was on that check to the next check to the west. So the right half of the photo is where the fresh feed is. The sheep can tell where there is fresh feed, and they spent the next two days mostly on that half. They are also able to eat more of the ryegrass that is still on the check once the fence is removed. If this method works then I’ll move one fence every two or three days.

This photo is from a month ago when we moved them to the south field and set the north-south fences up to include two checks. We added east-west fences to have them eat each part more throughly. However, we have no drinking water source out there now so they have to have to be given access to the barn.

You can see how overwhelming the ryegrass is. There is clover there but it is hidden. When the grass is this tall the sheep trample it more than eat is and it has the effect of mulching the field. That is not what we want to encourage the clover and trefoil to grow.

When Dan topped the ryegrass the sheep could move through it more easily and it allowed the other plants to have light.

This view shows how they were able to graze the mowed part.

It’s great to have all this feed now, but I wish that I had more sheep right now to use all that feed.

Grazing and Irrigation 6 – April 29-30

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Robin

There were more photos for April 29, the first day of irrigation with the new system. I started this story this morning. To continue:

I needed a strategy to keep track of what I was doing. This was partly because the ryegrass was so tall I couldn’t even find the valves at first. Then I wanted to remember what I had opened and closed and be able to tell Dan how it was going. I decided to write on my photos. By the way, there are 7 valves across the north end of the north field near the blackberries. This photo shows the south end of that north field and the top of the lower pasture. There is a pipeline all the way across this one from west to east.

So this photo shows that at 5:30 p.m. there was water all the way down the north pasture and I had opened the first 6 earlier. At this time #1 on this field was finished and I turned #7 and #8 on.

At 7:30 p.m. this is the status. I opened 9, 10, and 11.

At 8 p.m. I opened 12, 13, 14, and 15.

I had been marking the valves with the white plastic stakes. Now I don’t remember if the sideways posts indicated On or Off.

At 5:30 a.m. the next morning I closed #7-15 and opened all the rest.

This shows the last valves, #16-20.

At 7:30 I noted that #20 was finished.

This is how I figured out that I could report back to Dan what was going on. I think I can make sense of this photo now. There was water 100′ from the south border in #17, 90′ in #18, and 50′ in #19.

I’ll be doing this all over again in the morning and I think maybe I should number these in the opposite direction. If I am at the house or barn and “read” from left to right then Check #1 should be on my left (the one next to the road). I guess I’ll figure that out tomorrow. Maybe I need to paint numbers on the south border posts so I can keep track of where I am.

Grazing and Irrigation 5 – April 29

Posted on May 29, 2025 by Robin

I started this series of posts to explain the outcome of our major pasture and irrigation renovation in the fall (another series of searchable posts). The most recent of this series is here.

It was time to try out our new irrigation pipeline. I didn’t know what to expect, never having irrigated from a pipeline before. Dan, only 3 weeks after knee replacement surgery was not going to be the irrigator.

Where do we get our water? If you look at the fifth photo in this post you see the hills. Lake Berryessa is in those hills and that is the water source for the Solano Irrigation District. There is a low spot in the center of the skyline and that marks the place where Putah Creek flows from the Lake.

This photo is northwest of our property and this is the main canal from which we get our water. This view is southwest. When the valve is opened water runs down the next canal, seen below.

This view is due south. That water will be getting to our pasture after it turns a corner at the edge of the orchard.

Here is that corner. View is southeast.

Just past the corner looking due west. Our property is at the end of this canal.

This is the same location as the previous photo but showing the view to the west. That barn is the Hendrix Hay barn that you see from our property.

Walking along the road before the water is visible in the ditch. That is our barn that you see in the photo.

The same ditch but looking west from the corner of our property. That opening on the left is where overflow from other properties or storms can exit this ditch and not flow into our property. When we irrigate lengths of 2 x 6 boards are slid into a channel to prevent most of the water from flowing out into that ditch.

The view as the water is getting to our place. The red handle opens the gate to let water into our property.

When this gate is open the water flows into that concrete box where there is a flow meter and then out into the pipeline. The concrete box is 8 feet deep and 4 feet square. See some of the details in this post.

Once water fills the pipeline we start opening valves.

It will take me awhile to learn how much to open each valve, how many to have open at one time and how long to leave them open. We’re irrigating again tomorrow (a month after the irrigation in this post) and I’ll experiment again. Do you remember the old way of irrigating? I just searched my posts for “irrigation” and found this one from 2010. Wow! It shows the same corner with the old standpipe, but what is amazing to me is that north fenceline. Where are the blackberries?

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