From Sheep to Yarn, On a Shoestring

Our sheep were shorn in late October. I had visions of skirting fleeces all winter long. But, it got too cold to sit more than 3 feet from the only heat source in the whole house. Even at three feet, I am usually sporting two layers (or more) from neck to toe and sitting underneath a blanket or two, often wearing gloves or fingerless mittens (sometimes both) if I'm knitting or crocheting. Otherwise my hands are tucked under my thighs, under the blanket to keep warm!
Besides that issue (which I hope will be resolved by next winter), I lost motivation to get all the fleeces skirted as I have not been able to get a spinning wheel yet. I figured I had two options: #1-have 7 un-skirted fleeces sitting in pillowcases in the cedar chest upstairs, waiting for warmer days to be dealt with; or #2-suffer the cold, skirt and wash all the fleeces, and have them sitting in pillowcases in the cedar chest waiting to be carded and spun! I went with option #1!
I did manage to get three of the seven fleeces skirted before it got miserably cold. However, I got frustrated with having even 3 skirted fleeces just sitting there and nothing I could do with them. I kept trying to come up with some way I could get some of my wool spun. I even considered sending it off to a mill to have it all done for me...but I really wanted to process my first fleeces from the sheep to the yarn myself by hand. Besides, sending it to the mill would be very expensive.
I have been searching the internet most of the winter for ideas. I've been asking friends for ideas. I've been racking my brain for ideas. Then, one day, I got an idea! I had seen some fleece combs on the internet and thought they looked an awful lot like my dog combs! And I remembered I had a spindle I had bought years ago, but never really learned to use properly, and I was sure I still had it. It had to be packed away in a box from our last move. So, I decided I would first hunt down that spindle. I mean, what would be the point of washing and preparing a fleece if I no longer actually had the spindle? Then I would just have a skirted, washed and dried fleece sitting in a bag in the...you get the picture! Of course, it wasn't where I first thought it would be...but it WAS in the last place I looked!
Well, once I found the spindle, I had to do a little adjustment to it (it needed a hook), and then I washed up some fleece from Zinnia (the ewe I lost right after shearing to an attempted escape-gone-bad).

The fleece took forever to dry in this cold, but I took the time to watch some videos on You Tube about using a drop spindle. And, finally, I had some nice locks to comb. Here is a video of me combing some fleece.


Here's a bundle of combed fleece.



Here I am, using my newly-modified drop spindle. Okay, yes, Greg took three videos of me using it, but I was biting my tongue in every single one, so they didn't make it into my blog!


And here is my first product...a very nubbly "novelty" yarn.

It may not work well for socks, but I have big plans for this yarn!

Two New Ewes

Today Greg drove down to NW Arkansas to pick up two new, hopefully pregnant, ewes. It is always so exciting to get new additions to the farm.

Welcome to your new home, girls.

Checking out the new digs.

It didn't take long to find the sweet feed!


We have so many hopes and dreams for our homestead. Spring is just around the corner, now. Baby lambs will be coming. We're going to order some more laying hens and a couple of roosters, plus get an incubator so we can start hatching out chicks to sell. We'll be doing another shearing. Several friends are planning first-time visits. We've just talked to one of our neigbors and made arrangements for him to cut our hay for us this year. Plus he's agreed for Greg to help him with it, so Greg can learn how to do it, so we can someday do it for ourselves. And, I have my new training halter and my great new boots that are waiting to be broken in as soon as the ground dries up enough to let me get back out into the round pen with Skipper. I hope to be riding her again in no time! I'm also ready to start the next phase of training with the dogs.
There are a couple of other things in the wind, that, if they come to fruition, will just add to our many blessings and the hopes of a bright future here on Cavalli Run. I'm going to keep those close to the vest for now, though! If they come about, I will certainly be filling you all in on them as they happen!

