Weaving

 

I wove a colorful tablecloth for our bistro table and a matching bigger one for our folding table that we use when we have company.  I've decided to add a lot more color into our house.  I like bright colors, but like most Americans, I use pretty neutral colors in the house.  After having a helpxer from India here last fall who told me that it was rather sad how dull everything is in America, houses, furnishings, etc. I decided to embrace my love of color into just about everything in my life.  My fiber shed is getting painted this summer with a very bright, wild color scheme. At least I think it will. Could be interesting. :-)  My weaving might get brighter more often, too.

We've gone back to a real winter now.  Close to a foot of snow and colder temps more like a normal year.  The last two days have been bright sunny days.  This time of year, sunshine is very welcome!

  Lily doesn't really fit in this tub very well.  It's warm and dry, so she's taking advantage of it to stay out of the mucky hay. Goats are the greatest wasters of hay on the planet.  I'll betcha there is at least a ton of it wasted every year around here.  Makes for good compost, though.  We get a new mountain of it every year when I clean out the pens.  Grows great veggies!  

Well, that's it for now.  I'm going to go out and get some of that sun and water everyone while the faucet is thawed out.  

Hope you all are having a great day!

First Kids of the Year

On January 10th of this year, Sprinkles had her first babies, twins. Milo, the top photo, and Jan (because she was born in January). The problem was, Sprinkles came into heat in August and her triplet brothers, who were bucklings, got out and in with her and her mom and sister.  Luckily, she was the only one in heat. So, these two are totally inbred.  Milo wasn't right from the beginning; he would just stand around and not move much. Jan seemed fine.  Sprinkles is a good mom, especially since she is a first-timer.   

These two were born on the 10th, and we went into a deep freeze on the 11th.  One night it was 30 degrees below zero.  For a week I was going out every two hours with a hot water bottle and putting it in with them in their "baby box" day and night.  I didn't even sleep in my bed, just dozed in the recliner each night.  You might be wondering why I didn't have a heat lamp or bring them inside instead of going that route.  We live off-grid, and a heat lamp takes way too much electricity. I figured in the long run; it would be easier to do the hot water bottle.  They survived in fine shape. 

You can see in this photo; Milo is standing off by himself.  He always did that, and when he went to nurse, most of the time he didn't take in much milk. The photo below was on one of the not so cold nights. Sprinkles has her head in by the hot water bottle, and the kids are on each side of her outside.  I did move them inside the box after I took this.  There is a hay bale in front of half the box to block the cold.  Anyway, the kids survived the cold in good shape, with Sprinkles staying warm with her head in the box with them.  After the cold snap ended, I had a good night's sleep in my bed again.  

Twenty-one days after they were born, I went out to feed in the morning, and Milo was gone.  He had passed away during the night.  I figured he would, he was getting weaker by the day.  After I found him, I did a necropsy to see what was going on inside of him.  He didn't stand a chance, a fluid-filled heart that was quite large, and some strange intestine arrangements.  

Jan seems fine, nice and sturdy and full of energy.  I think her brain might be wired wrong, she is very flighty and nervous.  But, when I do get a hold of her, she calms down and lets me pet her.  I just need to pay lots of attention to her every day. Her grandma, Olga, is the same way.  In fact, I am tired of dealing with her. Once Sprinkles' sister Toffee has her kids the end of May, Olga is going to freezer camp. I am literally the only person on the planet that can get anywhere near her, and that is only if everything is normal and in place. If there is another person anywhere that she can see, she heads for the hills.  Once she is in the milking stand, she's fine, and easy to milk, but getting her there is an ordeal most of the time. She's not the highest producing doe, either. She's got some Boer in her and that made her milk production not as much as a full dairy doe. So, after 7 years of dealing with this, I am done.  I can't go anywhere for more than a day trip; I have to be there to milk her. It will be hard to do her in, but at the same time, it will be a relief to be able to have a bit of freedom. 

This is the first time in the 22 years I've been raising goats that I've had kids born in January. Last time, too! Also, the first time I didn't wether the male dairy kids, that won't be happening again, either.  Those three went to freezer camp, too. Live and learn.

Now we are having snow and regular winter temperatures, so all is well.  We had an abnormally warm start to the winter; the ground was bare on Christmas Day. That's rare.  I am looking forward to Spring and the ground being bare again.  Lots of projects coming this year!  Especially to do with the goats. Some big changes coming. 

Hope you are having a great day!      

 

Finally, Some Pictures

                                           Here's a cashmere shawl I wove. Totally handspun and dyed yarns. This is in my Etsy shop, and yes, it's expensive. It's a nice size, 81 inches long and 22 inches wide. It's warm, too.

                                        A Cashmere clasped weft wall hanging I wove, all handspun and hand dyed. This is at a friend's lake cabin. Traded this for a spinning wheel.

                                       Another Clasped weft item I wove. Handspun yarn and hand dyed. This is now in London, England. A commission.

               A HUGE spinning commission I'm still working on. Should have it all done by the end of May. Southdown wool off 14 sheep.  

                             A Tencel scarf I wove out of handspun yarn.  This was fun.

                           Cinnamon and Skippy. It took Cinnamon, the smallest goat on the place, to stand up to Skippy first before any of the other goats would.  She was Rocky's buddy, always beside him, and so when he died and we got Skippy last fall, she just accepted him as the new guardian dog.  Since he was just a puppy, guarding wasn't (and still isn't) top of his list.  He's now 7 months old. Starting to think about actually protecting the place, but not entirely.  He's not confident enough yet to be of any real service.  He does bark once in a while, but not much.  Which is a good thing, for now.  He has a very big, deep voice when he does bark.  I think once he's an adult, he's going to be an incredible guardian.  He is very smart.  Understands everything I tell him, catches on to things very fast. And, he's going to be huge!  He's a Grand Shepard, which is a mix of Anatolian, Saint Bernard and Mastiff. All giant dogs. Should scare everything and everyone away.  If we both survive his puppyhood stage, we'll be set. This morning he crashed into my leg and did some damage, I felt some ripping going on.  At least it was below my knee and I can still walk ok.  A couple of months ago, he crashed into my knee and threw everything out of whack. I couldn't walk after that one.  Had to use crutches for a while. He was trying to get away from Olive the goat, both times.  She has it in for him every time he goes in the pen.  I told him this morning he has to stay at least 20 feet away from me from now on when we are in the pen. We'll see if that happens.  He goes in there while I'm feeding.  

Well, that's it for this post.  I will be posting a bit more regularly now, with pictures. Have a great day!