The division in this country has my heart hurting. Social media is currently at the heart of this division. People are free to post their thoughts no matter how hateful and crude, no matter their beliefs, no matter who they hurt. They do this with no regard for their fellow (wo)man, even if it could potentially destroy them.
Recently I was thinking about The Golden Rule. I wondered what happened to it? Some of you may need to look it up to see what I am talking about. Do unto others as you would have done unto you. Every religion has its own version of The Golden Rule. Maybe that is where my answer is. It seems so simple, but where does one learn this anymore?
There has been a recent uprising on one particular knitting and crochet site that has caused more division than I've been witness to in my lifetime. People have left this sight because of that and started their own pages. Some of the comments I have read on those new pages are really no better than the site they left. The need to tear people down, chew them up and spit them out is just beyond my comprehension. Do they have any idea what that kind of hate and discontent is doing to them personally, not to mention the person they intended it for? Do they know how that makes them appear? As I write this, I seem to have a lot more questions than answers.
I have had visitors here on the farm from over 25 countries. All are welcome here. As a matter of fact, in order to use the booking system I use, I had to take that pledge. That wasn't so in the beginning, but apparently some hosts were discriminating for various reasons and that made the change. The change was to INCLUDE everyone. The change wasn't made to include everyone EXCEPT a certain demographic.
The photo is one of me with 2 guests from Taiwan. They have a population of almost 24 million people. This is a population density of 1,680 people per square mile. Montana just passed 1 million in population with a density of just over 6 people per square mile. The contrast for us and them is shocking. They had never been this close to farm animals before, except in a grocery store. My reality and theirs are so completely different and had I judged or been biased, I never would have had the pleasure of meeting them and learning from them.
I don't have the answers. I just know it's way easier to divide than it is to unite and I am sadden by it all. I will do my part here to unite.
]]>The newspaper said we just had the coldest February-March on record. I am here to tell you, that comes as no surprise. After lambing in -37 and the next night -27, you will get no argument from me. I lived through it! Yes, we survived the winter of 2019.
My mom was grumping about one day because of the weather. I told her she didn't have a corner on that market. EVERYONE was sick of the weather! We were all in it together.
The snow has not all melted yet and there's standing water all over my sheep pasture. The frost has not come out of the ground here in the Swamp, so we now have a "lake". The ducks and geese are happy, so at least there's that.
Today I feel as though there's hope though. My husband had hip replacement this morning and for anyone who lives with daily pain, you know what I am talking about. Post-surgery, however, his attitude has greatly improved. I noticed it right away, but feared it was only the pain killers hiding the real pain. So far that is not the case. He feels so much better and in turn his outlook is so much sunnier. For him and for the rest of us dealing with winter, it's like a load off! A huge weight has been lifted from our shoulders and there is hope on the horizon! Hope springs eternal!
As I drove home today I had plenty of time for thinking and here's my attempt at summing it all up in poetry.
Spring's Hope Eternal
Gray turns to blue sapphire sky
Branches bulge, tips ready to rupture forth
No sound, no scent, no touch or taste
Dogwood's red and Willow's gold
By sight alone and invisible sap, spring is hope eternal.
Listening to the sounds around me, Chris cussing in the distance as he loads buckets of water into the tractor for me and my animals, the dogs howling in the house because this time they weren't allowed to tag along ......ahhhhh.....Serenity!
And then a lone chickadee appears and lands in the red snow, pecking at the afterbirth left behind by a disconsolate ewe. The ewe bleats and then eats, looking for her lambs to no avail. The chickadee brings me hope in this mass accumulation of snow. He flits from the ground to the barn, then to branch and the ground again. He seems ever-cheerful and I have to wonder if a chickadee ever has a bad day. It's 25 below and he's here to make an appearance as if to give me a sign or maybe many signs. His energy and exuberance is enlightening. His resilience is downright amazing.
Making a mental plan to check them again in 20 minutes instead of the 2 hour schedule I was on, I scan the flock again and decide it's time to go back in and deal with with 2 dead lambs in the bathtub.
