Musings and Ramblings of the Shepherd, PhD

What did we do on our January "vacation"?

2012-01-22T13:55:00.000-08:00

The Pacific Northwest has been in the news over the last week with the first big storms of the season. First we got hit with snow - less than predicted, but enough to paralyze the area. Then, instead of the warming and melt that was forecast, we had an unprecedented 12+ hours of freezing rain! Heavily laden trees came down everywhere, along with many, many branches big and small - and many power lines. Over 300,000 homes and businesses in our area were left without power, and roads were impassible with all the trees and wires down.

Our pasture looks like a war zone with branches littered everywhere and fences crushed. Fortunately, the fences keeping our sheep in are still intact. We lost power on Wednesday evening and regained it yesterday (Saturday) evening. For us, that means loss of water, as our well operates on electricity. There was enough snow and ice, that we could keep water buckets filled and somewhat thawed. Inside water was harder, but we filled gallon jugs before our system lost all pressure, and filled them up again at a nearby gas station.

It was cold outside, so no immediate danger to our freezers (thank goodness!), but for us... it got cold. We cooked on the gas stove, and the bed is piled with fleeces on top of the down quilt, so we had hot meals and were warm at night. Staying occupied and warm during the day was a challenge.

We ended up in my rather small wool room, powering a space heater and a couple of lights with the little gas generator, and were quite comfortable, if rather cozy.

Here's the setup: Dave brought in a little table for modeling and several books, I had my spinning wheel and knitting, the dogs had their rug/bed. Of course, the wool and fabric around the perimeter was very useful for thermal storage...

I spun - some Cormo and Cormo/Pygora blend for the Ravelry group - Knitters Book of Yarn woolalong. Cormo is the February breed - and knitted on my boucle shawlette.

The dogs slept. Dogs are good at sleeping when nothing else interests them.

Clifford could skinny into places the Labradors couldn't, so sometimes he slept with them, and sometimes he slept in the "cave" under my table.

Dave mostly read, and worked on his models.

Kat wanted in...

...and Kat wanted out.

Then, Saturday evening, while we were quietly knitting, reading, sleeping and (Kat) staying out with brother, Toby, the room light came on! Light! Heat! Water! Hot showers! Facebook...

Update

2011-10-18T20:59:00.000-07:00

In September, I took almost 3 weeks for a trip to the midWest. Clifford and I shared my pickup truck out and back, and we picked up 2 Shetlands to share the ride home. The major goal of the trip was to attend the 2011 Iron Welsh Challenge in St. Louis. Clifford was entered in three of the events, though not in the Challenge itself, since I was judging the agility portion of the IWC.

Before the IWC started, I gave a tracking seminar in Mountain Home, AR. The enthusiasm of the attendees was infectious, and I hope they continue on! I then spent several days with a friend in the area before driving to Sullivan, MO, for the IWC tracking tests - the first events in the 2011 IWC. We had 2 VST entries, including Clifford, 1 TDX entry, and 1 TD entry. Both the TD and TDX dogs PASSED, but Clifford failed after going well astray on the first leg then coming back to miss the first turn.

The Iron Welsh Champion was also the breed's first CT (earned her VST in May) - Ripley with owner/handler Lisa. Highlights of the weekend included the Welsh Springer winning Best in Show at Sunday's all breed show, Meghen's baby shower, and the "Boys" winning the Rally Team class. Clifford's highlight was the hunt test, held on Monday. He was one of three qualifiers, though the important part to him was BIRDS!

On my way home, Julianne and Tom Budde met me with Lil'Country Nightcap and BabyBee. They got the pickup bed "suite" on the way home. NightCap (below) is a very handsome, moorit, polled Shetland ram with incredibly soft and crimpy fleece. Babybee is a lovely, dainty moorit Shetland ewe who's produced well for Jules and now gets a chance to move the EverRanch flock toward polled rams.

By the time I returned home, a shipment of long awaited Gotland semen from Sweden itself! had arrived in the US. Early in the month, we got 12 ewes ready for AI, 11 of them received semen from 4 of the elite rams represented in the import. Now we wait.

It's a constant struggle to keep sheep numbers down. With so many really nice ewes - and rams, too - it's hard to decide who stays and who goes. This year, Shetlands Mindy (left below) and Astrid (right below) fell below my "keeper" line. Very nice sheep both, they found a home in a flock who has 3 other EverRanch % Gotland sheep. They might even get to participate in Living Nativity at their new home.

While I was gone, the garden reached its peak of the summer. Tomatoes, corn, beans, squash all were at their best while I was gone, but held on long enough for me to enjoy them, too! Actually, there are lots of green beans in the garden, hard to believe it's late October and the beans still look like this:

Tomatoes finally gave up with way too many green ones left on the vines. We grew a number of "Beefstake" type varieties this year, and they don't survive storage well. There are just too many folds and lobes, though the cherry tomatoes didn't survive well either. I harvested quite a few pumpkins and squash - Sweet Meat, Spaghetti, Delicata, Sugar Pie and generic pumpkin. The sheep fight each other for the bean plants, corn stalks and Brussels sprouts leaves. Soon, they'll get to clean up the garden except for the cold hardy plants - parsnip, Brussels sprouts, carrots, beets, chard, leeks. Yes, we'll still be eating from the garden for a while!

- Franna

The Garden at the End of July...

2011-07-29T17:12:00.000-07:00

Oops! Looks like I forgot to finish a post. How fun to look back at the mid-summer garden!

... looks a lot like a "normal" June garden. We're eating lettuce, green onions, chard, baby beets, summer squash, and broccoli. There is abundant promise.

...Zuccini and blossoms...

...yellow squash and more blossoms...

...shepherd's potatoes...

...with blossoms. Potato blossoms are very pretty, and are obviously in the nightshade family!

...squash blossoms. Someday I'm going to try fried squash blossoms.

...tomatoes, if not ripening, at least there are now green ones.

Garden view looking SSW. Onions, lettuce, beets, broccoli, leeks, squash, corn, sunflowers.

...corn with tassles!

...more potato blossoms. This time a red potato - Carmine.

...beans to come! The Royal Purple are gorgeous plants. Red stems and the lovely violet-pink blossoms! The little bean is still green - soon to turn dark purple.

This has been a great year for broccoli. Not too hot, not too cold.

Pole beans climbing up the sunflowers.

A closer look at a baby Royal Purple bean.

That was where I stopped, but I figured it is still worth sharing. The garden of 2011 isn't quite done, though long past its peak. It's not too early to look forward to next year's garden!

- Franna

I Finished the Tour de Fleece!

2011-07-29T17:02:00.001-07:00

I started Le Tour de Fleece a couple of previous years, but didn't stick with it to the end. THIS YEAR...

...I spun a little or a lot every day the riders rode. And most days, I watched the "other" spinning - bicycles, lots of bicycles. It was an exciting Tour with many sprint finished, lead changes, accidents (boo!), and wacko fans lining the roads.

I started spinning batts from a class I took this spring, and FINISHED them all! Those are the colored skeins in the photo.

Then the next week, I started spinning my "peloton" yarn - Shetland! The white on the bobbin is fine top from Shetland sheep living in the Shetland isles via Jamieson and Smith. My other Shetland spinning isn't shown - it's bulky yarn from one of our first Shetlands - Electra. I'm making a lap blanket with two of her fleeces.

My stretch (difficult climb days) spinning was on the spindle shown above - a cashmere and silk blend. I only got a few yards spun. It's quite fine and I had a lot of "help" from the cats and dogs. They wanted to help spin that spindle - hah!

This was my favorite image from the awards ceremony - the three winners with raised, clasped hands, jubilant in their victory, and I'm sure more than a little glad the Tour was over for another year.
- Franna

Garden Bounty

2011-07-04T17:52:00.000-07:00

Remember the photo above from mid-May?

...and this one with the baby broccoli, Brussels sprouts and leek hairs newly planted?

Here it is today - July 4th, 2011 - the 235th Birthday of the United States.

It's a bit behind the usual Western Washington garden and growing well with our recent warm weather. ...just add water!

Today, I harvested this "bounty" - our first lettuce and scallions.

The lettuce, one leaf from each of three different types of lettuce, went straight into my lunch - pastrami and mustard on Dave's Killer Good Seed bread!

Mega-flavor and crunch!!!

Below are the "shepherd's potatoes", growing in a tower made from old fencing, then lined with mulch quality fleeces, and filled with compost as the potatoes grow.

The tower below, third from the left, holds Carmine potatoes. I'm so tempted to check the bottom layer for new potatoes! It won't be long, they've got flower buds! The broccoli LOVES this weather!

...and so do the Brussels sprouts. They've grown so tall, that they fall over and I've added stakes and big rocks to prop them up! Tiny Brussels sprouts are starting to form - promises, promises!

More promises - the tomatoes are doing better than expected. They have lots of blossoms, and even...

... one little tomato! It's an heirloom variety beefsteak type - Persimmon.The corn is doing average. The rule of thumb is that corn should be "knee high by the Fourth of July". Welllll...

... with a little help the first planting of corn is knee high. The last planting is just emerged. I'm hopeful... the local corn mazes aren't up yet, either.

Beans - looking good! after a shaky start with no help from the moles. grrrrr!

One little zuccini with a big blossom! ... well behind "normal" for this area.

Carrots and Beets coming along. I can't blame the weather for these, they were planted late. Beet thinnings to come!

This goodie is one of four... count 'em... four parsnip plants that came up in 8' of row. At least there's still time to plant more parsnips.

Le Tour de Fleece - Day 1 Progress

2011-07-02T22:59:00.001-07:00

I completed a whole batt! It took about 2 hours spinning, plying and skeining. 0.9 oz and 79 yards. The color's not quite right on my monitor, it's the center top batt in the previous post - magenta blended with white, a little grey and a bit of flash. Yeaaa! Progress!

LeTour de Fleece - Day 1

2011-07-02T09:58:00.001-07:00

This is my chosen fiber for the 2011 Le Tour de Fleece. The idea of Le Tour is to to spin every day that the Tour de France cyclists compete, plus including challenging oneself, doing something difficult during the most difficult day of the Tour de France... you get the idea.

I've started Le Tour de Fleece the past 2 years, and haven't finished. This year I'm on the start line again! My big challenge will be to finish Le Tour. My stretch challenge will be to complete the above batts. I'll be using my Majacraft Rose, and the days I'm not at home, I'll have one of my trusty spindles with Shetland fiber. I have moorit and white in work that I take with me for demonstrations.

I took the Designer Batt class at Shepherds' Extravaganza this year - taught by Amy Wolf. These batts came from that class. The class was incredible. If you ever have the opportunity to take a class from Amy, or listen to her judge sheep or fleeces, DON'T MISS OUT!!! She is an incredible instructor and judge, always with something positive to say.

The batts are:

(Vertical from left) - Rescue batt, Gradations (dark), Gradations (light), Rainbow, Water Lilies, and horizontal - Sunset.

They're all made from Washington grown fiber :-) and include kid mohair, Romney, Gotland :-) :-) :-) , Jacob, Icelandic, Shetland, Corriedale, and some I don't remember. We got to add silk, more mohair, flash, and other assorted goodies. Amy had some examples and walked us through making shade and tint gradations, rainbow batts and rescue batts (something didn't turn out well - instead of tossing the fiber, add "things" to it!)

I think I'll start with the shade and tint gradations. I won't be alone in my spinning. My "helpers" Toby and Kat are always close by!

And just so the sheep don't feel left out... This is my favorite Gotland ewe: Gem.
Gem is 75% Gotland and 25% Finn. She has lovely, lustrous, dark grey curls, and classic Northern Shorttail conformation, plus is friendly and easy to handle. Lovely ewe!

This year, Gem gave us two beautiful 87.5% lambs. The lighter one is a ram with the tight pincurl type lamb fleece that I love. Her ewe, Crystal, has the more traditional curly fleece. Their sire is Hamish Black's (Chocolate Wool NZ) Gotland ram, Ralph.

More Le Tour and Lamb updates to come!

Mad Dash from Pasture to Pen!

2011-06-24T17:04:00.000-07:00

This is their third excursion from pasture to pen. (Pen to pasture doesn't go quite as smoothly - yet.) There is grain in the pen and the ewes know it! The lambs just (mostly) follow their moms. At the end, I have to wait for Chamois and her triplets, then scoop one laggard through the gate into the pen.

These are most of the Gotland ewes and their lambs. Several are for sale. :-)

6 ewes - 17 lambs

2011-06-22T10:54:00.000-07:00

EVR Chamois and her triplets, 1 ram, 2 ewes.

We did AI late in the breeding season this year. We AI'd 6 Gotland cross ewes - 4 at 50% and 2 at 75%, then left them with the backup ram, 87.5% Gotland ram RCF Calloway, for just one cycle. The lambs came in late May and early June - two sets of twins, three sets of triplets and one set of quads! That's almost a 300% lambing rate, and more than doubled the number of lambs on the farm.

EVR Gem with her twins, a ewe and a ram

This group is being kept separate from the rest of the flock so the ewes can get extra nutrition. They're feeding many mouths! I like the lambs in general. They have nice bodies, long loins, tall legs. Several have the tight pincurl fleeces that I like, usually seen on the whites, also on some of the greys this year.

Chamois and her triplets again.

These photos were taken on the lambs first trip out to the "yard" pasture. I like having the sheep close to the house where I can just glance out the window and see them.

Bossie and her quads - from left: Chrome (ewe), Marlene (ewe), Sooty (ewe and sideways), ram.

I stole Michelle's idea of leading the ewes out to the pasture and letting the lambs follow.

Oh, my! The first time was total chaos! The ewes came just fine, but only a couple of the lambs initially crossed the "threshold" into the great unknown. With Dave holding ewes in the pasture, I made several trips back with one mom or another to pick up the strays. Finally! They were all in the pasture. I kept halters on the ewes in case they were needed on the trip back. The ewes had been confined for a while, so they only got to be on the fresh, green grass for a bit, working them up to full access.

Bossie and her quads again.

Fortunately, the trip back was like going "home" and the lambs followed very nicely... following their moms who were following me with the grain bucket. You gotta love the pig-sheep.

87.5% ewe lamb - one of Jewel's twins.

Today - I led the ewes out to the pasture with a bucket of grain. About half of the lambs followed the first time. We made the trip past the gate a couple of times and got everyone except Chamois' triplets. Putting her on a halter and leading just her to the gate got the trio moving. The second time around was much easier!

Not shown - this time - Jewel and her other daughter, Bits and her white triplets, Bunny and her grey triplets.

Digging in the Dirt

2011-05-14T22:13:00.000-07:00

First, a gratuitous photo of one of our older hens, an Americauna. the chickens are great at digging in the dirt!

