Blog Posts

August 14 - October 22, 2015

10/22/2015

My intentions of doing weekly updates have stretched to a month, and now it seems two months is the interval I can manage. Just after my last update, we had yet another scare with wildfire. On August 19th, a new fire started up the Twisp River near my studio, which was really scary. Bill and I ran up there as soon as we heard about it (about an hour after it started) and took all my yarn and some other valuables out, and got the rooftop sprinkler system running. It was all we could do, as they were evacuating the area, so we came back to Twisp, where we found out the fire was racing towards town and they were evacuating the whole valley. We loaded up all the important stuff from Bill’s office (surveying equipment, computer hard drives, etc.). By the time we finished, there was such a traffic jam that we figured we would just stay there and watch from the back porch of the local watering hole. So there we were, drinking beer and watching the town evacuate. It turned out to be OK, as the Forest Service and all the other agencies poured the resources to the fire and kept it from getting into the town. It was really a sight to behold- huge DC-10’s dropping load after load of retardant, helicopters and other planes flying everywhere, and emergency vehicles whizzing by with sirens blasting. We were relieved when it was all over that most of the houses in the area were saved, but deeply saddened to hear that 3 firefighters had died in the process.

Too close for comfort!

Meanwhile, the fire at the head of the road above the Lamb Ranch had been burning for weeks, and blew up big a few times. They said it was finally getting close to being under control, and then BAM. One night it blew up big and jumped the line and head straight towards us. This time there were lots of Forest Service crew here and they were prepared, as were we. We appreciated that they came by and talked to us about the plan for protecting our road, and each structure in particular. Bill and I told them straight off that we were not leaving this time. We felt that we had to stay to protect our new barn and our house. Since we had been watching it burn all summer, and knew from experience that we can’t count on any help, we had invested in a portable fire pump, hose and nozzles and had a drill to make sure it was all working. The Fire crews that stopped by were impressed with our set-up and said that we pretty much had it covered, and they couldn’t think of anything that we hadn’t done already. Made us feel pretty good! As it turned out, although the fire made several attempts to come over the ridge above our neighbor’s house, it was not successful, and after a few days we were in the clear again.

Even with the fires again this year, we continued working and making progress here at the ranch. Here’s a partial list:
-We got all the fencing replaced, which means that we now have a secure perimeter and nice
  sturdy cross fencing so that we can rotate pastures easily. We made sure to put in plenty of gates
which makes moving around much easier.
-Ran electrical power to the barn, chicken coop and storage shed. It’s all buried, so no wires to
break during the winter storms. We will be able to plug in all of our tank heaters, plus the tractor
  block heater.
-Re-routed a water line to provide better pressure in a section of the pasture, and also
  a water source inside the barn.
-Installed a French drain in front of the barn to prevent the snowmelt from pooling up.
-And my personal favorite, remodeled the pantry so that I now have tripled my counter space and have an extra sink!

While we had our heads down and were forging ahead with our projects, the sun has been creeping south, and Fall has arrived. We have yet to have an official freeze, but it did get down to 32.5 one night a few weeks ago. I panicked, because I had not harvested all my tomatoes yet, so ran out and put sheets over all of them. I shifted into harvest mode and started putting up every kind of tomato product you can imagine: whole, marinara, juice, ketchup, BBQ sauce, and chutney. Of course we are gorging ourselves on fresh ones, too, every chance we get. I have had to call it quits, though, because I realized that it’s almost November and I hadn’t even started any of the Fall clean-up chores yet. This warm and dry weather is very deceiving! It’s time to start raking leaves and putting the garden to bed for the winter.

I just realized that I haven’t said a word about the sheep. That’s because we have had a very easy summer with the flock. No problems, all healthy and growing nicely. We just separated them from the ewes a few weeks ago, and started the Fall butchering. We have sold out all the meat that we have available for this season, and have started a waiting list for the Spring. Many are repeat customers, so that makes us feel good. Our local yarn shop has been selling our yarn steadily all summer, and we expect to sell more now that the cool weather is here and people are starting to think about hats and sweaters. I can’t wait to get back to the studio to start washing and dyeing again.

