Weaning Week!

All 8 lambs grew fast and furious.
They had SOOOOOO much fun sliding down the "buffalo jump" cliff in our pasture and romping through the cotton wood grove.
My folks visited from WA state and enjoyed their antics.
The neighbors called to say how much they enjoyed their antics too. Alas....it all has to end too soon!


Our barn gets full real fast when 8 new sheep start growing. This spring, sheep flock grew from 6 to 14 and the barn was getting swampy! We shut all in at night as predator control, so..... healthy barn space is important! Plus at 5 weeks, it was time to start milking the maiden ewes. After weeks of slowly teaching the ewes to get on a stand, endure headgates, and listen to a compressor hum....it was time to wean some babies.


Thankfully Tyler Tucker of Tucker Family farms in Victor MT(near Missoula) is building his milking flock. He bought all 4 ewe lambs. Our friend, Lynda Henning in Great Falls wanted new spinning fleeces in her "spinners flock" so the black boys: Chrome and Zorro went to her ranch.

Chrome and Zorro

sheep in a jeep

Tyler Tucker and creamery foundation

Tucker Family Farms

Last week was a whirlwind of concerts with our kids, rain, lamb placements and milking stressed ewes. My new "school mowing job" was supposed to start.....but rain put that on hold long enough for us to haul 4 sad lambs  in the back of the jeep to Victor. 

A long(and noisy!) day of 11 hours of driving. But....seeing Tyler's new creamery and milk parlor going up and his flock of 100 dairy sheep gave us great delight! He should be licensed to make and sell cheese by summer's end. Look for artisan sheep cheese under the Tucker Family Farm label from their website or Missoula and Hamilton shops.

Sheep dairying is taking off in Montana! We are so excited! A couple months back the first sheep dairy was licensed at Poor Orphan Creamery near Bozeman. Lark Smothermon milks Icelandics in a portable, open air parlor and sells cheese and fabulous fleeces through her website.Check out the youtube video of her parlor.

I digress.......So our pasture is less eventful than it was for those fast 6 weeks of lamb races. But the barn smells better and is less crowded. And milking is progressing.

Haynes' Merinos

MAWS was a great success and loads of fun. I especially enjoyed meeting new fiber folks in this region. And everyone enjoyed the tour at Beaverslide Drygoods  as we met sheep ranchers Leanne and John Haynes of Dupuyer. They have made raising Delaine Merino sheep for fiber, and turning it into excellent yarn, their ranch focus. All for the love of sheep.  Happy Summer!

Beaverslide drygoods

Haynes Merinos

milkers deserve their clover patch!

Mothers and Good Shepherds

Lambing went fast and well here this year! All 3 ewes are first-timers or "maiden ewes". Sugar lambed first all by herself; a set of twin, white ewes. Unfortunately, about 8 hours into mothering, she rejected one. That one came in the house as a "diaper-lamb" and learned how to take a bottle for a few days...... Much to the delight of the grandkids!

Dinah was getting a bit ketotic and we started energy drenches. She did get all 3 babies out finally after several hours of labor. She was exhausted and I pulled the final big boy. She has 2 boys and a girl-the boys are black and spotted!


A week went by and we got our house-lamb back out to the barn to be a sheep....but we still bottle her often. The other ewes started settling into their mothering routine together away from the main pasture. After 4 tries we finally got a temporary "mothering-pen" up that Sugar didn't tear down!
       
On Mother's day we woke to a white-out blizzard. It looked impressive as we drove to town, but fortunately, didn't stick much.
After church we let out the ewes, and as Lucy left the  barn, we noticed a baby hanging out her backside! She wasn't due for a week!

She lambed white triplets on Mother's Day/Good Shepherd Sunday! What an appropriate day!
All sheep are together, and doing well now. We just got them back onto the main pasture with the grandmas and hope they don't crawl thru the fence to visit our horses!

COMING SOON!!
MAWS-Montana Assoc. of Weavers and Spinners is holding their biennial conference in Great Falls June 5-8. It is at Heritage Inn. Just google them for more info.
They have opened up single-class registrations for those who do not want to pay for the whole conference. Email Cathy at  tuliplefleur@earthlink.net for info on single classes. See the website for class offerings; a wide array from shibori dyeing to lace weaving and wheel mechanics.

I am leading a "Meet the Sheep" tour to Beaverslide Drygoods on Saturday, June 7. Plus--I will deliver a  "World of Fiber" slide show on Friday night as keynote speaker.
Hope to see you there!

Happy Easter!!

Our ewes find some greens as  "neighbors" pay a call!

felt snakes!

