Category Archives: Random Farm Photos

Today’s Random Farm Photos

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This seems to be a recurrent theme now. There are a lot of moving parts. Maybe I should call this A Day on the Farm.

Truck dumping a load of sand.

Dan ordered a load of sand. It’s hard to imagine right now, but when we get a lot of rain all at once, the water gets ankle deep here. Dan is thinking ahead.

Water flowing out of orange valve in green pasture.

I am irrigating today. We asked for water for 24 hours so we need to get the whole pasture irrigated in that time. I am still figuring out the best way to manage this with the Goldilocks plan (not too much and not too little). Last time it worked and I hope I have it right this time as well. So my main task today is to continue to check water and open and close valves as necessary. There are 28 valves along the pipeline.

View into a green barrel with frothy liquid inside.

I am working on a variety of other things between checking the pasture. This is the look into a barrel that holds some heads from the latest harvest day about ten days ago. We’ve had some very hot weather and that should hasten the progress on these skulls. It’s very disgusting and, even more disgusting, those white things are maggots.

Two sheep skulls with horns that are not cleaned.

This is how the heads looked after I dumped the barrel. The horn sheaths on the smaller skull have loosened and are easy to get off. The big one went back in after I pulled off a lot of gunk. I can’t get those horn sheaths off yet, and I hope another week in the barrel will do the trick, but I sort of doubt it.

Three sheep skulls with horns and other small bones draining in a red tray.

These skulls just came out of a bucket with peroxide and water.

Bright white sheep skull with five horns.

This one has had further treatment. Now I have to get those horn sheaths back on. I wonder if I overdid the cleaning process because that seam has separated more than I’d like.

Plastic bin and green plastic tub containing white fabric folded into different shapes arranged to fill the tubs. Photo shows dye canisters with labels.

In between irrigating and working on skulls I prepared another batch of bandanas for ice dyeing. Results in 24 hours.

Two dozen skeins of blue or blue-green yarn on a brown wooden background.

I also finally organized the latest skeins dyed in indigo. The earlier ones (on the left) are more blue while the rest have a blue-green cast. I don’t know if it’s due to time in the indigo bath or stage of growth of the plants or some other variable.

I’m preparing yarn for dyeing tomorrow, but realized that to dye with wolf lichen I don’t need to mordant. I weighed the lichen that I gathered off fallen branches on our last visit to the mountains and the wound three ounces of yarn to match the weight of lichen. The yarn and the lichen are in the pot now.

It’s 11:20 p.m. right now. I plan to check the water in about ten minutes, so I just looked at the readings from the soil moisture sensors. The red line shows the water flow onto our property. We were supposed to get it at about 10, but early in the morning I looked at the ditch that carries the water, and it was more full than when we order water. It was the “leftover” water from someone at the upper end of the canal and it runs out of an overflow pipe adjacent to our property. I wish I had known and could have opened our valves sooner. As it was I opened the valve at 6:30 a.m. and that’s when our meter picked it up. The water tender must have made a drastic change at 7 a.m. and we stopped getting that water, but the water we’re paying for followed at 11…so 12 hours ago. The blue, purple, and green lines are the soil moisture levels at 4″ (green), 8″ (purple), and 12″ (blue) at two different stations. The darker lines are from the west sensor and the lighter ones are the east sensor. This shows that it was about 5:30 when water reached the one on the west. It shows the east one is also wet, but it might be from the water accumulating at the south end of the field.

Time to go look at water and see what is really happening. Hopefully I can close some valves and open others and then not go back out until about 5 a.m.

Today’s Random Projects

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I could say Today’s Random Projects Other Than the Computer because that’s what I did all morning–always trying to catch up and clear the desk.

Handwoven fabric samples in white, green and gold.

This is part of clearing the desk. I am working on a weaving article and this is one set of samples that I need to mail. I needed another photo so that I can see the sample numbers as I review what I write.

