In the last post I wrote about Day 4, but now I’ll back up and share photos of some of the other days at the fair.
Farm Club member, Siobhan, is one of Kirby’s favorite people. They wandered around the fair for awhile and came back with snacks. Siobhan’s hands aren’t always blue but she has been dyeing with indigo lately!
My dye garden was the focus of the display this year. Each of the 4-skein groups of yarn (except for the hollyhock-dyed yarn) used the same white and gray yarns as on the left. It is fun to get so many different colors from the same dye pot.
The Touching Table is always popular with visitors.
Many people don’t take this home, and we get some interesting sheep patterns.
Saturday was Kirby’s ninth birthday. We had zucchini muffins for breakfast before going to the fair.
Kirby helped wash sheep. We don’t wash the whole sheep but like to clean up the legs and scrub the horns to get the year’s accumulated dirt off them. We didn’t finish with the sheep…
…because we were distracted by my sister-in-law and niece and her kids. They took all the kids on the rides in the little kid side of the fair.
Kirby was thrilled. I had told her I’d let her do this ride, but I changed my mind when I found that you had to buy at least $20 worth of tickets. This elephant ride was the one that she’d been watching from the barn since Thursday.
They all went on the carousel.
Back at the barn Lisa gave Kirby the long-necked bottle that she’d bought the day before. Kirby got a ride back to Dixon about 1 p.m. for a birthday party with cousins arranged by her other grandmother.
The Farm Club crew continued to entertain / educate fairgoers.
That night, Aunt Meryl, visiting for a few days from Boise, picked Kirby up from town and brought her to our place just after I got home. She brought her a Taylor Swift shirt, bracelets, and tattoos. This was a very busy day for this nine-year-old.
No, you didn’t miss the first, second, and third days. I haven’t had time to sort photos or write anything. So I’ll start with the last day which was our show day.
We tied our sheep to the outside of the pens while waiting our turn so we could get the straw off the bellies. We had 11 sheep at the fair this year. I was missing a yearling ram because I sold Turbo at the Estes Park show. My show string consisted of 2 ram lambs, 2 yearling ewes, and 2 ewe lambs. Kirby has sheep that are the descendants of the ewe I gave her in 2019–I don’t give her sheep each year for the show. Kirby had twin yearlings (ram and ewe), and three lambs (two ewes and a ram) to show. I just looked at the blog post I wrote after the 2019 State Fair. There are some of my favorite photos of Kirby there, and you’ll see some of the same other characters in 2019 as in this post.
Kirby with the yearling ram, KJ Royalty Thorn, twin to KJ Royalty Rose. It’s the breeder’s prefix that is part of a registered sheep’s name, and Kirby’s prefix is KJ Royalty. She was the owner of Meridian Belle when she was bred. Now all the offspring of Belle and Belle’s offspring will have that prefix. There is a theme here for some of the sheep names. You’ll pick up on that if you’re a Disney fan.
Thorn was the only entry in the Yearling Ram class and the judge gave him high praise for conformation and fleece.
It is too bad that there are no other breeders showing up for the Primitive Breeds sheep show now. Pre-pandemic we had some Shetlands, Icelandic, and other breeds so there was competition. Now it’s just Kirby and me as separate breeders. This is the Champion drive for rams. That’s Thorn as the yearling. My ram lamb, Meridian Cyclone (weather theme for 2023 lambs) was first place ram lamb and Kirby’s Gusgus was second. Thorn was given Champion Ram and Cyclone was Reserve.
There were three Farm Club members helping on this day and it took all of us to make sure the sheep were where they were supposed to be and Kirby had an adult helper so we don’t have more photos of the show. But we have photos of After. Thorn’s sister, Rose was awarded Champion Ewe so Kirby made out with the banners.
Fair week is always exhausting and Kirby’s four fair days were at the end of being away from home for six weeks. Her birthday was the previous day, and there was a lot going on then as well.
After the show we were back to educating (entertaining / enlightening?) the public. I am grateful to the Farm Club members who came to help. Siobhan was there Thursday and brought a local friend to help also. Lisa came Friday and Saturday. Marina, Beth, and Doris were there Saturday and Sunday. I couldn’t have done this and stayed sane without them there.
This entertainer showed up in that 2019 post.
He rides all over the fair and makes balloon characters for kids. This is a dinosaur that Kirby plans to take home to her brother. Hopefully it will survive a road trip back to Texas.
