#214 Memories

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Robin

I was looking for photos of a sheep named Diamond, #214, for the last blog post. I didn’t find the sheep but I found a lot of other favorite memories while searching #214. In no particular order: This is a sheep named Fran who is still here. In this photo she looks like her mom, Fanny who had spectacular horns. Columbia ewes at the Imperial Stock Ranch. I carry this yarn. In Vermont, setting up an arch for Katie and Kurtis’ wedding in 2011. Libby meeting Kirby a few days after she was born. All my kids and spouses (and spouse-to-be) in 2013. A mule train walking up the trail in the Grand Canyon on our visit in 2011. Dan and me on the same trip to the southwest in 2011. Zion National Park Modeling a poncho that I wore only a few years ago when I was in high school. I used this as a template for a recent woven poncho. Spring lambs. Maggie. This is a catapult, one of Katie’s senior projects in high school. Chris showing Stephany back in about 2006. Mushrooms Across the Road. Dogs in the canal on a recent walk. Chris’ Ironman finish in TX in 2013.

Old Friends

Posted on April 25, 2015 by Robin

I went to a friend’s shearing earlier in the week. She has some “pensioners” who used to live here. This is Diamond who was born in 2002… …and Lucy who was born in 2007 and is Diamond’s granddaughter. Here is Diamond with one of her last lambs in about 2010……and Laura a few years before she went to live at Jackie’s. There is a video of Laura lambing a couple of years ago here.

Old Friends Forever.

Drone View

Posted on April 21, 2015 by Robin

My son was here with his drone again. It is always interesting to see the place from a perspective I wouldn’t otherwise see. I still think it’s odd to see this object hovering and darting about.

The sheep aren’t big fans unless if up high enough that they don’t notice it. Here is someone else who noticed it.I don’t know if she wanted to warn it off… …catch it and kill it… …or play with it. However, she never got close enough.

Here are the views:

From over the barn looking east “Across the Road”. The green to the right is part of our pasture. The brown to the left is the neighbor’s place. Our house and garage, etc is in the center at the bottom of the photo. From over the barn looking south. The green in the lower half is our pasture. I’ve been strip grazing from right to left. This view is looking north. That line of trees just above the lower quarter or so is our boundary. The hay field is the neighbor. By the way, except for a few trees between the house and the road we planted (or let grow) all the trees that are here.The view to the west. Our border is the dirt road and canal in the center of the photo. The drone is hovering over the barn.

Shearing at the Timm Ranch

Posted on April 16, 2015 by Robin

Here is where Colleen (Fiber Confections) and I spent last Sunday. I first got fleece from the Timm Ranch, just a few miles from here, last year in preparation for my show at the Artery. Here is a blog post with info about the ranch and photos of the blankets I wove with the wool. This is a view to the northwest taken while driving through the ranch.Much of the 2700 acres is leased for cattle grazing.The last gate before the ranch headquarters.There were about 90 ewes, several lambs, and five rams to shear. One group of sheep was already in the barn when we got there but I helped with the second group. These are a “ranch mix” developed many years ago and are a blend of Rambouillet, Targhee, and Polypay.

The sheep are brought into the barn (on the left)……move along a lane in the north side of the barn……and end up in the pens in the middle where they are visually contained by burlap drapes. The shearer pulls the next sheep to shear through the drape and when he is finished the sheep is released and…

…it walks out the door to the back.The wool is pushed through the window of the barn into a pile where it is later loaded into a wool press that compresses the wool into bales.These bales can weigh 300-400 pounds.

In this case Colleen and I diverted many fleeces to our piles and inspected, bagged, and weighed them. I had bagged up my predetermined amount of 200 pounds and was ready to leave (having been battling a cold for days and at this point in the day had completely lost my voice). But then it was time to shear the five rams.I figured that I’d been there this long. What’s another half hour?

I’m glad that I stayed.

The ram fleeces were gorgeous. Whereas the ewe fleeces weighed 5+ to 8 pounds the ram fleeces I bought weighed 12 pounds (two mature rams) and 8 pounds (the yearling ram with the horns).

Last year I had the wool spun into yarn and put on cones (easy for weaving). I think that I’ll have this year’s fiber put into skeins because of the appeal to knitters. Last year’s fiber tested at an average of 23.5 microns. I think I’ll send some more samples in from this year’s wool. Be looking for this yarn in a few (several?) months.

Distracted by Kirby

Posted on April 14, 2015 by Robin

Here’s why I was distracted the last few days. She’s 8-1/2 months old.

More Lambs

Posted on April 10, 2015 by Robin

Just photos of lambs in the evening.

Lambs

Posted on April 9, 2015 by Robin

Still trying for that perfect lamb photo. There are either too many lambs in the background/foreground, there is not enough light (lambs love to run around at dusk), there is a lot of clutter in the shot, or I am still not in the right place at the right time.“Fight, fight!”It’s never too young to start.

Jepson Prairie in Early April

Posted on April 7, 2015 by Robin

Yesterday I visited Jepson Prairie, a nature preserve owned by the Solano Land Trust, that is only about 15 miles from here. This is the time of year to see the wildflowers in this remnant of native landscape. The patches of goldfields (Lasthenia species) are spectacular. View to the southwest.View to the west. But there is more than just goldfields in this gold field.The yellow and white flowers are butter and eggs (Triphysaria erianthum)

The purple flowers here are Downingia species. Brass buttons (Cotula coronopifolia). I looked this up and its a native of Africa. The other flowers I’ve listed are CA natives. How about the name of this one? It’s a species of Wool Flower, requiring a host support. Another species that grows in my pasture is shown here. (If you like this then google hippos and manatees in Stockton.)

Jepson Prairie is also home to wildlife.

I rather amazed myself by getting some decent shots of flying birds…maybe not National Geographic quality, but OK for me. These are Canada geese.

I saw these birds walking across the gravel road to get from one part of the lake to the other. I thought that was rather odd… coots …but looked them up and found that “coots have strong legs and can walk and run vigorously. They tend to have short, rounded wings and are weak fliers” Avocet This bird is an avocet. I will admit that although I know the Canada goose, I didn’t know the other birds. I ran into a docent in the preserve and asked him. Maybe I’ll remember these two.

I want to go back before the wildflower season is completely over. There are docent-led walks every weekend through Mother’s Day so maybe I’ll make one of those.

Meet the Sheep — Part 2

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Robin

Dona took all the photos in the previous posts (this one too) because I was in the shop most of the day. Here are a few that I took when I made quick trips to the barn.Colleen brought roses for all the tables……and set up a booth with her felted creations and dyed yarns.Observed in the parking area.Speaking of parking, here is the Parking Attendant, who doesn’t get much attention in my blog, but is a Very Important Person behind-the-scenes. Bunnies in the barn were a big draw. Lisa worked on her Cricket loom all day and sent interested customers to the shop.

Alison led a Sheep Portrait class.

Feeding the bottle baby drew a crowd.At 4:00 everyone pitched in and sheep were put away, pens moved, and signs stored for next year in no time. Wow! What a crew! (What I haven’t talked about in a blog post was the huge help that Farm Club members were during the last week when I had severe tendonitis and couldn’t use my right arm at all. They did all the pen cleaning.) I think we got the whole Farm Club crew who was here (except for Gynna) in this photo.

Don’t miss Rusty’s story about Meet the Sheep.

Meet the Sheep – Part 1

Posted on April 6, 2015 by Robin

Meet the Sheep was a fantastic success. The weather was perfect and dozens of people came out to enjoy the farm, the lambs, and the bunnies. Yes, bunnies!

These photos of people enjoying the day were all taken by Dona.