It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like.....Winter!

This is what I woke up to this morning:


6" already on the ground - and another 6" forecast for today.

I'm going back to bed!

It's That Time of Year Again

Ram Sales Time.

We are going to start a slow dispersal of our flock in anticipation of moving to the East Coast of Canada in the next few years.

The rams are the first to go, as we no longer plan on breeding. So - these 3 lovely boys are available for sale - or trade for something other than a ram.

I took these pictures in the spring right after shearing - so if anyone wants to see better pictures, just let me know - I can go out and take some more pictures tomorrow.


First up - this stunning boy - is Woolly Pedro "the clown" - I call him that - because he looks like a clown. He has a very nice personality - and is definitely the boss ram here. He's actually a
black/iset, yuglet, flecket , socket - but those of us shetland aficianados affectionately call these markings HST (head, socks, tails) - the term was coined by Nancy Krohn of Bluff Country Shetlands. Pedro is 3 years old - has a nice, crimpy, dense , single coated fleece. His horns are perfectly balanced and wide set. He also has a sweet personality. We used Pedro last year for breeding - and got lots of great spots - and some emskets.


After that, we have Ewenique Spencer. He is 1 year old, a mioget, flecket - I think. Spencer also has a crimpy, single coated fleece. His horns are wide set - but one is curling slightly inward. I don't know if that is because he has been butting heads with a much larger ram since he was small - or is a genetic trait. Spencer is still quite small - and we have never used him for breeding - but he should throw some nice spotty lambs.

This last little guy is Kalwa Taure Bernard. He was born June 2008 - so is still very small.
His fleece appears right now to be open and wavy. He is a black krunet. I really have to get a picture of him outside - not behind bars. So far - his horns look to be clearing nicely. I do think he is going to stay black.

I also have some ewes for sale - I will try to get around to posting them in the next few days.


I also have about 20 fleeces for sale - I haven't even had a chance to skirt them this year - it's been such a busy year, so I will sell them quite reasonably.

Remember - the border going into the USA is still NOT open - for sheep that is :-)

Playing Catch Up

Seems like I'm always playing catch-up these days. Barn chores, pottery, housework (especially housework), blogs - everything.

So really, I apologize to everyone who checks in regularly, but doesn't find anything new.

Two weeks ago, (Canadian Thanksgiving Holiday), we decided to take a few days and go up to Tobermory, Ontario for the weekend.

The picture at the top is of the ferry leaving port, heading over to Manatoulin Island. I snapped this picture while sitting in the dining room of our hotel having breakfast.


This next picture - although unusual - is of the rock at the lighthouse at Tobermory. I call it the drum rock. If you look closely you will see thousands of holes worn in the rock - probably from thousands - if not millions of years of the water rushing in and out around these rocks. Now - when the water comes in - it rushes through all these holes - and it sounds like drums - all different pitches of drums - some high - some low - long rumbles. It's quite fascinating - and soothing to listen to.

So my husband and son spent a couple of days at Cyprus Provincial Park, which is just a few miles outside of town. On the first day - they were rather rushed. See the picture of the guy walking on top of the rocks - well - that's what they did the first day. As a matter of fact they were so rushed - that they missed the cave underneath the rocks. It's a fabulous underground Grotto where you can go swimming. So - that evening while I was going through some travel brochures - I came across some pictures of the caves - the next day they went back - and these are some of the pictures my DH took of their day. Here's the cave from the outside:


This one is of my son sitting inside the entrance to the cave (there are 2 entrances):

This on is taken from inside - looking out at thewater through the other entrance to the cave/grotto:

The next picture is of my son standing on top of a cliff in the same area of the grotto:



And here he is again standing "under" the overhang of the cliff. He's such a good sport about
getting his picture taken (for a 16 year old boy):


It was an enjoyable weekend - oh - for the record - I did not join them on the walk. I have a bad knee and hip from a childhood disease - and can't handle the rough terrain - so - I have to be content to look at the pictures - and amuse myself by going shopping. Next year when we go - I anticipate being able to kayak to the area - and then enjoying a short walk to the grotto.

And so - when we got home on Monday - we were greeted with this:

If you look closesly - you will see a gray kitten cuddled in. This is one of our stray cats that has been hanging around - we knew she was pregnant - but she left for a week to have her kittens.
She came home with the two kittens a few days after we returned. Sadly - the little black and white kitten died - we don't know why. I am looking for a good home for this little girl and her kitten. She is just a kitten herself. Do I need to get back on my spay and neuter soapbox?
I am currently looking for a good home for 4 young cats (that includes this one).

Well - I'd better get going - it's going to be a crazy week around here. More later.

What do You do with your Wool?

A lot of people ask me that question. Sometimes I spin it -
but mostly I sell it to spinners, weavers and hobbyists.

I'd like you to meet Blizzard and William:

(OK - so this is Blizzard and Williams fleeces) - it's really Nina
wearing Blizzard and William. Nina is shy - so she cut off her head.

Anyway - This awesome grey dress was spun from the fleeces of two
of my sheep. Then Nina proceeded to weave and
make this dress from the wool. Nina is a member
of a re-enactment group - thus the medieval design.
I was super impressed to see what she had done with the fleeces.

Surprising - to look at the fleeces unwashed: Blizzard looks
quite dark grey - William looks quite light grey. However, Nina
said that when she washed and spun them - they were both,
very close to one another in colour.

