AWWWWWW

Here's our first pictures of Kitty and her kittens. They were born on Sunday evening - in the garage - during a thunderstorm. Awwww - aren't they so cute.
Kitty is a little stray cat that has been hanging around for a few months. She was terrified of people at first - and now - she just loves human contact. She had the babies behind some sheets of plywood that were leaning up against a wall - on top of an old towel that had fallen on the floor. Tonight I went out and moved the kittens to a box with a nice clean towel. Kitty was totally relaxed as I picked each one up and examined it - then put it into the box. Then I picked her up and set her in with them. She didn't even mind the flash on the camera when I took the picture. I will be contacting ARF to see about adopting them out - and then, we will be having kitty spayed and keeping her for our little garage kitty. And at this time - I would like to get on my soapbox about the spay and neuter of cats and dogs - PLEASE spay and neuter. It stops the explosion of unwanted animals out there. So many are put down each year at shelters - needlessly - and many, many more are killed on the roads - or starve to death from neglect.
Please spay and neuter - sure it costs money - but it is the most humane way to deal with animals. And don't ever believe that every female cat should have a litter of kittens to be a better cat - I have 7 female cats here - not one of them has ever had a kitten - and they are all the most loving and gentle cats ever. Ok - off my soapbox now.



Well - a few posts ago - I promised to put up pictures of our new lambs. I know - you thought I meant little lambs. No, no.

On August 1st - I went to Ottawa with my DH and took some sheep to a friend who is just starting out with Shetlands. I took my daughter back to work in Ottawa - she was home on leave for the week. Then we stopped at another friends farm who is downsizing her flock, and we came home with 3 shetlands - 2 of them lambs, 1 was a mature ewe that I had sold her last year. This first little cutie is Galya. She's an all white little butterball. I need a few more white sheep in my flock as I am having so many calls for white fleeces that I can't fill all the orders. So hopefully she turns out nice. Her fleece is quite dense - she does come from Whistlestop Lerwick genetics, so I am quite hopeful. She is still quite shy, but we're working on that.

This next little darling is still unnamed. I'm thinking of calling her Wren, or Gwen. I haven't decided yet. She too is shy. She is out of Greta - the ewe that I brought back - Greta is a mioget - so she also carries mioget genetics. I love her big moorit spot - and her pink nose.
I have a soft spot for pink noses.
That's her mom Greta standing behind her in the picture - she is a cute thing. If you talk to her - she'll bleet back at you. She's got a very soft fleece which I have high hopes for. Her mom has a long, wavy - but very soft fleece. This little one has quite a bit of crimp in hers - but also very soft.

What do you think - Wren - or Gwen?

More Fowl

This post is about the male fowl on this farm. As I stated in my previous post, I have been raising chickens for about 18 years or so. We started out with a few chickens at our first country property, just for eggs. We have had as many as 40 chickens, and been down to as few as 2 when a raccoon got into the coop once. At times, I have debated getting rid of all of the chickens - as I did earlier this year. However, right now, I find myself enjoying them once again. By the way, I am allergic to feathers - only mildly though - as long as I don't stick my face in their feathers - or sleep with them - I am fine.

As far as roosters go - I try not to have too many at any one time. However - sometimes it's hard not to have several at one time. I find that if you have an average of 6 hens per rooster, then there is less fighting amongst the roosters, and the hens don't suffer as much from overly-eager roosters. In other words - give them all their own little harem - and they're happy.

So here goes: This first fella is our largest Rooster on the farm. He's a dorking - which is an older breed. If you notice - he is standing beside a couple of regular size Hens. "Cuckoo" stands about 18" tall. He also has 4 toes, which is a distinguishing character of this breed. I am currently looking for some dorking hens for him - as he is doing a number on the feathers of my much smaller hens.
This next rooster is an Americauna - which is a cross of the Aurucana. He is my last Americauna rooster that I have left. At one time, I had 14 of them. I'm also down to only one Americauna hen, so I am looking for some more of them as well. Although he is smaller than the Dorking Rooster, he isn't much smaller. He stands around 14-16" tall.
This little fella is a bantam rooster. Like the Sebrights - he is small - and feisty. He's probably about 6 years old now - and doesn't mix it up like he used to with the other roosters. I do like the bantam roosters as they are very proud little birds.
This little buff Silkie rooster has just left us. No, he didn't die. I sold him to a young fella just outside of London, Ontario who also likes the silkies. Note , he has a lovely walnut comb. He was a feisty young fella. One night as I was gathering eggs - he came up behind me and just nailed my hand so hard I thought he had broken it. I wasn't really sorry to see him leave after that incident.
This old guy is my white silkie rooster. This poor guy is notorious for getting tangled up. If there's a piece of string anywhere in the barnyard - he will find it. He has deformed spurs, so string does get wrapped around his feet easily. He's getting old, and is relatively gentle. One thing I find is that the silky roosters don't engage the other roosters at all - but the others will pick on them.
This little fella is my favourite rooster. He is a buff cochin bantam. I just got him from the young fella near London. I hadn't planned on getting any roosters from him - but this fella just caught my eye. He's very docile and loves to be petted and held. I like him so much that I am going to pick up his brother this weekend.
And last - but not least - and not a chicken - is Norman. He is a Toulouse Gander. In my last post, I mentioned that Norman is getting attached to Alice. Norman came to us 4 years ago after his parents were killed by dogs. His current owner noticed our nice pond and asked if we would like him. I just happened to be looking for a guard goose and said yes. Norman is my pet, and will follow me everywhere - when he's not following Alice. He will walk by your side and chat to you as you wander through the woods or the pasture. He does on occasion get angry and mix it up with one of the sheep. But for the most part - he gets along well with everyone.