]]>Some people get all wrapped up in the origins of Valentine's Day and refuse to acknowledge the day. It's the same with Halloween or many of the other "Holidays" we humans have on our calendars as reminders to celebrate. Although I am not in favor or the whole consumerism aspect of any holiday, I do subscribe with giving from the heart. That's true for any day.
I have fond memories of Valentine parties in grade school and actually before I went to school. Do you remember the days of inviting a Valentine to your school party? I don't know if they still do that, but I was a guest at a party in the old elementary school in Manhattan before I ever attended school. I won't forget that. As I recall, it was a pretty big deal for me at the time. I also have fond memories of the Valentines and decorating the boxes we put them in. Sometimes we decorated them at home, sometimes at school. As an adult I have made many hand-made Valentines as well. I love it. I have a friend who has an annual Valentine's party in her home and each year we craft something. It started out with making Valentines at her house many years ago. I didn't make it this year and I didn't get any Valentine's made here at home. I missed it. I miss it. I will plan better next year, right?
So for today, carry on with a heart full of love and celebrate in your own special way. Don't let consumerism dictate!
]]>The photo I have posted is a lovely depiction of the way these sheepherders would pass a little time. It's just one example taken by Ken Proper. There are many more. If you do an internet search, you will find all manner of carving with figurals and words. Very endearing and expose what many of them had on their minds. There's even a book about this called "Speaking Through the Aspens: Basque Tree Carvings in California and Nevada".
The USDA Forest Service even has an information page for this with a gallery of photos.
I wonder if the sheepherder today are still doing this type of thing? I know of one, whose message is simple and clear.
]]>Some of you know the story of my mom's battle for her life after routine gallbladder surgery in Bozeman. It was 21 days in ICU, 33 days in the hospital total, and another 30 days in rehab learning how to walk again. I have said many times that I made no friends there, but I still have my mom. When my son had to have a small operation done, he chose to cross the pass and head over to Livingston. What a world of difference in so many ways.
We arrived before they opened and followed directions by going to the ER. From there we were sent down the hall and up the stairs to surgery waiting. We literally turned the lights on for everyone yesterday there since they are motion activated. Everyone we came into contact with was warm and caring. They were all genuine and seemed to love their jobs.
Once Kelly was headed into surgery, Chris and I headed for some breakfast. Again, everyone was warm and caring, even the staff in the cafeteria. I had heard the food was good here and their wish was that it would be a place people might come for lunch. Apparently they make it all from scratch. We enjoyed our breakfast and FREE coffee and then I wandered the halls a bit to look at this gorgeous building.
The hospital is built on land that was a former sheep ranch. MANY sheep! The hallway leading up to the cafeteria has photos of that sheep ranch on one side. They are part of a collection of photos by John Haberstroh who began photographing the ranch in the early twenties and eventually devoted over 30 years to the project. That's A LOT of photos! The Museum of the Rockies in Bozeman has a traveling exhibit of these photos and I know I saw them many years ago. I think it's time for them to display them again! It was fun to see a few of his photos on display and honor paid to the hard-working Harvat Sheep Ranch that was once part of this property.
This hospital and health care center is decorated with some fabulous art work from many local artist, photographers and sculptures. The man who greeted me at the info desk told me they have many visitors who come just to see the art work and some of it does rotate. It really is worth a trip. Have lunch and tour the halls. There's something beautiful around each corner and tucked into thoughtful spaces that might otherwise be a blank wall.
This facility is thoughtfully planned out in every way, including the care that is shown and given to the patients who walk through the doors.
I am impressed!
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Yes, it was Monday in every sense, but the day has come to a close and things got accomplished. Not in the time that I wanted, but they got accomplished.
The picker is nestled in and we finally started picking wool today. It has been a long time coming. The picker opens up the fibers and makes the carder's job easier. Of course I had to run my own wool through it first, so that is what you see in the photo. This is the collection box the wool is blown into after picking. I just opened the door to snap a pic.