The last event of the day was the Supreme Champion show. Both of Kirby’s Champion sheep needed to be in their respective classes. This photo shows Rose and Thorn together. I don’t have photos of the Supreme show because I was in the show ring with Kirby. Afterwards they announced the Herdsman and Marketing awards.
We did it! First in Herdsman and first in Marketing. These awards have more meaning for me than the sheep show awards because there wasn’t competition in the sheep show ring. Actually there wasn’t that much competition this year for these, but there was some and we really worked for it.
If you look at that 2019 post you’ll see that this is the same crew as then, with the addition of Kirby.
While we were loading the trailer and my car I let Kirby watch one last horse performance if she stood at the corner where I could see her (easy in the bright green shirt). When we finished loading I joined her.
We decided to take Kirby to the beach and check out some of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. There is so much to see and it is so close to home, but I have never taken time to explore it.
We had some good advice from a friend who works in San Francisco and started at Ocean Beach.
After the 105+ days we’ve had at home, the overcast windy beach was a welcome change.
We chose the beach at Fort Funston for our second stopping point. Dan and Kirby are sitting on an old gun mount.
I was surprised at the old military structures that have fallen from eroded cliffs and are left in place. Usually I expect to see signs–either informational and educational signs (because this is part of the National Recreation Area) or warnings. But there is none of that–just remnants of what used to be there.
The hike up from the beach.
After a couple of hours at the beaches we drove to a parking lot between the Golden Gate entrance and Fort Point. We followed the trail that took us down to the Bay and to Fort Point.
The Fort itself is just under the bridge, but of course there was no bridge there when it was built in the 1850s.
That’s a huge cargo ship sailing to the Pacific.
I am fascinated by the history here and amazed that I’ve lived most of my life nearby (and was born in SF) and knew nothing about any of this.
According to the info on the NPS site a special arch was designed so that the bridge could be built without destroying Fort Point.
We climbed the spiral staircase to access the second and third floors.
Some of the rooms are open with historical displays.
The spiral staircase goes all the way to the top of the fort. It interesting to be right under the Golden Gate Bridge. It was also extremely windy and cold. (I thought about how we looked as grandparents supervising a child wearing shorts and flipflops.)
There was originally a lighthouse in use, but after the bridge was built it was no longer necessary.
View of the bridge on the way home. This was the first time since we’d been in San Francisco that the towers weren’t shrouded in fog.
A few years ago I planted the very dark purple, almost black, Hollyhock, Alcea rosea ‘nigra’. By now I’ve lost track of which were the original plants. I don’t know if some flower stalks are from the same plant as previous years or if they are entirely new plants grown from the dropped seeds. I also don’t know if they hybridize. I decided to keep the flowers separate and see how they dyed my yarn.
I have plants with very dark flowers.
One is a bright pink.
Another is a red purple.
Here is the white one.
This is a comparison of them all side-by-side.
When dyeing I followed the instructions in Harvesting Color by Rebecca Burgess, using the proportion of 20 dried flowers to dye 2-1/2 ounces of yarn. I soaked the flowers overnight and then kept at the dye bath at 160-180 degrees for an hour before adding yarn.
I think I kept the second and third in order here. The very dark flower yields green. I was surprised to see the lemon yellow color from the white flowers. These are one-ounce skeins of Timm Ranch yarn.
These are two-ounce skeins in new dye baths. Look at the photo below to see the slightly different shades resulting form the different batches of dye.
This photo has the two different batches side-by-side and you can see some subtle differences. I will have some of these yarns for sale on Saturday at the Fibershed Market at Fibershed’s Pt. Reyes Station Learning Center.
There hasn’t been time or focus for a blog post with a specific subject, so you get Random Farm Photos.
This is how 4th of July looks with a very gun-shy Border Collie. Ginny is next to Kirby’s bed and Kirby covered Ginny with her “special” blanket.
Part of the dye garden. These dahlias are taller than me.
Cosmos in the dye garden.
There is a gate and a driveway under those wild grape vines. This is the result of a truly wet winter.
Sheepskins that were just sent to the tannery.
Skulls that have been buried. Some will need more time to get really clean.
Kirby is here for another three weeks. A couple of nights ago she wanted to make dinner. She described her process and we just got out of the way (and handled the iron frying pan).
Baby blankets almost ready to come off the loom. The same style that I’ve made since 1980.
I just realized that I never finished the Black Sheep Gathering series, and I have other things to write about. So here it is, although it is less about the event and more about the trip home.
This is a sample of the crochet project I was working on when we were sitting near the tents and visiting. There is more of a story to this, but that will be a later post. I was visiting with friends when I heard the activity in the barn.
