Yikes - “Ewes” Naked!

Shearing day!

 

Rams are naked, too

Barn Blind!

“Barn blind” is a Southern term for loving something so much you are blind to its faults.

It’s why we are certain that our children are the smartest, most beautiful children in the world. (and, yes, Alina is the most wonderful daughter in the world ) It’s why I know there was never a horse like Blaze, or a dog like Rima.

Sometimes I see pictures of Jacob Sheep where the owner swears this is the most beautiful Jacob in the world. Ofttimes I am not quite in total agreement.  Hmm - not really sure I like that horn sweep, those facial markings, that “something” that just doesn’t appeal to me. It goes both ways - I think one of my yearling ewes with the slipped eye patch is quite elegant and can’t imagine that anyone that saw her wouldn’t think she was just wonderful.  Lots of breeders shy away from slipped eye patches.  Honest - if you saw her in person, her presence would blow you away.

When I raised and showed Quarter Horses, the term “barn blind” was a bad thing.

Diversity is a big part of our rare breed.  What one breeder sees as a fault may  be quite different from what another breeder defines as a fault.  Within the standard, maybe barn blind isn’t such a bad thing.  The different preferences of individual breeders  is what keeps our breed diverse.  And the barn blindness of breeders just may be important to keep us from overly standardizing our breed. 

How many carpenters does it take

to change a light bulb?  I guess more than one.  Last evening, we decided to play a game of scrabble before dinner.  I had enchiladas ready to go in the oven a little later.  Only problem is the bulbs are burned out in the light over the kitchen table. You know how one bulb burns out and you never get around to replacing it until the second bulb also burns out.  Come to think of it, the second bulb burned out a week ago, so even then I wait until I want to play scrabble at the kitchen table.  Get the ladder, take off the globe, replace bulbs, work those dumb little chainy things (for the fan) through the holes and finally get it back together — AND the whole house goes dark.   You gotta be kidding - how in the world could changing two light bulbs knock out the power.  Maybe the surprise of having new light bulbs and the globe cleaned?  Nah - just a county wide power outage. Now where is the flashlight that is supposed to be kept in a place easy to find in the dark? It’s in the dark, that’s for sure. Finally we have located the flashlights and gotten the kerosene lantern going. Playing scrabble or pente by lantern light is a tradition around here in our frequent power outages.  While we hadn’t planned on playing by lantern light last night, it was a cozy evening - no computer, no tv, no phone. Well, except that I lost. And except that I can’t light my gas oven without any power. Thank goodness that I keep a few jars of commercial spaghetti sauce around and I can use the cooktop.  And tonight’s dinner is already prepared and ready for the oven.

The other day, someone on SheepL said that if I fed hay free choice, my ewes would have hay bellies.  I anxiously ran out to the barn and, by golly, she was right.  Those ewes have some serious bellies… and udders.  Lambs!! Still almost a month to go before the first lambs arrive, but sometimes I’m sure I’m seeing the lambs kicking getting ready for their grand entrance.

Take me out to the baaaaaall game!

My dogs earn their keep by amusing me.  Over the time we spend together, each dog eventually develops some odd trick.  It’s often something they thought up and I just gave them a hand. Maggie, my Great Dane, loves to play ball.

She runs along, tossing her ball up in the air and catching it. Her new game is to toss her ball to me and catching it when I toss it back. She’s a much better catcher than I am!  Her other unique trick is to shakes hands - ok - maybe not that unique, except that she hands me her black leg or her white leg on request. 

Now Dave’s dog, Dobie/Dopie has never been able to grasp what Dave means by “shake a paw”. After six years, I finally taught him to “shake both paws”.  It’s suspiciously similar to jumping up, but don’t tell Dobie.  He’s proud of himself.  Dobie can jump through a hula hoop, though.  He loves to jump! And it really makes me laugh

Aged Lucy, is too old for her special trick these days.  She was a world class spinner in her youth, spinning so tightly and so quickly that she’d often leave the ground. Someone told me that’s a Pit Bull thing. These days her spinning is confined to a couple of slow circles every so often.  Her spirit is willing and she’s still pleased with the praise she gets for the effort.  Now  her jobs include barking when Dorothy scratches on the door, in case we didn’t hear it (I think Dorothy taught her that) and sleeping under the wood stove where she will be ready to warn us in case of fire.