Dave got the tiller going, and the rain held off long enough to get the garden area tilled! The back left corner is where the Sheepie Hilton compost pile was. I shoveled about half of it over the garden after the first tilling, then the rest stayed put... mostly. Sheep compost is wonderful! I plan to put the tomatoes in that location.

This is an expansion of our last garden - in 2009 during one of the best growing seasons that I can remember. This garden is maybe twice as large. The portion behind and to the left of the shed is new, as is most of the back towards the stump.

So, first I laid out the garden using Territorial Seed Company's new Garden Planner. What a great tool! I moved plants around and around until I liked the layout.

I started with the potatoes. The "potato towers" have intrigued me since I saw one at the Island County Fair two years ago. Potatoes take so much garden space when grown traditionally. The towers let the potatoes grow up, and produce more potatoes in the vertical space. There are many versions on the web, and I designed my own (of course!).

We had taken this field fence wire down several years ago, and I was about ready to take it to the dump. It had been grown into the grass and took some doing to get it loose.

I chose to make my towers about 3 feet in diameter, so that's just over 6 feet of length. The bolt cutters made quick work of cutting the wire lengths. Then, I wanted the towers to be low enough that I could reach the bottom, but high enough to grow lots of potatoes!

Bending the tops down, doubling the wire at the top, then rolling it into a cylinder, securing with the cut wire ends... voila - made a potato tower. Actually, the length of fence was enough to make 6 towers.

Above is the wire doubled and ready to roll. Below are 4 of the towers sitting in their planned location (yellow squares at the left of the plan above).

The box at the left, full of ~~junk~~ mulch quality fleeces, has a role to play. You'll have to wait until later to see that part.

So, below are four of the potatoes placed at the bottom of their tower, ready to be covered with dirt. I got three varieties this year, Satin (a yellow midseason), Carmine (a red midseason), and Burbank Russet (the most popular potato in the US, late season). This one is Satin.

As they grow, I'll add soil, compost and maybe straw. New potatoes will grow from the covered stems. The longer the stems, the more potatoes will grow. At least that's the idea. It's important to keep the growing potatoes from the light, so as I fill the tower, the sides will have to be covered with something dark.

Next I laid out some of the paths, and put boards down to walk on. This helps keep the soil from compacting around the plant roots. The broccoli, Brussels sprouts and Leeks were the next to go in. Here they are waiting in their assigned locations - green and purple boxes on the lower right of the plan.

The starts have been living on the patio awaiting this day. I repotted the broccoli and Brussels sprouts once, giving them more growing room. I was pleased to see vigorous, healthy new roots on all the transplants.

Above are my tools of the trade - board walkway, kneeling pad, garden gloves, trowel, organic fertilizer and PLANTS! Feather, one of the barn kitties had to "snoopervize". The hole left of the gloves has a bit of fertilizer in the bottom, ready to be mixed in before putting the plant in.

Below, the little leek plants are in their trench, waiting to be covered. They had nice root systems, too, and were easily separated. We use young leeks like green onions, so planting them close together allows some thinning along with a nice harvest during fall and winter.

So, 2/3 of the potatoes, all the leeks, and the broccoli and Brussels sprouts are in the ground! There is much more, of course, to go in. Now the pots that contained the broccoli, Brussels sprouts, and leeks will have squash and melon seeds planted in them, so they can get a good start while the unsettled, cold weather forecast for the next week passes.

They look so little, with lots of space around them. Assuming all goes well, they'll fill in soon enough, and I'll feel for the boards with my feet through all the greenery. Better, will be the eating!

PS. The sky was getting dark and threatening as I was finishing. The last photo was taken with a flash! As I was going back into the house, the rain started... again. It's still raining... hard.

Fiber Test Results

2011-05-14T20:01:00.000-07:00

...came back today. I was starting to think the package had been lost. So, here are the raw results, some surprises, and some changes in my keeper sheep.

First, the Shetlands, since I think there are more Shetland readers than Gotland readers. :-)

Format is Name/Breed/age/AFD/SD/CV

Astrid/Shetland/3/32.1/10.2/31.8

Barish/Shetland/4/27.2/6.2/22.9

Bessie/Shetland/5/31.4/7.3/23.3

Blanca/Shetland/2/25.7/5.4/20.9

Electra/Shetland/9/31.6/6.3/19.8

Mindy/Shetland/2/27.9/7.3/26.3

Toffee/Shetland/2/24.7/7.1/28.7

Average - 26.66 - not bad!

So, the surprises - Astrid has a much softer feeling fleece than her micron results show. However, she will be for sale.

Bessie has been below 28 for the last 2 tests, so she's worth retesting. I didn't expect Toffee to be as low as she is, so she's coming off the sales list, and is staying. Electra and Barish are similar to previous results. I didn't expect Mindy to be so low either, but I'll leave her on the sales list. Blanca has a nice tight peak, both Toffee and Mindy have significant "tails" on the higher side - shown in their higher CV's.

Now the Gotlands, starting with the yearlings:

Alice/75%Gotland-25%Shetland/1/29.5/6.8/23.1

Caidon/87.5%Gotland-12.5%Shetland/1/28.2/7.3/25.9

Cocoa Puff/25%Gotland-75%Shetland/1/24.4/7/28.5

Dancer/75%Gotland-25%Finn/1/27.5/7.6/27.6

Eclaire/37.5%Gotland-67.5%Finn/1/25.8/6.1/23.7

Fiona/67.5%Gotland-37.5%Finn/1/25/5.3/21.3

Marie/75%Gotland-25%Shetland/1/30.4/8.0/26.4

then into the adults:

Bits/50%Gotland-50%Finn/4/34.6/6.8/19.8

Bossie/50%Gotland-50%Finn/4/32.4/6.8/20.9

Bunny/50%Gotland-50%Shetland/4/35.6/9.3/26.2

Chamois/50%Gotland-50%Finn/2/34.3/7.4/21.5

Daisy/37.5%Gotland-25%BFL-25%BL-12.5%Shetland/2/36.7/8.0/21.8

DeeTee/50%Gotland-50%Shetland/4/33.9/8.9/26.2

Gem/75%Gotland-25%Finn/2/35.5/9.6/27

Jewel/75%Gotland-25%Finn/2/39.9/10.8/27

I've been selecting for finer fleeces in the Gotlands, too. Gotland sheep are not fine fleeced, althought the lamb fleeces are often under 3o micron afd. So, I'm seeing higher AFD's in the higher % Gotlands. I'm hoping to select for finer fleeces still within the standard range for Gotlands.

So disappointment wise, 75% Gotlands, Gem and Jewel, have 35.5 and 39.9 microns at 2 years old. Alice and Marie are near 30 afd in their lamb fleeces. Bunny is their dam at 35.6 afd, and Hoppy is 33.61 afd, so I was hoping these two would mature in the low 30's. They still might.

Also, Bits as a 2 year old tested 27.4/6.3/23, considerably lower than this result. Six of the fleece tests came from sheared fleeces, where I guessed at the midside, last rib location. Bits was one of these, so she deserves to be retested. Bunny and DeeTee also showed increased thickness since their 2 year old tests, so maybe Gotland sheep coarsen for several years... or again, maybe I just need to retest those six (Bits, Bunny, Bossie, Chamois, Gem, Jewel)

So, there they are, just as they are.

Just so the blog includes photos, here are Cocoa Puff:

and her daughter Licorice Drop. Licorice is 50%Gotland/50%Shetland.

- Franna

Lamb Photos

2011-05-04T19:54:00.000-07:00

Finally. FINALLY. We had a good photo day - dry, warm, good light, and me at home - when I could go sit with the sheep and take some photos. These lambs are between 7 weeks (Ashley and Lenny) and 3 weeks old (George).

We have 6 more Gotland ewes due the end of the month.

Shetlands - Electra with daughter, Spark, sired by FirthofFifth Barish

Shetland - Bolt is Spark's twin brother. He is for sale.

Shetland twins - Orville (ram) and Popcorn (ewe)

Another shot of Orville. Sire and Grandsire both have mid 20's micron adult fleece. Orville is well built with soft, crimpy fleece. He's for sale.

62.5% Gotland (with BFL, BL and Shetland) ram - Patch is very light grey.

Gotland - Morgan, Patch's twin brother. Morgan will be a medium to light grey as an adult. Both Patch and Morgan have nice, curly fleeces and are for sale.

62.5% Gotland/37.5% Shetland ewe - JayDee is for sale.

JayDee again.

Gotland - DeeJay, JayDee's twin sister. DeeJay is also for sale. JayDee will be fairly light grey and DeeJay will probably be medium to dark grey.

Gotlands - Angie (50%) and daughter, Delilah (68.75%). Both have incredible fleeces and nice bodies.

75% Gotland/ 25% Shetland - George is for sale and might carry brown.

Mutt sheep - Scottish Blackface/Gotland/Shetland.
Lenny and Ashley playing King and Queen of the stump.

Shetlands - Abe and Astrid, his dam. Abe is sired by Barish and is for sale.

Abe in another shot, liking that nice, spring grass!

Shetland - Toffee, 2yo, in full fleece. She is for sale.

Thanks for visiting the EverRanch lambs!
- Franna

Speaking Spaniel

2011-03-21T17:25:00.000-07:00

The big Seattle Kennel Club dog show draws a lot of spectators. Breed information booths fill three whole rows the length of the building. This year (as last year), three Spaniel clubs went together to rent one booth - "Spaniel Central", with the Mount Rainier Sporting Spaniel Association taking the lead. Cascade English Cocker Spaniels and the Pacific Northwest Welsh Springer Spaniel Club joined in. Clifford and I spent two hours in the booth meeting people, talking "spaniel" and promoting the breeds. Some of you might recognize the clip on the monitor as coming from "The Working Welshman" - a wonderful video showing how conformation affects hunting performance, showcasing Welsh Springers, but applicable to all spaniels.

Clifford particularly likes young girls. He's reserved around others, will tolerate being petted, but will make eye contact with the young girls in the aisle, wag his tail and grin at them with his eyes and ears until they come up and make a fuss over him. It works.

- Franna

Home Made Egg Nog

2011-03-14T13:46:00.000-07:00

After experimenting for several years, just off and on - not extensively, I came up with an egg nog recipe that suits my taste buds! This round of taste tests was inspired by our chickens, who're just getting up to laying speed this spring.

I'm a sucker for egg nog lattes and warm egg nog, yes, sometimes fortified a bit. :-)

Now I have my own - I don't have to rely on seasonal, store bought egg nog with its laundry list of chemicals and heavy sugaring.

Here's what I'm drinking:

1 big mug
1 whole egg, fresh from the nest
1 tsp sugar
dash/pinch of allspice
bigger dash of freshly grated nutmeg

I put a bit of milk in the bottom of the mug - maybe a tablespoon, add the egg and beat with a fork. When it's pretty well homogenous, add the sugar, allspice, nutmeg and more milk. Beat it some more with the fork. Add milk to fill the mug. My size mug in my microwave gets 2 minutes on high, then stirred, followed by another minute on high.

It comes out smooth and creamy with just a hint of custardy texture. It's golden yellow from our free range eggs and just sweet enough. Just right for a stormy Monday morning... or Tuesday, Wednesday....

Too late for a photo, it's already gone!
Franna

EverRanch Ashley and Lenny

2011-03-10T22:28:00.000-08:00

Scottish Blackface, Eve, presented us with these twins late on Ash Wednesday, the first day of Lent. Their sire is 75% Gotland. The Gotland influence is amazing even on a Scottish Blackface fleece!

- Franna

The House Pumas

2011-01-24T20:54:00.001-08:00

After stealthily ignoring the pumas for most of the morning, I managed to catch them on their perches.

Here's Toby on the back of the sofa. Toby's second favorite perch is on this Scottish Blackface pelt. His favorite perch is the very top of the kitty tree. The two kitties used to share this perch. Now Toby lops over on all sides all by himself. Kat still fits neatly inside.

And here is Kat who took over my chair while I was stalking Toby and capturing his spirit in the black box. I caught her while she wasn't looking, at least not looking at the lens.

This is our other house kitty - no longer a puma. She's actually doing fairly well for a 15 year old kitty. Spike disappeared for days last year. Sometime in there she got injured and almost starved. She managed to come home, but I didn't think she'd live. Obviously, she lived, but didn't heal well, so now she's our "broken" kitty with a pronounced limp in the rear. She gets around well enough to climb onto the living room sofa and chairs and mostly keeps to herself and seems happy. She came in to see what I was doing - stalking her nemeses, Kat and Toby.

Later, Toby wrestled me into my chair, where he held me down and forced my hand to repeatedly stroke his fur, while he mesmerized me with his enchanting buzz. It was all a plot to get his spirit back. It worked.

- Franna

Toby and Kat

2011-01-23T21:21:00.000-08:00

Almost 2 years ago, I found these kittens amongst the straw bales in our trailer. Today, they're happy and healthy house pumas. The calico is Katrina (the Calico) and the tabby is Toby (the Tabby). At the time it was a big decision to take them and bring them indoors where their feral mother wouldn't be able to find them. I'm glad we chose to raise them. :-)

Adventures at the Beach

2011-01-07T11:14:00.001-08:00

Dave and I started our life together as a couple 11 years ago very near this site, on January 1, 2000. There was so much hoopla about how all electronics were going to die or malfunction as the calendar turned over to Y2K. Businesses large and small updated their computer systems and installed work arounds to keep the calendars intact and continuous. It all worked! As we sat on the beach at the turn of the year, drinking champagne and talking about our future together, none of the lights went out and the world continued. There were awesome fireworks at midnight :-)

You don't get to see this view often from the jetty at Westport. These are the Olympic mountains... from the West side. If you look really, really hard, right through the middle of the photo, you can see ERN on the other side of the range.

Gotcha! ...didn't I? Yes, ERN is there. Of course, you can't see it in this photo. We can, however, see the other side of the range from ERN on a clear day... and imagine looking through to Westport.

We drove to our favorite stretch of beach, south of Grayland to find this... This stretch of beach is known as "Washaway Beach" and wash away it has! This used to be about 200 yards of beach access road, complete with rest rooms about half way down. It has been reclaimed by nature! Every few years, a house falls into the water. The constantly shifting sand spit is not permanent. Long Beach, Westport, Ocean Shores, and other coastal places are built on sand spits, and will eventually be remodeled by Mother Nature.

We chose another portion of the beach to enjoy.

The dogs love to run on the beach and chase each other and the shore birds. Clifford, especially, loves to chase the birds. The birds stay well out of reach, and he barks his frustration at them, and continues to run.