Grass is finally greening here in central Montana and the trees have wee buds popping. We green up later than other places I have known.....but once its time, the resident flora dash madly towards summer. The dash has begun! For the last month the weather didn't always look like spring--but our full calendar certainly heralded the season!

NeedleFelt wizards!

I enjoyed participating in Highwood School's Art week in early April by teaching 3 Fiber Felting workshops. K-2nd graders made wool bead bracelets; 3-5 graders made wooly snakes and the Highschoolers certainly dove into needle-felting in a huge way! What fun to teach the basics of wool and of the ancient art of felting!

100 years ago, 819,000 sheep lived in our county! That is a LOT of sheep! We are pleased to be a very small part of that heritage and appreciate the opportunities to again kindle interest in shepherding.

May 1, we plan to help out at Choteau County Extension  Ag day for county 4th graders. We'll talking about sheep and wool.

June 6, I will be Keynote speaker at the Montana Association of Weavers and Spinners Biennial Conference in Great Falls. See their website for class info and registration.
This event is at Heritage Inn and features a dizzying lineup of amazing fiber arts classes. Everything from kumihimo braiding to wrapped fiber dollmaking, lace weaving and more!

Visiting freinds

I will speak about Fiber Farmers Around the World in honor of the UN International Year of the Family Farm.There will be plenty of photos courtesy Wild Fibers magazine. And I will lead a "Meet the Sheep" tour to a local Merino Ranch that markets their wool as lovely custom yarn in a nearby shop.

Our lambs are ready to pop. Apparently the young, vertically challenged ram we brought in last winter was able to fulfill his "obligations" pretty handily! Our 3 maiden ewes are  full of babies and filling with milk.
All are healthy so far and we look forward to a good lambing. However, we DO NOT look forward to training 3 youngsters to the milkstand! And, for the first time I will train all 3 to a machine milker--God willing!

Special Easter Guest

Easter was lovely here and we were joined by a special guest from our son's family--Rainbow the preemie goat! Her presence at table made the occasion complete!

Cascarones Easter Eggs

Easter Kids at Play

Egg Hunts

Rainbow the Goatling

Springy Kids

Needlefelting with highschoolers

felt snake handlers!

felt bead bracelets!

felt beads are good clean fun!

Shearing Day! New CSA

Beulah before her beauty clip

Beulah get a "do"

If you want rain--wash your car.....

If you want snow--shear your sheep!
We did not really want snow!
In fact, we had just melted out from under at least a foot. And the ground was actually thawing enough for it to soak in!

So, after a couple warm days of psyche-thawing, sun, we tempted fate and had she sheep sheared!

"You want to do what??"

Wooly Lucy

Sugar in Wool

Sugar gets out of wool

Of course, actually...... this was the only time our college-age shearer could do the chore on his spring break. So we really had no choice. And we are REALLY grateful temps did begin to rise before we sheared. But.....my ewes were questioning the authenticity of their shepherd the next morning when we awoke to about an inch of crusty snow.
But, it melted out fast and we are back to relatively temperate times now. SO they can all adjust to their new sleek selves.

Miracle diet!! Dinah sheds 15 lbs!

Josh Pekukonis is studying horticulture at MSU and is shearing his way through college. Even as he raises Navajo-Churros amongst other things.
He is a dandy shearer; careful and gentle. The sheep look like they are ready for a show! And the fleeces are gorgeous.

We started a Montana Wool CSA this year and have sold 2 already. there are only 3 left! Check out the new CSA page for details.

Fresh Food Forum in Great Falls was about more than food this year! We had a super time connecting with many young families and others interested in supporting their local farmers. What a great way to start spring!
I met so many interesting people and talked about everything from cheesemaking to herbs. Watch for the Sunburst Unlimited's Fall Harvest Festival for another round of great, growers gatherings!

3 lovely coiffed young ladies

Nun Island and Fresh Food!