I will be attending a seminar at the end of the month to learn more about sheep management, and some new genetic testing programs that could help us improve our fleece quality. We will be putting the rams in to breed in a few weeks, too. Still lots to do before winter sets in, so stay tuned for the next update with all the news about the Lamb Ranch.
Happy Fall everyone- stay warm!

June 19 - August 13, 2015

8/13/2015

new fence, happy sheep

I’m not doing very well on my promise for more frequent updates. We are busy managing multiple projects, as usual, and the days are just not long enough!

The lambs continue to grow and are healthy and happy. Our normal pasture rotation has been somewhat disrupted due to all the fence building, but we’re not complaining. The entire perimeter is now complete, and most of the interior cross fencing as well. It should all be done by the end of September. It’s so gratifying to see the progress and the nice new fences standing up straight. It will take some doing for any predators to get through these!

4th of July

We took a few days off to celebrate the 4th of July, which was big fun. Family and friends were here to watch the parade in town, then we all came down to the ranch and spent the afternoon at our local swimming hole (temps were 100+), followed by a BBQ on the lawn by the barn. It was really just a perfect day.
We also made time to attend one of our favorite annual events- the Methow Chamber Music Festival. It features world class musicians who spend 10 days performing chamber music all over the valley. We went to the opening night concert and the closing night performance as well. It did not disappoint!

Electrifying!

Then it was back to the grindstone. The main project for me was to clean up and organize our laundry room. It was full of junk and hadn’t really been scrubbed out for years, so I emptied it all and pulled up the old carpet. This revealed the old rotten floor, which had to be torn up, so it ended up being pretty much a complete overhaul, down to the studs. Not my area of expertise at all, but between Bill and I, we are getting it back together and it looks pretty good. Just need to assemble and install cabinets now, and touch up some final painting. It’s taken over a month, but will make my life so much better.

At the same time, we finally got around to getting electricity to the new barn. Bill dug the trench, and the electrician came and buried the line and hooked it up just yesterday. We now have outlets all over the place and can put the extension cords away. Another job checked off the list!

New mothers

I don’t have much going on in the garden this year. Since the compost pile burned up, I didn’t fertilize and it shows. A few of the essential things are doing OK- tomatoes, potatoes, beets and carrots are all thriving. Beans aren’t doing so well, but that may be because the chickens have found a way in and have been scratching up everything like crazy. We can’t seem to find where there are getting in- suspect that they are jumping over the top, but haven’t caught them red-handed yet.

Speaking of chickens, our chicks that were hatched in April are getting all grown up now, and I’m starting to hear at least of couple of them try out their crowing. That means some more roosters for the stock pot. And for some reason this has been a banner year for broody hens. I had two more go broody, so I let them have at it. The both hatched out chicks within a few days of each other- one had 2, and the other had 4. I have put them together in the small pen, and although they tolerate each other, they don’t really get along. The Cuckoo Maran is definitely the dominant one- she will jump all over the Red Sussex if she feels that her space is being infringed upon. They are both very good with the chicks, though, and are all getting enough to eat and drink, so as soon as the chicks are big enough to avoid the cat, I’ll let them outside.

Mr. Frog

We continue to see changes since last year’s fire. The hillsides were green with new growth this Spring, but unfortunately much of it was the dreaded mustard weed. They are dried up now, and any time there is a gust of wind, they form tumbleweeds which for some reason all end up in our driveway. At one point, there was a wall of tumbleweed about 6 ft high! And our irrigation diversion box has a lot more algae in it this year. We figure that since the trees that used to shade the creek are gone now, it is exposed to sunlight which has increased the algae growth considerably. There is one little guy who seems to like it, though. I clean the screens daily, and for the past few weeks have seen a small frog clinging to the screen and sometimes sitting on top, as in this photo. I know there are many more like him around here, because at dusk and on into the early evening it is a symphony of frogs and other insects.