The Labradors just love to run, both in and out of the water. Winnie and Villa are racing each other and the surf.

...and they check in when asked to.

Back from the surf, there was a small pond, partially frozen. We spent quite a bit of time here with the dogs. They explored and slid on the ice, chased the shore birds who'd taken refuge here on the open water, and chomped ice. When they got to the edge of the ice, their footsteps created a harmonic within the ice and it made an eerie, musical sound that carried far along the beach. Here's Villa, checking it out.

And Clifford fallen through at the edge. Notice, it's pretty shallow, so we weren't worried about them getting stranded or stuck.

And here's Winnie with a prize piece of the ice.

Just so you don't think it's always this clear and sunny... Westport is very near the rain forest of the Olympic mountains. While the temperature might be moderated by the Pacific, the clouds build up against the mountains and many more days than not, it is cloudy and wet.

Regardless, it's one of our favorite places, and we don't get there often enough. This year, our visit happened to be during the very limited razor clam season. As low tide approached, more and more people and vehicles arrived. We packed up some tired dogs and ourselves and made our way home - still in sunshine, but in much colder temperatures.

- Franna

Feliz Navidad

2010-12-25T22:44:00.001-08:00

For the third season, our sheep played a supporting role in the Highline Christian Church's Living Nativity. Here they are with the Shepherds honoring the baby Jesus.

Llamas play the role of beast of burden for the Magi. They are quite regal.

I was honored to be involved once again. The sheep and the Shepherds did well. From left, the sheep are Electra, Toffee, Bessie, and Mindy, all registered Shetland Sheep.

Wishing Peace and Happiness to All

- Franna and the EverRanch Critters

Adventures in the Snow

2010-11-23T10:42:00.000-08:00

Yesterday, Dave left to retrieve the travel trailer, aka spare bedroom, for the upcoming Holidays. We're expecting our kids plus one for both Thanksgiving and for Christmas. We have a 3 bedroom house - one for us, one for wool, one for exercise equipment. There is a loft bed in the exercise room that no one likes and a hideabed that is serviceable. The trailer makes it much nicer for guests, especially for a couple. :-)

Snow and cold weather was predicted some time ago, so we knew it was coming. ...right.

Sunday evening, the kitchen sink drain started leaking - a lot. One of the fittings on the P trap broke and let the connection come apart. Well, an "easy" fix, right?

The ground was white on Monday morning, but bare and wet on the roads with a "forecast" to stay above freezing for most of the daylight hours.

We live on a hill. It's not just any hill, it's a pretty steep haul from the valley floor to where we are, plus we're in a cooler micro-climate than the valley, often with frost, ice and snow when the valley is just wet. Sometimes, it only takes going the half mile to the main road to get out of the slippery stuff. There are 6 semi-direct ways to get up here from the Auburn-Sumner area, one major state highway (hwy 410), two main multi lane arterials, and 3 windy (windey?) local roads. All are steep and long to get up the 300' or so to where we live.

So, I asked Dave to phone me about the conditions of the road when he got to the valley floor. He did. "It's just wet", he says. "Go for it", he says. "It's easy", he says.

Well, I had to take the sink apart, let the dogs go potty, find the car keys... FIND the car keys. The Honda keys were a.w.o.l. That left the pickup (which was a good thing in the end). The pickup that was still attached to the horse trailer, parked on a slope where I was going to dump the bedding.

Sooooo, I managed to pull the trailer and pickup up into the upper driveway with a minimal amount of sliding, but no go on backing up to park the trailer. It wouldn't move even a foot backwards. Well, I figured on trying it again from a better angle, so pulled it around into the middle driveway and up the slope at a faster pace, sliding around the curve. Yes! It went up the steep part of the slope, but again wouldn't back up the lesser slope to its parking spot. Yet again a third time I tried, this time going toward the garage to back it up going down the slight incline. However, this time I couldn't even get up to the upper driveway. Plan C - back up and park the trailer next to the Honda in front of the house. That worked.

Time is ticking away. The roads are still wet, but it's now almost 4, and snowing lightly. Still, Lowe's is only 10 minutes away, should be plenty of time to get there, get the parts, and come home. I was even going to the bank along the way.

Driving down the hill was uneventful, people were driving up and down with no obvious trouble, though I noticed someone had slid into the deep ditch some time earlier. At the bottom of the hill - about 2 miles from home - it was completely different. The roads were slick, the snow was coming down hard, and it was blowing. What???!! I kept to my plan to get to Lowe's and get the part, but dropped going to the bank. I did NOT want to spend the next 2 days without a kitchen sink!

My truck is 2WD, has regular tires, and is light in the rear (pickup trucks are rear wheel drive). I slid where others didn't. It was tricky getting going from a stop, so I ran a few yellow-to-red lights. Got to Lowe's, got help, and the parts! I held old and new up side by side and carefully compared. They looked like a good match. (Remember the puzzle with 2 drawings and you get to find the differences? I usually find all but one - pretty good, I thought.)

It took about 30 minutes from when I left the house to heading back. That 30 minutes made a huge difference in the road conditions and the traffic. The road leading up to our hill was packed with snow and ice. The vehicles going slower than I could walk. As I crept along in line with everyone else, I wondered whether people were actually getting up the hill, or were turning around and coming down, wondered whether I could even get turned around if my truck lost traction on the hill.

Finally, at the very last option for turning around before the hill started, I did. I was going to walk home. I parked at Game Farm Park, only a couple miles from home and ordinarily an easy walk.

Of course, I took my cell phone and the sink parts - I wasn't going to leave those fateful parts. At least I could wash dishes and fill water buckets for the animals in the kitchen sink!

Then, Dave talked me out of walking. It was getting dark, the hill has no sidewalks and little shoulder to speak of. I was wearing a light colored coat, but had no flashlight. Les Schwab was still open and not far away. I went back to get chains. They were busy, but happy to sell me chains, and to install them in the now blizzard like conditions.

The change in the truck's handling was immediately obvious. The truck no longer fishtailed when starting to move, and I was sure I could stop. Now I would be able to turn around and come back if the roads were blocked.

I knew the shortist route was already choked, but I checked anyhow. Right enough, it was at a standstill a half mile away from the start of the hill. I turned around again, and tried for option 2, another wind-y local road. It took a long time to get there. Everyone was more or less sanely creeping along.

At the turnoff for option 2, it looked like a few people might be getting through, but more were sliding and effectively blocking the road - and this route started with a small hill - the steep sections were out of sight!

Option 3, further down the road, was closed off with flares. People were parking on the ample shoulder and walking. A few brave(?) souls were going up anyhow. They disappeared into the blackness and I couldn't tell if they actually made it up, or slid and parked. I still had options, so continued south, winding along the bottom of the hill.

No one was even trying to get up Option 4. It is the steepest and most winding of all the ways up the hill.

Options 5 and 6 come together at the East end of Sumner. I got to the turn at Option 5 (multilane arterial), just to see the police blocking it off, and routing traffic around.

I turned, as directed, and went into a mini-mart just past hwy 410. What a mess! Cars were everywhere. No one seemed to care which lane they were in, whether they were going forward or backward, or who was in the way.

Highway 410 (option 6) was going to be my drop dead backup plan. It is the least steep, but most out of the way, route up the hill to HOME. I could hear tires spinning and above me, I could see all the cars on my last hope route stop and go creeping... mostly stopped. Somehow I was going to get HOME. I needed to be there for the dogs and the sheep.

Okay, I thought, I'll go back to Option 3, park, and walk the 5-ish miles home.

As I started through the intersection leading to the closed Option 5, the police were gone and several cars ahead of me drove around the barricades and up the hill. Why not?, I thought, I don't have much to lose besides a long walk in the snow. The chains were working well, I could stop and start again, turn around if needed, and there was no one stuck, blocking the road that I could see.

Driving in the oncoming lane wasn't comfortable, and I expected to see flashing red lights in my mirror or oncoming traffic any second. A couple hundred yards later, there was a train of about 7 vehicles successfully heading up the hill! The leader kept the pace to a steady 15 mph and the rest of us followed.

It's about 1.5 miles to the top of the hill. There were several abandoned cars, mostly off to the side of the road, tire tracks testifying to their futile struggles to stay on the road. Then, we made it all the way up and past the barricades closing the downhill lanes! Only about 5 miles to go, and now mostly on flat roads!!

At about 8:30 pm, I arrived back at home, safe and mostly sound, "only" 4 hours after I started out on the 30 minute trip.

The first thing I did was test fit the plumbing pieces. ...and test them again. ...and turn them upside down, swapped them, and tested again. ONE thing was different. Remember the puzzle? One end was female threaded, and so was my exit pipe. After all that, the dishes are now soaking in the bathtub.

Tomorrow, they say, it's supposed to thaw.

Tracking Dog!

2010-11-12T12:56:00.000-08:00

About three weeks ago, October 24th, Dave and Winnie, Clifford and I competed in the Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Association's AKC Tracking Dog test. The grounds were beautiful and allowed good viewing for spectators, and for videotaping the runs. Both dogs passed their tests! Winnie for her first title - Winroc Winsome Winifred, TD, and Clifford to become -

Ch. Briarbanc Brych Red Dog, TD, RE, AX, OAJ, OF, JH, CGC.

Clifford's video is on YouTube - http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pztay-55xHw

(I was having "issues" getting the video into the blog itself.)

It rained during his track, and you can hear and see it on the video. He did a terrific job - after he got through his first turn. Watch on the video. We overshot the corner by about 15 to 20 yards before he worked back and committed to the turn away from the camera. On the last leg, Clifford is coming toward the camera and gallery. It is a view one seldom gets to see of a tracking dog. Watch how hard Clifford is concentrating on the track. He doesn't even notice the gallery until they start cheering after he finds the glove.

Good dogs, Clifford and Winnie!

- Franna

PS. For those of you who aren't familiar with AKC tracking tests - the dogs have to follow a course which was plotted by two judges the previous day, then walked by a stranger to the dog 30 minutes to 2 hours prior to the dog attempting to follow the course. The start is marked by a stake with one more stake 30 yards out along the first leg of the course. In the Tracking Dog (entry) level, there are 3 to 5 turns, both left and right, each leg of the course is at least 50 yards long, and the total length is between 440 and 500 yards. There is an article belonging to the tracklayer at the start, and one at the end, typically a glove. The dog must follow the course by scenting, and find the end article. Most dogs take 6 months to a year in training before they're capable of passing the test. They only have to pass once to earn their Tracking Dog title. Tracking tests are in such demand that dogs have to be "certified" as ready by a tracking judge before they can even enter a test!

Breeding Season!

2010-10-29T18:12:00.000-07:00

It's always a challenge to figure out who goes with whom, when do we start, and when do we end. I maintain a small flock of purebred Shetlands, and breeding up the Gotlands. Firth of Fifth Barish came all the way from Minnesota to be the Shetland "man" here, but first he stopped at Michelle's Boulderneigh farm. Barish came "home" from Michelle's last week and went in with my six synchronized Shetland ewes, Electra, Bessie, Astrid, Blanca, Mindy and Toffee.

Actually, the first breeding group here was Caidon (87.5% Gotland/12.5% Shetland) with three sold % Gotland sheep - Queen, Razel, and Ruffles, and the four Finns, Niblet, Freckles, Pinky and The Brain. These girls went to a farm in Ephrata on Monday. Danson (75% Gotland/25% Finn. With 2 sisters and several daughters here, he was kind of superfluous) went with them to catch any that Caidon didn't.

Yesterday, Barish and Dancer went to service ewes for Kendara, leaving space here to shuffle sheep into more breeding groups. So, it was kind of like dominoes. The 6 Shetlands had to vacate the Hilton breeding suite, so they went into the ewe lamb pasture, after the ewe lambs were locked in the barn. Three ewes from the ewe lamb group (Alice, Marie, and Cocoa Puff) and one from the big ewe group (DeeTee) went into the lane, so they could be led into the Hilton breeding suite.

It got a little exciting when Caidon jumped this fence as this first group of ewes - for Jack - went by to their breeding pen. We quickly penned them, caught, haltered, and tied Caidon and put up the electric topline. He promptly checked it with his nose and stayed put.

We then haltered and led *Jack* into the breeding pen with the four ewes. I realized after taking the photo that all 5 are Gotland/Shetland. Left to right they are Alice (75% Gotland), Marie (Alice's twin), Jack, DeeTee (50% Gotland) and Cocoa Puff (DeeTee's daughter, 25% Gotland). Puff is pushed back and looks small in this photo, but she's almost as big as Alice and Marie. This group has the potential to produce brown (grey) as well as (black) grey. I'm excited about these lambs ... well, okay, I'm excited about all the lambs :-)

Next, Angie (50% Gotland/25% Shetland/25% Finn) and Daisy (37.5% Gotland/25% Border Leicester/25% Bluefaced Leicester/12.5% Shetland) were separated from the "big" ewe group in the barn and again brought down the lane - this time into Caidon's lair. This photo is fun - showing Daisy with her higher set "Leicester" ears and Angie and Caidon with lower (just above horizontal) Gotland/Shetland ears.

Here's another view of Caidon. He's got a nice, long body, 4 square legs, strong topline, beautifully curled fleece. He has knobby, loose scurs which sometimes occur on polled breeds of sheep.

The Shetland girls got integrated into the small ewe group in the barn. They immediately went to the hay feeder to "tuck in". Here are Toffee (upper left), Eclaire (below Toffee), Astrid (behind 'Claire), Blanca (visible green tag), Randi (little white lamb), and Bessie.

In the back of the barn, Mindy and Bessie (along with one of the Speckled Sussex hens) go through the new bedding looking for goodies.

...while Fiona settles into the corner to chew some cud.

In the other section of the barn, 7 of the big ewes are held in anticipation of our possible December AI. We should know by mid-November if the AI will be reality. Six of the ewes are in this photo - from left top is Eve (Scottish Blackface), Bossie (Gotland/Finn), Gem (75% Gotland), Chamois (Gotland/Finn), Jewel (75% Gotland), and Bits (Gotland/Finn). Bunny (Gotland/Shetland) is out of the photo to the right, and alpaca, Acclaim, peeks over the top of the feeder.

More sheep! This group is the ram lambs, most of whom will go to market in a couple weeks. These fellas are Gotland crosses, one Shetland and one SuffolkX. There are some nice sheep in here that would have been keepers if they'd been female.

Here is Dusty, the Shetland ram lamb. He's a grey gulmoget, friendly and very cute.
So, I'm done with sheep shuffling for a while. It's time for the voyeur part - if I want to know when lambs are due. :-)

- Franna

For Sale - EverRanch Cocoa Puff

2010-10-13T22:32:00.001-07:00

This is Cocoa Puff. Puff has been an eye catcher from birth in April. She is 25% Gotland and 75% Shetland. She inherited the light brown "modified" color from her Shetland sire and wide curl from her Gotland/Shetland dam. She has a small krunet spot.