Nina is also very much into dying with natural plant fibers - it's
quite fascinating to read about it. If you follow the link to her
blog - you will see some of her work.

I will soon be sending Nina some more fleeces - little does she
know - I'm going to ask her to weave me a shawl.

Coming into the Light

That kind of means out of the dungeon - which is my basement. I've been so busy lately - I have
several pottery sales coming up this next month or two - and I have been busy throwing and getting ready to fire and glaze. Every night after work - down to the dungeon till about 11 pm.
I've finally started to fire some of my stuff this last week - so - there is light at the end of the tunnel (I just hope it's not a train coming)!

Well - do you remember a little while ago - I talked about a new lamb I had bought, and if I should call her Gwen - or Wren. Well - since her mom's name is Greta - we decided to stay with the G's - and we called her Gwendolyn - Gwenny or Gwen for short. Here she is - she is just a darling wisp of a little lamb.
However - those of you who liked the name Wren - don't despair. I'd like you to meet "Wren",
She's a lovely little fawn katmoget who came to visit, and decided to stay. She's still very shy - I may have to break out the cookies, but we're working on her.


And, just for a little something different:


This is my new Inuksuk - I got him for my birthday. Don't be fooled - he's almost 5' tall - and weighs somewhere around 300 pounds - I know - I dismantled him, moved him, and set him back up again at my house. I'm going to move him again - I just haven't decided where, but I feel he's just a bit too exposed where he stands - and I'm worried that the winter winds may topple him.

Well - back to the dungeon.

Here a Chick, There a Chick!

I must say - I do enjoy my chickens. Most of the time - they make me laugh. Sometimes - the roosters really tick me off when they won't leave the hens alone. But lately - these two little devils have made me late for work every day. (It's a good thing I'm pretty much self employed).


Aren't they just the cutest little chicks. They are bantam cochins. I've been raising them since they were a few days old. They are incredibly friendly little hens. Every morning when I go out to the barn , they come running to see me, then have to be picked up and put on top of the old dog house (where I keep feed and water). Then they want to be petted and carried around and talked to. I spend entirely too much time playing with these chicks - pretty soon - they'll grow up to look like these two hens here.
These two white bantam cochins aren't quite as friendly. But I really like the cochin - they have a friendly personality - and are just the cutest darn things.


This beautiful black cochin is probably one of my favourite hens. She is so incredibly friendly. She also loves to be carried around - and in the evenings when I go out to do barn chores - she comes running across the barnyard to meet me - then walks along with me into the barn. I love the way her feathers are so black - with the green sheen to them. My friend Cate has another of the black cochins, and she's going to give her to me - hopefully next week when we get together.

This is a buff cochin. She's a bit on the nervous side. Her tail feathers are finally starting to grow back - but she is a nice little hen. She's terribly funny in the evenings when she's trying to get up on the roost - a bit bottom heavy - and she has to fly over from the water trough to the edge of the ram stall. Looks a bit like a lead balloon floatin g through the air.This last picture is of a Brahma hen. I picked these up from my friend Jesse a while back. Brahma's are a new breed to me. She's a bit stretched out in this picture (afraid of the camera), but they are very much like the cochins in many ways - they have the feathers on the feet, and the little fat bodies - they have lovely feathers around the neck - and the tails are like a little puffball of feathers - very cute. The two Brahmas that I have were obviously not handled at all, as they are incredibly wild - this picture was taken on zoom - and she was still pretty nervous.

When I got back from Newfoundland last week - I was greeted by 21 new chicks in the barn - hatched out of 4 different nests. Maybe tomorrow I'll be able to get some good pictures of them. We've put them in a separate stall so that the roosters don't bother them. So that will put me somewhere up around the 40 mark for chickens - lots of eggs around here. In a few weeks, Cate and I are going to a sale up near her place - it's called the fur and feathers sale, and it's held 2X a year. People come from all over to buy and sell chickens, ducks, peacocks, dogs, cats, sheep, llamas - you name it. I'm hoping to find a couple of full size cochin hens for my flock - and possibly a few more welsh harlequin ducks.

I'll also have to get a picture of Wren for everyone - and maybe the kittens as well - they will be leaving next week for their new foster homes.

It's Been a Long Journey

But now I'm Back. I've just spent the last few weeks travelling to Newfoundland and back.
My Darling daughter is going to Memorial University in St. John's Newfoundland. So - being her first year - I drove her all the way out, settled her into her apartment - and then drove all the way home. Total kilometers clocked: 8200 (for my American friends: approx. 4900 miles). That doesn't include the ferry crossing each way.

While we were there - we stayed in beautiful Petty Harbour. It's a beautiful little fishing village right on the edge of St. John's - with the houses all perched on the rocks.

Here's a picture I took at the entrance of the harbour coming around the bend .



We stayed with some very close family friends for a few days. We were socked in by fog for a
few day, so I couldn't get out on the boat to see the puffins and whales. This next picture is of the view from the front living room at my friends house. This is just outside the entrance to the harbour - and lots of times whales come in chasing the caplins, and frequently - seals and sea otters come up and bask on the rocks. Reluctantly, after 3 days, I had to leave.
However - I did make a bit of use of my time there. We did go out house hunting, and did find a little farm up near Cape Spear (which by the way is the most easterly point in Canada).
Negotiations are in progress on the farm. More Later.