Lingering Fog

Today, we have a fog lingering over the area. It's supposed to be clearing - but I don't see any signs of it. With the temperature hovering just under freezing, the fog is creating a beautiful frost on everything. If only the sun would come out - the effect would be so dazzling.
The picture above is of the trees around the pond, and all the frost clinging to the branches.

I so badly would like to take a walk in my woods with the camera, and take pictures of the fog and frost on the trees. However, I am not supposed to walk long distances yet, so , I have to be
content with a picture from the backyard.


The picture below is of the edge of the pond, looking out into the field. The fog is still fairly thick,
and it's now almost 4 pm. Most of our snow (we had almost 12" of the white stuff), was washed away in the rain on December 23rd. The winds were horrendous - I'll have to check for downed trees in the woods next time I'm out. Tomorrow, they are calling for freezing drizzle. Yippee. It's a good thing I don't have to go anywhere for the next little while.


I'm looking forward to going out to the barn again in the next few days. Right now, we've been rotating the sheep on who gets to go outside, and who doesn't. Rams one day - ewes the next.
Since the pond is frozen, I have to lock the back pasture to keep the young sheep off of it, so I no longer have a buffer area between the boys and girls - this way keeps my fences from being torn up by randy rams.

I also did a bit of spinning today - I've been wanting to spin since the day after my surgery. It
went quite well. Mostly, I reclined in my big chair - and did a really long draw on the yarn.
It was very relaxing, and as a matter of fact, I found that I was able to tension the wool, and make a very even single that way. I may just adopt this as my new way of spinning. Our new kitten, Johnnie was very interested. He stuck his paw (remember, he's missing a front leg) into the flyer, and actually stopped the wheel once when I wasn't paying total attention to him. After that, he decided he would watch the wheel from a distance, and actually layed down beside me to watch with one eye open. He's learning.

Merry Christmas to All

We do have a tree - for Now! I posted a picture earlier of our sad tree - but, well, I was feeling
well enough yesterday to get the decorations out - and put a few up. I did pay for my over exuberance later. We'll see how long this tree lasts. If you notice - it is all decorated with
feather birds (click on image to enlarge). I have 5 cats in the house. This morning, we came out to find the tree tipped over, and some of the birds missing. We've played this game now for about 4 years. Pippin loves to take the birdies off the tree and bat them around. Greyling, who is the biggest culprit - jumps into the tree, takes it down, and strips it. Long John hasn't noticed yet.

And so I say " Merry Christmas to all, may your Holidays be filled with Cheer" and "May you
have the blessings of family and friends to take you through 2008" - Tammy and Family.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Oh well - not really - but seemed like a good start to the blog. Just a quick update to let everyone know that I am home. I have survived. And really - it isn't as bad as everyone seems to think it should be. I feel great - except for the hot flashes. Seems I lost everything in the operation - uterus and both ovaries and tubes - thus throwing me into instant menopause. The good news is that my Doctor doesn't think any of it was cancerous. The bad news - apparently they now have to look at my gallbladder (sigh - seems like I can never win).

So - with all of that said - I feel great!!!!!! Really. And that should give you an idea of exactly how sick I was before this operation. I was in a great deal of pain and felt terrible all the time. The ovarian cyst was uncomfortable (yes - I could feel it). My doctors have remarked on my incredible tolerance for pain (since 12 hours after the operation, I have only had extra-strength Tylenol every 12 hours) - and I didn't even feel the staples coming out. I tire easily - but today actually made a trip into town to get groceries (don't worry - my kids came with me and did all the lifting) - but I drove.

Oh- and today I made it out to the barn with my dad to see all my little critters. We were all very happy to see one another - actually they were happier to see me because it was 9 am - and they were hungry.

Now don't let me kid you - yes there is some discomfort - but really I feel great. Not quite up to dancing yet - but close. Well - maybe a slow dance.


So - tomorrow, I will do a minor tree trimming and put up a few decorations. I'll also finish wrapping gifts and get ready for Christmas. if I don't get back to post again before Christmas - I hope that everyone has a wonderful Christmas - surrounded by the love of your family and friends.

I'll Be Away For A While

Well, the new baby is all settled in. He's as wild as can be. Long John (Johnnie) is a total darling, very loving, and although he only has 3 legs - he's a going concern. Nothing seems to slow him down. And I have to say, I haven't laughed so much in the the last 3 months, as I have in the last
3 days.

I will be away from my computer for a week or so. I am going into the hospital on Thursday for
the dreaded operation - a hysterectomy. I am also having one ovary removed. Seems I have a rather large and very fast growing growth on my one ovary. I had a laproscopy done in August and tissue samples taken at the time. It wasn't cancerous. However - it has almost doubled in size since August, so the feeling is - take it out before it becomes cancerous. I also have a mass growing on the outside of the uterus which is creating pressure on the bladder. Might as well take it out at the same time. No sense doing another surgery later. So - with that being said - I go in on Thursday morning. They expect me to be in the hospital for 5 - 7 days - and then recouperating for another 4 - 5 weeks. We'll see - I am self employed - and have sheep to look after. This next few weeks will show me how well I've taught my DH and Kids to look after things.