This project has taken over 2 years to complete. We took a lot of baby steps because nothing in this valley happens quickly. There's a lot of growth happening and subsequently a lot of building. Finding help was the hardest part, as I have mentioned before. Doing this step-by-step has allowed me to get acquainted with each step of the process before adding the next one. There's always a silver lining.
]]>Each piece compliments the next and helps it along in the process. There is a definite synergy there. When one piece is not working, for whatever reason, the synergy is broken.
Today is the day the picker gets hooked up. It has been a long-time coming! We had a big snowfall here and the guys are coming from out of town, so let's hope all goes as planned. I will write more tomorrow about this crazy, loud machine. Its job is to open the fibers so the carder has an easier job. Some breeds can be easily done by hand, others not so much. I admit, this has set me back a bit, but again, out of my control. Patience.
]]>It feels really good to be utilizing the sun for the electricity to run the machines, to heat the water to wash the wool and to dry the wool. Of all of the workers we subbed out on this project, the solar contractors have by far been the best to work with.
Orion and his crew at Onsite Energy have been second-to-none! There were times when he would send an email just as an update at the exact time I needed a nudge, reminder or update. I felt like I didn't need to think about things, they took care of it all for me.
The solar thermal guys are out of Alder, MT. Wayne from Baker Light Industries and his helper, Shane, are problem solvers extraordinaire! The can trouble-shoot just about ANY issue and make suggestions and even help with the problem. I'm not just talking solar either. They are a very capable pair and do what they say they are going to do. They get it done. There's no website to share, but if you put the name in your search box, all of the info pops up. I called them Wayne and Shane, The Sunshine Boys but Baker Light Industries is the business name.
Washed and dried with the sun, now to pick the wool. It opens up the fibers and makes the carder's job a lot easier. Since I have been doing some of this by hand, I have a new appreciation for the picker and I can't wait to fire it up!
]]>I first learned to skirt wool from a VERY particular person. What I didn't know was that I was tossing out good wool in the process. I was being too picky at picking! The actual picker and the the carder do amazing jobs in removing debris from a lot of what I was tossing in the compost heap before. What you have to be considerate of are poop tags, large pieces of VM and cockle burs. Obviously things like feathers, twine and any other foreign matter that shouldn't be there needs to be picked out as well. When you are doing a lot of skirting, sometimes things get overlooked. We find all manner of things in wool once it arrives here. Working at the mill at its old location, I have seen honey bees, paper bee nests (or the start of), feathers, any number or bugs who have mistakenly crawled into the wool and weren't able to get out and even a humming bird. It got tangled in the wool and never made it out. It was presumably gathering for her nest.
Basically anything that would be hard on the carder needs to be removed and it's just easier to do it on the skirting table. Mine is a simple table covered in fencing wire with large, open holes. Debris can fall through easily as well as second cuts. Second cuts are literally when the shears pass through a sheared part of the sheep while shearing. It created these little pieces of wool that are cut on both ends. We don't like them. They get in the wool and can cause little fuzz balls in the end product. You know, like when your sweater has pills. Those can often be shaken out on the skirting table. Skirting saves the customer money in 2 ways. We base our fees on incoming weight and I charge if I have to skirt incoming wool. It really does make sense to skirt during shearing.
So now you know the process so far. The photo is one of a fleece on my skirting table.
]]>Your sheep are sheared and the wool is in waiting. Now what to do?
Back when I only had a few sheep, I would take pictures (with my camera, pre-cell and smart phones) of the fleece right on the skirting table. I would pull out a lock of wool and a lay it next to a ruler and snap another pic of the staple length. That's what the length of the fleece is called. Each fleece was numbered and that's how I would sell them online. I did well that way, but I am here to tell you, handspinners are a fickle lot. Their tastes and expectations run the gamut. I guess that's true with most things, but I grew weary and eventually shied away from selling raw fleeces. There are a lot of people out there who LOVE the process of taking a raw fleece from start to finished product. I am not one of them. Isn't it ironic that I now own a mill?
