State Fair Wrap-Up

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The CA State Fair is still open but the sheep show was just through yesterday. Between having sheep with horns, putting up a lot of signs and visuals, and demonstrating, our area is the busiest in the sheep barn. I think I talked to more people here than I talk to all the rest of the year.

Here are my  sheep pens. I was shorted one sheep pen so I couldn’t use all the large signs I had made. Small signs on the gates answer the most frequently asked questions: “Why are some of the sheep covered?”  “Is he normal?” (on the adult ram pen), “Are these sheep or goats?”, and “Where are the pigs?”

This is the other part of the display.

I truly appreciate help from friends. This year Joan came on Sunday and Monday and shared the task of Educating the Public.

On Sunday Shelby helped let people pet the sheep and helped me show. Jackie was there also, but I don’t have photos. She took all the show rings photos.

Shelby went out looking for deep fried Snickers or something like that but came back with chocolate-covered bacon. As weird as it sounds it actually wasn’t bad but just one bite made me incredibly thirsty.

Dan likes to avoid the show ring, but he was pressed into service this year, starting with the yearling ram show.

This is Shelby helping show the yearling ewes.

This is our flock entry–4 ewes and one ram.

I chose the young ram, Meridian Granite, for this entry because I think the judge liked him the best of my sheep. Granite placed third in his class, just behind the Tunis sheep. Those of us in this show have decided that 3rd is the new 1st. This year the “Primitive & American Breeds Show” entries were Tunis (meat breed) , Shetlands, Jacobs, Icelandics, and St. Croix (a hair sheep). That’s a tough class to judge and I don’t know if any of us will ever get to first or second as long as the Tunis breeder comes. Not only is the breed hard to compete against in a traditional show, but this breeder shows all over and has a very competitive flock.

Here is the champion Tunis ram. Hard to compete with that. The judge, however, said that he thought my fleeces were the nicest Jacob fleeces that he has seen. He commented several times about the fleeces, so I was pleased with that.

I know it’s going to be hard to win with my sheep so I’m trying very hard to win with my display.

I ended up with some fancy ribbons after all…and some good prize money. That’s Best Program and overall second in the Open Sheep Show Best Marketing Program,  second in Sheep Herdsman, and Best Educational Presentation over all the livestock exhibits at the fair this week. I put a lot of work into this and spent 10 -12 hours at my sheep exhibit each day but it paid off in these awards.

State Fair-Day 2

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This is Day 2 for the sheep show at the State Fair, but a couple of my ewes have been there longer. Mary lambed there a few days ago with this nice ram lamb.

Stephanie is also at the fair waiting to kid.

The longhorns are always at the fair white the sheep are there. There are not as many as previous years and that’s too bad. They’re sure fun to see.

I have been staying at my sheep area all day  because I have a large display and am competing for awards for that. So today I took my drum carder and my electric spinner. I also took a bag of odds and ends that I’ve been waiting to send to the mill to blend with other wool. I decided that I’d do it at the fair. So this is what I’m starting with. It includes all the little bits and pieces that are left over from classes, samples from breeders, old dye projects, etc. There is mohair, Angora bunny, alpaca, silk, glitz, and a huge variety of wool.

These are some of the carded batts. I started spinning it tonight at the fair. I think I’ll ply it with a gray yarn and weave a blanket.

More photos tomorrow.

Trying to get ram photos

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It’s State Fair time again. My pregnant ewes are already in the Nursery there;  in fact two have lambed. The sheep show starts Friday and once again I’m trying to plan for a large display. The CA State Fair offers a large award for displays that go along with your livestock exhibit. I was going to use what I already had, but then decided a few days ago that I should make some changes. I have spent ALL DAY at this, as well as a lot of time over the past week. One of the tasks today was to take photos of the two rams that sired the 2010 lambs.

Easier said than done. That’s Meridian Tioga in front and Kenleigh’s Savor in the rear.