Puff looks a lot like a Shetland, is friendly and halter trained. She will mature slightly larger than a Shetland. She is also for sale! Puff can be sold open or bred to our 75% Gotland/25% Shetland ram, Jack, who also carries brown, or one of our other rams.

Puff is available for $150. I can deliver within a reasonable distance and am making trips into Western Oregon, Eastern Washington and Whidbey Island in the next several weeks.

Interested? Just let me know.

- Franna

Super 17

2010-10-11T15:09:00.000-07:00

The Island County Fair has an Open Class exhibit category that they call the "Super 17". To enter, one must have an entry in each of the 17 categories:

201 Division A: Food Preservation
201 Division B: Baked Goods
201 Division C: Needlework
201 Division D: Quilting
201 Division E: Sewing
202 Division A: Fine Arts
202 Division B: Photography
202 Division C: Adult Arts & Crafts
202 Division F: Fiber Arts
203 Division A: Floral
203 Division B: Vegetables
203 Division C: Fruits
203 Division D: Grains & Grasses
204 Division A: Homemade Wine
204 Division B: Beer & Hard Cider
205 Division A: Educational Displays

Whew! That's quite a list. (hmmm, I count 16 - and that's straight from the website) They've decided to hold workshops on each of the categories in order to promote the challenge. A couple weeks ago, my friend Joanne and I went to the wine making workshop. This photo shows Terry, the 2010 winner of the Super 17, Joanne and our table of "ingredients".

This wine was super simple. Made from white grape juice, sugar, yeast, yeast food and some tartaric acid (I think). We made it in gallon sized batches, and about a dozen of us were at the workshop.

A few minutes after adding yeast, it became neutrally bouyant and suspended througout the liquid. Pretty!

We tasted some of the results from the 2010 fair. It wasn't too bad! We also got to taste some mead (fermented honey beverage), and that was quite good.

Dave and I already have cider "brewing" for 204, Division B - Beer and Cider. Of note, is that the beverage doesn't have to be alcoholic. :-)

In past years... way past years, I entered lots of baked, canned, dried, floral, vegetable, sewing, quilting and needlework categories at the Benton-Franklin County Fair when I lived in Richland, WA. Those shouldn't be too difficult to come up with, and I even have several UFO's around. The Fine Arts, though. Hmmmmm, that's going to take some thinking, and probably a lot of trial and error.

Should be interesting!

- Franna

Island County Fair

2010-08-24T17:23:00.000-07:00

Franna and Gem at the Island County Fair

We had a great time at the Fair! The weather was cool to warm and dry for the most part. It was really comfortable for the animals, and people could put on layers in the morning.

We had the FIRST EVER Registered Gotland show in the US on Friday with 2 yearling ewes and 4 ewe lambs entered. The sheep represented Gotland sires from the UK and from New Zealand and foundation breeds - Finnsheep and Border Leicesters.

The Grand Champion Gotland ewe was our very own Gotland yearling, EverRanch Gem - shown below.

Later in the day, Gem was judged Supreme Ewe (Best Ewe in Show) over 6 other Grand Champion Ewes! Joanne's yearling ram, Windy Hill Roku was awarded Grand Champion NC Ram (the whole NC class were Gotland Cross sheep), and Supreme Ram in show. The 4 of us are shown below.

I have other results to report, and I'll post them when I get some more sheep photos. It's really hard to get photos when you're running around gathering sheep, changing halters, putting sheep away and getting them back out. whew! Thanks to DH, Dave for the photos of Gem and Roku.

After awards, I put the ribbons and rosettes up above the sheep on their stall cards. It looked pretty good! This is my "adult ewe" pen. See those nice rosettes?When I came back the next morning, all the rosettes were in the straw but the one on the left - Chloe's Reserve Champion NC Ewe rosette.

Chloe had climbed the wall, pulled down and nibbled on everyone else's rosettes but her own! Hmmmmmmm. The picture of innocence.

Fair Time!

2010-08-16T14:50:00.000-07:00

This year EverRanch sheep are going to two (more or less) local Fairs - the Island County Fair in Langley, WA, and the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, WA. We've taken sheep to the ICF for two years now. It will be our new home county fair once we get moved to Whidbey Island. This will be our first year with sheep at the Evergreen. I miss going to the Puyallup Fair, but since they moved the sheep show to the last weekend, it conflicts with the Oregon Flock and Fiber Show. choices, choices.

The sheep string this year includes 7 Natural Colored - all Gotland crosses, 2 Shetland yearling ewes, 2 Crossbred white yearling ewes at ICF, and at both fairs we have a Registered Gotland show! I believe these to be the first registered Gotland shows in the US!

Reports to come. Now I have to get busy finishing the flooring in the horse trailer so we can go tomorrow.

Highlights from Fairbanks

2010-07-11T12:52:00.000-07:00

Dave and I judged three days of (dog) agility trials over the July 4th weekend - in FAIRBANKS, ALASKA!

It was terrific! It was like getting into a wayback machine. They ran one ring at a time, spectators cheered and clapped for every dog, they had us give out ribbons at the end of each class. It was really neat for us, as judges, to hear who finished titles, who got double Q's, who finally got a leg in their class. Many agility trials in the Seattle area have gotten fairly impersonal. Exhibitors only occasionally clap, and awards are posted in a book with ribbons as self serve. Fairbanks had a record entry, though, and computer "challenges" plus a delay by thunderstorm, resulted in two very long days -starting at 7:30 am and finishing after 8 pm. I hope they find a way to keep their down home atmosphere and also be a bit more time efficient.

Sorry, I didn't take photos at the agility trial.

We stayed on for 3 extra days to poke around Fairbanks. It was Dave's first trip to Alaska, and only my third. The club gave us tickets on the Riverboat tour as judges gifts, the University of Fairbanks has a great museum, and the Visitor Center also has a Cultural exhibit. That's what we did the next day. Then we took a day to drive to Denali National Park. We looked at doing a big loop drive around the interior of Alaska, but one of the roads was unpaved, and our rental car agreement nixed that. Going home day, we visited more of the University of Alaska. We both took photos.

We saw this plane at SeaTac while we were waiting for our time to board. Golly gee! It was our plane! Think they got planes mixed up during scheduling?

The Kennel Club had put us up at Pike's Riverfront Hotel, convenient to the trial site, airport, and a nice place. It was rather busy, buses and tourists coming and going most of the day and night, plus a bit on the expensive side for us. I was introduced to Bed & Breakfast Inns on my first trip to Alaska in the 1970's and instantly became a convert. Most B&B's are more reasonably priced than hotels, plus have much more local flavor than an impersonal hotel. AND breakfasts are generally outstanding!

So, I had searched the internet and found several B&B's in Fairbanks and chose "Lizzie's Nest" from among them. Turns out it was a great choice! Our hosts were retired teachers, long time residents of Fairbanks, and active in the B&B Association. The B&B was in their home in the hills about 10 minutes North of Fairbanks, our "apartment" was the lower floor and had Murphy bed, chairs, loveseat, day bed, kitchenette and private bath with a walk in shower. They had cleared the trees just enough for a nice lawn and view of Mt. McKinley (I prefer the native name - Denali) and part of Fairbanks.

Breakfasts were sourdough pancakes, homemade English muffins and waffles, jams and jellies from local fruits - have you ever heard of "Spruce Tip Jelly???" - it was pretty good. The blueberry jam was to die for, though. It was packed with flavor and just sweet enough. Also, juice, fruit and sausages. We didn't really need to eat the rest of the day (but, of course, we did ;-) Here I am standing next to the front yard, and their vegetable "garden".

We saw this Ladies parka in the Cultural center. Liz (of Lizzie's Nest) told us her mother had donated the parka, which was originally her grandmother's, to the center. It was beautiful and looked very warm.

This fella greeted us at the University of Alaska (Fairbanks) Museum of the North gallery. He almost looks like he has his paw on Dave's shoulder... heh.

The gallery was packed with many things "Alaska". It wasn't as organized as some museums I've visited, but had so much information and so much to see that we missed a lot.

One item of interest - there was a whole section on the Internment camps from WWII... not the Internment of Japanese-Americans but the Internment of Native Alaskans who lived in the Aleutian Islands!! When the Japanese invaded the outer Aleutians, the US Government - against the wishes of the Alaskan Government - took the native Aleutians (several islands and different peoples worth) into "protective" custody. I guess the idea was sound but the execution was terrible! The natives ended up in camps that were totally inadequate, homes and villages were burned and looted, families were separated for years. The whole business was covered up for many years, even through the discussions and eventual reparations given to the Japanese-American families who suffered through the internment camps. Finally, these peoples are getting at least some recognition and closure. How is it that good intentions can have such terrible results?

Well. We also saw their film on the Aurora Borealis. Excellent!

Denali played peek-a-boo with us throughout most of our stay. On the second morning at Lizzie's Nest, we saw this:

...and decided we had to drive closer. Denali National Park and Preserve is about a 3 hour drive from Fairbanks through some rather interesting topography. The closer we got, the thicker the clouds got. ...until, we started passing to the SouthEast of the Park. We were rewarded with this view not far past Broad Pass. Living with Mt. Rainier in our backyard, it takes a heck of a mountain to impress me. Denali is a heck of a mountain.

There were several places of interest on the UAF campus. We strolled around the Botanical Garden while waiting for the Large Animal Research Facility to open. And - a portion of the botanical garden is this Dyer's Garden! The Spinners and Weavers Guild of Fairbanks maintains this garden of dye plants at the University. Fun!!

This is the Madder bed:

Here are the young Indigo plants:

Here are sorrel plants with evidence of a not so welcome visitor!

And this is the woad bed:

They also had marigolds, corieopsis, ragwort and several other plants, and pages from A Dyer's Garden laminated and bound and available for reading by the garden.

Finally, we made it to LARS - the Large Animal Research Station at UAF. We had enough time to go on the 45 minute presentation tour, eat our lunch, and do some shopping at the tiny gift shop before heading back to the airport for our flight home.

Sooooo, why was the LARS on my list of places "not to miss" in Fairbanks???

Since the last time I was in Fairbanks in the 1980's, I learned to spin yarn and have experienced many different fibers. You spinners know that the ultimate spinning fiber for softness and warmth is qiviut... the undercoat of the Musk Ox. Here, at LARS, is a whole herd of Musk Oxen (who neither have musk glands nor are oxen - they're actually more closely related to sheep and goats than cattle or deer.)

Musk oxen are ice age mammals ideally suited to living in the arctic. Even Fairbanks in the summer is on the warm side for them. The musk oxen above and below are males.

This next one is a female. Both sexes have horns; the males horns are longer and wider.

Both sexes shed qiviut in the late spring/early summer! It comes off in a big sheet, and the UAF sells theirs - half to the Alaskan Native co-op based in Anchorage, and half to SPINNERS!!! Yes, I bought some. :-) Luxury fiber comes with a luxury price, so I got just 2 ounces of raw fiber. There is some of the long, hairy outer coat, some intermediate coat (primary fibers?), but mostly the soft, downy qiviut! I'm really looking forward to preparing it from scratch and spinning my prize.

So, highlights complete, here is our homeward bound conveyance. Much less colorful than the one that brought us to Fairbanks, but also not full! Dave and I traded off on the window seat and watched the Pacific coast mountains and Islands on our way home. There are HUGE and incredibly long glaciers coming off the mountains in SE Alaska and NW Canada.

We're looking forward to returning someday. Alaska.

Has it really been a Week?!

2010-06-25T19:03:00.000-07:00

...since the Black Sheep Gathering?

I got away without buying much... except a Shetland ram and a semen tank. Those I arranged ahead of time and Garrett Ramsey brought them out from Minnesota.

Here's the handsome fella who gets all our Shetland ewes this fall. All 9 of them. Unless some get sold.

Meet FirthOFifth Barish, an F1 Campaign Timothy son. Barish produces only black based sheep, and his katmoget (badger face) pattern is my favorite. With the modified genetics we got from Buddy over the last 3 years, perhaps we'll get some shaela offspring. Barish is a small ram, very nice Shetland size, and is half polled, even though his scurs/aberrent horns are fairly good sized.

Barish will be staying with Michelle at Boulderneigh to service her ewes before coming here to continue his job. While he's with Michelle, her Blackberry is sharing quarters with our two 75% Gotland rams. Blackberry isn't much smaller than they are and all seem pretty amicable.

On Saturday evening at BSG, right before the Spinners' Lead, there was a Shetland Costume parade. Most of my photos were dark and blurry, but I did get a couple of my favorite costumes. Tracy had a great sign, especially considering all the discussion surrounding fleece types in our little sheep. I remember wearing those foamy curlers!!! Mine were pink.

Lynn Deshler dressed her little sheep in a peacock costume, and carried a stuffed peacock. They were very colorful, and I wish my photo had been better. Notice her tail feathers in front of the curler sheep above.

There were several sheep led by kids - monsters and ballerinas, Little Red Riding Hood and the Big Bad Wolf, and this cowgirl with her bucking bronco.

The sheep were remarkably tolerant of their saddles, sweaters, hats and wigs. I hope it'll be on the NASSA AGM video!

- Franna

EverRanch Farms last lamb of 2010

2010-06-08T12:44:00.000-07:00

I **thought** I took the rams out so we'd be done lambing in May. Apparently, my timing was off by a good week. Jewel, one of our 75% Gotland ewes, delivered her son mid-morning today, out in the sun in the nice green grass. That's the way they all should be. He'll be curly and grey like his parents - and for sale. (75% Gotland, 12.5% Finn, 12.5% Shetland)

Jewel's boy has three similar aged future playmates. Our only purebred Shetland lambs of the year are these two ruffians, both rams, both sired by Michelle's Blackberry. The moorit gulmoget is out of EverRanch Mindy (musket), and the black fella is out of EverRanch Moira (moorit). Both Mindy and Moira are V Creek Buddy daughters. These two Shetland boys are for sale, as are moorit yearling ewes Moira and Sister, out of Bitterroot Bessie.

One of our 50% Gotlands, Topper, gave birth to this little grey cutie (62.5% Gotland, 25% Finn, 12.5% Shetland). She's a keeper and needs a name. Her face looks like it'll turn dark as she matures, although she might retain a krunet spot like mom's. (The sun makes her forehead look lighter in this photo.)

Did I mention that she needs a name???