As soon as I heard there was a mill doing custom processing close to me, I was there. I started taking my wool to Thirteen Mile and handing it over to them to process into roving, batts and yarn. I settled into selling those products and an occasional raw fleece to past customers. Every time I delivered or picked up wool, Becky would ask me if I wanted to go to work there. Nope! Not me. Machines and I don't get along! Never say never, as they say.
Each mill is different. They have different machines that can handle different types of wool. Yes, each sheep breed is different and there can be many little different nuisances within the flock itself. That's the exciting part for people who love wool. If you're new to this sheep and wool thing, I suggest you shop around for the mill that fits your needs.
Here at the mill the wool is weighed in and labeled with the last name, which follows the wool throughout the entire process. Then it waits its turn in the washing rotation. Here at the Wool Mill, the wool goes through 4 washes and one rinse over the course of 5 days. Each tank of water is utilized to the max. The first to go in is the cleanest wool and it gets a rinse. The last to go in is raw wool. The wool is washed in HOT water. I know this comes as a surprise to a lot of people, but they have been misled by laundry tags and ads. You can wash wool in hot water. Any kind of wool. Just don't agitate it and be sure to rinse your item in the same temperature as the wash water it just came out of. I wash wool items often in my washing machine. The key points to remember are: I have a top-loading machine. I can start and stop at any time. Fill the washer with the hottest water possible, having added your detergent. Stop the washer and add your item. Let it soak. Again, DO NOT AGITATE. Agitation causes felt. I will often let things soak overnight and then hit the spin cycle in the morning. It's then ok to rinse in cold water. Again, rinse in the same temp you just spun out. You don't want to shock the wool. That can cause felting as well. It's important to get all of the soap out, so 2 rinses might be in order. Spinning is fine in the washing machine, just no agitation. I then lay my items out to dry on a towel. I can shape them that way. I have to cover them with another towel because my cats inevitably find them and will nap on them! Incidentally, I wash antique quilts the same way.
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So let's go back to the pre-historic days of life BC. Before computers. Our social media back then consisted of monthly publications, like magazines as well as the library for sources, ads in the local newspaper and classified only papers as well as word-of-mouth. If you were lucky enough to know someone who belonged to a spinning group, you might get invited to that, or not. I remember awkwardly attending one gathering under the assumption that I would be offering my raw fleeces for sale to a bunch of strangers. That's exactly what I did. I loaded up all of my fleeces and I offered them. I had no takers. The ladies just sat stoically holding their purses tight if not spinning. That's a slight exaggeration, but you get my drift. Awkward.
I remember thinking about putting an ad in the back of a magazine in their classified section and realizing at the time that even that was too expensive for the risk.
I went the route of washing some of my own wool and I didn't really enjoy the process like some people do. I found a mill in Washington to process my wool. I was SO excited. I sent it off and it came back smelling like pesticide! I vowed to never do that again.
And then there was the internet! I started selling on ebay as soon as I got dial-up. Anyone remember those days? It took FOR.EVER, if you could get online at all. And just try loading pictures. We've come a long way in that area very quickly, thank goodness. One of my customers told me about these groups you could join and chat via email. No, nothing instant about it, but it did finally connect me with the people who could appreciate my wool. I was able to sell fleeces on those groups as well as listing them on ebay. I have forgotten the original name of the listserve it was, but I was in several groups. The companies were eventually bought out, changed names a couple of times and now it's yahoogroups. I still belong to some of them and run a couple of my own. One in particular, which was very memorable, was called SheepThrills! We talked about anything in that group. You would log on, typically once a day so your home phone line wasn't tied up all day, and receive the emails either in chronological order or in a group of 10 or 12 sent in one email as a digest. This opened a lot of doors for me. I was friends with a woman whose husband sold their wool through the wool pool. She told me the way I did it was too much work. For her maybe, but the wool pool didn't fit the bill for me and my wool. I met some very cool people selling them my raw fleeces. I also learned that "clean wool" is a relative term. Everyone has an opinion, but for crying out loud people, they are sheep and they do live outside and poop and pee where they live and eat. That's the reality of if.