Rima, another Great Dane (and best friend) that left me at the age of 12, had a game she never tired of.  She would wrap herself around me, touching nose to tail, and turn in circles around me. I’d call out “Rima, round and round” she’d come running with that silly Great Dane grin.

 As you can tell, dogs around here really have to work for their kibble! No lolly gagging around here, guys!

Tagged?

Imagine my surprise to read on http://kenleighacres.wordpress.com/ that I’d been tagged. Funny, I didn’t feel a thing. Oh, I get it - not like in football, like in blogging.

The rules of the game are this–
Once you are tagged, link back to the person who tagged you.
Post the rules on your blog.
Post 7 random or weird facts about yourself on your blog.
Tag 7 people and link to them
Comment on their blog to let them know they have been tagged.

1. I love spiders and I used to raise scorpions.

2. I warm my socks in the microwave on cold mornings.

3. I roll my cat, Dorothy, up in the clean laundry and throw socks at her. It makes her so mad, she sits on top of the laundry and won’t let me near it. Hmm - maybe I didn’t really want to fold and put away the laundry anyway.

4. I’ve never lived in a house with air conditioning (and I live in the south)

5. I can get totally lost watching my pasture grow in the spring (like for the entire morning)

6. Ezra Essra Mohawk (the Silent Diva) and Leonard Cohen are my favorite musicians. Dave just said what about Tom Paxton. OK, add Tom Paxton.

7. I lived on a 20′ foot sailboat - not just tied to the dock, but anchored away from everything.

What? No, Dorothy, you don’t get to post. You haven’t been tagged. No, a rabies tag is not the same. OUCH, get off of my head! OK, you can post 7 random or weird things.

1. When I was five weeks old, I was dumped at the pound. The pound person gave me a bath -IN THE WATER! and then used a hair dryer to dry me. I was pissed! That day, one of my people (Linda) came looking for a kitten. All the suck up kittens ran up saying “take me, take me, I’m sweet”. I stayed in the corner and snarled. Linda knew I was special and picked me. She didn’t come equipped with a carrier. I managed to crawl most of the way behind the dashboard cowl before Linda could grab me by the hind leg (while driving) and pull me out. We are not getting off on the right foot (or leg). As soon as we get “home”, I managed to squeeze in the tiniest crack between the kitchen cabinets. Cats are compressible! Linda had to dismantle 5 feet of cabinets to get me out. I am the boss! After being locked in the bathroom and being handfed, I decided to stay - my people, Dave and Linda, are ok. I like it here.

2. Then we have to MOVE. I don’t like change. So I crawl under the bedcovers on my peoples’ bed and I stay there for three whole days. I have a very strong bladder. Visitors come and Linda pokes the lump under the covers that is me. I like it here now. I get to wander around in the woods because we are far from a road and I have two people and three dogs to boss around.

Dorothy - enough! I’m cutting you off at two things. Until you can open your own catfood cans, I still get to have some say.

I’m tagging Betty http://sheepwoman.wordpress.com/ , Sarah http://myfavoritesheep.blogspot.com/ Deb http://thewoolleyfarm.wordpress.com/ Sue http://skepweaver.wordpress.com/ This is fun

I don’t know that many bloggers, so I gotta stop at 4.

The Picture Wall

My godmother and second cousin (although she was the age of my grandmother), Gigi, had a Picture Wall in the hallway of her home in Sarasota. The pictures were all of family and covered the many generations our family had been in Sarasota. Gigi was the first Miss Sarasota!  Her grandfather and my great great grandfather was the first non-indian settler in Sarasota.  Some people call him the founder of Sarasota, but he never did as he wasn’t trying to found anything - just trying to get away from the “crowds” in Georgia.  From the time I was about 5, I was fascinated by the Picture Wall and amazed that all those interesting looking people were my relatives.  I’ve always loved photography and was intrigued with some of the photos from the 1800’s.

Our stairwell looks awfully drab - what a great place for a Picture Wall!  I’m going to start with this picture:

My mom - Patricia White (+ many married names) She loved all animals, often to the point of obsession, was a talented weaver, a 35 year cancer survivor, and a friend to anyone that needed one.  Not exactly your Mrs Cleaver/PTA sort of mom and maybe just abit bohemian and often pigheaded (like her mom picture to follow). Miss ya, Mom.  PS -Mom also was a professional photographer, working as a photojournalist for the Sarasota Journal and the Sarasota Herald, as well as working in a portrait studio.