This afternoon I decided to catch up with a project that’s been hanging over my head and I want to have done before upcoming sales–Pleasants Valley Open Farm Days just north of Vacaville and Lambtown in Dixon. I have been avoiding dealing with skulls. One of these days I could share photos of the whole process, but that might turn some people away–at least the first couple of stages.

These skulls don’t look too bad, but they still aren’t ready to present for sale. The one on the left is the best, but I had already worked on that one. Now was time for them to all go in a pot to simmer in a solution that will help remove tissue that I couldn’t get off. I had been avoiding this because this solution is caustic and I don’t want to risk leaving them too long. I know that if I go away and do something else, even with a timer set, I’ll miss it. So I decided that I could do two projects at once in the garage where I was going to set up this pot.

While I was waiting for the pot to heat up I prepared bandanas for ice dyeing.

When the pot was ready I put a few skulls in and set the timer for five minutes. That’s not really very long to get much else done, but I worked a little more on the bandanas.

Sheep skulls after cleaning.

After five minutes I took those skulls out and put others in, setting the timer again. At that point all I could do is work on the skulls–cleaning with a small bristly brush and rinsing them thoroughly. Those skulls will be in the sun tomorrow and then will be ready for the horns to go back on.

Two plastic tubs that hold fabric covered with ice and dye powder.

After the skulls were finished I could apply the dye in the ice-covered bins. No quick turn-around on those. I have to wait 24 hours before peeking!

Several rows of cards that hold buttons made of sheep horns.

This evening I sorted the buttons that I finished yesterday. They are on cards now, but not attached. That will be a project for tomorrow.

Random Farm Photos

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Wild turkeys on the top rail of a gate and on he ground in front, with sun setting behind.

This is a resident flock of turkeys–two adults and five babies (not so baby anymore). They come and go farther up the road and across the road. They are most annoying when they are around the peach tree or scratching up the garden.

Two views of the paddock I moved the sheep to yesterday. This is looking south. The grass in the foreground is an undesirable one and we are thinking about how to deal with it.

The same paddock from the other end. The grass here is orchard grass which was part of the seed mix we used in fall 2024. Notice how inconsistent the pasture is. There is lots of chicory in the top half and not much except the grass in the south with lots of bare ground between clumps. More issues to think about.

Yesterday moving rams lambs to the barn to sort for harvest day.

Notice ground squirrel holes. They have underground cities everywhere including under the barn.

After harvest. I have eleven sheepskins salted.

I’ve been sorting JSBA files. Jacob Sheep Breeders began in 1988 with the plan to keep a registry for Jacob sheep in North America. From the website: “JSBA’s mission is to foster the conservation of Jacob sheep through education, advocacy, registration and research.” I was Registrar for many years. When I began I picked up five four-drawer filing cabinets, holding registration applications, from the previous Registrar, also in California. By the time JSBA went digital and I was finished, those filing cabinets were full and overflowed into boxes. Several years ago I started scanning the files so that there would be a record of JSBA’s history. Actually, I didn’t do the scanning initially, but prepared the files so that we could have someone else do it. Each file has two sets of photos stapled to it and wool samples for rams. I removed photos and tried to find two views of the sheep to staple back on but to cover up comments and signatures. Needless to say, this gets time consuming. Farm Club helped for awhile, including scanning now that we can do that with a phone. So…now, many years later, there is the goal to finish the job. I know which boxes have not been prepped, but I’m trying to figure out which prepped files were scanned and then if those scans are now in JSBA’s database.

I would rather be weaving. I SHOULD be weaving. This is another example for the upcoming Lambtown class about Clasped Warp and Clasped Weft.

I don’t know how long I’ve had these boots, but they are very comfortable and got me to the top of Mount Lassen last month. I think they have seen their last days. The sole on the left one has completely separated all the way back to the instep.

Random Farm Photos – I’ll never catch up!

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When I wait for a story to be complete before writing a blog post it never happens. So this post is a batch of beginnings, middles, and ends, but no complete story.

Sample in purple and green using handwoven fabric.

This is the beginning of my exploration on the best way to use up all the handwoven scraps I have. I like how this looks, but when you look at the edging you will know that it’s not ready for public consumption. In other words, I have to get a whole lot better at the finishing part than I am now.