At this point in time I was using various mills around the country, trying them out to see which one I liked the best. I was not only selling raw wool, but I was able to sell my roving online as well. I would ship the wool off, they would ship it back and then I would ship it off to the customer. That's a lot of fossil fuel, time and expense. I loved it when the customer bought it and had me send it straight to the mill for them. And then, to my good fortune, a mill opened up just 8 miles from my house. I really didn't care what the prices were, I no longer had all of that shipping expense to pay. I could drive it over and drop it off and that was worth a lot to me.
Things are so different now with high-speed internet, instant access and so many selling groups online. Anything and everything you need or want is literally at your fingertips. There is already a generation who never knew anything else.
This blogging thing is nothing new for me either. I've had a blog for many, many years. Writing is something I have always enjoyed. I blogged before blogging was the thing to do. I hopped on face book fairly early on and my kids laughed at both. I guess I am just a social person and like to connect.
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There's a great article here about wool pools in Montana if you care to read a little more about the history.
So imagine this greenhorn, almost 30 years ago, raising a very non-traditional breed of sheep and not knowing what to do with my wool except what was tradition. My sheep are small so in turn, my fleeces and lambs are small. That means my carcass weights of my lambs are small too, but that's another story for another day. I signed up for the wool pool not knowing it was like a 10 year commitment or some crazy thing like that. I maybe had 10 sheep at the time. Their fleeces weighed about 2 lbs each. We are not talking about a lot of wool here, but the head of the wool pool didn't know that. I think I may have sold my wool once to the wool pool. Remember, wool is a commodity. It's traded on the open market. Check your market listings for the week and you will see wool there with other agricultural products. What this means is that the price you are paid for your wool in the wool pool can vary greatly. You never know going in. Again, sheep are very versatile animals. They give us meat, milk, wool and lanolin. Lucky for the sheep producer they have their lamb sales to fall back on if the wool prices are not good and vice versa. So back to that 10 year commitment. I got a phone call from a very upset old codger reprimanding me for not bringing my wool in. He went on and on about how I was basically bringing the whole pool down because I hadn't fulfilled my commitment. When I explained that my husband was the one to deliver the wool the year prior and was asked to sign his name, he was not told anything of this "contract", the old codger didn't care. I am telling you, this guy was not nice on the phone. I then told him my fleeces weigh about 2 lbs ea and I had 10 sheep. He went silent. I said, "Is my 20 lbs of wool really going to affect your wool pool?" He then agreed to let me out of a contract I never signed and I vowed to never take my wool there again. So what to do?
Stay tuned!
]]>The rest of the wool that comes off of the sheep is basically in one big "sheet" called a fleece. The really good, experienced hands can gather it up in a certain way and toss it all out onto a skirting table. It opens right up like a sheet blowing in the breeze and lands on the table. Skirting is what it's called when you run your hands through the wool removing any VM (vegetable matter), big pieces of hay and straw, small twigs, cockle burs or any other foreign matter that shouldn't be there. It can then be gathered or rolled up and put into a bag. The big operations use wool sacks and pack the wool down into them tightly. Someone is often inside the big bag tamping the wool down with their feet. In small operations like mine, we use garbage bags, bed sheets, pillow cases or paper lawn and leaf bags. I used to have a certain number of sheets I used for this purpose alone, but now I have too many sheep for that. I use paper lawn and leaf bags and pick them up on sale. They're inexpensive and can be composted. They also make great fire starters for the wood stove once they've served their purpose. I have some I've used for several years. They're easy to write on. You just have to make certain you cross off last year's info on the bag!
With the sheep in this position, now is a good time trim hooves and vaccinate before setting them back on all fours so they can head out for a bite to eat. It's at this point in a ewe's gestation cycle when the shepherd is happy to have the wool off so (s)he can see what's going on behind and under the sheep. Besides a big belly, there are other physical changes a sheep has when she's getting closer to lambing and for me, this is one of the immediate benefits of shearing. You know who looks close and who doesn't.