We recently enjoyed a trip to our "coastal" home, near Seattle. We lived most of our lives in the Puget Sound region and have myriad family and friends in the area still. So....in spite of their winter rains.... a trip home sounded like a break from our Montana winter "snows and lows." We were not disappointed in the rain department. And though the greenery and February shoots breaking the moist soil were a welcome sight; the rain and bumper to bumper traffic soon cast our thoughts towards our Montana home. But, we really were glad to see many friends and family.
A major highlight was our stay at Our Lady of the Rock Monastery in the San Juan islands. We are Benedictine Oblates of this Monastery, so our visit was welcome by us and our community there. Last time we visited, we had our son's family with us and our grandkids dubbed Shaw island where the Monastery is located, "nun island".
Off to "nun island" we went in a downpour. And, though more rain was on the menu, the clouds broke as we neared the Anacortes ferry dock. Our voyage was rocky with whitecaps and rough water in the straits and island passages. But....sun illuminating water and sky gave stunning colors only available in that land of rain.
At the monastery farm, seven nuns work hard raising Costwold sheep and wool, raw Jersey milk, hogs and poultry. They also chant their prayers for the world in Latin, seven times a day. Three farm-interns were excitedly preparing for their first lambing! The curly, natural color and white fleeces of Costwolds bring good money, as do the breeding animals.  Sophia, a white ewe, was in "lambing mode" the first day of our visit and all guesthouse-"hands" were on deck to interpret her every move. When all the interns had given up watching, Sophia lambed twin white ewe lambs. A nice treat! They are so darn curly!We were also treated to more sun than forecast and some excellent winter beach time.




Back home in Montana the snow keeps piling up. We are 1 foot above normal! March has come in roaring like a polar bear with negative temps in the 20's.
But.....next Saturday, March 8, is the Fresh Food Forum at Great Falls MSU campus. This wonderful, free event features local family farmers selling product or teaching and is the perfect way to look toward spring.  Gardens from Garbage hosts the event and offers a day of inexpensive, family-oriented gardening classes on many springy topics. Local growers will have plant starts available.

I will be hosting a table for Heifer International. HI has been fighting hunger through agriculture and education for decades and I volunteer for them periodically. Check out their website for more info.
I also will be hosting a table for our small sheep farm and will have many of the items on this blogsite available for purchase.
Think Green for Spring!

Under Brigid's Cloak

"Fa bhrat Bhrighde! Be under Brigid's cloak!" is an ancient Irish blessing. Today, Feb. 1, is St Brigid's Day. She is one of my favorite saints for many reasons: she's Irish; she was known for hospitality, generosity, careful animal care, justice and faith. Brigid started a great center of Christian life at Kildare in Ireland and most likely presided over male and female monastics there. She was devoted to perpetual praise of God, oversaw spectacular illuminated manuscripts--some believe The Book of Kells to be from her Foundation. She is called "The Mary of the Gaels" after one of the many legends surrounding her life and may well have been ordained a Bishop. She is the ultimate" renaissance man"--long before the "renaissance"--and definitely not a man. Her cloak had  many legends associated with it, one of them being that the stars of the Christmas sky were placed on it by the Holy family themselves. To "be under her cloak" was a warm greeting of blessing between friends.

We too rest under a sparkling starry cloak this season. The winter cloak of brilliant white comes and goes here in central Montana, but our meadow wears it throughout the season even when other areas periodically melt out. Today, with 8 new inches and single digit temps, millions upon millions of stars glitter across the hillsides and cliffs, flatland and trees. The pervasive, white and shining mantle reminds me of Brigid's purity and generosity, as well as the steady coming of the light at this halfway mark between Winter Solstice and Spring equinox.

This season, which the ancient Irish called Imbolc, is the traditional start of lambing season in many parts of the world and also in Montana. Many shepherd friends are already sleeplessly keeping special watch on their flocks by night and day. I recently visited our friend Geraldine's ranch, Montana Aerie. Geraldine and husband, Tom Key, raise registered Columbia and Border Leicester sheep. Their new lambing barn is a windless and warm haven for their rounded ewes. St. Brigid's cloak hovers over them as well.


Tomorrow, the Christian church celebrates the Feast of the Dedication, when the infant Jesus was presented in the Temple according to Jewish law. While there, his parents met 2 prophets, Simeon and Anna who   prophesied memorable words concerning Jesus. He is  "the Light" according to Simeon, bringing full clarity to the many "light celebrations" around the world at this time. Each scintillating point, in our winter "Brigid's cloak" of snow, reminds me of that Light. We are ALL under His Light.

Happy Holy Days

A whirlwind autumn gave way to winter last week. A visit from mom for Thanksgiving, record low temps in early December( negative 35), a new job, Advent, and more have filled our days to bursting.
We have been blessed with a traintrip to the North Pole with the grandkids, good theatre, music and hard work. Advent was white here and so is Christmas. Weather has varied from near +60 to negative 40 in the past few weeks. Must be Montana!
The sheep do well in this weather with their full winter woolies on. The horses have done very well also in spite of amazing white eyelashes and hoarfrost faces during "the negatives". I hope to get time for spinning and weaving now that the Holidays are fading. God's  blessings to all during this season of quiet.


Hoarfrost Harvy-negative 35

Wearin' woolies to the North Pole



Fiber-like icecrystals on the grass



shoveling for the sheep