That’s all for now. Stay tuned for the next update!

April 24 - June 18, 2015

6/18/2015

Enjoying some shade

Springtime is always busy around here, and this year is no exception. Every week I think I will update the blog, and now two months have gone by! First item of business is to give the final lamb report- total count is 22. For some reason it was really lopsided as far as gender goes. 18 males, and only 6 females. Two of the males are black, all the other lambs are white. There were 8 sets of twins and 6 singles. This was the best year ever in terms of health and good mothering. All of the mothers are excellent, and all the lambs were large and healthy. They were all born during the daytime hours, between 6 am and 4 pm. Couldn’t ask for better than that! I stuck around pretty closely and we had a pretty good system. The pasture was divided with the electric fence, so that all the ewes were in the area near the barn. I could easily see when they were starting labor and would let them have their lambs outside on the nice green pasture. (The weather was beautiful the whole 3 weeks). I’d give them an hour or two together to let the lambs get up on their feet, then I’d bring the lamb down to the barn, with Mama closely following, and put them in the temporary lambing pens we had set up. After 24 hrs of observation to make sure that they were bonding and eating, they got to re-join the flock. It all went very smoothly, and we are really pleased to not have to deal with bottle feeding.

Cormo x Romney lamb

One thing we are particularly excited about is that we have 3 lambs from our new Cormo ram, Manny. He was only 9 months old when we started breeding and we weren’t going to even try with him this year as we figured he was too young and still pretty small. We put him in with the other ram and ewes just to see what would happened, but our new dog, Callie, was getting a little rough with him so we took him out after only 2 days. He was in an area by himself, and he busted out and got into the other side of the barn where we have our non-breeding sheep. There was one particular ewe that he was enamored with – a smaller 2 year old- so we thought, why not? We put her in with him, and ended up with a single lamb. We noticed that he has a pink nose, a Cormo feature, and also noticed that a set of twins from the main flock had the same, so little Manny must have had success with one ewe while he was in with the others for those 2 days. These lambs are Cormo x Romney crosses, and should have some really nice fleeces. Can’t wait to see what they look like!!!

Our booth at the Fiber Festival

All during lambing, I was deep into planning for our local Fiber Festival, which took place on May 30-31, and was a big success. We had about 400 attendees, and everyone loved the Agriplex as a venue. There were lots of really wonderful raffle prizes, and the winners were thrilled. It was a lot of work, but it paid off. We are already starting to plan for next year.

New Fence

At the same time all this was going on, we got started on our fence building. I should say the guys we hired to build fence got started. It was hard for Bill to let someone else do this job, but it was the only way it was going to happen, and we desperately needed to replace the burned up fencing and finish the new section that we started last year. The crew of two guys got all the perimeter finished and it looks great. We will be doing the interior dividing fences ourselves as we have time. The list of things to do is still so long we can't see the end, but we're plugging away a little at a time. We did manage to get a new compost containment area done, and it is really nice. Close to the barn, but still out of the way and easy access for the tractor. Can't wait until Fall to get some of it spread on the garden!

New compost pile.

We recently had some excitement when I went to the basement to get something and saw a dark spot on the stairs in the dim light. After waiting a minute for my eyes to adjust, I thought it looked like a snake, and a pretty big one! I tippy toed backwards up the stairs and got a flashlight and sure enough, it was just sitting on the cool concrete step, not moving, just looking at me. I went and got Bill, and he said "Holy Cow, that's a rattlesnake!" I couldn't believe it, as I have never seen one in the almost 8 years I've been here, and certainly didn't expect my first sighting to be in my own house! Bill grew up with them, though, and he calmly grabbed a shovel and dispatched it swiftly. He normally doesn't like to kill any kind of animal (he's even been known to keep black widow spiders as pets), but we draw the line at rattlesnakes, especially in the house. That's all for now- I will try to update more frequently, so stay tuned to this blog for all the latest news from the Lamb Ranch.

Unwelcome guest

April 5-23, 2015

4/23/2015

The morning shift- 3 hrs of hard labor and they're still smiling!