So the sheep have been sheared, their fleeces have been skirted and put into the proper storage bags. Now it's time to process wool!
]]>How do you feel after you've had a hair cut? There are times when I've gotten a hair cut and felt 10 lbs lighter. I can only imagine how relieved a pregnant ewe must feel to get rid of all of that wool just prior to lambing. Ahhhhhhh! Depending on the breed, some of them can literally be 10 lbs lighter!
Sheep are very efficient animals. They turn the grass they eat into beautiful wool, milk and meat. It really is pretty amazing when you think about it. Grass and water. That's all they need. I think that's a pretty cool super-power!
Shearing cleans the sheep up, (think back end of a sheep) and helps them prepare for giving birth. Imagine being a tiny lamb, coming from inside a nice, warm, dark womb and suddenly being plopped on the ground and wondering where your first meal is. Nature takes over and the lamb gets up on all 4 legs, clumsily makes its was to the back end of the sheep and starts to look for something to eat. If there is a lot of wool in the way, the lambs can die in a short time without their first drink of colostrum. I know. I've had this happen to lambs I wasn't expecting.
Shearers are not in it for the money. This is back-breaking work. You're bent over a sheep and giving it a haircut. I've had some shearing nightmares in my day, but most of them involved the shearer himself and their lack of courtesy on showing up and being prepared or even keeping their mouths shut and getting the job done. I had one stop in the middle of shearing a sheep to talk.
Do sheep get cut when shearing? Yes. It happens. It's not intentional, but have you ever cut yourself shaving? Same thing. The lanolin the sheep produce helps speed the healing and you don't even see the cuts the next day. Once in a while a wild one will get a deeper cut, but shearers carry suture material and needles with them to stitch up if necessary. They are pretty capable!
So now we have sheared sheep, ready to lamb and lots of wool to deal with. When it comes off of a sheep it's called a fleece. This is not to be confused with polyester fleece. That's the fake stuff. A sheep fleece is real. It just came off of a living animal. Those fleeces need to be skirted. That's the term they use for removing all of the tags or poop balls, wet wool and VM. Remember, they live outside and are not potty trained. Poop happens.
Once the wool is skirted it is put into bags. Some people use old sheets. I use paper lawn and leaf bags. It's now ready to be sent off to the mill.
]]>Synthetic polyester is made using a chemical reaction involving coal, petroleum, air and water.Polyester is made up of purified terephthalic acid (PTS) or its dimethyl ester dimethyl terephthalate (DMT) and monotheluene glycol (MEG).
Snuggle up to that.
If you're reading this, you probably already know how wool is made. By sheep. Period. We can carry it further and go into the production of a sweater. Let's first start with the Shepherd, the man or woman raising the sheep to begin with.
I have come across many shepherds in my day. There is one common thread, pardon my pun, among ALL of these people. They love their sheep and they love spending time with them. As a matter of fact, most shepherds I know would rather be out with their sheep than out amongst people. Think about a true sheepherder and how much time he spends alone. We sheep people are a bit different and that is something I am proud of. Some shepherds don't have children. They have sheep. And dogs. And those sheep and dogs are their children. They name them, feed them, nurture them and would certainly never harm them. Do you see where I am going with this? The care we give our animals is often better than the care we give ourselves. Right or wrong, it's true. For any one person, organization or group of supposedly well-meaning people to say anything different is flat out fallacy.
I admit, I am one of those weird sheep people. I own it. I am also proud of the fact that in this mill, we take care of your fiber as if it were our own animals it came off of. We know the heart and soul, sweat and labor and even sometimes tears, you put into producing lovely wool. We live it too. We give your fiber the utmost care while it's here so that you end up with a product you love when we hand it back to you.
I will leave you with this. I have never put any credence into anyone who has to put down one product in order to sell their own.
]]>As I started my day this morning, I wondered what nugget I would find. I just really only wanted one. One little nugget to let me know I am headed down the right path. It's amazing what happens when your open yourself up to the possibility of receiving these blessings. Not only did I find one, but many! So many, in fact, that at one point I thought I should start writing them down. The sunrise, the sky, the colors were all amazing as I headed out to the winter farmer's market. My first nugget in visual form. I've lived here all of my life and the sunrises and sunsets still take my breath away.