There is a junior show on Sunday morning. These kids were mostly there helping their families show sheep on Friday and Saturday, but on Sunday they had their own show. I was pleased that the judge spent some time before the show talking with all the kids about general show principles and tactics. Then the kids were all invited into the ring to select colorful halters that had been made for them. After that there were three classes for showmanship. I don’t know the age requirements for each class but the first was the senior class (under 18).
The second class was for intermediate kids.
The third was juniors. I think my granddaughter is probably at the upper end of the Juniors. As I watched these classes I thought that it would be fun to have Kirby there next year to participate in all the events she could. That will take some thinking though–there is a long drive on either side of the actual event and it’s not like you can go home at the end of the day. It would change my experience for sure. Also, I don’t know if our trailer is big enough to accommodate all the sheep that would make up our two sheep flocks. However, I’m still thinking about it.
The show management released those who had a long way to drive a bit early. By the time we were packed and loaded it was close to 3. We made good time. Once in California I pointed out the vista point where I have always stopped on my way home from Oregon.
The mountain top was covered in clouds.
My cute trailer posing in front of the mountain!
We turned around and found the view to the west just as stunning.
Selfie time. I really appreciate that Vicki offered to drive and Doris came with us too.
Sheep on the road.
The sky continued to amaze us.
After Yreka we left the freeway to drive west.
We were picking up a ram for Vicki. He was at a ranch about an hour to the west in the Scott Valley. It was a beautiful drive but I stopped taking photos as it got dark.
We drove in our driveway after 3 a.m. and it was after 4 when I finally got to bed. A long day to finish a great weekend.
Here is what I came home with. Two dishes to go with the mug I bought last year. The potholder loom and loops is what I chose from Eugene Textiles, the business that provided the prize for Spinners’ Lead. This will be my granddaughter’s birthday present this month. I’ll also try their heddle clips. Of course I needed a new BSG t-shirt and the pouch they made for this year. The yarn is a mixed art yarn from Art Fiber Frenzy. I can always use a new basket.
View Day 1 and Day 2 of this adventure. The only thing I had to think about on Saturday was showing sheep in the afternoon and Spinners’ Lead in the evening. I’ll share scenes from the farm booths and around the vendor hall.
Karen of Liongate Farm always has an array of unique needlefelted pieces at her booth.
She was awarded the Black Sheep Cup for this piece. The detail is amazing.
Here is another Black Sheep prize awarded to a different fiber artist.
I was glad to see the Black Lamb Cup awarded to a youth entry. We need to encourage the next generations to be excited about sheep and fiber.
The perfect shoes to wear to a sheep gathering.
This is an impressive display that was just outside the vendor hall. I hope that everyone took a look.
There are dozens of different sea creatures in a variety of fiber arts represented here.
A closer view.
Back at the barn, a little clean up was necessary. Jazzie had been wearing a blanket but I took it off because I’d rather see the sheep than a blanket. Jazzie is a black and white sheep and Lenore, behind her, is a lilac.
We were the only Jacob breeders who entered the show this year so we had to show in an All Other Breeds division. This is for sheep registered in their own breed associations, but without enough sheep or breeders to show in separate divisions.
Ram lamb, Meridian Bridger, won Champion ram of this division.
We also had best Young Flock (one ram lamb, two ewe lambs). This isn’t the typical photo you’d take of your winning sheep group, but I mainly wanted to have one of Farm Club members who were there and helped out. This is Brenda, Lisa, Beth, and me. Doris was taking the photo. Other Farm Club members were there too. Ryan had his own Heritage Fiber booth in the vendor hall, Stephany was helping with the Mendocino Wool Mill booth, and Lyn was visiting. Did I miss someone? I kept running into people I knew all day.
The collection of ribbons and a trophy.
I think Lisa took this photo. I was told that this should be my new profile photo on all my social media pages. What do you think?
The Angora goats showed on Saturday also.
The day ended with Spinners Lead. I had told Ryan that he should definitely wear his handspun handknit sweater using fleece that he got at his first shearing day from Jacob ewe, Columbine.
He led Jazzie, whose fleece matched the spots really well.
There were 15 entries (no photos unfortunately), and the two of us won the top placings in the show. Ryan was first for non-sheep-owner and I won for the sheep owners. Great fun! I’m so glad that we did this.
Usually we show on the Friday of Black Sheep Gathering. Unfortunately I was the only Jacob breeder this year so I was bumped into sort of an All Other Breeds class on Saturday. That meant that Friday was a free day. I had books and magazines and a crochet project with me. What did I accomplish? Nothing, because everywhere I turned there were people to talk to and things to see. Sometimes its the best thing to have a break from “accomplishing” something.
