Sheepies, Goaties and Herd Dogs

The the beginnings of a Fiber Farm.....

Jazzy May (the Angora goat) and Daniel & Devie (Morrit Shetland Sheep) in a rare moment where they are sharing food together.  Most meals Jazzy screams because she is being butt out of all the three feed bowls.  She is used to me bringing her to the garden with me to enjoy her plate in her own space.

Daniel one of the wethered shetland lambs. Beautiful soft fiber! 

Ollie is learning about goats.  Jazzy sets boundaries right away.  She doesn't want to deal with another pushy boy!

Pema slyly looking at me in a rare moment she is sitting still. 

Fiber Fanatic takes it to the Next Level

Stacy and her first Angora Mohair Goat

'Noname' posing for the camera

The format has changed on this blog and I have erased an entire post and don't feel like starting over.

So I'll be much shorter...I have not named her.  But, I picked her up yesterday.  Re-did the roof on barn that my son and I built over 8 years ago for his Alpine goats. The fiber goats will be my project.  They will be my pets with perks. I say they because goats are herd animals.  I may have to find another goat-maybe...But, I also have 2 shetland sheep to pick up next tuesday.  They are Moorit wethers from the biodynamic Organic Farm in Oroville-Chaffin Farms.  Boy, am I learning new ways to care for livestock!  The fleece on all of these animals is just awesome! Excited! 

Happy Spring

Study of a daffodil in my garden using watercolor.

Knitting

With my handspun lace yarn I knitted a 'Handspun Gingko Shawl'. Pretty easy going knitting. And a beautiful finished product. I think I mentioned the source of the roving in my last post. It made beautiful soft yarn.

More Catch-up

I have gotten so behind in blogging.

But, I wanted to document a fabulous field trip the pups and I went on...

We started out driving to Sally Fox's farm in the Capay Valley. She developed a organic cotton that grows colored-Vreseis. I got to see at least 4 different colored cottons in several weights

and forms. I also almost left with a merino lamb. So beautiful...I am still thinkin

g of her. Her fur was a warm brown/carmel colored. Sally was very

friendly showing me her animals, cotton and sharing her ideas on spinning. She has merino

wool yarn available also. I unfortunately got so into visiting that I forgot to take photos.

Afterwards, we(the pups and I)headed towards Fort Bragg and Mendocino.

We spent a few days in Mckerricker State Park.

Awesome Camping and trails are vast and open

to bikes, children and dogs! My family's favorite State Park!

I drove down the coast and went to the Mendocino Yarn Shop. I bought a soft local

merino/alpaca roving. I 've since spun into a 2 ply lace weight(with a local Corriedale roving).

I've been knitting up a storm! Check out my Ravelry page

Catch-up on life...or at least blogging about it

"Time FLies When Your having fun" Or regardless of whether one is having fun or not...time seems to keep marching forward.

I have not been keeping up on my blogging. None-the-less, life has been full of new and expressive ways of being.

My Grandson is growing like a weed! Watching children

grow is one way of grasping the reality that time is happening. Sierra and I have been trying to keep up with his leaps and bounds. At 10 mos, he is running and he will be 1 year old in April! O.M.G!

We made him his first teething biscuits...he loved them! Yum!

Basic recipe:spelt flour, handmade applesauce(local organic apples), and a pinch of cinnamon.

Christmas was a hit! Made many handmade items for gifts. And fixed my Mom's sink(with

Ben)for her gift.

Izaiah loved the paper and the

paper tubes(I remember my kids liking these at his age-so, I added them to his

gift bag).

My christmas gift to myself was yarn from Nanne Kennedy, Meadowcroft Farm in Maine. Beautiful! Finished my sweater with handmade yew buttons right after the holiday...I was so excited!

After the holidays my Niece had a birthday and I made her a quilt.

Went for a hike on the Yuba with a great person. It was chilly...We hiked on the South side of the North Slope in the middle of the Winter season. We found a sunny beach to eat her yummy garden picked arugula, smoked salmon and cream cheese on dark pumpernickel bread. Frida is enjoying her river time.

Spinning and knitting my own yarn!

I have been experimenting with my dyed roving. Spun two small skeins and I'm knitting a sweet pattern- Cedar leaf shawlette.

You may follow my project on ravelry. It feels is so exciting to start from scratch and be close to a finished project. I like my hand-spun yarn. I like the colors. It's magical!

Local and from our garden--Fall squashes. I also tried madder and got several really exciting results. I think the goal was the color red. However, I love my locally dyed local wool! I had picked some elderberry and made a dye bath with these. I got a nice soft lavender. But, it was confirmed that the lightfast on Elderberry dyes is not good. I will probably over dye with Indigo.