The start of the market was slow this morning. That was just fine with me. I was able to catch up with some of the vendors I never have time to visit with. So many "Happy New Years" were exchanged.
Back to my spot as a vendor and again, many well-wishers as well as hugs! LOTS of hugs! The kind of hugs that release endorphins and just make you happy! I had so many wonderful people stop by and visit. New potential customers, new ideas, happy customers and again, more hugs. Nuggets were shared. Nuggets a-plenty! My pot o'gold was filling right up.
My stop at the grocery store was filled with even more! Sometimes I shake my head in amazement, but mostly I just need to trust, which was my word that guided me through 2018!
]]>Shearing is detrimental to the health of the sheep. If you've ever had a dog that needs regular grooming, you know what can happen when they don't get groomed. Their hair gets matted and it can pull on their skin and cause sores. The same can happen with sheep. Another reason to shear is to get the wool off so the shepherd can see what is going on with the pregnant ewes and once they lamb, the babies can find the milk easier. When there is a lot of wool, it's difficult for them to find their mother's teats and if it's cold, they can die quickly without that first colostrum. They can also get their mother's body heat more readily with the wool off.
The best way to know what happens on a farm is to know your farmer. Take some time and visit. Visit during shearing and lambing. Find out what really happens from a real farmer.
]]>I really thought I would have more time to write blog posts, but stuff gets in the way!
Here's to warmer temps and lambs frolicking. Saturday March 3 is shearing day. Join us, if you like. 2:00 pm after the winter farmer's market at the Emerson Cultural Center in Bozeman.
I'd better get crackin'.
LaVonne
]]>I am feeling pretty good today about my progress in the mill. I've had some good days and some not so good days, but never 2 in a row of either one. It's been a bit of a roller coaster ride, but the good news is, I am learning every day and making progress.
I've had some odd this occur which have caused me to pull in the reins a bit and evaluate my direction, but it's all good. I am looking forward to this wild ride with great hope and firm trust that all will be well.
Now, will that Ground Hog see his shadow?
]]>There are boxes to find homes, bags of wool waiting to be carded and a seemingly endless list of odds and ends I need to complete my day. I reach for things and they aren't there....oh yea, that was in the old mill! Little by little it's all coming together.
Dave and Becky started the mill almost 20 years ago. They have told many stories about how the machines were moved into their antique barn that housed them for so many years. Last night all of the mill workers sat around a table right there in the mill and shared a meal. Good times and lots of laughter were shared along with delicious lamb stew, wild rice and a lovely salad. Dessert treats, including homemade ice cream, cupcakes and caramel corn, a couple of IPAs and some hot tea rounded it all out. It was a great evening amongst the "mill family" in the perfect setting of where those machines have stood for so many years.
]]>I manage to catch the worst cold of my life last week and I have been dragging, but I am on the mend, the machines are in place and there are bags of wool scattered here and there about the mill. Today is Monday, January 15. It's only taken a year plus 10 days, give or take, but here we go!
]]>It was a year ago on the 22 of Dec that I approached Dave and Becky about us purchasing the mill equipment and moving it to our farm. Good things take time, I guess, but this has been a lesson in patience for me and my family. Let me just say that some of us have more patience than others here. I never would have guessed that a project could take so long. There were many factors in the equation, including a booming building industry in our area. That made finding help, or even a return phone call, very difficult.
The plan is to move the equipment the first week in January. We can only hope that the moon and stars and everything else needed are all aligned and the move is a smooth transition.
I am nervous, excited, cautiously optomistic and, true to my natural inclination, I have probably just shared too much. I've never been one to sugar-coat things and pretend they're perfect when they're not. Maybe airing my struggles will help someone realize they're not alone. Life ebbs and flows. I am looking forward to flow in the coming year.
Happy 2018! I hope yours is full of wooly love in a variety of forms.
LaVonne
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