Just another reason I love this Valley: where else does your Internet Service Provider bring their entire staff to your house to do yard work for a day? 9 people showed up last Wednesday, shovels in hand, and went to work. We got leaves raked, weeds pulled and made a huge dent in the giant patch of mullein in the new upper pasture. Thank You Jeff and Maria at Methownet for such a great donation to the Kiwanis fundraiser! Keeping weeds under control without using chemicals is basically all about manual labor- not difficult, but takes time. The results are very satisfying, though. Only a couple of years ago we had thick patches of thistle and mullein in a couple of pastures, and now they are completely clear. I predict that the work we just did will mean that this new pasture will be clear of weeds in one more year.

Mullein casualties on the battlefield...

Waiting patiently

Every day has been so full that I hardly know where to start- the sun has been shining and I realized that I had better get my seedlings started before summer is here. We got the greenhouse up and I mixed up my secret recipe of starting mix. The little seeds must be happy, because they are sprouting up all over the place.

Another thing that is sprouting up are lambs! We had our first lamb right on schedule Saturday afternoon, followed by twins on Sunday morning, a single on Monday, and a single and pair of twins on Tuesday. Whew. Yesterday the ewes took a day off and so far we have none today. This is definitely the year of the ram- we have 6 males and only 1 female so far, and all white. Usually it's split pretty evenly with a few black ones. There are about 4 ewes who are so close, and I expect to see them have their lambs in the next few days, so time will tell. I'm posting some videos below. One is a few days after shearing, in the early morning when it was still cool and the yearlings were feeling frisky and happy to be free of their heavy coats. The other is from yesterday, when some of the lambs were playing in the shade under the willow tree. They are about 3 days old and just full of spit and vinegar.

March 12 - April 4, 2015

4/5/2015

Apricot flowers

Happy easter everyone! It's a glorious morning as I write this, sun shining, sheep running and jumping around the pasture, glad to be free of their heavy winter coats. Even the pregnant ewes, heavy with their lambs, have a spring in their step. We saw the first hummingbird of the year hovering around the deck, and Bill leaped up and dug out the feeder and filled it up, even before he put the bacon on. Now that's excitement for you!
Spring came very early this year- all the snow was gone by mid-March, and everything has started blooming already. Daffodils were up about a week ago, and the apricot tree is in full bloom. The hillsides that were so brown after the fire are sprouting with new green growth, which is so nice to see.

New fence

I have been working on getting the garden ready. The fence was damaged from the fire last year, and the chickens had got in and made a mess of things, but they are good at eating the bugs (they especially like the big juicy cutworms) so I let them forage around until I got the fence repaired. We had our fabulous helpless, Fernando and Tino, come and build new fence in the entire lower pasture, including the garden, which they just finished a few days ago. It is so nice to have a secure fence for the rams, and a garden that is chicken-proof. The day I locked the garden gate the hens were furious with me. I was inside, getting the beds shaped up, and they were clucking and squawking all around the perimeter, so angry with me!

Yesterday was shearing day, which is always something we look forward to, and are happy to be done with. This year we had 40 sheep, which is a record for us. Our shearer, Martin, was very happy with the new barn and shearing platform. The sun was streaming in and made everything bright and cheerful. It's always fun to see the young ones jump around when their coats are off, and now we can get a good look at the ewes to see how they are coming along. Some of them are really big- first lambs are due in about 2 weeks, and we're expecting lots of twins! I've put some pictures and a video below.

I sent off another 25 lbs of fiber to be made into yarn- 9 more colors. I'm also trying out something new this year- quilting batts, wool mattress pads and pillows. I'll have samples back before the Fiber Festival, and be able to take custom orders. We're eager to see what people think of them. Meanwhile, we are plugging away with Spring chores. We'll have help in a couple of weeks, thanks to our friends at Methownet. We went to a fundraiser and bid on the best auction item ever. Our local internet service provider donated the labor of their entire staff (9 people) for a half day of yard work help. That's 27 person-hours! They will be here on the 15th, and I have a big list of chores waiting for them. We'll take lots of photos and post them on the next blog report. Meanwhile, Happy Spring everyone!