Below are Wanda and Smudge, the "supplemental" bottle lambs. Smudge has started nursing less from the bottle and I've seen her nursing from mom more. Wanda still yells for her bottle. This morning, I started them drinking from a dish instead. WOW! What a mess!! Lambs and I got all covered with formula! By the bottom of the dish, though, both lambs had started drinking fairly efficiently. Both are plump and growing, even though they're still smaller than sisters Surprise (white) and Cat-Face (black with white blaze). All 4 sisters are for sale - 62.5% Finn, 37.5% Gotland.

Also growing strong and getting friendly is Alice, our 75% Gotland/25% Shetland out of EverRanch Bunny and New Zealand Gotland ram, Hoppy.

Alice, and sister, Marie, will be registered and eligible for purebred Gotland classes at Fairs this summer. Alice and Marie are not for sale.

We had lambs starting in March this year - almost 3 months of lambing. Every year I vow to concentrate lambing to a shorter time span. Maybe I'll actually follow through this fall :-)

I will be paring down the flock severely this year. Three registered Finnsheep ewes, most of our 50% Gotland ewes, plus several very nice 37% Gotland yearling ewes, and two 75% Gotland rams are for sale in addition to many of this year's lambs. They're all very nice sheep, many are halter trained, all are well socialized. Prices range from $125 to $400.

- Franna

Indulgence

2010-05-14T12:29:00.000-07:00

My son and daughter are fabulous cooks! They live together in Richland, Washington, and invited me over a couple weeks ago for an early Mother's Day celebration. I loved it! We had Oysters Rockefeller, Grilled Porcini Mushroom Burgers, homemade Olive Bread and Potato Rolls, and Green Salad with Homemade Dressing. And for dessert - Chocolate Orange Mousse - My! Oh! My!

(To my FaceBook friends, Bryan posts photos of his gourmet meals; I'm tagged in some of those. We supply him with lamb, chicken, and occasionally pork and turkey. He transforms them into incredible meals.)

Then, on Mother's Day itself, I was sick and didn't feel like celebrating... EXCEPT that I indulged myself to a rare fiber order. Spin-Sales had an ad for Stansborough Grey fiber - something I;ve been coveting since I got interested in Gotland sheep. The Stansborough folks are the ones who provided fabric for the Lord of the Rings Magical Elven Cloaks, and other costumes in both the LOTR and Narnia movies. Last year, we talked seriously about importing some of the Stansborough Grey sheep to cross with our Gotlands. The Eldridges bred their Gotland sheep over the decades to have a finer fleece and retain the luster of the original flock, resulting in a separate breed - the Stansborough Grey. At least for now, we put that effort on hold pending financial and other matters.

So, I went to the International Fleeces website - http://www.internationalfleeces.com/ - looking for the Stansborough roving and found it! Threshold crossed, I added some Shetland/Silk top and Swedish Gotland top to keep the Stansborough company. I ordered 3 ounces of each - enough for a hat, mittens, scarf, bag, or other small article. After all, it was a Mother's Day present to myself.

The box arrived in about a week, and opened, yielded not 3 but 4 bags of beautiful fiber.

(btw, the background is a Gotland lamb pelt from the UK. It lives on our bed and I get to pet it every morning and evening.)

I opened each one and fondled the contents.

The Swedish Gotland (above) is a fiber addict's delight! The hand is silky, the luster wonderful and, the top looks like it'll be a breeze to spin. The steely blue-grey color is one of the unique characteristics of the Gotland breed.

I opened the Shetland/Silk (also above) next. This is a blend I've heard of and been intrigued by. It's "black" Shetland with white Tussah silk. It has a bit of a bronze cast to the black, very typical of Shetland "black". This, too, is very clean, well produced top that looks wonderful to spin. The hand is soft and it should make striking yarn.

Next, I opened the Stansborough Grey Roving (a trend - this photo is above). Well, hmmmm. It is soft feeling, and it is a nice clear grey color. I didn't find the luster I was expecting and the roving is a bit rustic. It's more of an amorphous blob in several pieces than evenly drafted roving, and it could be cleaner. It has more resilience than silkiness. To my hand it feels more like a very nice Shetland than a Gotland derivative. It's very nice, just not quite what I expected. I look forward to spinning it! Perhaps as a yarn it will have more luster and Gotland character.

The fourth, and bonus, bag is a lovely sample of recycled Sari Silk from India in vibrant colors (this is a recording - photo above). I've been wanting to try spinning this and the colors are lovely with the clear greys. Thank you, Talia!

I am very pleased with my newest fibers! Doing business with Talia of International Fleeces was enjoyable and hassle free. (No affiliation - guess I need to include that :-) I'd buy from her again, and recommend you take a look.

My plan is to spin these up when I get a few moments between lambing and farm chores... oh, and playing on the internet ;-)

- Franna

Awwwwwwwwwww....

2010-05-13T20:08:00.000-07:00

Giving supplemental bottles to Wanda and Smudge - two of Freckles' quads.

Start with the End

2010-05-12T10:33:00.000-07:00

Some of you asked about photos of the Welsh Springer National. Well, neither Dave nor I took any photos. However, it seemed like everytime I turned around, there were several cameras clicking away :-) Those photos keep trickling in and bringing back pleasant memories.

Today's post is of Clifford's last retrieve of the last event of the National, the Hunt Test. He had already clinched the Iron Welsh Champion title, but needed this retrieve to get a qualifying score in the Junior Hunter test.

Julie Wickwire, one of the judges, gives me instruction about the test, while...

... the gunners think they've been signaled to throw the bird! Clifford gets a GOOD look, and locks in on the bird.

Julie lets me decide, and I opt to send him. MISTAKE - never do this. Clifford sat for more time than he should have while we talked and then I took off his slip lead. The fall wasn't fresh in his mind, and could have spelled disaster for our qualifying score.

However, Clifford being the IRON WELSH CHAMPION that he is...

...went directly into the water and straight to the bird! Then turned right around...

...and brought the bird straight to me for a clean to-hand delivery!

A well done Qualifying Score for Clifford in spite of his handler!

...and Clifford, of course, wants more.

I love the reflection in the water. The weather that day was really unsettled. At the beginning of Clifford's land work it was pelting rain and blowing. Later, the sun came out. Here it was calm and overcast and you can see by the clothing that it was NOT warm. Not too long after, the wind kicked up again and made mini-white caps on this enchanted pond.

By then, The 2010 Welsh Springer Spaniel National Specialty was complete. We gathered up our things, left this beautiful, verdant forest and headed home, tired and happy.

- Franna

2010-05-10T01:39:00.000-07:00

Acclaim, the alpaca, and 2 day old Gotland/Finn lamb.

The Cascade Iron Welsh Challenge

2010-04-09T17:51:00.000-07:00

As part of the Welsh Springer Spaniel 2010 National Specialty (just completed on April 5th), there was a new competition - the "Iron Welsh Challenge". Basically, dogs had to participate in at least 3 of the 6 events offered - tracking, agility, obedience, rally, conformation and field. Points were awarded based on difficulty level and scores appropriate to the event. The top point winner is declared Champion, gets bragging rights - AND - a custom portrait by prominent NW spaniel artist, Karen Lee. the Fetcher Sketcher.

What the heck, I thought, enter in all the events! Maybe we'll pass one or two. Our qualifying rate in Agility has been dismal of late, but Rally is as much of a sure thing as can be with dogs. Clifford and I went outside our comfort zone and trained in Tracking and Obedience, starting Tracking in November, and Obedience in February. We practiced in Agility and Rally, and I conditioned him in the Field. And I entered him in all 6 events, some in multiple classes - had to have backup plans considering our recent record.

By the last event of the National, Clifford was in the Iron Welsh lead. There had been 4 different leaders, and the final outcome was to be decided by the Hunt Test - just as it should be. He could clinch the title just by passing the Junior Hunt Test - not always a given, as he's sometimes out of control and doesn't always bring the bird all the way to me. By the end of the test, he'd passed and became the First ever Iron Welsh Champion!

Clifford was amazing during the National weekend. On Thursday morning, he worked and worked at his track without passing, so was already tired going into the afternoon agility trial. He went out and passed his first agility event - the Open FAST class! Next was Open JWW agility, and despite a bonehead handler move, passed again to earn his OAJ title, a title we've been trying to earn for about a year and a half.

Friday morning, we went into the Novice obedience ring, and he earned his first obedience leg - something I thought would never happen. (Even though on the long sit, the dog next to him got up and got right in his face!)

It was easy from there. Rally Excellent and Advanced were fun; classes we'd been in before and enjoyed. And, he was in a conformation class by himself, so earned 1st place, though his handler (me!) didn't leave enough time to do a decent job of grooming.

At the All-breed agility trial on Saturday, he earned both his Open FAST title (garnering 75 out of 80 possible points!!!), and first 2 MACH points.

For Clifford, the very best event was last. BIRDS! He ran second in the Junior Hunt Test, making great finds, staying in control for one flyaway, and bringing in his second bird after catching it in the air. His water retrieve was no-nonsense and delivered directly to hand. WOWEEEEEEE!

The accomplishment is still sinking in. I met many new friends at the National, got reacquainted with others, and had a great time sharing ideas and talking "spaniel". Clifford's breeder, Adrienne Bancker, flew out from Georgia and got to watch him earn the IWC. Amazing. There will be photos and video. I'll have to share the painting! For now I'm floating amongst the clouds. :-)

Franna - proud kibble provider to Clifford - the Cascade Iron Welsh Champion.

Oh, Uncle!

2010-02-26T19:27:00.000-08:00

I should have had the commitment that the Olympic athletes have. Or, should I say, I should have had the commitment to my Oscar vest that the Olympic athletes have to their sports.

My pattern wasn't quite right. The vest is turning out longer than it should be and not wide enough. Not good. I need to rework the pattern, frog, and start over. Oh, well, it'll give me a chance to incorporate some ideas I have for double knitting the pocket more effectively.

I have, however, finished ordering and gathering awards for the Welsh Springer Spaniel Club of America National specialty, of which I'm the Chairman. I've put together three Quillows made with custom printed fabric that I designed, have 6 banners ready to sew (also from fabric that I designed), and a whole bunch of fleece strips cut (while watching the US hockey team trounce the Finnish team!) and ready to braid up into dog tugs.

So, it is the knitting that got postponed - my version of getting hung up at the top of the snowboard cross hill, while completing the downhill in style.

Cast On!

2010-02-13T14:29:00.000-08:00

I got several rows done before I fell asleep in front of the opening ceremonies.

This bit will end up as the right front band. I was just starting the light grey, when I started examining the insides of my eyelids. It will be interesting, as the knitting is oversize and will be heavily fulled to size (as was my gage swatch).

- Franna

Change of Plans

2010-02-12T13:56:00.000-08:00

...yes, already.

I found my Shetland yarn (from a ram named Oscar). And with it, ALL my notes and gage swatches for the side to side knit, purple-garter-ridge-striped vest. Well. I even wrote down the needle size, saved the needle with the yarn - and - charted the design!

So, my Olympic event is going to be an ORIGINAL sweater vest using the Oscar yarn. I can still do the Sleeveless Hoodie in some incredible Gotland yarn.

Cast on tonight! The bag is sitting in my recliner. Stay out of the bag, House Pumas!

...better get chores done now, so I won't be late starting :-)
- Franna

Knitting Olympics!

2010-02-12T11:25:00.000-08:00

Oh, dear, oh, dear. I've gone and committed to knitting the Sleeveless Hoodie for the Knitting Olympics. I must be nuts with all the other stuff going on.

Well, there it is. I have either a light grey handspun bulky Shetland or the millspun Gotland from my own sheep in a worsted weight. Better decide soon!

Shetland handspun - spun several years ago by my own little fingers on my Ashford Traveler.

I earmarked this yarn for a vest, but haven't been happy with a pattern yet. The purple was going to be vertical stripes. Some sketching is in order. :-)

- Franna

Sleeveless Hoodie

2009-12-31T12:44:00.000-08:00

OH, OH, OH!

I just HAVE to knit this vest!
How would it look in Gotland Grey???

...is that a New Year's Resolution?

Pattern courtesy of Interweave's Knitting Daily and Nashua Knits.

Merry Christmas to All

2009-12-25T16:46:00.000-08:00

EverRanch sheep once again played supporting roles in the Living Nativity. I find the production very moving. This year, Marissa, Bessie, Electra, Snowflake, Astrid and Chloe played the part of the shepherds' flock.

Happy Birthday, Jesus. Peace on Earth, Goodwill toward Men.

- Franna

EverRanch Ice Princess

2009-12-22T19:38:00.000-08:00

She was special from the day she arrived. Niblet's daughters tend to be extra friendly. As a lamb she'd follow us around and be content to lie by our sides in the pasture or barn. She was first to come up for scritches and a great sheepie ambassador. As a bonus her conformation was excellent and fleece beautiful, lustrous and purled - much more Gotland in character than Finn. She was an excellent mom and I was looking forward to her 2010 lambs.

If you think this sounds like an eulogy... well, it is. This morning I found her head firmly wedged through not just one, but two hog panels, where she appears to have strangled sometime in the night.

Princess, I'm sorry I wasn't there to save you. May you graze in fields of clover, rye and alfalfa with plenty of pumpkins to rustle.

EverRanch at the Kitsap County Fair

2009-10-30T12:00:00.000-07:00

This summer I took small strings of sheep to the Island County Fair and the Kitsap County Fair. That was in August. This is October. hmmmmm. Above is the poster spread I put above our pens. ...maybe it'll biggify if you click on it. The Homeland Security poster is one of my favorites.

Above is Town Crier, one of Electra's twin rams from 2009. He was Champion Shetland ram at both Island County and Kitsap County Fairs. Below are the two Shetland ewe lambs from Kitsap County Fair. Moira is on the left, Mindy is on the right. Mindy was Champion Shetland ewe :-) They were great ambassadors for the little sheep.

The two % Gotland ewes below both went to Island and Kitsap County fairs. Daisy was Grand Champion ewe at both Fairs. Her larger size probably did it for her; I like Chloe better.

This guy is a 62% Gotland ram. Beauregard was Champion % Gotland ram at Kitsap County. His fleece is gorgeous!

Fairgoers can be rather unique. This one wasn't too out of place.

I'm almost ready to consider going to another event open to the public. :-)

- Franna

Gotland Gloves and Airplane Knitting

2009-10-26T12:00:00.000-07:00

Two weeks ago, Dave and I flew to Denver to judge 3 days of agility trials for the Terry-All Kennel Club. It had been 70 degrees in Denver. That weekend, a big, arctic storm drove in to the Great Plains from Canada, across Montana, Wyoming and into Colorado. Sub-freezing temperatures and snow was predicted for the weekend. Of course.

