Ducklings

OK - as per Nancy Krohn's request, here are a couple more photos of the ducklings.





I can't really get into the stall and get
too close to them, or the mother freaks
out and tears off the nest to the other
side of the stall - leaving scattered
ducklings in her wake.

So I took these pictures with my zoom lens from the doorway of the stall. She did calm down a little bit.

The babies came out to eat some of the duckling
starter that I put on the floor for them by the edge
of the nest.






Then she calls them back to her - and stands up
so that they can get underneath her

-too cute!

If you look closely - you will see the little pom poms on their heads - just like Mom.

We also have a Welsh Harlequin Duck sitting on a nest in this stall - but man she's a B----!
You get anywhere near her nest and she starts hissing and freaks out and bites you.

We'll just leave her alone.

For now - Norman and the other Drakes are locked outside in the cage at night so that they leave the new moms alone.

The Awwww Factor

Here's what I found when I went to the barn this morning.





Awwww! That is so cute.

I don't think there's anything more to say.

GOT SHEEP??

I do!

I just finished glazing this flock.



I had a bit of fun with them - lots of great
colours here :
because we all know that Shetlands come
in such a wondrous variety of colour.



This picture gives you an idea of size.


The black ram is the largest at about
2" long - to the
little lamb - just a bit larger than a penny.

And lots of in between sizes.


So - I took my little sheep to a shearing
party today at one of my friends places.
Dawn Teetzel owns Thistlecroft Shetlands
Nassa Flock #1179.

This is her 3rd year holding a shearing party.
I bring my pottery and rovings (there are other
vendors as well).

I took this picture as I was trying to get into the
barn.

I believe there were well over 200 people
there today - a great showing.

And well - I sold most of my sheep (uh - the potteryones that is). Any that aren't sold will
be going to my friend Kim, who is taking them to
the Sheep dog trials in June - and another friend is taking a flock up to Haliburton this summer when she goes on a spinning course.

Keep an eye on my pottery blog - I should have another batch ready to go in the next few weeks.


Oo - and before I forget - an award! For me! I am very excited - this is my first award.
Thank you Jenny for thinking of me.

Jenny Holden of Wandering Gecko Fame: nominated me for this award. Check out her blog.
Hers is one of my favourite blogs. I'd love to nominate her back - but that would be redundant wouldn't it. So - here goes. I'm supposed to pass this award along - and nominate 10 of my favourite blogs for this award.
Since most of the blogs I watch have already received this award - I'll go with 5 of my favourites.

1: Nancy Krohn's: A Shepherd's Voice is a fantastic blog. I love to read about her adventures in Shepherding.
2: Cate DeSantis: Earendal Farm is also one of my favourites. Cate doesn't post often (I will have to give her heck about that)- however, she is incredibly interesting. Her and I share a lot of the same interests - and definitely the same breeding goals in sheep.
3: Kim Parkinson's: Fibre on the Hop is a great blog for the fibre enthusiast. Kim also owns an
online Fibre store (which is where we initially made first contact).
4: Nina's Bates: Odette's Obsessions is another great blog. Nina is also among a circle of aquaintances and has some interesting hobbies - among them - dying fibre with natural plant materials - and some great weaving.
5:Antiquity Oaks is also a wonderful blog, and one of my favourites to read.

OK - that's all I'm going to nominate - I know that's breaking the rules a bit. But there are so many blogs out there that are fantastic. Check these ones out - I hope the links that I inserted work.

Until next time.

Shearing is Done!

Well - shearing is all done for another year.

Whew! It's a lot of work - and now I have to start sorting and skirting and cleaning fleeces to go to the mill. Most of the fleeces will be processed into rovings for the handspinning community. This year, we are looking at doing something a bit different - we have several weavers wanting our fleeces as well - so we are
going to be looking at offering shawls and throws that are hand woven.

That will take a while - since I won't get my rovings and yarn back from the mill until at least early October.



Anyway - this is Jeff, our shearer working on
Vivien. Jeff has been shearing since he was -

believe it or not - 8 years old. He comes from a long line of shearers.
Jeff is wonderful with the sheep and really knows his stuff.