That is it for the male fowl - oops - I'm wrong. We do have some drakes on the property as well - but they didn't want to come up for pictures tonight, so I will have to talk about them another time.

Just in General

The weather has cooled considerably, and life is much calmer here. It's been busy. We've been delivering and picking up sheep, sorting sheep for shipping, and getting ready for the cross Canada trek to Newfoundland in a couple of weeks.

Yesterday, I went to Fergus (actually, I went to IKEA in Hamilton), and met a friend, Shauna Gray. She has sold her farm, and is moving, so she gave me a couple of chickens that she had left.

These little guys are Silver Sebright Bantams. They are very tiny 6 - 8" tall (there is also a hen in behind one of the roosters). They are feisty little devils. I came out to the barn this morning to find all of my cochins sitting in the aisle outside the chicken stall - with the 4 Sebrights guarding the entrance. The cochins are very docile gentle chickens - so we'll see how this works out.

I have been raising chickens for the last 18 years (even though I am allergic to feathers). I will post some pictures of my other types of birds soon.

While meandering through the barnyard today with my camera - I just couldn't resist taking pictures of a few of my favourite fleeces on the hoof.
This first fleece is Jillian (click on the picture to make it larger). She is a medium gray .
Lovely single coated with lots and lots of crimp. I'm looking forward to spinning up her fleece next year.
This one is Gabriella, a beautiful soft white, crimpy single coated yearling ewe. Both of these girls are super friendly - and really love to be cuddled. That's what I love about Shetland sheep.
They are cuddly.

OK now, and for the completely bizarre (and where was my camera)??? I was walking out to the barn tonight to put the ewes into their stall (yes, my sheep are spoiled) - but we are dealing with a black bear on the property right now. I did a double take as I walked out - Norman - our Gander, was very gently grooming Alice, my elderly white ewe over by the fence. I watched in amazement as he picked at her wool. I called her over, as I thought he might be intimidating her, and she calmly walked away - obviously she was enjoying this. I went back out a few minutes later to see him at it again. I must try to get pictures. Very bizarre.

By the way - Norman has in the past also been very attached to one of our female llamas, and our rottweiler dog. I'm sure he's deranged.

Stay tuned for updates on the new lambs.

And Funnel Clouds

I was walking up from the barn tonight after work - when what should appear:

So - I quickly dashed into the house and grabbed my camera and snapped an entire series of
pictures as we watched the funnel cloud forming - and ultimately fizzling. This was just over the
town that is to the south of us - about 1/2 kilometer away. It was ultimately scary - and very transfixing at the same time. I was standing just outside my back door about 20 feet from the house taking these pictures. There were actually 3 funnel clouds all in a row - this one was the most pronounced.

Oh - and don't think I was overly calm. I was yelling at my son between shots to get the cats downstairs into their cages in the event it came down. I am a storm watcher - they fascinate - and terrify me at the same time.

And now - the main portion of the storm is approaching - I guess I'd better sign off before our house gets struck by lightning - again.

Here There Be Dragons

As Promised - I am posting some of my most recent raku pots. Click on the picture to make it larger if you'd like to see more detail. The first picture is of one of my dragon pots. Now - with raku - it is a low fire glazing technique which gives lovely lustres.
The fun thing about raku - is that you never really know what is going to happen. See the green dragon pot below.

The funny thing about the green dragon - and the red dragon - is that they are supposed to both be the same colour. They are the same glaze - Turquoise. Everything depends on the heat tempurature, the location in the kiln - and the reduction process. I was surprised to say the least - however - very pleased.

This pot here with the dragonfly was an oopsy. The picture was very hard to take - the flash
keeps making the dragonfly too bright. However - if you were to get a good look - the dragonfly is a very lusterous red glaze. The rest of the pot is supposed to be a black and white spot called naked raku. When you quench the pot - the glaze is supposed to crack and fall off - it didn't.
However - if I could show you the pot - because the glaze stayed on - and only flaked off in small areas - it has the look of being very old and fragile. Sometimes oopsies are OK.

These last two pots I picked up in early June while on a pottery run. They are by a small pottery shop in Miller Lake , Ontario - about 4 hours from here - called, what else - Miller Lake Pottery. Funny thing - the guy who makes these pots used to live just down the road from me - and we do know his family. It's a small world.
Rob Nantais (the potter) - makes these pots loosely based on the Lord of the Rings. They are a big seller. The jug on the left is a wizard (Gandalf) - the jar on the right isn't really based on any of the characters - but he does all of these faces in pots, mugs, jars - they are quite captivating.