We both packed for cold weather. Alas, I couldn't find my fingerless gloves, so, at the last minute I threw in a skein of handspun and a circular needle, guessing, at size 9.

This was no ordinary handspun - oh, no! It was a sample I'd taken from a Gotland/Shetland lamb fleece, before sending out the rest of the fleece for commercial spinning (for a friend). The 4 oz raw fleece became 2.8 oz of carded batts (along with a bit of blue mohair and turquoise Shetland for accent :-)

I hoarded the batts for a while, then finally spun them up at various events - Sumner days, Island County Fair.... They made a beautiful skein of yarn. And then it sat. It went to more events and got fondled whenever I could engage folks into talking about Gotlands.

Then... packing day for Denver. Arctic cold. Impending snow storms. Unheated arena. Three days of judging... and AWOL mitts.

I started knitting on the airplane. It was cozy. My (other side) seatmate marveled at how I could knit on and on... and on. "Don't your hands hurt?" he asks. Well, no. At least not yet.

I made up the pattern as I went, guessed at how many stitches, had to redo the thumb once. I wanted the top to snug my hand, but let my fingers spread (for signaling to the scribe during the agility trial), so put a wide ribbed band there. I fit checked often (!) and the yarn felt so smooth and soft against my hand. Yes!

The first glove got finished as we taxied in Denver. The next day it was still in the 50's with ominous black clouds coming in from the North. That evening it started snowing. I finished the second glove that evening in the motel room, using a bobby pin to work in the ends (since I'd forgotten a yarn needle (!) My hands would be warm in the morning!

Well. It was COLD in the morning. In the teens. There was snow on the ground. We cautiously drove to the trial site and walked into the building where ... it was warm. There *were* heaters in the building. Four of them, and they'd been running all night. Dave and I started peeling off layers. My beautiful gloves stayed in my pack along with my handspun, handknit (Shetland) wool hat.

When we flew out the next evening, it was already thawing, and the next day it was back in the 60's.

I'm ready for the cold!

- Franna

Kemp Photos and a Few More

2009-10-23T16:22:00.001-07:00

These are some photos I took years ago, and put on the EverRanch website to help folks evaluate their fleeces. The subject of kemp came up on one of the lists I'm on, so I'm posting a few of those photos here.

Kemp in the lock (Scottish Blackface - they're supposed to have some kemp.)

Closer of the base with some kemp fibers pulled out:

And a few other fleece faults:

Note: the dark fibers in this photo are not kemp. Are they "medulated" fibers, perhaps?

Note on the canary stain - this ewe went on to produce fleeces without canary stain. I've heard that once they have this organism, it never goes away. Not true, at least in this case.

- Franna

EverRanch Autumn Color

2009-10-23T15:52:00.001-07:00

Here is our little Asian Pear tree. We planted it in 2001 or 2002 and it's given us just a few pears until last year. Last year it outdid itself... then someone stole all the pears just before their peak!

This year, as if trying to make up for our loss last year, it outdid itself again. I thinned quite a bit and still got 2 big boxes of fruit. We shared a few with neighbors and friends, but most went into juice for cider... hard cider :-) This little tree gave us almost 6 gallons of juice, and it is delicious juice, too. Now, it's providing eye candy for the front yard. I'm going to miss that little tree when we move.

Jennifer (DD) and I picked several boxes of crab apples in Mattawa (Eastern Washington) in September, also for cider. We're trading with Donna and Tom for more Asian pears, plus have several hundred pounds of Winter Banana apples for more juice.

Two years ago, we made 2 batches of cider. One an Asian pear, Winter banana apple blend, and one was several apple types plus some crabapples. The pear/apple blend was outstanding; better than any commercial hard cider I've tasted. The apple was okay, but could have used more flavor. So this year, we're making more. More batches, and using more Winter Bananas.

Ask me in the spring how it turned out. :-)

- Franna

Lots of Good and a Little Sad

2009-09-21T15:22:00.001-07:00

It's all flying by. I keep waiting for good photos to write up a blog, yet the camera sits neglected and days go by. Well, today there are no photos, just a bit of verbiage.

Goodness! In August, between sheep shows, I made a trip into Oregon to deliver sheep, pick up sheep and pick up two Livestock Guardian Dogs! I got the dogs in anticipation of moving to ERN - where the eagles and coyotes play! They're from Carol Ronan of Ronan's Country Fibers in Selma, Oregon. Waaaaaay down south, and toward the Coast from Grant's Pass. Carol swears by LGD's as flock protectors. An epididymous-ectomized ram lamb accompanied me back. He's our teaser ram for the Gotland AI girls this year. "Lad" is well grown and is a son of our 75% Gotland ram, Bill.

Abby (Anatolian Shepherd) and Maggie (Maremma with some Great Pyrenees and Anatolian mixed in) have settled in fairly well, though they still need to get comfortable with our electric fence. (See why I wanted to wait for photos???)

On my way down, I dropped off Shetland Minx at Marybeth Bullington-Bury's place. Marybeth was showing goats at the county fair, so we didn't get to talk. Minx was happy to get off that trailer! Two of Tammy's ewes accompanied Minx on their way back to Shady Oaks and to Stonehaven, so she didn't get too lonely.

On the way back home, I stopped off at Michelle's Boulderneigh farm to visit and see Blackberry (who I think is an improvement on his sire, and worth using). Michelle fed me really well with homemade tomato soup, fresh zuccini salad, and my Pay it Forward goodies!! OMG!! Michelle made the most delicious mocha bars and delicious, if crunchy, walnut fudge. Michelle, both made it home, but the fudge never made it out of the truck. :-) She also made three oh, so cute, safety pin and seed bead sheep in different colors. Did I say they are cute! Oh, yes. Thank you, Michelle. (I could have inserted more photos....)

Both these ladies put me up at their homes - very nice for someone who doesn't drive well at night, and after getting lost in downtown Salem during rush hour while pulling a horse trailer. (no photo needed for that!)

Back home again, I packed up the show string for Kitsap County Fair. This is another quality local fair. It was well attended and packed with friendly, down home folks. The sheep people were really nice, and anytime I needed help, someone was there to do it. We were the only Gotland sheep showing. Daisy repeated her Champion Gotland ewe award, accompanied by Beauregard as Champion ram. In Shetlands, Town Crier gained the Champion ram, and Mindy - now that she didn't have to compete with sister, Minx, won Champion ewe. (sorry Kendara, we really didn't mean to take over the Shetland show!) Kendara's lambs were rather nice, but quite a bit younger, and the judge was a "bigger is better" kinda guy. The fleece judging went similarly. Bigger was better. Some days are like that. There's no way a Shetland fleece can compete with a Romney in size/weight. Neither do they need as much space, or eat nearly as much feed. So there. ...however, the winning fleece, from a Romney, was well deserving of the win. It was a huge, silvery charcoal grey fleece, very clean, delicious handle. :-)

Unfortunately, at the show, Sherman the Shetland started feeling peaked, so went home early. He perked up at home, but never fully recovered. So sad, he died just a week ago. I guess I'll never know why. He had a dry cough, so was on antibiotics, got vitamins, another dose of wormer, etc, etc. He'd improve and eat for a few days, then regress again. I always feel like I failed them when they die.

Back to better - I applied for a job! It's the CSA coordinator for Greenbank farms on Whidbey Island, a one year long position. So as not to jinx the application, that's all I'm going to say about it for now :-)

It was a tough decision for me, but the sheep won't be going to the Puyallup Fair. Besides Sherman, several other lambs were feeling punky with a bit of cough and snotty noses. After a round of LA200, most are feeling better, but a few are still coughing. These are both fair lambs (still in quarantine) and "home" lambs. Ebby, TC's brother and alternate fair lamb, broke a horn on Saturday, so he wasn't going anywhere, and I sheared the yearling rams so late they still look bad. Not what I think would make a good exhibit. So, the sheep will stay home this year. I'm disappointed and will miss the premium money, but the sheep will be less stressed, and I have plenty of other things to keep me busy!

Coming up! LAI using the New Zealand Gotland semen, OFFF, end of the season at Take Root Farm, shearing, agility, and much more. I'll get some photos to share, too.

- Franna

Island County Sheep Show

2009-08-22T18:16:00.000-07:00

ERN is in Island County, so as such, our "home" fair will be the Island County Fair. For the second year, we entered sheep in the Open class show. It is a very small fair, and the Superintendent has flexibility in what classes are offered. Another Gotland breeder, Joanne Martinis, and I, offered to bring two classes worth of % Gotlands. We had a class of white Gotlands and a class of colored (grey) Gotlands. It was a lot of fun. The judge, Linda Pfeiffer, studied the GSBANA standard ahead of time, and did a great job of judging and was informative in reasons for her placements. She understood the different characteristics brought in by the Foundation breeds and the importance of selecting characteristics from both the longwool side and the Northern Shorttail side in our "final" product.

The top awards were split between Joanne and I. My ewes won Grand Champion white - Chamois - and Reserve Ch. white - Rugby - Grand Champion colored - Daisy - and Reserve Champion colored - Chloe. Joanne's rams won Grand Champion white, Reserve Champion white and Grand Champion colored and Reserve Champion colored. (sorry! I missed their names)

The photo below shows Rugby in her winning pose.

...and the white ram lamb class.

I have more news... but it will have to wait for another blog post. :-)

- Franna

EverRanch North

2009-08-09T20:03:00.001-07:00

Looking across our friends' driveway, and our NW corner, you see ERN from corner to corner and front to back. Click to biggify. The tip of the shop is peeking up in all its Coastal Plain green goodness at the upper right. Dave just mowed the field in front, taking down thousands of thistles. (Did I say that the "pastures" are in tough shape?). The far corner, just to the right of the center pole is the SE corner of the property - part of the 20 acres we just bought. In all, we have 40 acres here, in our little corner of Heaven, 1/4 mile on a side, 1 mile in perimeter.

:-) :-) :-)

Transformation

2009-08-07T23:26:00.000-07:00

Take This:

Plus This:

Sage Green aka "Coastal Plain"

and This:

Off White aka "Greek Villa"

and This:

Grey Accents aka "Gauntlet Grey"

With a lot of This:

This:

And This:

Equals This:

This:

And, Finally, This:

EverRanch North - sitting on a rocky rib near Oak Harbor, Washington, overlooking plains both north and south, whitewashed farm buildings on adjacent parcels, just awaiting our sheep of many colors, including grey, to make it complete.

- Franna

Prelude

2009-08-05T23:23:00.000-07:00

The Shepherd gazed across the fields and smiled. She envisioned sheep grazing and moving slowly across the coastal plain. In the distance, buildings reminiscent of a Greek villa clung to the side of a steep slope, catching the rays of the setting sun. A young Gotland lamb stood at her feet, its fleece the color of her grey gauntlets. She reached down to rub under the lamb's chin in the very spot to elicit a tail wag.

Finished Object - Woo Hoo!

2009-07-20T00:01:00.000-07:00

Last year I took on a consignment vest. I hate to say, it was to be a Christmas present. Delays came for one thing or another, and the customer said it was okay to miss Christmas. Oops. Not a good thing to tell a procrastinator! Our own Holidays, then barn fixings, lambing, Shepherds' Extravaganza... reasons but not excuses. The design is entirely original, so there were the inevitable rippings and re-knittings. The customer supplied yarn from her own alpacas in three colors. The yarns were slightly different thicknesses, so added another challenge... and on and on.

Well! The vest is finished. Done-done. All the seams are complete, ends woven in, washed and blocked. Earlier this spring, the test fitting went well (very well! for all my worrying and nail biting)

So, without any more ado, here it is:

Design constraints were to use all three colors of the alpaca yarn, and there was a limit to the amount of each available. It was to be "warm" but not too warm, and was for a heavier, shorter woman (hmmmmm. Her measurements were very similar to mine!).

I decided on lace rather than colorwork, since alpaca is a very warm fiber, and diagonal lines to move the eye up and down. Collar and facings would just add bulk and heat, so I left them out. I kept it a bit conventional - no zebra stripes, the customer isn't a wild dresser ;-)

I wanted an easy (for me) to remember lace pattern, so chose this leaf design from... now I don't remember where! Knitty? About.com? Then followed the diagonal lines with a deep vee neck and vest points. The back also drops below the side seam for added "wrap me in it" warmth. I chose to make the back in the medium brown color in stockinette stitch, and the front in the offwhite. The offwhite and lace give a light and airy effect to the front, with good stitch definition. The darkest (coffee brown) was used to outline all the pieces and edges in 3 stitch I cord. The I cord stabilizes all the edges really well. The lower back, though, still wanted to curl (as stockinette is known to do!), so it took some care during blocking to counter the curling effect.

I chose to knit only full "leaves" or half leaves, so had some areas of plain stockinette along the neck and armhole, after trying several pattern options.

The buttonholes are a bit unconventional. I used I cord loops for the buttonholes - two on each side, just to hold the edges together. (The buttons supplied didn't work. They were very pretty and matched well, but were weak and broke with any stress. Soooo, the customer will add the buttons.)

I like the effect, although it is a little awkward to button, alternating sides. I think I'll play with this design effect some more.

This is the largest 100% alpaca piece I've knitted. The internet, again, was valuable for looking up blocking techniques. They said "don't wet block". Hmmmm. The yarn had a residue (from spinning) that was unpleasant to my hands, so I knew I had to wash it. So, I gathered the completed vest, placed it into a lingerie bag, and soaked it in warm water and a bit of Dawn soap. The water became quite cloudy. It took several rinses for the water to be clear. Then, I placed it in very hot water, followed by very cold water to give it a shock. Supposedly that will help the stitches hold their shape.

It seemed to work. After I got the vest all patted out and flattened on the towel, it was close to the proper measurements. It was a challenging and enjoyable project and I hope it is well loved.

- Franna

More Garden

2009-07-18T13:35:00.001-07:00

The Garden is at a fairly easily maintained place right now. No real harvest going on, the plants are big enough to out-compete and shade most weeds, and everything (...maybe) has been seeded for fall.

So, garden chores are pulling a few weeds, watering, pruning and waiting for the REWARDS!

I have lived in Western Washington most of my life. I have NEVER seen tomatoes set on and grow like this year. What a treat! At TRF, some of the cherry tomatoes are turning orange - we workers will get to sample them next week - yum!

We've been sampling peas here at EverRanch. Snap peas and shelling peas. This morning they look ready enough to harvest for a meal! (The boards in the background define my paths, and keep me from compacting the soil too much.)

It won't be too long before the beans are ready to eat. They didn't take well, but the plants that germinated and survived have grown well with many, many blossoms.

The corn tassles are showing! And this morning I spied some silk. I can hardly wait! Corn fresh from the garden has to be one of the best treats ever.