Jacob ewe with a sheep coat that has come off the back and is wrapped around the front legs.

This could be another story about sheep coats–and why I don’t like to use them and why a coated fleece costs more. No sheep were harmed in this story, but the potential is there.

Jacob ram with the lower horn hanging straight down because it is broken at the top.

This one will probably be a story, but I’m not sure how graphic the photos should be. This is Peregrin, a yearling ram. You can see where his lower horn was rubbing on his shoulder (the patch about 6″ to the right of the horn tip) which is not a desirable thing, but I planned to trim it. He must have been hit by one of the other rams and the core of the horn broke. I have video of how much that horn can wobble. This was a few days before I planned an overnight trip to Oregon to deliver sheep and sheepskins. More to this story later.

Two large barrels on their sides for soaking sheepskins.

This could also be a story. I had an inside look at Traditional Tannery, where I am sending all my sheepskins now. If I remember correctly they can fit 60 sheepskins in one of those barrels for the initial washing.

Sunflowers against a blue and white sky.

Back home. I love my sunflowers this year. The one in front with the brown cast is a new variety. The others all grew from seeds produced last year.

Red and white border collie on dirt road through an alfalfa field with Mt. Diablo in the distance.

I’m trying to get out and walk, partly for me, and partly to give Ginny something to do.That’s Mount Diablo in the distance.

Naturally dyed yarn in orange, yellow and red.

I’ve been dyeing yarn. I dyed five skeins with Cosmos flowers. The two in the middle were then dipped in an acidic bath (dilute lemon juice) and the two on the right were dipped in a basic solution using washing soda.

Stack of handwoven wool blankets with a variety of colors and patterns.

I finally finished a blanket warp that I put on the loom in May. This is the Timm Ranch yarn for warp and most of the blankets are local. The two gray ones have Jacob weft. The bottom one is Ashford yarn, the next two are my new favorite U.S Wool (outside Solano County) from Brown Sheep Company, and all the rest are naturally dyed Timm Ranch yarn.

Handwoven sample of overshot pattern.

Moving on to overshot. I have a deadline of mid-September to finish a magazine article. That is a topic for later.

Jacob ram that broke his horn. It was removed and his head is bandaged.

This is still not the end of the story for the ram at the beginning. On Wednesday the vets removed the broken horn. The goal now is to keep the flies off and hope it heals well. I took this photo after he tore off the initial bandage that was full of gauze to put pressure on the wound. My job of rewrapping isn’t pretty but it was still in place yesterday and today.

I forgot that I do enjoy writing blog posts, but have to not be too worried about having everything in order and whether or not there is a beginning and an end.

Random Farm Photos

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This post is just what the title says.

Three chickens roosting on white plywood walls in the barn.

Chickens roosting in the barn tonight.

Four sheep skulls on the concrete, some with horn cases that need to be attached.

Shearing Day is Saturday and I decided to try and have the skulls ready to put out for sale. This is a work in progress. Others will be offered for sale as DIY projects because they are not as clean.

Stack of ten colorful baby blankets in pinks, purple, and yellow.

I just finished a warp with ten baby blankets. My niece will get first choice of these, because she wants a gift for a friend. Then they will be offered for sale.

Colorful striped scarf draped though rings on the wall.
Colorful striped scarf on a mannequin.

Speaking of weaving, I finished these scarves last week. These are woven using Art Fiber Frenzy yarn, in the style of the class I teach, Wild and Craze Weaving–Breaking the Rules.

Three four-horn Jacob ewes facing the camera with the rising sun in the background.

Sheep at sunrise.

Twelve farm photos on one page with the title "winners of the 2025 photo contest" by California Farm Bureau.

I entered a photo on the last day the Farm Bureau called for entries. Mine was selected! You can probably figure out which is mine.

Jacob sheep with a sheep coat that has come off the back and is being dragged around the front.

This photo shows one reason coated fleeces are priced higher. Not only do they need changing at 4 to 5 times each year, they also require constant vigilance. I took this photo a few nights ago when doing chores.