February 16 - March 11, 2015

3/11/2015

beautiful colors

Spring has caught us all off guard this year- it's about a month early and nobody is ready! We aren't complaining, though, as our wood pile was dwindling fast. We've gone 2 days in a row without building a fire in the wood stove. I spent a couple of days working outside in a t-shirt. It was so satisfying to get the garden cleaned up from last Fall. I even found some garlics that I had missed and was able to transplant them into a new bed. It's only been a few days, but they look like they will make it. The main issue now is how to keep the chickens out of the garden. Every time I get a bed cleaned up and smoothed over, they dig it up and make a mess. We are going to get the fence repaired soon, so that is a good excuse for me to hold off until then.

Speaking of chickens, I am sad to report that we had a skunk get into the coop a few nights ago and kill two hens. It dug underneath the wall and got inside. I plugged the hole with rocks and bricks, and hopefully it won't happen again. So frustrating! We still have 15 hens who are doing a great job. Our egg count is about 8-11 per day, so we are giving them away as fast as we can, and eating lots of egg salad.

Most of my time has been devoted to dyeing, and I am so excited about the results. I sent off the first batch and got it back in a record 9 days!! I was using indigo and lichen in various strengths to get lovely shades of blues and turquoise and lime green. The photo here is a poor representation, but you can get the idea. My friends from Bellingham came over last week and helped with the next batch, which is purple/pink/lavender (cochineal, logwood and indigo). I can hardly wait to get this yarn back- it will be delicious…

I also had some smaller batches of colored fleece that was not enough for yarn, so I had it made into roving. Those are fabulous, too.

shearing platform almost done

In addition to dyeing, my friends helped out at the ranch one day and built a new shearing platform. It's just in time, as we will be shearing on April 4th. And Mary got the rest of the wood sealer on the door lumber so I can finish building the last two doors. I got one done just yesterday, and will hopefully finish up the last one on Friday. We are realizing that we just don't have enough time to do everything ourselves, so this year we're hiring a couple of guys to help build fence. They will start later this week, which is much earlier than we thought. And the local Feed Store is giving us a nice discount on materials, so we should be in good shape.

Squirrel leftovers

As the snow melts and the tender green grass makes it's appearance, we are able to see what was living under the snow all winter. Lots of mice trails in the dry grass, and some evidence that something was living in the old burned up plastic pipe that we left up by the irrigation box. There was a big pile of pine cone pieces at both ends. Probably a squirrel.

That's all for now- every day brings new growth and surprises, so stay tuned for the next installment in a few weeks. Happy Spring everyone!

January 12 - February 15, 2015

2/15/2015

Early Spring picnic on the deck with friends

It's only mid-February, but it certainly seems like Spring is almost here. Although the temperatures have been pretty mild, it's been a rather gloomy winter. It seemed like almost every day was thick fog and dampness. We look forward to January 19th every year because that is the day the sun stays above the hill to the south and we get sun all day. Except this year we had to wait several weeks to see it. But today, February 15th, the sun came out in all it's glory and we have smiles on our faces that just won't go away! And the forecast is for the same all week. The snow is melting off in rivers, and parts of the pasture are starting to open up. I swear, the sheep are smiling, too.

sun dried sheets!

Other signs of Spring are evident as well- pussywillow buds are appearing, the first Robin of the year stopped by and sang us a song last evening, and the chickadees are singing their Springtime tunes as well. There is a pair of red-tailed hawks soaring around, and this morning Bill spotted a bald eagle walking around in the upper pasture just at first light. The yearling sheep are frisky, running around in gangs and butting heads once in a while just because they can, and the dogs are playful. I was very pleased to see my rosemary plant emerge from the melting snow with some green leaves- I think it survived the winter, which is unusual in these parts. I was so thrilled to see the sun that I put the laundry out to dry for the first time since last year. Now that the vegetation is gone from the steep hillsides, we are hearing lots of rocks tumbling down at random intervals. As the ground thaws out, it heaves and moves and rocks get dislodged from their perches and roll down into the road. Sometimes it's quite an obstacle course just to get down to the highway.