Below the corn lies the promise of sugar pumpkins and spaghetti squash to come.

I decided not to use black (or red) plastic mulch this year. Then it's been so hot, I wanted to put something down, at least under the tomatoes. "Junk" fleeces to the rescue! Thanks, Asa, Astrid, Razel, and Snowflake

Besides the feast for the taste buds and stomach, I added some eye candy. Barely visible in the back of the top photo is a row of sunflowers. I never knew they came in so many colors and sizes! We have yellow, red, orange, tall, medium and short ones. They were the left-overs from TRF - one of the bennies of being an employee there. :-)

The flower below is a cosmos, also a leftover from TRF. Sunflowers and Cosmos, among others, are attractive to beneficial insects, so are an asset in the vegetable garden. I think bumblebees qualify as beneficial insects - go pollinate some squash, little bee!

I find myself with an abundance of blog fodder - and even some photos - there might be a new post in the next couple of days. :-)

- Franna

Shetland Lambs!

2009-07-16T21:58:00.001-07:00

We have Shetland lambs, of course! They are doing well and still with their moms. THAT will be remedied soon. All of these lambs are for sale, unless noted - $200 each, and we can arrange delivery. All lambs are sired by V Creek Buddy - a solid mioget, very correct Shetland, about 80 lb. Buddy's fleece is fine and crimpy with about a 3" to 4" staple - YUMMY!

Electra (Dodge Electra) has twin ram lambs. This is TC - or Town Crier. He has a strident, high pitched BAAAAA! He is our only grey lamb this year, and is full of himself, yet respectful. He is for sale.
This is Electra's other lamb - Ebbie (Electra's Brown Boy - EBB). He is quite a nice ram so far, nice presence, horns look good, fleece should be between Electra and Buddy in softness - or high 20's/low 3o's ;-) Ebbie is also for sale.Ebbie is a funny boy. He is one of two lambs that NEVER go into the creep. His weight is fine, and he's not spooky, so I'm not sure what's going on there. He just stays out when the rest come in.

Next is Sherman. Yes, for the tank. He was a very large lamb, born to a rather small yearling (Stonehaven Astrid), and stayed "biggest" for a long while. He is handsome, seems to be modified, and has nicely shaped horns. He can be a pest, so gets "tough love" lessons. Sherman has one of the softest feeling fleeces of the group and should be a nice flock sire.
Next up - Marissa's twins (Shady Oaks Marissa) - Mindy and Minx. Their bodies are very similar, yet their fleeces are very different. Marissa has an amazingly long, flowing fleece that has great hand and luster. Mindy is following in Mom's hoofprints with the addition of some bold wave. Minx's fleece is more like Dad's but without any crimp showing yet.
Mindy and Minx are both musket, but Minx is very dark...

...and Mindy is more like what I think of as "musket" - very light fawn. Mindy is for sale, and Minx is reserved.

I tried and tried to get a good photo of Blanca, and this was the best I could do.

Blanca has a very, very soft fleece with lots of crimp front to back. In my humble opinion, it is the nicest of the lamb's fleeces this year. She is pretty and friendly. Mom, EverRanch Snowflake is standing behind her. It's a terrible photo of Snowflake - sorry Snowflake. Blanca is reserved.

I had high hopes for Bessie's lambs, and she didn't let me down. Her twin ewes are both light moorit, and soft feeling. Moira has some crimp at the base of her fiber. Her sister isn't named ... yet. They are very similar, and difficult to tell apart. Moira is the puppy-dog friendly one. Below is Sister.

In the photo below, Moira is on the right. Moira and Sister are for sale.

Our last Shetland lambs are Asa's (Puddleduck Venke) twins - moorit ewe and ram. Her ewe is here on the left. Asa is now ten, and takes such good care of her lambs. They are, however, smaller than the rest, and Asa has been retired to the "auntie" role.

Asa's ram lamb is below. Both of her twins are nicely conformed and friendly, but not overly so. Her ram lamb has high, wide horns. He broke one midway down last week - far enough down to bleed plenty. It is healing well. Asa's twins are for sale.

So, there they are. They're wonderful in the flock, spunky and full of personality. Shetlands are ideal for small farms, easily handled even if squirmy, and economical to feed.

- Franna

Five Star Diner - Lake Tapps, WA

2009-07-10T16:16:00.000-07:00

The Chickens are gone! I always start out in wonder at the little yellow and red puffs, watch them scratch and peck, and grow. Wow, do they ever grow! By about week 8, I'm done with the wonder, and they're big and bulky and eating machines. These were Poulet Rouge type chickens, and must have some Cornish in them, as they grew large and lazy. The hens liked to get out in their yard and forage, but the roos pretty much camped by the feeders and waterers unless I shooshed them outside for some "fresh air and sunshine". (Does that sound like a mom, or what?)

Well, yesterday, I cobbled together three chicken wire and PVC panels to block the opening in the back of the pickup, spread an old bale of hay in the bed, locked the chickens in their inner yard, disassembled their outside yard, and backed the pickup up to the fence. One and two at a time, I caught and plopped them into the pickup, and we made the drive to the Meat Shop in Tacoma. This morning they processed all 83 of them! Of those 83, we've sold close to half :-)

Continuing our quest to stimulate the local economy and using 10% of the chicken sales (probably more!), we went to the Five Star Diner about a mile from our place. The Diner shares a building with a daycare business, and is set back from the road behind a Texaco gas station, dry cleaners, realty, karate school, vet office, marine dealer and storage facility.

We were met by the Chef/Owner, Geoff Peters, who welcomed us and explained a bit about his cooking philosophy. He's a fairly recent graduate of South Seattle Community College's Culinary Arts program - a second career after leaving the aviation electronics field. He creates much of the food from scratch, cuts his own meats, buys local when possible, embellishes according to French cuisine taste, BarBQues on the side, and personalizes food for the "regulars", including a Jewish family and a vegetarian.

Dave ordered the NY strip steak special, and I ordered the meat loaf sandwich special. Geoff came out and talked to us about the food. Soy products give me a queasy stomach, so I avoid them. When I asked Geoff about soy, he went straight to the kitchen and checked for me. Bread was out, most of the sides were out (made with mayonaisse - soybean oil). He offered to make the meat loaf dinner for me - baked potato, peas and carrots, meat loaf and gravy.

In one of the other 4 tables, one of the regulars was there with his two kids. We were entertained by the daughter while we waited :-) She was a cutie.

The food was delicious! The meatloaf was toothsome and flavorful, flecked with veggies, moist and seasoned just right. The gravy, made using homemade beef stock, was likewise, flavorful and seasoned just right. The peas and carrots (frozen???) were cooked just right, finished with butter, salt and pepper. Amazingly, they compared favorably to the just picked snap peas and freshly dug carrots I'd had for breakfast at Take Root Farm. There was butter for the roll, and sour cream for the potato - although the gravy was wonderful on the potato. My bite of Dave's steak was fabulous. Great beefy flavor and juicy, perfectly cooked like the rest of dinner.

As we finished, it was near closing time and Geoff came out, sat down, and we all started talking. We covered aviation, organic gardening, free range chickens, NZ and domestic lamb, big Ag trying to squash small Ag in the name of "food safety", going back to school, government crooks and helping out the neighbors. It was over an hour before we left. He still had to clean up, I still had to feed sheep - but NOT CHICKENS! :-)

The Five Star Menu is fairly simple, all kinds of breakfast items - including omelets, salads, sandwiches, burgers, hot dogs, sundaes. The daily specials really make the Five Star special. If you're in the neighborhood, don't hesitate to stop in. They're open Tuesday through Saturday 8:00 am to 7:30 pm, Sunday 10 am to 2 pm, and located at 18223 - 9th Street East, Lake Tapps, WA 98391. Phone: 253-862-7571

As we were leaving, I told Geoff and his staff (of two), about our Stimulate the Local Economy effort. They appreciated it :-)

Gotland Sheep for Sale

2009-07-06T09:07:00.001-07:00

Gotlands are a medium size, Northern Short Tail breed originating on the Isle of Gotland off the coast of Sweden. They were developed as a pelt sheep. We are focusing on handspinning fleeces through selection and our choice of Foundation ewes (mainly Finnsheep and Shetlands). They are generally friendly and rather inquisitive sheep, and quite calm. Halter training is a breeze, but you need to watch any supplies and tools that come within their reach!

The original Gotland color is a unique blue grey. In our flock, due to the influence of our foundation ewes, we have black, white and brown sheep in addition to the classic grey. All of the colors are beautiful in the field and spun, either natural or dyed. Gotland wool is on the fine side of the luster longwools and has wonderful luster in the mass of curls. The white Gotland/Finn cross especially tends to produce a soft handling, wavy, eye popping lustrous fleece.

EverRanch Snickers

Our Gotland sheep for sale are posted on Washington Wool dot Net. I would keep them all if we had space and resources. They are really nice!

http://www.washingtonwool.net/show2b/EverRanch_Farm

EverRanch Angie

The ewes and rams are listed as separately. We're also offering Gotland semen from 3 rams in New Zealand - at our cost. These genetics will offer diverse bloodlines and complement those from the UK, and we'll truly have "Global Gotlands". These rams are from Hamish Black's Chocolate Wool NZ flock. Hamish selects for handspinning fleeces and sells them worldwide.

"Flash", Gotland ram in New Zealand

EverRanch Bunny - one of our 50% Gotland/50% Shetland ewes. (NFS)

We will send fleece samples, photos and/or videos on request.

- Franna

How does your Garden grow?

2009-07-01T22:13:00.001-07:00

This is the first year in many that I've put in a garden. It just seemed to be the "right" time. Even though I'm working at Take Root Farm and get to share in the bounty there, some things are just better from your own garden - and in quantity!

There are Peas, Beans, Carrots, Leeks, Tomatoes, Corn, Spaghetti Squash, Sugar Pumpkins, Yukon Gold and Red Potatoes. The peas (center front) and beans (left front) had disappointing germination rates, but there still should be enough for the two of us. The single row of carrots (more rows were/are planned) are in the far left front corner, leeks are in the center front between the snap peas and shelling peas. The potato "jungle" is at the right, with tomatoes between the potatoes and peas. The corn is well past my knees, and the squashes are starting to crawl :-)

Here's a closeup of the Roma tomatoes. For such wimpy bushes, they sure have nice tomatoes set on already. There are eight tomato bushes, each a different variety, cherry and regular size, red and orange, round and roma shape. The weather here has been wonderful for tomatoes this year - maybe we'll even get a decent crop!I just let the lambs out in the pasture surrounding the garden, so had to fence it off with electronet. Just imagine (Nancy...!) what havoc sheep can do in a garden! Even if they don't eat everything, those little hooves could trample everything beyond recognition. Later, sheepies, later you get the garden surplus and plants - but not tomatoes!

I bring rejects and trimmings home from the TRF sometimes. This week, the rams got turnip greens, beets, and reject carrots complete with tops. They were like wooly gourmets!

... looking forward to harvest at home,

Franna

Gotland Lamb Update

2009-05-24T00:13:00.000-07:00

It just never ceases to amaze me how fast time goes. In my last post the chickens had just arrived, lambs were still coming, and it was cold and rainy. Well, the chicks are half grown, lambing is complete (I think!), and the weather is the best it's been on Memorial Day weekend for many years! The kittens, Toby and Catrina, we started bottle raising in April are now racing around the room, climbing up my legs and generally taking over the house.

I started back to work at Take Root Farm for the second year (VERY busy right now), planted a garden (or half a garden yet), am trying to purchase 20 acreas adjacent to ERN (wish us luck!), working on semen and possible sheep import from New Zealand (more luck needed), started feeding and selling Chaffhaye (WONDERFUL product!), finished Clifford's Junior Hunter title (Yeaaaaaaa!), judged agility for the Irish Water Spaniel Club of America (excellent working teams), and am making progress toward our move to Whidbey Island (it's **sooooooo** hard to wait).

It's been busy. All the while the lambs are growing. A couple are BIG, a couple are small, and most are in between. Several of the % Gotland lambs are shown below:

This handsome lad isn't one of the lambs - this is the sire to many of our % Gotland lambs. We used 3 sires this year, the AI sire - Daniel, our white 50% Gotland/50% Finn - Kibbles and this boy. His name is EverRanch Jack, and he is 75% Gotland/25% Shetland. He has a very attractive face and lovely curly, lustrous fleece.

Two of the ewes in Jack's group are not part of our Gotland foundation flock. They're Scottish Blackface ewes Sweet Pea and Eve. Their lambs will be market lambs. They are still very cute. This is Borax, Sweet Pea's son. He has a lot of presence, and is very stocky.

This is Eve's ewe lamb. Just look at the fleece on her! If Jack can produce this type of fleece with a Scottie, he has a good future producing % Gotlands!

These next two are very interesting. The first one, Ricki, is one of Niblet's quadruplets. It is very interesting to see that her body "spots" aren't really spots at all, but part of the grey pattern, seen often in Shetlands as wild body swirls that change over to a fairly uniform grey as the secondary fibers come in. You can see this change to grey already in her lighter body areas. I expect her to keep quite a bit of white on her head, although I've seen Shetlands with this type of marking change to grey, as well.

Next is "Ricki Clone" or Cloe, one of Freckles' twins. Her body is also turning grey. Both of these girls are Jack daughters, so are 37% Gotland/13% Shetland/50% Finnsheep. Cloe is a real standout among the lambs with her long legs and statuesque carriage.

This boy is a Jack son out of Anneke. He is 62% Gotland/38% Shetland/25% Lincoln. Both he and his white twin brother have gorgeous lustrous curls showing their partial Lincoln heritage.

This next photo is Charcoal, a 50% Gotland/50% Finn (Freckles) ewe. She has triplets this year out of the AI ram, Daniel. Charcoal has the softest handling fleece of our adult % Gotland ewes.

Here is Charcoal's threesome - 2 ewes and 1 ram - 75% Gotland/25% Finnsheep. I'm very pleased with them.

Brain the white Finnsheep was our other ewe that had Daniel lambs. Below are 2 of her triplet girls. First is her grey girl...

and her larger white girl, Chamois. Chamois has a very soft fleece, and is another lamb with nice presence - long straight topline, excellent, long legs, and that way of carrying herself that is just special. The Finn/Gotland combination will be very useful for producing finer fleeces with the unique Gotland luster and curl.

This last little one is also very special. Angie is out of Bunny (Gotland/Shetland) and Kibbles (Gotland/Finn). She is therefore 50% Gotland, a double F2. She's the first of our white % Gotlands to have the looser curl typical of the grey % Gotlands rather than the tight pincurls seen on Chamois.