As for Christmas - well - this surgery was planned this way. My husband and I are involved in a family business, and so, time off is hard to come by. The plan is to combine holiday time with sick time to minimize the actual time away from work. In all honesty - I'm sure that I will be working from home within 2 -3 weeks. At least part time anyway.

I'll leave you with these pictures: And have no doubts - I love my cats very much.

Nancy - don't feel bad - this is my tree. We'll see whether it gets decorated or not.


This is my version on a "Shadow Box" - I believe she would like it if I had bigger feet.

Long John says "I will NOT wear the Santa Suit!"

Pippin Says: "I will!"


Merry Christmas Everyone!

Meet Our New Baby

Here is the newest member of our family. I'd like to introduce everyone to Long John Silver.
I've just adopted him from a wonderful organization called ARF(Animal Rescue Fund ). I have to thank them so much for letting me adopt Long John.

They are a wonderful organization that rescues rural and reservation animals that are in distress.
Please take a minute to view their website at the link above - and I encourage anyone that can, to help out if possible.

If you look at Long John's picture closely - you will notice - that he is missing one of his front legs.

Long John was shot - probably by some kids with a high powered pellet gun. He was brought into a local vetrinary clinic by a caring soul - but unfortunately - the damage to his leg was very severe - and it had to be amputated. I should point out that Long John is also - just a kitten. He is only 7 months old - and weighs about 5 pounds. He's been through a lot for a little boy - and yet - when I went to get him tonight - he jumped up into my arms and proceeded to purr and kiss and shower me with love. I feel blessed to have been chosen as Long John's adoptive family. I think he will make a wonderful addition to our family.

Pippin and Greyling Say:



"We'll be fine with it Mom, - as long as he stays over there!"

I am Still Here

No - I haven't flown the coop. Although the cold weather has set in - and Florida is sounding really good right now - I'm still here. It's just been terribly busy. Along with all the chores that have to be done to get ready for winter, I decided to
do a little spinning project for another Shetland
owner who had a terrible misfortune on holiday, and
lost her spinning bag, and shawl that she was working
on. I just happened to have some dark blue rovings
that were very close to the colour she was looking for,
so, I offered to spin them up for her, and in exchange, she is going to knit me a shawl for my Mother in
Law for Christmas.
I finally got it done on Sunday night, and mailed it out
Monday. I hope it is good enough for her to knit with. In the top picture, I spun 2 plies of wool with
a single gold strand of thread. In the second picture, I spun 2 plies of wool with a third ply of
multi coloured soy silk. The colourway is called Mermaid (by Louet). I was very pleased with this one - except my Victoria was a real pain during the plying - and kept seizing up, and causing the yarn to overtwist when it wouldn't draw it onto the bobbin. I'm going to have to do another test yarn to see if I can figure out what was going on.

Of course - right about the middle of last week, I
decided that I should come down with the Mother of
all Colds. I felt like I was going to die. Normally,
colds don't bother me all that much - one day, and
back on my feet. Not this time. Here we are a week later, and I still feel like I want to die. Part of that may be that I took "Buckley's" a few nights
ago, and it completely burned my throat raw.
As I was writhing on the floor in pain - it occurred to
me that I may possibly be allergic to something in the Buckley's. Never again. It's 3 days later, and my throat is still raw.

Other than all of this fun, I am trying to get ready for Christmas, and major surgery on
December 13th. As well - I am a potter, so I am trying to get ready for a show at one of our
local venues in a few weeks. Can you say - not quite enough hours in the day! I have a trip to
Kitchener planned for this Saturday to pick up some new pottery equipment - and then that's it for this year - I have to stay home and get some stuff done around here. I can see now that there are a lot of things that I planned for the barn that just aren't going to be happening this winter.
For my next post - I'm hoping to have a nice surprise (for me anyway). I am very excited.
Stay tuned.

Road Trip!

This past Saturday, my friend Barb and I took off on a day trip (we do this every so often). First stop was at the Hamilton Potters Sale. There are some very good artist's in this guild. I myself am a potter, and am seriously intimidated by most of the work I see at their show. In the first picture - you can see - a Raku Canada Goose by
Marlen Moggach. I had hoped to get one of her loons - but they were all sold out. This is a beautiful piece of art. For those of you that are unaware of Raku, it is a hit and miss way of firing the glazes, and due to the temperature extremes, a lot of pieces are usually lost.
The piece on the right is actually a small wall hanging. It is also raku, and is a background plaque, and on the front (in black) is all chinese words embossed on a piece of clay. In the raku
process - the black portion is left unglazed, and when it goes through the firing, the unglazed portions actually turn black from the smoke. You get some very interesting effects.

After leaving Hamilton, we travelled on to Glen Williams near Toronto, to view the "Women in Wood" show. It was also a pottery show, and was based on several Toronto area potters who built a wood fired kiln for glazing. Some very interesting pieces were on display.

From there, we stopped to visit my friend Cate, just outside Fergus, and we brought her a rooster. Bera (the rooster) had spent 7 hours in the back of the car - didn't make a peep. He's a very well travelled rooster. I'm going to miss him.

On to the next stop. We went to the Guelph and area Spinners Guild Sale. I didn't take any pictures. Lots of lovely spun, woven and knitted items.