The Lowly Farm Cat

I am not a big cat lover. I don't hate cats, and there have been a few special cats in my life. But, for the most part, I can take them or leave them. My husband, however, adores cats. I have never known a man who loved cats as much as he does. I can look outside at any given minute and will see him walking around with one of our barn cats on his shoulder and, so it seems to me, having some profound conversation with it!
The cats don't get much more than an occassional mention on my blog, so I thought I'd dedicate one whole entry to them...for my husband's sake! They do, after all, perform one very important task on my farm...KILL MICE!
Mrs. Grey is a great mouser. We have had very little trouble with mice in the house since we got her. She hangs out on the deck, under the back porch, in the sheep barn, wherever she knows the nasty little creatures will be lurking.

It looks like she is hunting something up now!

This next cat is Tommy. Tommy is Mrs. Grey's only surviving kitten. Greg was sure he was a boy, and he reminded me of a cat we had when I was a kid. This cat had started life as a girl who we named Darling. But, as she grew older we discovered Darling was a he cat. So we changed his name to Tommy. Funny thing is, our new Tommy, turns out, is really a girl, not a boy! We checked again the other day because hubby was sure he had grown his little boy bits. Sorry, dear...but Tommy is a girl! She looks a lot like her momma.

Next is Padre. At first we called Padre, "Little Blackie". At the time we had Mr. Brown, Mrs. Grey, and Mrs. Black (his momma). So, we stuck with our pattern for awhile, but then we heard a story about a cat called "Father" because of it's all black coat except for a white spot on its "collar". Greg thought we should change his name to "Father", but I wanted to be a bit more original, so we call him "Padre"!

Next up is "Flitch". She is from Mrs. Black's second litter. Again, the only survivor of the first four kittens born here on the farm (the others came already born). She was pretty sick when we found her, so we brought her in, doctored her up, and now she is fine. "Flitch" is a combination of "Fluffy" (picked by our grandaughter, Lydia) and "Twitch" (picked by our daughter, Jessica). Her momma, Mrs. Black, is pretty wild and doesn't come too close to us humans, although we do still see her from time-to-time. Flitch, however, is pretty friendly.


This winter it got pretty cold out there in the barn, so Greg started working on putting together a variety of warmers to keep the different animals' water from freezing. He built a couple of differnt boxes and put light bulbs in them for some of the smaller waterers. He had an extra one, so he put it in his shop (where the cats hang out) and put a water bowl on top of it for them. Well, they kept knocking the bowl off and sleeping on the box...so he built another one. One for them to sleep on, and one to keep their water thawed! I told you he loves his cats! He feeds them too much, too! I keep telling him they won't hunt mice if they aren't at least a little bit hungry! Here is their water on its warming box.

I've already mentioned in an earlier post about the cat that came in with the big blizzard. It seems to be de-clawed, and, if so, I'm gonna assume it's been fixed. I think it's a female. Or else it's a male with no bits. It's very fluffy so it's hard to tell for sure. It really likes the warming box. It's a very pretty cat, as cat's go. I've always wanted a fluffy orange cat. But, then, I'm really not much of a cat person.

Here are Tommy and the new cat enjoying the warming box together. They do look very sweet sitting there...but don't be taking me for a cat lover, because I'm not!

We haven't named the orange cat yet. I'm thinking "Fluffy", unless someone wants to offer me something better!
You may have noticed that I mentioned Mr. Brown, but didn't show a picture of him. Well, sadly, we haven't seen Mr. Brown for quite some time. He was a wanderer, but he always came back every day. We figure he must've met his demise in some way, or else he'd have come back by now. Poor Mr. Brown.
Really, I am NOT a cat lover!

The Blizzard of 2011

Well,we've weathered our first blizzard on Cavalli Run.
The sheep were oblivious to it. They could have come into the barn if they'd wanted to, but they chose to stay out on the pasture instead. The sheep are those little fur balls eating off of the big things which, even though in a certain light appear to be giant sheep, are actually big, round hay bales.

The dogs are oblivious the weather, as well. All day long they wanted to run in and out, in and out, so they could go out and play in the snow.