After the holidays I finally had time to start working on wool again. We lost most of our 2014 fleeces in the fire, but I had a few set aside and some from previous years so there is enough to work with until we shear in April. I have a pretty nice routine of full days at the studio on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays, and half days on Tuesday and Thursday. So far I've managed to wash about 45 lbs and switched over to dye mode last week. I splurged on a nice big stainless steel pot (100 quarts!) that allows me to dye 2 lbs at a time. I'm starting with indigo, and when that's all used up I'll switch to a yellow- probably weld. I'll overdye some of the indigo blues to get pretty greens. I've got my madder pot going, too, to extract the dye from the ground up roots. I should be ready to start using that next week. I'm on a big push to get enough yarn and roving to fill my booth for the Fiber Festival at the end of May.

If this weather continues, I'll be able to get into the garden and do all the cleanup that I didn't have time for last Fall. And I see that all the leaves that fell on the ground are still there waiting for me to rake them. I will be glad to get a new leaf compost pile going- the last one was so wonderful. It was one of the things I was saddest about losing, since it takes about 3-4 years to really get perfect.

Stay tuned for the next update. The next few months are going to be very busy- gardening, shearing, then lambs!

December 16, 2014 - January 11, 2015

1/11/2015

All Hillbillied up

The last few weeks have flown by, as usual. We worked right up to the Christmas holiday, then took a break to spend time with family (they came to us, as we can't leave the sheep for more than a day). Our main focus was to get the rest of our hay in the loft, which we were eager to do because the bales were being stored in our neighbor's hay shed and getting torn apart by the hungry deer. We get our hay from our neighbors just a mile up the road, which is really convenient, since we don't have a trailer to haul it with. Our method is to just do what Bill calls "getting all hillbillied up" in the old Ford F150. We chug up the road with it and load it to the gills with hay (we can get about 35 bales at a time), then slowly creep down the road with our heavy load, turn the sharp corner into our driveway and hope that the top bales don't fall off, and gun it for the final little slope up to the barn. (It's not usually such a precarious ordeal, but this year we are so late that there is snow everywhere and the old Ford is only 2WD). Normally we would be doing this during the summertime when the hay is cut.) Once there, our new barn design allows us to back right inside, put the hay elevator on the tailgate of the truck and send the bales straight into the loft! It's slick as a whistle. We spent two weekends doing this, for a total of 497 bales.

Barn doors are closed

Work on the barn itself has slowed, as it's done enough to get through the winter. We just this weekend put the remaining siding and the last door up so that we could keep the ewes outside during the day. They get spoiled sitting in the barn all day and make a big mess. All that remains to do now is get the last of the framework up for the upper sections of clear siding, and then put the siding on. And of course get some electricity in. But all that can wait until Spring. We have a temporary electric cord strung up that supplies the trough heaters and a string of lights, which is all that we need for now.

Deer outside bathroom window

Winter has been pretty gentle to us this year, with only some brief periods of severe cold, and even then the temps barely dipped below 0 degrees. It's mostly been hovering just below freezing, which is nice for all the animals. The chickens get outside in the snow and peck around, although I don't imagine they are finding much to eat. And there is a little family of about 4 deer hanging around nibbling on anything they can get to. It's pretty slim pickings, but they are finding fir needles and digging through the snow for leaves and such. Our group of chicks that hatched just after the fire are all grown up now and starting to lay eggs. There turned out to be 6 roosters in the group, which is just too upsetting to the hens. There is always a ruckus of some sort between them, and the crowing is enough to drive one crazy, so we butchered them this weekend. I saved the meat and am going to make some chicken sausage, and the bones will make plenty of good chicken stock. Not much goes to waste around here.