Sheep coat with a tear and the leg strap pulled through the hole.

I don’t know how the leg strap got through this hole.

Jacob ewe wearing a coat to protect the fleece.

Fortunately the ewe wasn’t injured and this hole won’t be too difficult to fix. I had to just get through four more days until shearing.

Five spotted sheepskins.

The last batch of sheepskins came back. These are available in the shop and are listed on the website.

Yesterday on the Farm

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When I did morning chores I heard loud snapping from the electric fence. I don’t understand enough about electricity so I can’t explain this, but between the cobwebs or debris and moisture this was sparking. I unplugged the charger so I could clean up the insulator. That was an easy fix.

About 10 days ago we harvested the last of the butcher lambs and, after taking a tanning class on Zoom (which I highly recommend), I decided that I would tackle one hide. It’s been salted since that day, but the weather has been so foggy or rainy that the hide never dried out. That’s OK because it was going to go right into the pickle bath. First I had to clean it up a bit, although our farm harvest guy does an excellent job. There wasn’t much to do. Before I had time to work on the hide, the vets came.

Addy is one of the BFL-Jacob cross ewes. This cyst developed from a plugged pore and was full of lanolin, not an infective abscess. So this was totally an elective surgery. I can rationalize this by also removing the risk of further injury and problems at shearing.

This is how they set up the field hospital.

This cyst had a “neck” and they could cut the skin around it (after injecting lidocaine) to remove the whole thing. There was no cutting through the middle.

This is the wound after the vet has made one stitch across the middle to start pulling the edges together.

Here is how it looked when they were finished. I’m keeping Addy in for a the week to make sure this stays clean and heals OK.

Here is what that cyst looks like on the inside. There is no smell. It’s full of lanolin and skin cells. Weird, huh?

Another reason that it made sense for the vets to come is that there was a ewe lamb that the vets wanted to recheck after the ultrasound visit a couple of weeks ago. They had given her prostaglandin to clear up fluid in part of the uterus. It looks OK now.

And while they were there I asked if they could look at the rooster who has been favoring one leg and mostly standing on the other. Actually I thought he had been getting better but wanted them to take a look anyway. He seems OK now.

Back to the loom. This is an experiment using Art Fiber Frenzy yarn. I am presenting a guild program at the end of the month and wanted to experiment with weaving this on a rigid heddle loom instead of the floor loom.

That’s enough random stuff for one day.

Today’s Random Farm Photos

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Green pasture grazed by Jacob sheep.

Checking the pasture this morning. The fog was so dense it seemed dark for longer this morning and I didn’t go out right away. The sheep had already been out eating.

Jacob sheep grazing green pasture in the fog.

This is Day 3 of grazing this paddock but it looks as though there is still plenty of forage.

Mailbox in foreground with sheep grazing alfalfa in the background.

When I walked outside this morning I heard a lamb and I wondered if one of my ewes had an “oops” lamb from when the rams got out (or in with the ewes) but it still wasn’t the right timing. The sheep grazing Across the Road have now been moved to right across from our house.

Black lamb with other white sheep n alfalfa.

There is one black lamb in this flock.

White guardian dog in front of sheep that are grazing alfalfa.

There are two guardian dogs and this one noticed me standing at the mailbox. He barked until I retreated.

Two plastic containers with sheepskin pieces soaking in tannin, making the solution look red.

Tanning is ongoing. Last night was the second session of the “hair-on” class. These will stay in the barrels for a week. They are tanning in mimosa.

A dozen people working on various fiber projects in a small room.

About a dozen people came for Spinners’ Day Out today. I think that today two people were spinning, one inkle weaving, one floor loom weaving, four knitting, one using a blending board, and everyone enjoying the conversation and great snacks.

Weaver holding her finished Vararfeldur weaving she just took of the loom.

Carla finished the weaving she started two days ago at the Weave Like a Viking class!

Christmas wreath with hand spun black and white ribbon.