I'm impressed with him.

In July - he will be heading to England for a month of shearing - and then this December - he's off to New Zealand to join one of the large shearing groups for a month.

I could do an entire blog about Jeff.



Here are some of the girls out on pasture now that they are sheared. I'm sure they are feeling a bit better without all that heavy fleece.




We did have a couple of surprises (sort of) during shearing. One night in January - our little ram lamb (who is now a wether) - Bernard, slipped under the gate and got two of my ewes pregnant. Little devil.
So - I have 5 pregnant ewes - due to start lambing in the next few weeks.

I'll start introducing them to you now:





This is GABRIELLA.

"Kalwa Taure Gabriella" to be specific. We call
her Gabby - or Gabby Goose.

She's one of my favourite ewes. She is out of Cherrington Alice, who we so sadly lost the day after Christmas this past Christmas.

Alice was my absolute favourite ewe, and her daughters are just like her. Gabby is now 2 years old, and after losing Alice, we decided that the
genetics were too precious to lose, and that
we should try to carry on that line. Besides, we have so many handspinners wanting our white fleeces, that we need more white sheep.

We bred her to Cherrington Merlin, an emsket ram, in the hopes that the white genes will give us some white lambs. In particular - we would like a white ram - so - fingers crossed.

Gabby is very friendly. And she has a fleece that is awesome!! Her personality is just like her mom's. I can't say enough good about this ewe. I just love her to bits.


And this has been a busy week as well. We went to Carrying Place to pick up a load of chicks yesterday. Carrying Place is about 5 hours from our farm. So Kevin and I went down on Friday night. We stayed at a great B&B called "Timberhouse".
It's a huge timberframe house set in the woods - beautiful. I didn't really want to leave.
Saturday, we picked up our chicks - and orders for several other people, and set off back home.


We had 170 day old chicks and ducklings in the back seat of the truck. With several stops along the way to deliver to various people, we finally made it home safely with our brood. There are quite a mix of breeds in there. More updates as they grow.










And lastly, I took this picture out in the woods last week.

It's in the same place as the week before.
The water has receded a bit, and the pollen is covering the water. What I really love about this picture is the light filtering through the leaves as they are starting to open. The colour of green. This is one of my favourite times of year - when everything awakens. But I love the colour of the leaves as the sun shines through.

That green is so hard to describe.



Until next time.

A Walk in the Woods

This morning, after doing the barn chores,
I thought I would venture out to the woods for
a walk.

I took my camera, as a friend of mine
had asked if the trilliums were out yet, and
well, because, I always forget my camera.

I was surprised at how warm it was - really didn't need that coat.

There were actually lots of mosquito's,
but they weren't biting yet. We've had such a wet
spring, that it's going to be a problem with the
mosquito's soon.

Needless to say - the trillium's didn't
disappoint me - they were quite stunning.

The second picture is actually of a pink trillium.



There were also lots of Jack in the pulpit - but
they weren't in colour yet, so I will have to go
out in a few weeks and take more pictures.

Lots of wildflowers were out.


I think my favourite (other than Trilliums)
is the wild violet.

We have lots of them. I just love how delicate
they look.









We also have an area of the woods, it
kind of sits half on our property, and half on
the neighbour's property. This area is almost
always flooded in the winter. I have never seen it as large as this - so I decided to go and investigate.

Click on the picture - it is worth seeing large.
I actually walked over into the clearing - and was
up to my knees in water (thank goodness for
wellies).

I love this picture, and actually think I'm going
to have it done up in a large photo and framed.

The water is probably about 2 - 3' deep in the middle.

By mid summer (if it's dry) - this area will mostly dry up - and then these most amazing green plants with little white flowers will grow in the middle of this "pond" - it is almost ethereal looking when the sun is shining down on it - like you've walked into a dream. I'll have to try to get some pictures of it this summer, as we are planning on selling in a few years.


And this is the trail back up through the pine
woods to the back pasture. It's still looking
a bit dingy in this area.
But I love this trail - all
you see is the light .......
at the end of the tunnel.


I'll have to take my camera out there with me
again when I go out in a few days. Things change so fast.