Now that the barn is usable, the hay is in the loft and the sun is starting to peek over the hill to the south, I finally have time to actually do something with the few fleeces that I managed to save from the fire. I started washing them this past week, and will be doing some dyeing when that's done. I'm also devoting much of my time to helping plan the Fiber Festival that will take place in May at our local fairgrounds. So things are starting to feel like normal again, and that is good.

Stay tuned for more updates in a few weeks, and Happy New Year to all of our readers!

November 18 - December 16, 2014

12/16/2014

Liza and Manny on their first date

This past month has seen lots of progress. The weekend before Thanksgiving our loyal friends Jeff and Maria showed up on a Sunday to help us make the final push that we needed to get the second side of the barn done enough to split the flock so all the sheep could have room at their feeders and we could finally start breeding. Thanks to our friends, we got two feeder bunks in place, built and hung two more doors and did a lot of cleanup. They assisted with sorting and trimming up the yearlings, and then we brought our ram, JC, up from the lower pasture. He sure was happy to see his girlfriends, and went to work right away! We put our new little ram, Manny, in with them also, but JC wasn't letting him get anywhere with the ladies. Besides, the puppy, Callie, still needs supervision around the younger sheep and was starting to get aggressive with Manny, so we separated him into his own space adjacent to the others and let him have a smaller yearling ewe for company. We hope that they will breed so we can see what the resulting wool looks like. (Any resulting lambs will be a cross between Romney and Cormo).

Nap time

All three dogs are now with the breeding ewes and JC. At 7 months, Callie is almost as big as Cas, but is definitely still a puppy in every way. She still will try to nip at the sheep and pull on their wool, but the old ewes have plenty of experience with dogs and they just stare at her and stomp their feet, at which point she usually decides that maybe it's a better idea to find something else to do. JC head butted her the first time she tried it with him and she has left him alone ever since. She is pretty good about finding something to play with, like her chew toy or a random stick from the willow tree. It's hard being a puppy, full of curiosity and energy with only a couple of old dogs who are not the least bit interested in playing! She runs off her energy, then crashes into a deep sleep on the dry straw bed we made for the dogs. Even then, though, she has one eye open, as I have seen her jump up at the slightest unusual sound.

All lit up!

After we got the sheep separated, I took a week or so off from barn building to get ready for Thanksgiving. We had the dinner at our studio with Bill's family and our friends Jeff and Maria. Bill's niece had just returned from two years teaching in Japan, so it was good to have them all here. And I have to say, it was very nice to take a break from working outside in below freezing temperatures and spend a few days in a nice warm kitchen. After the holiday we have continued working on the barn, but at a reduced pace. We got the clear polycarbonate siding on the uphill side, which was pretty exciting. It keeps the wind out, and lets lots of light in. We had a period of below 0 degree days where I discovered that breaking the ice on the water troughs was not going to work out. I spent 4 hours one day, and a couple of hours for several other days and figured I had better ways to spend my time. So I found some low wattage trough heaters and ordered a 250 ft length of very heavy electrical cord and made my own extension cord that just reaches from the house to the barn. It's big enough to power two trough heaters and the temporary string of lights that we have hung up, which is very nice. We are becoming very civilized! I have even taken a couple of days off to clean and organize the house, which is really a satisfying thing to do.

A river runs through it

Just when we were starting to feel like we could relax a little, we had another episode that made us realize that things are going to be different for quite some time. A few years ago the Forest Service logged an area upstream from us, and it burned this summer. Now there is nothing to hold the water and every time it rains the runoff creates a stream that goes into the county road and back into McFarland Creek. This wreaks havoc with our water system. We had some unseasonably warm temperatures last week along with rain, and it was a mess. The creek was a swollen churning mass of brown water, and the county road above us turned into a river bed. The silt plugged up our buried pipes again, and it took a few days to get them cleared out. I think we will be dealing with this again in the Spring when the snow melts. But the good news is that as soon as the rain stopped, the road dried up and the next day the creek was running clear as could be.