Almost to the end of our journey - and we were getting tired by now. We headed into Elora, to the "Blown Away" Glass gallery. Where all the items are - you guessed it - blown glass, and
dichroic glass.

As you can see from the picture, I picked up 2
blown glass oil lamps. They are awesome.
My secret fetish is blown glass and millefiori glass. I have such a collection of artisan glass. I am going to give one to my Mom for Christmas, and keep one for myself as a Christmas gift. I just haven't decided which one yet, although I'm leaning towards the green one for me.

And then last, but not least - to the mill. Where I picked up
all of my rovings. Lots and lots of yummy, soft rovings.
I was so pleased. There were close to 26 pounds of Rovings. Wellington Fibres, just outside of Elora does a
wonderful job on my fleeces. They are so incredibly
soft, I can't wait to start spinning - but wait - I have to dye some of these first - Oh Jared!!!!!!! Are you busy!
Jared is a great young fella from the Kingston area - and he
has a way with the dyepot. Many of these rovings will be
making their way down to him to be dyed, and then coming
back to me for spinning. I can't wait. There are also several
spinners in the local area who are waiting to get their hands
on these rovings. I think I may be busy for a while.

BORDER COLLIE FOR SALE

I have decided to sell our Border Collie. She is a lovely, lively active girl, and I just can't keep up the pace right now.
Keen-Eye Wisp needs more attention than I have time. I now travel a fair amount with my
job, and am away a lot on the weekends. I decided in all fairness, that she should be with someone who is willing to spend more time with her, or someone who has other dogs or border collies.
Wisp is 4 years old. She is not spayed, but her shots and heartworm medications are up to date.
She is started on the sheep. We have worked a great deal on driving the sheep this summer, and not much on gathering, so her gathering abilities are rusty. She was trained on whistles, so sometimes gets her verbal commands mixed up - but she tries hard. Once in a while, my ducks distract her, and she decides she would rather herd them than the sheep - but she still tries very hard. I would love to see her go to a home with another Border Collie to give her more confidence around the sheep - but she would also make a great house dog - flyball dog, or agility dog. She is crate trained very well.
Please - serious inquiries only. Please contact me either through my blog on the comments section - or by e-mail: tammyward@xcelco.on.ca

A Weekend Getaway

As promised in yesterday's blog, here are a couple of pictures of our weekend getaway on the Canadian Thanksgiving weekend (October 7-8).

First of all, Kevin and I decided to go on an
Artist's studio tour called "Around the Sound"
The "Sound" means Owen Sound, and it is a beautiful little town that is set at the bottom of a sound up in the Bruce Peninsula here in Ontario.

We packed a picnic lunch - and made the 3 hour drive to Owen Sound. After touring several studios, we decided to make the 1 1/2 hour drive further up the Bruce Peninsula to Tobermory.

For those of you that don't know the area - the Bruce Peninsula is part of the Niagara Escarpment, carved out by Glaciers eons ago.

It is a huge tourist - summer spot. So we were
very lucky to get a room. We got the last room at a little inn called the Grandview. The top picture shows the view off of our balcony - out over "Little Tub Harbour". You can see the ferry that travels between Tobermory and Manatoulin Island in the background - and various smaller islands in the back. I should mention - the weather at home was 92 degrees that day - but up in Tobermory - it was only 80 degrees - so much nicer.

We proceeded down to Cragies for fish and chips. Craggies is a little "shack" at the waters edge,
with awesome fish and chips. It's almost impossible to get a seat during dinner - but we were later enough that we got in.

The next day, we journeyed over to "Big Tub Harbour" - which adjoins "Little Tub Harbour", and went to the lighthouse. The lighthouse is not a large structure - but is as pretty as any that you will ever see. Set out on the rocks - it makes for a beautiful picture. We spend about an hour wandering around , and then headed back home, stopping at several pottery studios along the way (did I mention that I am a potter)? We arrived home around 6 pm - to still hot, hot weather. Oh, how I would love to live up in the Bruce - but the winters are brutal.

Back to Reality

It's been a rough month. I've found the loss of my little baby boy Mew to be very devastating in my life. The tears continue to flow on a regular basis - I do want to thank everyone who offered such kind words - both on my blog and privately.

I know that I have to get back into the swing of things.

I have been busy this month, and that's part of the reason I haven't been blogging. Work for me, at this time of year is usually quite busy. I've signed up with the college and rejoined my local
potters group, and I'm going to join one of the local spinning guilds as weel. I have also been away every weekend to a different function, an arts tour, a weekend getaway to Tobermory - and more arts tours, and today, a trip to Carole Dailley's Farm, to see her sheep. I met up with my good friends Cate and Al DeSantis, who also have Shetland sheep. We had a wonderful lunch at their farm - then went out to visit with her sheep. I brought home 2 beautiful "Dorking" roosters from Cate's today - more about them in a few days. Then we took the lovely rolling hill drive over to Carole's place about 20 - 30 minutes away.

Carole held an "invitation only" open house today, to showcase the new farm and property. It is a beautiful 92 acres of rolling land near Brantford, Ontario. She had rovings, yarn, and blankets
all made from her lovely shetland fleeces.