The horse, donkey and chickens had the good sense to stay inside for the day!

The blizzard didn't hit us quite as hard as it did down south of us. However, we probably got a foot or so of snow. We didn't lose power, thankfully.

This morning it was very cold (4 degrees, not counting wind chill), but the snow had stopped and we had a beautiful sunrise.


We have some good-sized drifts from all that wind.


Not only did the storm bring in all that snow, it seems to have brought with it a new addition to the farm. We haven't seen this orange cat before! I guess the other cats don't mind sharing their food with this stranger.


Yes, I'd say we weathered our first blizzard quite well.

Proto-type Saddle Pad

Well, this blog is about the highs AND lows of our life here on the farm. Today was neither...it was a "so-so"!
For some time now I have been working on making a saddle blanket/pad for my horse. I saw some felted wool ones in a catalog, and as I have been doing machine felting for some time, I thought, "Why couldn't I make one? I mean, why pay someone else for something you can do for yourself? Right? So, I scrounged up some wool I had left over from another project, and got started. I did end up buying some more yarn (different type and colors, but same weight and ply) in order to finish. I just barely had enough of the left over to make the front (I knew it would have to be doubled as a single layer of the weight of yarn I had would not be thick enough) so what I bought made up the back. I crocheted it as all one piece, and then folded it over and tacked it together.

Here is the peice as crocheted, but not yet trimmed and tacked.


Here is the top after being tacked and trimmed and before felting.


Here is the back before felting.


Okay, it came out just a little bit "wonky", but that is all right. I thought that might happen as the front and back (top and bottom?) were different yarns, and because it was a double layer, I wondered if the two layers would separate a bit. I think it is still going to be usable for me, but I wouldn't try to sell any like this. That's why it's a "proto-type"! I learned a lot from making it, I thought a lot about how I would do things differently next time, and I have some ideas of how I might overcome these issues the next time.

Here's the top after felting. I think some weight and time will help "press" out some of the rumples.


And, here is the bottom side. It's a bit wonkier than the top, but softer.


Of course, I would have loved for it to have come out perfectly, but I am not unhappy with the outcome as it is. I definately think it is worth trying to make one with my Icelandic wool yarn (when I get some spun)...but with my ideas for improving the finished product.

Big Boots to Fill

I got new boots this week.
That may not be exciting news to many of you...but let me tell you why these boots mean so much to me.
Here's one of the boots on my foot.
When we were living in Africa (2001 through 2005), I came across a TV series out of Australia called MCLEOD'S DAUGHTERS. It was about two sisters who inherited their dad's sheep and cattle ranch in the Outback. Okay, it WAS a bit soap-opera-ish...and I usually don't like that sort of thing. BUT, there wasn't much else to watch in Africa, AND, this was different...it was like real life. It was the life that, in my wildest dreams, would be my life! At the time, I never would have believed that the realization of this dream would actually be mine within the next several (less than 10) years. Okay, it's Missouri, not Australia, and it's 80 acres, not thousands, and I have 6 sheep, not hundreds, and I have one horse, not dozens, and I don't have any cows (yet). But, hey, it's MINE and I love it! And I do have "chooks"!
This is what I see when I look down.

In one episode of the first season of the show, the country sister (Claire) buys her city sister (Tess) a pair of boots. I knew at that moment that, one day, I would have a pair of those boots! Those were not just boots, those were a symbol of Tess's being accepted as a valid part of the ranch (the ranch is run by all women, by the way). She had "arrived".
Here's what the boots look like if I pull my pants leg up.