Sue brought me a gorgeous wreath. She wove the ribbon using hand spun yarn from one of my sheep! Beautiful!!

Grazing and Random Farm Photos

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Paddock 1 after the first day of grazing. These are yesterday’s photos and this morning the sheep were moved to Paddock 1-N. That is the one just north of this one.

This is 1-N before I moved the fence.

Did you notice the owl box in the first photo? I can’t look in but I can just reach the latch, open the door, and snap a photo with my phone. It’s obvious that it has been used, but I don’t know if the owls have raised babies or not.

Leaves at the edge of the pasture.

The tenacity of trees to grow however they can.

A view of some of the sheep Across the Road. They are grazing the alfalfa and being moved strip by strip.

Random Farm Photos – Yesterday

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This morning I shared photos of our grazing set-up now that it’s one year after the big project began. I just looked back through my blog and found this post when we seeded. That was November 19, just hours before we had a lot of rain. A lot has happened in a year. This winter it feels like a whole new experience because prior to this project I would not have been grazing in late November and would be waiting for spring.

Yesterday about noon I walked out to check the fence. Some of the sheep were on their way in.

This is the corner of the new paddock I’d just set up. I think I mentioned something in previous posts about acquiring five new sheep. This is one of the three Corriedales, so far named Corri 1, Corri 2, and Corri 3. Yeah, not very creative. This is Corri 3…

…and she is one of my best friends.

Sparky is another.

I have been taking photos of individual sheep to update the pages on the website. I have updated this page with the current ewes, but haven’t included all the new photos yet. The ewe in this photo is Ophelia, a yearling.

I also took photos of new lambskins yesterday. I stopped in the middle of writing this to list them here.

The hedgerow project wasn’t completely finished yesterday. I found more cardboard and cut it up for the remaining 19 plants and added more straw. We hadn’t got them all watered yesterday so I brought out a wagon to haul more water at one time.

I finished just as the sun went down.

In the evening I jumped on Zoom for my final Basics of Bark Tan class presented by Traditional Tanners where I have had the latest sheepskins tanned. This is leather I made from deerskin! I highly recommend this class. It is very well presented and a lot of fun!

Random Farm Photos

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These photos may seem to be unrelated, but that’s how my life is right now…or maybe all the time. Farm Club members were here on Saturday to help set up breeding groups. Too busy to get photos then. Sunday I demonstrated weaving at an alpaca farm for their open house for National Alpaca Farm Day (remembering at 6 the evening before that I needed to get a loom warped for that). Today I worked on lots of odds and ends, mostly working towards being ready for Lambtown this weekend. So this is odds and ends.

Clancy got to work right away on Saturday. (For the record, he is a BFL registered as Liongate Aylan, but I started calling him Clancy because I couldn’t remember that name. Clancy stuck.)

This is one of the ewes I picked up in Napa last week. That’s a story for another blog post when I have time. She is with Clancy’s group.

Indigo is flowering. I spent so much time trying to keep the indigo thriving during the summer that I want to make sure I use more of it for dying before it’s too late.

This is today’s fresh leaf indigo dyepot. That yarn will be blue when it is out of the pot and dry.

I made buttons over the last few weeks but hadn’t finished them yet. I use lacquer in a satin finish. I could only find semi-gloss locally and had to order what I wanted. There are also two skulls that I cleaned as well as I could and wanted to apply lacquer to the horns.

I load the buttons onto wires that I can dip in the can of lacquer and then spread them to drip and dry. This is one way to get some use out of styrofoam packing material.

These are buttons and shawl pins that I finished a couple of weeks ago. When I couldn’t find the satin lacquer I used semi-gloss and also polyurethane. I think I like the satin finish best, but I’ll find out at Lambtown if it even makes any difference.

I spent a lot of time this week using a new app that will completely remove the background from photos.

This is another example. I wanted these photos for the new weaving class on my website.

One more sheep thing. I have two registered adult rams that I need to sell. There are four rams out with ewes now and these are extra this year. This one is Hurricane. Rams are on the website here.

Time to move onto getting my newsletter out.