Carole's new farm name is "Chassagne" Farm. The picture above, is of the ewes and small lambs in the main field. Sorry it's a bit distant - my close-up function on my camera made the pictures fuzzy for some reason today.
Off to the left is the ram pasture. Behind us are the beautiful brand new barns. I bought some
rovings (like I need more wool), and a great little tote bag. It was horribly cold - with a biting wind, but Carole had hot apple cider, coffee and cookies galore.

And - here come the rams - checking out the action. Some gorgeous looking fellas in this group. Again - sorry it's a bit fuzzy and distant - maybe because my hands were so numb. Stupid me - I forgot my mittens.



Around 4 pm, we said goodbye to Carole - and wished her well - hoping to someday go back and buy one of her beautiful lambs. Then, off on the long drive home - about 2 1/2 hours with the traffic. I am pooped.

Tomorrow I will try to post again - maybe some pictures of my trip last weekend to Tobermory.

I think I'd better go lie down now -I kind of feel like a walking zombie - I've been on the road since 8 am this morning.

Rest In Peace my Sweet Baby Boy

Well - tonight is a very sad night in our house.
I came home from work tonight, to find that
my little Mew had passed away not long before.

Mew - who I fondly called "My Baby Boy" had
cardio myopathy - or a very irregular heartbeat.
He had suffered a saddle thrombosis on January
27th of this year - and was paralyzed in the hind end. Mew had an incredible will to live, and made a miraculous recovery and was able to walk and run almost like a normal cat again.
He was originally a barn cat - but after the thrombosis - he became a house cat. He never missed a beat - and was the cuddliest cat you would ever be likely to meet. This past few weeks, I knew he was not doing very well, so I spent as much time with him as possible.
With Cardio-myopathy - they are ticking time bombs. Thankfully this morning, I took some extra time to cuddle with him before going off to work. Even though it was not unexpected, his passing was still very traumatic. There will be a major empty spot in our lives without him.
Since he loved being with me so much, I've decided to have him cremated, and his urn will have a space on the livingroom shelf. I couldn't bear the thought of burying him outside - he wanted to be in the house with me so badly.

And so we say - Adieu my Little Baby Boy - for We will meet again. And my love for you shall
never diminish. Mew - 1999 to September 10, 2007.

Where to Begin?

It's been such a fun weekend - I don't know where to begin.
OK - let's start this way. In my previous post - I mentioned
one of our lambs - Lyra. She's a funny colour. It never
occurred to me to see if she might be Emsket.
Thanks Nancy! I think she's Emsket. What do you think. This picture was taken inside the barn - it's a pretty dismal day out here - but she looks grey to me. It's been several years since we've had an emsket lamb here. I keep forgetting that they start out black, then go kind
of brown - and then grey. It could be shaela as well - hard to tell at this point. But I would say
-definitely modified.

On to other things. Such exciting things (not that Lyra isn't exciting) - but - after several
weeks of waiting (and some dummy with a forktruck running over the first pallet) - my new
baby has finally arrived.

Yes - here she is - my new Louet Victoria. It's been a long and stressful trip from the factory - fraught with many pitfalls along the way - she even got lost - but she is finally here.
I can't wait to start spinning tonight - right after I get off this computer.

It's such a tiny and light little wheel, I'm looking forward to spending many hours in the future getting to know her.
This is so exciting (if only you could see me giggling like a silly little girl). I've been in spinning withdrawal all summer because I sold my other wheel in early July. I can now get out some of these great new fibers that I got this weekend at MFF (Michigan Fiber Fest) - and play!!!!!!

Which brings me to the rest of our fun weekend.


On Saturday, my Dear Husband (Kevin) - such a darling, took the day off of work, and drove me 3 1/2 hours to MFF in Allegan, Michigan. It was our first time there, so, we got lost on the way a few times (you really can't get there from here!), but we finally made it. The weather was beautiful, my camera batteries died, so I couldn't take any pictures - but it was great. Kevin very patiently wandered around to all the booths and exhibits with me for several hours (all you have to do is feed him every so often), and he even encouraged me to spend to my hearts content. The only time he objected was when I was going to buy a pottery mug - for my collection (I am a potter too by the way) - but, we had a great
time.

Here's some of the stuff I bought:

On the left is some alpaca blended with silk roving. On the right are Wensleydale sheep
locks - dyed and natural. These are great for felting.








In this picture, there is a silk cap at the top of the picture, then on the right hand side and at the bottom is a cashmere/silk dyed top. On the left hand side is a dyed soy silk top.

I just love these wild colour combinations, especially the pink and lime green at the bottom.





This picture here just has some of the extra goodies that I bought.
I couldn't resist the T-shirt that says
"GOT SHEEP", and there's a needle felting
book, a "Clover" needle felting mat. There's a pair of fingerless gloves (for my daughter for Christmas), a Diz, a sheep pin, and some lovely
sheep cards.

Lots of yummy little treasures.







And this last picture shows the rest of the fiber
samples that I purchased.
At the top of the picture is some Black Diamond
Bamboo fiber (it's very soft).

On the right is some Yak fiber in natural brown, also very soft.

At the bottom is some Soy Silk in a creamy white. This is surprisingly soft, and I can't wait to try it out.