The morning activities began with the wool show. I listened for awhile because there is always something to learn. The Jacob class was #12 so I decided there was time to buy a BSG t-shirt before that started.
This has nothing to do with the t-shirts but it is what caught my eye at the t-shirt table. A women had an 8-day old kitten with her. She is feeding it every two hours.
Back in the barn, there were vendors as well.
The barn vendors have their booths near their pens of show sheep. I have not been a vendor because that would mean there is more organization required, more things to take, and I’d be tied down to staying there the whole time. I was having fun wandering everywhere.
Back to the wool show. There were 8 fleeces in the Jacob class. Four were mine. I placed first with Brady (ram), 2nd with Janna (ewe), and fourth and sixth with two others. The first two sold there. I’ll have the other two on my website.
Wandering through the vendor hall I took photos of just a few things that caught my eye. My friend, Karen of Bide a Wee Farm, came up with unique products–lamb tail keychains and ram horn earrings!
She also does a much better job with ram skulls than I do. Mine are still brown and somewhat nasty looking.
A friend from Davis is selling goods from India, including this box of wool samples from sheep I’ve never heard of.
An Oregon sheep breeder has started producing panels for use with sheep.
I met a new vendor from my area who creates art yarn from leftovers.
Last but not least, it’s a rainbow batt from my friends, Roy and Henry Clemes!
Three of us traveled together to Black Sheep Gathering in Albany, Oregon. My friend, Vicki, used her truck to pull my trailer with my 10 sheep. She brought fleeces to show and sell. Another friend, Doris rode with us. We left about 7 a.m. on Thursday.
I don’t remember the last time that I saw Shasta Lake full.
Glimpse of Mt. Shasta.
Another view of Mt. Shasta.
Two of the sheep I brought were already sold so we did a parking lot transfer of those and then settled the rest of the sheep in the barn by late in the day.
Vicki slept in her camper, but Doris and I set up tents for the weekend. This became a gathering spot for some of our California and Oregon friends.
I took photos of a few of the less common breeds. These are Horned Dorset, a sheep with spots that can make them look like Jacob sheep to people who don’t see the more subtle differences. The horns have a quite different look than my sheep with two horns.
I had plenty of catching up to do after the Estes Park trip described in the last 4 blog posts. These photos were all taken last Wednesday, two days after we got back.
We really needed to irrigate. We were about 2 weeks behind because we didn’t want to irrigate before the trip. The water comes into our property just off the top left near the blackberries. In this photo it is running down the ditch and just starting through the culvert.
The vets were here to issue CVIs (Certificate of Veterinary Inspection) for the sheep going to Oregon the following week (now in two days). I asked them to look at a couple of other sheep while they were here. Jade was noticeably skinny even before lambing–a time when many of the sheep are putting on weight. Dr. Urbano thought that maybe her teeth had sharp points that irritated her mouth so she didn’t spend as much time chewing her cud as she should.
She rasped Jade’s teeth and we’ll see if she starts to put on a little weight.
After the vets left I spent most of the day finishing up with fleeces so I could deliver the wool to the mill for processing. I have a few fleeces and a few one-pound lots listed on the website now. I need to check the barn because I lost track of the paper where I wrote which fleeces are still out there. So there may be more to list, but I’d better check first.
These are the bags I delivered to Valley Oak Mill on Thursday. The wool is sorted into black, white, gray (mixed fiber that I can’t separate), and britch.
These are some 3/4 lb and 1 lb lots that I saved for Siobhan’s Vegetarian Sheepskin class to be held at Lambtown in October (look under Saturday classes) and later in the year here. I will also bring back my felted wool wreath class so some of the wool is saved for that.
These are fleeces I brought back from the Estes Park show because I wanted to show them at Black Sheep Gathering. I took them out of the bags and reorganized and rolled them up again. These are some really nice fleeces. I may have to bring one back home with me!
A small bag of wool that I’ll wash here and then dye if it isn’t clean. The color in this wool is left from the marking harnesses the rams wear during breeding season.
Here is what my hands looked like after working through all this wool.
Unfinished business. I have lots of skulls to try and clean up better before selling the. That’s a whole other story.
I brought back new sheep coats from Estes Park. I got several different sizes to try them out. These are from Rocky Sheep in Colorado.
I’ve been doing a lot more catching up but it wouldn’t be a very good blog post to just show photos of me at my computer all day…that’s where I’ve been.
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