They aren’t actually running at me. They are running along the fence line to go back in the barn. But they have a narrow paddock and it was hard to position myself to get decent photos, especially since they kept together. Besides I don’t really like kneeling down to take photos when I’m in there by myself.  With plenty of cropping I finally got photos that will do. Next time I need to allow more time!

Kenleigh’s Savor

Meridian Tioga

Visiting a friend

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Four of us went to see a friend’s new property in Sonoma County last week. Her key didn’t open the door but we found a window that was partially open. I was chosen to get through the window.

I was given a leg up…

…but they didn’t stop pushing.

Success!

It’s Showtime

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It will be ShowTime in November. That’s when Julia (see Historic Fibers blog to the right) and I will have our show at the Artery. We started talking about this a year ago and figured that if we each created  one or two pieces/month we’d have plenty. Oops. Now it’s 3 1/2 months away. I’ve had the plans all that time–just haven’t made much progress in real life.

I posted a photo awhile ago of this Georgia O’Keefe painting. Here are the chenille yarns I chose that represent this painting.

And here is the shawl on the loom.

Weaving projects unearthed

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I think I have figured out how to link WP and FB but to try it out I should have a real post.

When I reorganized my shop I unearthed boxes and boxes of yarn, etc. Here are some scarves from a warp that I wound and space-dyed quite awhile ago. I like to plan warps and design projects but sometimes there are those days when you don’t want to have to think. What fun to pull out a warp that is ready to put on the loom.

The towels below are from a warp that I remember winding about 19 years ago. How do I know it was that long ago? When my now-19 year old son was a baby and would be awake in the middle of the night sometimes I put him in the backpack and kneading bread or winding warps would put him back to sleep!

Kitty is still here.

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It’s been two weeks and this kitty is still here. Does this mean we’re keeping him?

He’s sure cute.

The main issue is dealing with the dogs. Rusty hasn’t shown any aggression. In fact he wants to play. But he’s awfully big compared to this little kitten and I feel like I have to watch constantly. At night I put the kitty in a crate so that I know that everyone is safe.

Wool samples, wet dogs, and a turkey!

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I posted a photo of my rams yesterday. Here are the wool photos:

This is the fleece of Meridian Tioga.

Here is Kenleigh’s Savor’s wool. Tioga’s wool is crimpy and soft. Savor’s wool is lofty without visible crimp. Both are good fleeces for spinning, but have different character.

Portrait of Savor.

Jackie came back to the fair today to help out with the SplashDog performance and give her dog,  Ringo a lesson. These are photos of Ringo learning the game.

And here are some of the pros:

Obviously NOT a dog.

Another sheep show and new friend?

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Only 3 days after Black Sheep Gathering the crew is together again.  This time it is at the Solano County Fair in Vallejo. Julie (Black Oak Jacobs) and I both have our sheep there right now and today was show day.

Julie and I showed both of my yearling rams. Savor is on the left and Tioga is on the right. They look a lot alike in this view, but they have very different fleece types, both within the Jacob breed standard, but quite different. I should take photos of fleece tomorrow.

After a quick sheep handling lesson, Chris helped me show in all the other classes and Shelby helped with Julie’s sheep.  Thanks to both of them for helping out. Thanks also to Jackie for taking photos.

One of Julie’s sheep had a surprise baby this morning and Shelby took over baby-sitting.

Back home this evening. What are those dogs looking at?

This kitten has been hiding out under my shop for a few days. I started feeding it to entice it out. I don’t want or need a cat, but I couldn’t let it starve under there. He has been very hungry and I caught him tonight while he was eating. I don’t know if he is truly wild because he has sure settled down quickly–not what I’d expect out of wild kitten. But if he isn’t out of a feral cat then I don’t know where he came from.  I’m going to have to keep him in the crate for now because I won’t be home to deal with the dogs. I could barely get Rusty to eat  because he is so obsessed with the kitten.He has done nothing but stare all night. At least Rusty is entertained.

Anyone want a kitten?