And on the left, the light brown is baby camel
roving.

I can't wait to get playing with all of these great fibers, and play a bit more with my drum carder.

While I've been waiting for my wheel to arrive, I've been very busy out in the garage all summer - washing and picking fleeces (that's a blog for later in the week). So now, I have lots of great fiber, ready to be processed into rovings and batts.

Well - now it's time to fire up the wheel. I'll be back!

These 2 are Sold

As Promised, I am going to give pictures of 2 more of my lambs tonight. This first one is Kalwa Taure Chiara, she is out of Cherrington Molly, a lovely crimpy fawn, and the sire is Woolly Pedro, a black HST. Chi-Chi, as we fondly call her, is a lovely moorit, smirslet. She is a total darling, sort of. Lately, she has developed a very annoying habit of trying to jump into your arms when you get close. But she is a sweetie anyway, and we really do enjoy her.




This little girl, who is somewhat of a chameleon,
is Kalwa Taure Lyra, she is out of Willow Garden Greta Garbo, a mioget, and Woolly Pedro, again a black HST, however, he also carries mioget.
When Lyra was born, she was very black,
she is now going to moorit, and I'm somewhat
interested to see if she will turn mioget.
I find her facial markings to be very striking.
Lyra was somewhat skittish as a lamb, but now
she is one of the first to come running over
when you enter the barn.

Speaking of the barn, tonight I got to go out to the barn for the first time since my surgery.
It was so funny when everyone came running around the corner, and all the lambs skidded to a stop when they saw me standing in the aisle: "Do I go see Mom - or head for the Hay?"
Sorry to say - the hay won out - although a few of them came over afterwards to say hello.
It was more of my older girls that wanted to stop and chat and have a chin scratch. My daughter was quick to shoo everyone away, more worried that they would mob me and cause
a stumble. I must say, I am getting around pretty good - and the pain is subsiding - it's the upcoming operation that has me worried.

Tomorrow - I am off to Michigan Fiber Fest - just for the day. It promises to be a very long day, so I won't be posting. But I will try to post all of the goodies that I get when I get my bearings on Sunday. Stay tuned.

I'm Bored

Sigh - I am so bored. I've just had some minor surgery, and, well - I can't go visit my sheep, and I'm waiting for my new spinning wheel, and well - I can't do much of anything except sleep and play on the computer. So, I guess I will re-introduce some of the lambs before they start leaving for their new homes.

Actually, these first two lambs will be staying here
with me.
This first one on the right is Kalwa Taure Gabriella.
She is out of Cherrington Alice and Ewenique
Tristan - both parents are white,
although, Tristan does carry the moorit gene.

Gabriella has one brown hoof and
then end of the same foot is moorit -
so we will watch that to see whether
it fades or not. Right now -
it looks like it's going to stay.

I'll have to get a better look at her fleece when I'm allowed back out in the field. If she's anything like her Dam, then she will have a beautiful, soft and crimpy fleece.



This little lovely here is Kalwa Taure Jillian. She is out
of Kalwa Taure Blizzard and Woolly Pedro.
Jillian was our last lamb born here this year.
She's going to be a grey flecket like her mom. And I'm sure she's going to have her mom's personality too. Blizzard is our most favoured sheep here at Kalwa Taure - she has such a sweet and gentle personality, and I certainly think that Jillian is going to be just like her. She loves the chin rubs and is just the friendliest lamb we have. I am hoping that she maintains more of a medium gray colour, as that is the colour that I sell most of in my wool.


That's it for tonight. Tomorrow I will try to post two more lambs. And on Saturday my DH and I are off to Michigan Fiber Fest for the day - I must say, I am getting anxious, I have been looking forward to this all month.

KOOL AID DYING EXPERIMENT - PART 2

If you go back to the archives, and look at my blog for May of this year, you will see that I am experimenting with kool-aid dying of fleeces.
Today, I had a chance to pick out the fleece that we dyed in the bag at that time.

This is Abigails fleece. I chose it because she made a real mess of her fleece with hay - so , if
I screwed it up - I wouldn't be upset by the loss of a nice fleece.

Here's how we did it. I laid the raw, shorn, fleece out on the ground - and proceeded to soak it down with hot water.
Then, I poured kool-aid over it in various areas (look at the pictures from May).

Then - I put it in a clear plastic garbage bag - sealed the bag - and left it in the hot sun for about a week. YES - it was NOT pleasant smelling when I opened the bag.
I then proceeded to wash the fleece as normal.

My theory is that the lanolin closest to the sheep's skin does NOT soak up the dye, and any dye in those areas will wash out when the fleece is washed. I was correct - yeah!!! Now - also - the green and blue do not hold very well. Some of it stayed - but most of it washed out. The best colour is the red, which stayed very nicely, and the orange stayed pretty much as well.

Today - I finally opened this fleece - and picked it. By the way - this is a lambs fleece - it was
lovely - the crimp is very nice - and oh boy - is this soft.

I'm very pleased with the process - it was a fun experiment.
This ended up being a 2 pound fleece after all was done - and will be for sale for $25.

Time for an Update

Well - I've been a bit busy lately - but thought that maybe it was time for a little update.