Happiness is a full hayloft

This past weekend we achieved another milestone- we got hay stowed in the hayloft. We have been getting one truckload at a time for the past couple of months, but we finally got our new hay elevator assembled and tried it out. It works great, and we now have over 200 bales in the loft with room for more. We'll do more next weekend which should be enough to get through the rest of the winter. Having a full hayloft is the best Christmas present ever!

We will have Christmas at our studio, with Katie's family who will be staying for about a week. It will be nice to have them here. We wish all of our friends and readers a very happy holiday season and look forward to updating you in the New Year.

NOvember 1-17. 2014

11/19/2014

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First breakfast in the new barn!

This past weekend the sheep moved into their new barn! We are far from done, but made a big effort to get one side of it contained enough for them to get inside and eat out of the feeder bunks. Just in the nick of time, as the weather turned cold about a week ago- down to single digits at night, barely above freezing during the day. Bill really got a workout pounding the fence posts in to the frozen ground. The sheep don't care so much, but the dogs are really in need of shelter from the wind. They all have nice straw beds now, and the water trough is in a place where it is easier to maintain. It's too late to get electric service to the barn, as the ground is frozen solid and we can't dig the trench for the power line, so we won't have trough heaters this winter. That means breaking the ice every day, but it's not so bad as we have a hose with running water for filling. That sure beats hauling 5 gallon buckets from the creek, which is what we did a few years ago.

It's been slow going the past couple of weeks, mostly due to the cold weather. I have been bundling up in my Alaskan gear (insulated Carhartt coveralls, Sorrell boots and insulated leather gloves), which is keeping me toasty warm, but it's hard to move around and use hammer and nails. The air compressors are freezing up, which means no nail gun. We are figuring out that we have to bring all that equipment into the basement at night to thaw out. But in spite of all the challenges, we are happy to see the progress each day. We hope to have the other side of the barn ready by next weekend, which means that we can split the sheep up and let our very frustrated ram, JC, start breeding. He has busted out of his pasture twice now trying to get to the ewes, but I managed to catch him both times.

learning how to sort fleece

I took one weekend off early this month to attend a fiber sorting and grading class in the Okanogan Highlands. I learned so much about fiber and what makes good quality yarn. We covered everything from the chemistry of fibers (right down to the molecular structure), to the physical properties of the individual fiber, to the way fibers act when they are spun together, and lots more. All with the goal of getting a superior end product. I am so excited to use what I learned this winter when I process the few remaining fleeces that I have. Not only was the class fun, but I had never been to Molson, a very small town near the Canadian border. It's referred to as a ghost town, but there are still a few people living there, and they have an historic Grange Hall that is fully functional and used for all kinds of community events. The kitchen has an old wood fired cooking stove that is still used from time to time. One of our instructors said the area was very much like the Scottish Highlands.

Lucky!

In other news around the ranch, we took Callie in for spaying last week. She is 6 months old now, and 63 lbs! She is going to be a big girl. She got to spend the night in the house after her operation, but went back outside the next day. She was in a small area that we separated off to keep her from being too active for the first few days, and she did remarkably well. She was quite content to be there, didn't mind her cone, and was very well behaved. I'm glad we got her spayed sooner rather than later, as we have seen a coyote lurking around.

Our little wood stove is keeping the house cozy- a toasty 70+ degrees inside, 8 degrees outside. Not bad for an 80 year old house with sawdust for insulation. Plus it's the perfect temperature underneath for raising bread dough and keeping boots warm. And of course our cat, Lucky, has made it his spot for the winter.

I am posting this on November 19th- it's Bill's birthday today! I'm making his favorite meatball recipe, with fresh homemade pasta. We are having Thanksgiving with his family next week, and are reflecting on how much we have to be thankful for, especially with all that happened this year. We are full of gratitude to all of our family and friends who helped us recover from the fire, including those who sent their thoughts and prayers from afar. It has made all the difference and been a big part of what has kept us going. Stay tuned for more updates in a couple of weeks.

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Life on the Ranch

This Blog is intended to be a summary of the events of daily life that take place on our ranch. We hope you find it interesting - feel free to comment if you like.