I am so warped!

and unwarped and warped again.  The “new” 60″ Leclerc Gobelin arrived.  It came with a tapestry started and at first I had thoughts about playing around finishing the weaving.  I looked at the tapestry for abit and decided that I didn’t really like it all that much.  The tension seemed just a bit off - unless it normal to have a dozen sticks and dowels wedged throughout the warp? and to have a difference of 3″ between the tension screw adjustments?  Out with the scissors! cut, cut, pull, pull, and finally! my loom is naked.  Shots of Blaster and my tension screws finally move.

What I’ve learned today (well, day before yesterday - I’m slow posting) - two shots of plain weave are not the same as twining.  I know - everyone should know that - but I didn’t.  I didn’t have the foggiest about how to space the warp on a vertical loom - but I do now.  You can’t squeeze 12 ends of 3/42 wool knotted together into the warp beam groove of a Leclerc Gobelin.  The warping directions are not written for what I’m doing. Dorothy the cat can jump from the Supercard table onto the top of the Gobelin, where she can reach the ceiling fan (not on today) and can also jump to the shelves above the windows where she can entertain herself by pushing cones of yarn off onto my head.  She’s got a rather devilish streak. I love vertical rug weaving!!!!! It’s fantastic!!!  For the Jacob Sheep rugs that I’ve been weaving, it adds a whole new dimension in being able to see the entire rug at once.  HMMM - maybe just a touch of gray would look just right over there at the left?  I don’t know if I will ever do any of the incredibly fine tapestries that I so much admire (but the thought is there ) .

 I’m not a very patient person - except when I’m weaving or spinning. I don’t know what it is about weaving and spinning that I find so calming.  Spinning I can understand.  I’m a rather talented spinner and can spin anything any way I want.  I just “took” to spinning from the first.  Weaving? I use warp threads that are not suitable for warp because that’s what I have around and the warp breaks.  I make mistakes in threading and sleying.  For some reason, fixing weaving mistakes is a “no big deal” sort of thing for me.  Just find the problem and fix it. Maybe it’s the simplicity of identifying a problem and knowing how to fix it that appeals to me? Life should be so simple

 Oh - another thing I learned (way back when) - if you don’t like it on the loom, the needles, the crochet hooks, etc, it’s not going to get better. RIP IT OUT!

“It’s raining, it’s pouring…

the old man’s not snoring, but he is taking this rainy day off and laying in bed reading.  The sound of rain on our tin roof is literally “music to our ears” after a terrible year of drought.   A strange sound greeted me yesterday morning when Maggie, the Great Dane (and Great Dog), and I went out to feed sheep. 

It was the sound of our waterfall!  It’s been so long since we could hear it from our deck that it took a minute to recognize the welcome sound.  With the rain comes mud - something else we haven’t seen in awhile.  I will never complain about mud in the barnlot again and I cheerfully dug some drainage canals to help drain some of the water.  Next week - gutters on the barn roof - and new barn boots! You don’t really notice the leaks in your wellies when it’s not raining.

Unlike a suitcase

you reach a point in a room where no amount of squeezing, jumping upon, or huffing and puffing will allow you fit in “just one more loom”.   What moment of weakness drove me to bid on this beauty?

Not mention what possessed my friends/neighbors to offer to pick it up for me. (thanks, guys - love ya, as always )

Hey, it’s a vertical loom, they are tall, not wide, so it won’t take up much space.  It does, however, take up some space, so some reorganizing is called for.  The knitting machines will be spending some time in the attic or be sold, which frees up enough space for the loom.  Yay!! I’m set - for now.

It’s almost Christmas and I’m a grinch. The commercialism of Christmas offends me.  I’m tired of bell ringing beggars everytime I go to town and I’m appalled at the rise in thefts at Christmas time.   Is this really what someone of the Christian persuasion feels is a fitting tribute to the birth of Jesus?  Beggars, thieves, and Walmart?  I’ll stop my rant.

Here at Wolfpen Gap, today is the day we celebrate remember the birth of me.  A quiet day that has been just right.

What’s on the loom? on the hook? the stove? in the basket?