We are so happy here to finally have a Bluff Country
sheep. Zha Zha Mikaela kind of had to take a bit of a round trip to get here - but here she is. Isn't she just a darling. With the Canada/US border being a real hassle to bring sheep through, I had to do this by a different route. Nancy - she is just a little darling - I'd love to have more of your sheep!!! Micky - as she is being fondly called, has a lovely dense black fleece with a good deal of white hairs mixed in. Kind of reminds you of a dusting of powdered sugar. Micky is very gentle and sweet.
I bought her from Bill Stearman, who is just downsizing his flock a little.

We also brought home this little cutie. She is
Windwater Lilac, and comes from Shauna Gray's farm near Uxbridge, Ontario.
Lilac is a real little sweetie. She's just a little over a year old - and very, very gentle.

Shauna also gave me some of her very own hand made Goat's Milk soap to try - it is "luscious" and absolutely wonderful! She milks her own goats to
make this soap by hand - what a wonderful craftsman. I thoroughly enjoyed my visit at
Shauna's farm.

Oh - and I almost forgot - Shauna also gave me some Angora to spin - I haven't spun with Angora yet - but I'm looking forward to trying this.

Well - that's enough for tonight. I'll update a little bit more in the next few days.

Yummy Rovings!!

I've been meaning to post - really, I have, but it's been so darned busy lately.
A couple of weeks ago, I went to Wellington Fibres outside of Elora, Ontario,
http://www.wellingtonfibres.on.ca/
I came back with 12 pounds of lucious, wonderful rovings. I was so pleased with the results.
Here are some samples of the rovings I got back.
I brought in all white rovings, and had them dye
several pounds in the olive, blue and bordeaux shown here. The remaining white, I had mixed with mohair. It is so soft and silky.
If you check out http://cornerstonefibres.blogspot.com/
and scroll down to July 17th - you'll see some of these rovings that have been dyed by Kim's son
Jared. Jared is only 9 years old - but boy - does he have a way with colours!

The next few weeks are going to be very busy - lots of stuff happening, however - I will try to post as much as possible.

I'll have an updated sales list coming up, and pictures of my new hobby - needle felting.
Oh - and I've been taking some pictures of the lambs this last few days - I'll try to get them posted as well - they are growing like weeds!

Ram for Sale or Trade

This is Pedro. I really don't want to sell him - however - I have to make room for ram lambs coming in - and he's too small for my big boys at the other farm - they would kill him. And - he's too big for my little rams - you know the drill.

Anyway - Pedro is an equisite HST (head, socks, tail) - or for you more traditional types - yuglet, sokket, with a lovely, crimpy black fleece. Conformation is correct in every way - and those horns are awesome - and striped. Just love them.
He is very much a gentleman - but friendly enough for chin scratches.

And his genetics are very diverse - he comes from Valley Road Rusty (who is a mioget - so he carries the modified genetics), and Woolly Nelly - who looks very much like him.

I am willing to part with him for $350 - or an even trade for a solid, non fading moorit EWE lamb - or yearling with single coated crimpy fleece and good conformation.

Please - if you are interested in this fella - contact me - I'd hate to have to send him to market.
He will produce flash in your flock - if you breed him to another yuglet, flecket or sokket - you should get something pretty much like him. Bred to solids or spots - you'll get lots of smirlets and flecket markings.

I'd like to see his genetics continue on. Oh - and one more thing - I am heading up to Uxbridge
in later July - so if you can meet me somewhere around that area - I can at least get him that far. I am also probably heading to the Kingston area in late August - or September, so that is also an option. I also frequently travel up the Bruce Peninsula on weekends as well.
Otherwise - contact me re shipping and we'll see what we can work out.

Today I am Very Sad

This is my beautiful baby girl. Her name is Brittany.
In May she turned 18.
This morning, at 6 am, I drove her to the bus.

She is gone until July 28th, to Petawawa (a military base about
10 hours from here) for a training course.
Now - don't get me wrong. Brittany is in the reserve forces - and NO she's not going to Afghanistan.
She is my right hand - and I am going to be so lost without her for a whole month.
She manages the farm with military precision - she points - and the sheep march. It's so amazing.
I point and the sheep scatter.
She's been gone for a whole day now, and I miss her so much. Not because I need her help - but because - even though she's a teen-ager - she's also my best friend, and we might bicker occasionally - but we do spend a lot of time laughing and joking around, and shopping.
I miss her. I spent most of the day feeling self pity and lying around. I am such a big baby.
But - she's off to university next year - and I keep telling myself that I have to get used to
her being away - because she probably will be at university on the other side of Canada.
On a brighter note - my son is here to help me out, because my DH, my left hand - also had to go out of town today for 2 weeks for work.

Tomorrow - I am going to post pictures of all the wonderful rovings I picked up on Saturday at
the mill.

Where is My Camera When I Need It?

Of course - it's in the livingroom - and I'm on the back porch - Argghh!!! Tonight, as we were on the back step - a little fawn came walking out of the wheat field right beside us and slowly walked
up the trail to the woods. However, not slowly eneough that I could get my camera and take a picture. Now - although this was a surprise, I was a bit suspicious. The mother to this baby has
been grazing this field for weeks, and I was starting to think she had a baby nearby. As a bit of history here, the mom was born right beside our house here about 4 years ago. Her mom has a long history with me, and is unfortunately now gone, but I guess it would explain why her daughter would opt to have her babies here as well.