That's it for pottery tonight.

It's still crazy busy here - we have sold several sheep - and deliveries will start in the next few weeks. I also have to start preparing fleeces for the mill, and I have several pottery commissions to get done as well. Let's couple that with a trip to Newfoundland in August - and it's going to be one busy summer.

And I said I was going to take it easy this year - Yeah Right!

Lambing is Done

Lambing is all done here at Kalwa Taure Shetlands this year. Now, you'll remember that I said, due to surgery, I wasn't going to breed any sheep this year - and I didn't. However, I am babysitting some sheep for my friend Shauna - and well - 4 of them were pregnant.


This first little darling - is our first ever bottle baby. In 13 years of raising shetlands, we have never had a bottle baby before. It's very heartbreaking to watch a baby that's been rejected. So, you'll forgive me for not posting this past week - but I have been busy. This is Windwater
Bertram. He's a beautiful black spotted gulmoget out of Willow Garden Latifah, and Verilaf Silver Streak. Bertram has a twin brother, Bernard.

This is a picture of Bertram and Bernard together. Bernard is all black and has a large white krunet. He tries very hard to spend time with Bertram - against his mothers wishes. At least the other lambs haven't rejected him. For the first 2 days he screamed bloody murder. Then I figured, he may just want to be cuddled. Sure enough - after 30 seconds wrapped in the blanket and rocked - he calmed right down. Now, he follows me around like any lamb would follow their mom - and he's as quiet as
a mouse. What a sweetie. He will be going to a good home near Ottawa some time in the very
near future.

And last but not least - Windwater Flower was born on June 25th. I came home to find this little
lovely laying with her mom in the barn - no issues with her. She's very delicate - all black with a little white krunet. We also lost one lamb - a beautiful mioget ewe lamb. Unfortunately, she was born during the afternoon when I was at work, and her mom started to clean her from the wrong end. She suffocated with the sack over her face. By the time I got home it was too late to save the lamb even though she was still warm - I tried everything - cleared all the passages, tickled her nose with straw, swung her around - nothing worked. It was a heartbreak to take this lamb from her mom.



So - along with Rose, we had 5 lambs - 3 ewes, 2 rams - 4 survived. I have to say that I do enjoy watching the lamb races, so I'm glad Shauna did give me an opportunity to have some lambs here this year.


And finally.................................................

Last week I arrived home with a very unusual flock of sheep :-)


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I went to a raku bash (no- not a raccoon bash) - and made up these little guys.

Raku is a type of firing that is done in pottery - in Japanese is means "Just Right".
These are so fun to make - as with raku - you never know just what you will get - it all depends on the intensity of the heat, where they sit in the kiln - and what you do during reduction.
I actually have several more that I have to photograph yet. But keep in mind - these are all about 2 inches long x about 1 1/2 inches high. The hardest thing - is not losing them in reduction.

I did some more raku last Saturday on my dragon pots. I will try to get pictures and post them in the next few days.

First Lamb(s) this Year

We had our first (and so far only) lamb here at Kalwa Taure on June 3rd. A cool, rainy day, I decided that it was OK to let the mioget group outside. I came home to this little lovely:

Windwater Lipstick Rose (hey - I didn't name her). We will call her Rose. All the lambs born here this year will carry the Windwater name, because they were bred by Shauna Grey at her farm - they are only visiting with us. So, I'm kind of like a Gramma this year - I get the enjoyment of the lambs, and get to spoil them - but I don't have to worry about selling them in the fall. Kind of a sweet deal if you ask me.

She's a little darling - as all first lambs are. She's very tame. Oh - and she's also a black, smirslet, gulmoget. Her dam is Windwater Rolo (hey - I didn't name her either), who is a mioget gulmoget.

Here she is with her mom "Rolo".

Now - Rolo is just staying for a visit till next year, along with Windwater Caramel. Their owner, Shauna Grey, (Windwater Shetlands), is selling her farm, and I have offered to keep these two for her this year, and a few of the lambs until she can get the other farm up and running.

Shauna is going to take Rose back to her new farm with her as well (this will probably be difficult - because I'm getting attached).

Needless to say - we brought the lamb inside and warmed her up. For the first time, we had a retained placenta. It was a bit disconcerting, but with no intervention from us, she did drop the placenta on Saturday with no other assistance.

I tend to take a very hands "off" approach to lambing. Shetlands are very hardy, primitive sheep, and usually can handle everything themselves. For the most part - I dip the navels in iodine, and watch to make sure they are sucking well. If feeding appears to be a problem - I will supplement some colostrum. Selenium shots are also given - and that's about it. We also tend to keep them in the barn - and separated for a few days, just so mom and lamb can bond. In this case, we are going through a heat wave right now (34 degrees celsius, 93 degrees farenheit), it's very muggy - and the sun is scorching, so I am keeping Rose and Rolo in the barn where I do have a fan going to circulate the air. Besides that - we're having a lot of thunderstorms right now (my poor border collie is going crazy) - and little lambs in thunder and lightning and torrential rains is not a lot of fun.

Yesterday - I went on a pottery run - I'll post about that tomorrow. Enjoy your day - hope it's not as hot as here.