My daughter, Jessica, who lives in Germany with her husband, James (who is in the U.S. Air Force), and four (soon to be five) kiddos, went to a bazaar at the air base. At the bazaar was an Australian vendor. The vendor was selling all kinds of Aussie stuff: hats, boots, coats (you know, those cool drovers' coats). Well, they convinced her that the boots were the ones the women wore in the series (I won't mention the brand...I'm sure they are good boots, but they were NOT the right boots...they lied). So she got me a pair. She sent me a picture and I said "Take them back! Those are not THE boots." She didn't believe me, but she was a good daughter and took them back anyway! Hey, I wasn't spending that much money on the wrong boots! I wasn't sure I wanted to spend that much money on the RIGHT boots!
Since those were not the boots I wanted, I decided I would have to start searching for a pair of riding boots. I was willing to settle for boots that looked something like THE boots, since I had no idea what kind of boots THE boots were. I looked high and low (okay, I searched the internet). I asked a couple of boot enthusiasts I knew (Dee and Dee...okay, I asked one person two times) for advice. After being pointed in the right direction, and armed with some Christmas money from my MIL, I set out to find the boots I would buy. In my search, I happened upon a picture of a pair of boots that, the moment I saw them, I knew they were THE boots. I went back to that episode of the show (yes, I have the first five of the eight seasons on DVD...working on aquiring the rest) and checked to be sure...and in one scene (I had to pause, rewind, play in slow motion, over and over again, to get a really good look) there was a great shot of the side of the boot. And, on the heel you could just make out the logo "Blundstone". BINGO! JACKPOT! I WAS RIGHT!
Just one problem: they were SOOOO expensive! They were about 40 bucks more than what I had in Christmas money (well, what I had left after buying a really cool horse-training halter and a couple of books). I'd never spent that much money in my life on a pair of boots...or on any piece of apparel for that matter...IN MY LIFE! So, NOW what was I going to do? Now that I had found THE boots, how could I possibly settle for anything less? I did the only thing a girl can do...I consulted all my facebook friends! LOL! The response was overwhelming: "Buy the boots you really want".
I even asked my friend, Nicci, who is Australian and lives in Australia, if they really were great boots. She said she used to wear that brand all the time and they were absolutely as great as all that. In fact, she couldn't remember a pair EVER wearing out.
So, I got on the internet, credit card in hand, and proceeded to buy the boots. Just before I hit the "buy these boots now" button, I noticed a "get these boots cheaper" button! "Hmmm...let's have a look." The same store had these boots for WAY (60 bucks) cheaper! The catch? Same hand-made construction, same integrity and performance, just a small blemish somewhere on the boot. Maybe a slight color variation, a scuff on the heel...something that rendered the boots not quite perfect according to the company's very high standards. This distributor only gets these "seconds" on occassion, and they don't usually have much selection available...but they must have got a good shipment of them just recently because they had quite a few available, and they had the exact style(Blundstone 62's), color (Stout Brown), and size (you don't really want to know this) that I wanted. So, with shaking hands, I did it! I went for it! I ordered my boots, THE boots!
And here they are: THE boots.


I love them! They are perfect. I love how the pull tabs make it easier to pull them on. I love how they feel (so comfy) and how they look (plain and simple, but classic). And I even love that they are pre-blemished (the only thing I could find was a tiny, barely visible, superficial spot on the side of one of the boots). I have no fear of wearing them out to the barn to work in, or going riding in, because they might get a scuff or a mark (I mean, they were pretty expensive, even with the huge discount...but it was Christmas money, right?), which would have just KILLED me...IF they were perfect and I had paid full price.
Here's me in my boots.

One of the things I liked about the show was that the women looked real. They were all lovely women, but they weren't perfect. They had crooked teeth, messy hair, dirty faces, sloppy shirts. How women who work on farms and ranches really do look most of the time! How I look most of the time these days!
So, that's the story of my boots. I am already so blessed. These boots are the icing on the cake for me. I may not conquer the world in these boots...but they do make me feel like I've arrived!

Dogs On Ice

Milly and Sheba love playing on the ice. The little guy, "Jock" isn't too keen, though! He got out on it once and laid down. After that, he wouldn't get back on it for anything!
Greg loves sliding around on the pond almost as much as the puppies do!
But I prefer to keep my feet on the ground!


Jock's gonna stick with with me! Isn't he adorable?
Time to head back to the house. Such good doggies.