So - no pictures tonight - I will have to try to get a bit of a closer picture of the momma deer tomorrow - and who know's - maybe we will be graced with another glimpse of the fawn.

I'm gonna have to be like those paparazzi - and keep my little camera strapped on in case a good picture comes along.

2007 Sheep Sales List & Spinning Wheel

Well - I've decided that since I will be laid up for a while, it's time to do a bit of flock
reduction. This has been heartbreaking for me - as these are all wonderful sheep - but I must reduce in size, especially if I want to do some breeding for next year.
So - here goes.

The rules are - if you want someone - contact me - and we can discuss terms.

-25% non refundable cheque will hold the sheep till September 30th.
-Payments can be made in 4 post dated cheques - June 30, July 30, Aug 30 & Sept 30 for sheep being held.
-All sheep must be paid for before they leave the farm - cheques must be certified - or have cleared the bank. (cash is also acceptable).
-All sheep are FOB my farm - however - we might make a delivery to the Kingston area by
August (surgery pending). I will also be going to Fergus area in July - delivery can be arranged
for that area. (please note - I cannot lift - so it is required that you have someone very strong to help with offloading/loading of sheep).
-Quantity discounts will apply - on purchase of 3 or more sheep at one time - deduct $25 per
animal (with the exception of special deals).
-Please don't be afraid to discuss purchasing the entire lot - or making a deal on several sheep.
(Entire lot can be purchased for $2200 - excludes wheel and stud rams).

Here goes - Pictures can be seen on my website for most of the sheep (link in top right corner) - or also on this blog for any that aren't posted. I don't have up to date pictures for everyone.

2007 Lambs: (all of these lambs carry spots and will produce some flash)

Kalwa Taure Tarian: Black Smirslet ram lamb. Sire is Woolly Pedro, Dam is Kalwa Taure Hearts. $250 registered or $100 unregistered. Carries Spots. SOLD

Kalwa Taure Noah: Black Smirslet ram lamb. (Might go gray). Sire is Woolly Pedro, Dam is Kalwa Taure Blizzard. $250 registered or $100 unregistered. SOLD

Kalwa Taure Eric: Black Smirslet flecket ram lamb. Sire is Woolly Pedro, Dam is Kalwa Taure
Olivia (moorit). $250 registered or $100 unregistered. SOLD

Kalwa Taure Peter: Moorit (possibly mioget) smirslet ram lamb. Sire is Woolly Pedro, Dam is
Kalwa Taure Hearts. $250 registered or $100 unregistered. SOLD

Kalwa Taure Lyra: Black Smirslet ewe lamb. Sire is Woolly Pedro, Dam is Willow Garden
Greta Garbo (mioget). $300 (this ewe might be starting to either fade or go mioget - can't tell yet). SOLD

Mature Ewes:
Kalwa Taure Hearts: Born 2003. Solid Black ewe. Sire is Kalwa Taure Liam, Dam is Cherrington Queen Mary. Very nice fleece. Very good mother, relaxed and friendly. $250

Kalwa Taure Olivia: Born 2003. Moorit ewe - carrying spots. Sire is Kalwa Taure Liam, Dam is Cherrington Brandy. Very good protective mother. $250.

Kalwa Taure Elly: Born 2003. Moorit ewe - carrying spots. Sire is Kalwa Taure Liam, Dam is Cherrington Brandy. Never bred. $250.

Thistlecroft Abigail: Born 2006. Grey yearling ewe - possible faded gulmoget. Sire is Cherrington Merlin, Dam is Prairie Amy. Definitely carries spots. $300

Willowgarden Fava Bean: Born 2006. Black Gulmoget. Carries katmoget as well. Sire is
Willowgarden Smokey Robinson, Dam is Shelteringpines Precipitation. $300 SOLD

Wethers: (these are all great fibre pets - wonderful fleeces, castrated)

Kalwa Taure Peanut: Born 2003 - Musket. $75.
Hopeful Wilbur: Born 2005? - grey flecket $75.
Ewenique Tristan: Born 2006 - white $100. SOLD

Rams:

Woolly Pedro: Born 2006 - Black and White HST. Sire is Valley Road Rusty (mioget), dam is Woolly Nelly. Available AFTER October 30/07. Conditions apply for stud rights in 2008.
$500.

These rams are being offered for STUD SERVICES ONLY:

Cherrington Merlin: Born 2001 - Grey (emsket) - bielset - carrying spots and gulmoget.
Sire is Cherrington Heathcliffe, Dam is Cherrington Queen Mary.
$35 per ewe (see conditions).

Cherrington Harry: Born 2001 - Grey (emsket) - Sire is Cherrington Heathcliffe, dam is Cherrington Esther.
$30 per ewe (see conditions).

Conditions for stud service.
All ewes to be serviced are to be delivered to my farm - 1 week prior to exposure. Period of exposure will be for 30 days. Fee is for one month exposure. Ewe is to be picked up by owner after exposure period to ram. Note: if conception does not occur, and free exposure will be offered the following year to the same, or any other ram available at that time.
A limited number of ewes will be exposed to the ram each month for the months of November,
December and January. Please book in advance and submit payment as soon as possible to avoid disappointment.

Last Item - beautiful Ashford Traveller spinning wheel
with 8 bobbins $400 + shipping if required.
(1 of the bobbins has been chewed by a naughty puppy - but is still usable). I really hate to part with this wheel - however, I have just purchased a Louet Victoria, and I really don't have the room for both wheels here. This is a steal - this wheel retails for $550 new + bobbins at $13 each. SOLD

Whew - that's it - please contact me if you have any questions:
tammy ward@xcelco.on.ca

Meet the Lambs

Ok - lambing is over at Kalwa Taure Shetlands for 2007. So it's time to meet the lambs. Click on any of the pictures for a larger image....

First up is Gabriella:
Dam is Cherrington Alice, Sire is Ewenique Tristan.
She was our first born this year and of course it shows.
Very tame - the leader of the pack. She's very large compared to the other lambs. But totally friendly and
relaxed around humans. She is white - with one black
spot on her front knee.




Next up is Trinity:
Dam is Willowgarden Bella, Sire is Woolly Pedro.
She is a yuglet flecket. Her fleece looks white, but
has some grey hairs in it. She's still very flighty - which is
funny since her mom is one of my tamest sheep.



This is Kellynn:
A lovely little ewe out of Cherrington Jessie and
Ewenique Tristan. Her fleece is very tightly
crimped. Kellynn was a bit of a surprise - since both of
her parents are white - however, Tristan is carrying
moorit. Right now, she is very dark moorit on the front
end - and black on the hind end. Her muzzle and inside
her ears are cream - will I take a guess that she is going to fade to musket. She seems very delicate and fragile -
probably because she is very tiny.


This little cutie is our last lamb born this year.
Meet: Jillian, out of Kalwa Taure Blizzard and Woolly Pedro.
She's going to be a gray flecket like her mom -
and I really hope she holds her spots like her mom has
because Blizzard is the neatest colours. Jillian is a real
Pet - she loves the full body massage - just like mommy.



This little girl is Lyra:
Out of Willowgarden Greta Garbo and Woolly Pedro.
Now, when she was born - I was pretty sure that she
was black, but last night, I was looking at her nose -
and her muzzle is turning brown. Since Greta is mioget
'm wondering if she is going to go mioget. We'll have to
watch
her very closely.






This little Darling is Chiara.
She is out of Cherrington Molly and Woolly Pedro.
Chiara and Molly are both sold.
It's going to be hard to let this little girl go - she is soooooo
sweet. She's also a little devil - and gets into everything.






This striking little Fella is Peter:
Very friendly - dark brown - possibly mioget
ram lamb out of Kalwa Taure Hearts and
Woolly Pedro.
Peter has quite the facial markings, and
personality.
He's quite friendly, and another lover of
the full body massage.





This good looking ram lamb is Noah.
He's our second last born this year - to Kalwa Taure
Blizzard and Woolly Pedro.
Noah means restful - he was named this in particular
because Noah loves to sleep.
He's going to be a striking ram with those markings, and he
will carry spots in a big way.




This young fellow is Tarian: his dam is Kalwa Taure
Hearts, and his sire is Woolly Pedro.
He is the twin to Peter. Tarian has the smirslet
facial markings, plus quite a lot of white on top of his head.






And last - but not the very least is Eric (the Great).
He was huge when he was born - and was our
only assisted lambing this year.



Well - that's everyone for this year. We were very pleased with the lambing.
In the next few weeks I will be assessing all of the sheep
and posting a sales list. I have several mature ewes for
sale, as well as a few wethers that would make great fibre pets.

Keep checking back, or contact me if you think there might be something here that interests you.

Pictures of the New Ram Lamb

Ok - Cate has sent pictures of the two new ram lambs. These lambs are out of Cherrington Merlin, and Kalwa Taure Esme. They were both born yesterday. Now, I find it quite interesting, if you look at both of the parents being as solid and plain as they are, and they have given us such spots and markings. These are much better pictures, and maybe we can make a better assessment of the markings.
I can see that he is clearly white under the tail and the belly and up onto the chest and the back of the front legs. However - the markings around the head are confusing. Looking at his
mouth being grey - would I be correct to assume that he is going to fade to gray?





Again - this second picture gives a better close-up of the head and facial markings.
Actually - I think he's quite a stunning little fellow - regardless of what colour he becomes.

Look at the circles around his eyes. They are quite striking.







This last picture shows Esme with the two ram
lambs. Quite interesting - but when Esme was a lamb - she was quite light grey - with black legs and 4 white socks.
The other little guy is quite cute too. My indication is that he will be a gray flecket - I will have to check him over for solid spots that go right down to the skin.

This picture also shows the white on the underside of the tail of this little ram.

Now - the question. Is he gulmoget? Is he a
spotted gulmoget? If he's Ag - is he still a gulmoget - or just a grey? Is he carrying the recessive gulmoget gene? I have lots to learn about the genetics - of course - I think we need to watch this little fellow.