There are quite a few more, of course. Their photos will be posted in time. Many are for sale! I can deliver to Black Sheep Gathering.

Of course, over time, there are crises large and small that have to be dealt with. We lost the Scottish Blackface ram near-yearling a couple weeks ago. Most likely he was mortally bashed by one of the other rams. He was a gentle soul, and low ram in the group. It's always sad to lose one of the sheep. The most recent crisis - this afternoon, the "Big Ewe" group got into the pasture with the bird feeder. I had just filled the feeder (of course!), and (also of course) the sheep emptied it. They're confined in the Hilton for closer observation and so far, look okay (knock on wood!).

My Economic Stimulus Plan is coming along. We've sold a few fleeces, a couple of sheep, some used equipment, and some Chaffhaye. The businesses that we've supported as a result include Superior Fibers, Meadowwood Dairy, Skagit Fresh Natural Beverages, and the local espresso joint. We have plans to eat at the local "Five Star Diner" but went there on a Monday when they were closed. It is still to come.

My own Pay It Forward projects are coming slowly. Tina and Tina, I hope you can wait a little longer. It'll be worth it!

sheesh. Each of these topics could take a whole blog by itself. More is to come!

- Franna

Teaser Photos

2009-04-21T17:29:00.001-07:00

- Franna

Coming up for Air ... or Down for the Third Time?

2009-04-17T22:46:00.000-07:00

I know some of you have more sheep than we do, and more lambs in a short period of time - Theresa, for one. We've had 21 lambs in the last 3 1/2 days, including the third set of triplets and a set of quads! I haven't really kept track (other than writing them down) of who's got what, who're possible keepers and who's for sale. There WILL BE Shetlands and % Gotlands for sale! There are still at least 6 ewes left to go.

In addition to lambing, we are bottle feeding a couple of kittens every 6 hours (down from every 4 hours) I found in our hay and straw hauling horse trailer, this morning took delivery of 102 Colored Range chicks, are (supposed to be) helping at the Shepherds' Extravaganza through Sunday, are trying to get the garden in, on top of the rest of the usual chores.

The individual sheep are gestating 3 to 6 days longer than previous years, and that's thrown our whole schedule off. No one appears to be in labor at this time, so I actually might get more than 4 hours of sleep tonight. Yeaaaa!

We got to see Joey + Rory in concert tonight at the Puyallup Spring Fair/Shepherds' Extravaganza. Joey + Rory were finalists from the TV show Can You Duet, and Rory is a very successful Country songwriter with hits including Blake Shelton's number 1 "Some Beach" and one of my favorites, the as yet unreleased "Welcome Home". It was a fun mix of serious and lighthearted songs, including one about Granny in her 'Daisy Dukes', their version of Free Bird, and their hit "Cheater, Cheater". Dave got his CD signed and we got to talk briefly with them (as did many! other fans). If you get a chance to hear them, do it!

(image from http://www.myspace.com/joeyandrory)

As an aside, while searching for information on the songs Rory's written, I found out that he co-produced Blaine Larsen's first album, as well as co-writing Blaine's single "How Do You Get That Lonely?" Blaine is a local boy, and another of my (and my mom's) favorite artists.

Okay - break time's over! Back to barn checks, feeding and BED!

- Franna

My Economic Stimulus Package

2009-04-03T19:59:00.000-07:00

I've been thinking about the economy for quite a while. We, the people, seem to be waiting for a handout, watching to see what everyone else is doing, going about our lives, scrimping and grumbling, and just hoping it will all "get better".

High gas prices last year hiked everything up *a lot*, and prices didn't come back down with the gas prices. Prices at the grocery store are insane, power and gas went up and aren't coming down. People, including us, have cut way back in spending on non-necessities and on luxury items. This is hurting small businesses, many of whom are really struggling or have even gone out of business.

This is not news.

The gut reaction is to raise your own prices and cut spending wherever possible. However, one of the few things I remember from my economics class in college - ages ago - was that in a healthy economy, every dollar spent, is respent, respent again, and respent some more. One dollar put into the system can end up making 6 to 8 times that in a chain of sales.

So, to counter my tendency to stop all unnecessary spending and reduce that dollar in the economy to only a dollar in sales, and instead of waiting for someone else to do "something", I'm going to do my little piece.

Our farm sells a few things - sheep, wool, roving, chickens, pigs, Chaffhaye, some services. For the rest of 2009, I'm going to CUT my prices by 10%, PLUS take 10% to spend in the local economy on items that I've cut out.

Hopefully, this will do a little bit to put more money in the economy. My customers save 10%, 10% of our sales will go back into our local economy, and I get a little luxury. Sounds like a Win-Win-Win to me!

I challenge you all to do the same or something similar. If you buy something from us, please spend the 10% you save on another local, small business. Think about challenging your suppliers, customers, friends and relatives to do the same. My 10% will make a very small difference. Many 10%'s will make more difference. Let's make a difference together.

- Franna

April Fool!

2009-04-01T09:45:00.000-07:00

The calendar says it's April First. I think it's an April Fool's joke.

It can't be April First. It's snowing outside. And it's sticking! It's darned cold.

At least it isn't sticking to the pavement... yet.

Lambs are due. Lambs are overdue. Maybe the ewes have a comlink to Mother Nature and they're waiting for the Real Spring.

Hello? Real Spring? - We're READY for you....!

- Franna

Sunday, March 29th, 2009

2009-03-29T14:15:00.000-07:00

My last sheepie check was in the wee hours of today. I went outside and the ground was WHITE. No, it wasn't cottonwood cotton, it wasn't dense fog, it wasn't fleecey bits. It was SNOW. ...on March 29th. It stuck to the ground. It was still there when I got up this morning - late morning. Ugh.

Sometime during breakfast, while watching the Lamb Cam, I could see Charcoal concentrating on "something" near the back of the Hilton. A foreground sheep moved, and I saw a little head moving! Charcoal's lambs were coming!

Out in the Hilton, I saw the lamb was drenched and brand new born. Charcoal was licking and being very attentive, so I just watched the miracle unfolding before my eyes.
The little one has a white tail tip and white on the top of the head and a strip on the muzzle. It also has dangly bits in the rear - Ram lamb!

Charcoal is one of our 50% Gotland ewes, and her lambs are a result of AI to a 100% Gotland ram, Whitehall Daniel. So this little guy is a 75% Gotland, 25% Finnsheep.

Charcoal wasn't done. There were tiny hoof tips showing. I just waited and watched. After about 15 minutes of on again off again pushing, more "lamb" was coming. But wait! It's more FEET. Lamb number 2 was coming OVER THE TOP of lamb number 3... or was it 3 coming over the top of number 2???

Time to help. I gave number 2 just a little gentle tension with Charcoal's next push, and out it came. There were still feet presenting, but now it was apparent that they were upside down and HIND feet. I dashed to the house for gloves, lubricant and boluses. When I got back, Dave had taken over and had helped Charcoal deliver number 3 with just gentle tension. WOW.

All three are vigorous, all three made it to the milk bar, and they're safely penned in a jug. Good girl Charcoal. Look at the beautiful Gotland curl on Charcoal's lambs.

We couldn't stand it anymore and looked under tails - number 1 is a ram, number 2 is a EWE, NUMBER 3 is a EWE! Jackpot number two! These are the first 75% Gotlands ewes born at EverRanch, and 75% Gotland ewes are eligible for REGISTRATION. :-)

The Brain's girls have learned that snuggling together is warmer than staying by oneself.

Who is next? By my calendar, Freckles the Finnsheep is due, as are Midnight the Shetland and Bunny the Gotland/Shetland.

...anticipation!

- Franna

Our Turn!

2009-03-28T02:06:00.000-07:00

After waiting it seemed like forever! we finally have more lambs.

Visitors came to see lambs among other things and only had Rissa's twins to view, plus a whole lot of wide ewes and voluptuous udders. As I was saying good-bye to the last visitor, I thought I heard a lamb!

Indeed! My ears took me to the Hilton where The Brain was licking one lamb, then another, then a third in succession. One was standing on wobbly legs, one was front up, back down, and the third had a wobbly head up. I peeked at one - a EWE! Oh joy! Then peeked at another - another EWE! I almost couldn't look at the third one - EWE - JACKPOT!!! Two whites and a black (grey) with krunet, white nose and tail tip. I forgot to look at her feet for sox.

These three are half Gotland/half Finnsheep, and already look beautiful. :-)
Photos forthcoming.
- Franna

Back to Sheep!

2009-03-24T20:12:00.000-07:00

EverRanch Farm has lambs! Shady Oaks Marissa had two musket ewe lambs about 7am. When I went out just after 8, she was cleaning up #2, and #1 had wandered through the electronet (fortunately off!), and was next to an old trailer in the pasture, baaaing pitifully. She was VERY happy to have me scoop her up and return her to Mom.

This is Daughter #1, she has a shorter, crimpy fleece and less white than ...

...Daughter #2. D2 has a longer, wavy fleece, that I'm guessing will be like Mom's. Marissa has a long, long, wavy, gorgeous fleece. In the photos, it's about 5 months growth!

V Creek Buddy is the sire of all our Shetland lambs this year. He's modified - either mioget or fawn. I can't tell yet if either of these girls is modified. I'm not sure what a musket modified color even looks like.

So these are the first, but looking at the wide loads and developing udders below, you can be assured they won't be the last lambs at EverRanch in 2009.

Left to right are Scottish Blackface - Sweet Pea, and Finnsheep - Niblet and Pinky.

I spent some more time in the barn. It's still not ready for the sheep. I got all of the hog panels pulled up, rocks moved, some of the lumps and bumps leveled out, and the lamb cam turned on.

The pigs do a good job of breaking up the straw bedding pack, but this year they broke their lixit waterer, and had a soupy mess of mud in half the barn that never really dried out.

There isn't too much more I'll do to it before spreading some lime and a whole bunch of straw. After that, "The Twelve" big ewes will move up, and the Shetlands will move into the Hilton with the "Yearling Plus" group.

Stay tuned!

- Franna

ERN March, 2009 Update

2009-03-18T12:00:00.000-07:00

Ahhhhh, the Shop is looking much more like a building. It looks a lot like what I designed :-)
We're still scrambling since the economic downturn affected our building plans considerably. The current plan is to slow construction way down, and put ourselves in a position to live in our trailer while finishing the shop. Most likely this means converting the shop into a residence, complete with complying to all residential codes. There are two "hot" items on our list - getting the electrical box installed inside the shop and the state inspection complete, (See the temporary power pole in the middle of the "carport"?), and getting a woven wire and electric perimeter fence up. The ground is HARD and ROCKY, and we need about 3/4 mile of fence. I think we'll pony up to have someone put that in.

Next is a series of photos of the Second Floor. This will be a good part of our living space, and the future studio space for fiber crafts, model making, stained glass, etc., etc. The first photo is looking SE; Clifford is about ready to run down the stairs ... for the eleventy hundreth time.

This view looks South. I tried to design in plenty of southern exposure for passive solar gain. You can see the slight cathedral ceiling formed by the scissors trusses. It is essentially the same cost to use scissors trusses as straight trusses. It will make drywall more complex, though.

Here's the view to the SW corner. There are 8 feet between the stairs and the South wall - enough for a small room, if we ever decide to put up walls. ... and Villa getting ready to follow Clifford down the stairs yet another time. The railing on the lower right is...

...surrounding the high bay opening from below. This is the (future) shop area for tall things - like tractors and trailers. If we make this a "residence", all of this high bay will have to be drywall separated from the living space. (Photo looks West.)

Also looking West, from Floor 2, the Olympics are visible!!! This day, there was a roil of clouds coming over, and, indeed, it was wet and stormy the next day.

Continuing on around, this view is looking NW. Out the window on the right will be our new agility arena (and equipment shed) ... someday. Villa says "hey, whatcha doin' Mom? Come run up and down the stairs with us!"

And my favorite viewpoint, looking NE. It's my favorite because of...

... Mt Baker! I'll never get tired of this view!

- Franna

P.S. ERN = EverRanch North - our future home on Whidbey Island.

The Dogs of EverRanch

2009-03-15T09:34:00.001-07:00

These are the dogs of our household. The very peacefulness of this photo belies their normal activity and exuberance. Everyone has to sleep sometime. This is our typical view when we finally sit down and watch Iron Chef America! on Sunday evenings. (The TV is right above Winnie.)

Kiss, chocolate Lab on the left belongs to son Bryan. He's selling his condo in Albuquerque, so Kiss is staying with us instead of "helping" the realtors. Kiss is officially known as Dave's Chocolate Kisses, CD, NAJ, CGC. She was Dave's dog before she and Bryan fell for each other. Interesting Kiss fact - when she got her CD (AKC Novice Obedience title), each of the three required qualifying scores ("legs") were earned with a different handler. Dave earned the first one with her, Jennifer (DD) the second, and she finished with me handling.

Next is Clifford, my Welsh Springer Spaniel, who is less commonly known as AKC, Int Ch. Briarbanc Brych Red Dog, RE, OA, NA, NF, CGC. (and on the verge of JH, OAJ, OF, and AX)

Then are the Three Yellow Labradors. We didn't choose anyone by color, it just happened that way. We chose the litters we wanted, then chose from the pups. They all ended up being yellow.

On "top" is Winnie - our newest addition - Winroc Winsome Winifred. She is Dave's up and coming star.

Front and center is Villa - who should be ready for competition "sometime" this year. AKA Winroc Virtual Villainess.

Then, last but certainly not least is Int. Ch. Winroc St. Thomas at Evrrnch, RN. Thomas is Dave's current competition dog.

Thomas earned the most recent title in our pack:

This is Thomas earning his International Championship on February 22, 2009. The Int. Ch. is a non-competitive title. The dogs are required to earn three V-1 (Excellent) Ratings from judges representing at least 2 countries. Around here, the judges are usually from the US and Canada. As I was in Lynden judging agility (and awarding Winnie's mom her MACH!!!), DD Jennifer and our good friend Gail handled Thomas to this title, and Dave took photos.

Next, here is Winnie, playing in the March snow last week. We've had snow in March for 2 years in row!!! The last time I remember it snowing significantly in March was 1989. Is this how they define "global warming"?? (I got up this morning to MORE SNOW! On March 15th!!!)

...Pouncing...
...looking....

...then later, curled up in the favorite dog bed in the house. The dogs like their beds. They mostly like being with us, wherever we are. So, we have dog beds all over the house. This one really isn't a "dog bed". It is a kid's play tunnel that we use to start puppies in agility. It ties together in a hoop for storage, and by accident one day, it got knocked over and taken over as a bed. Even Thomas curls up in it! It is hardly ever vacant.

Winnie earned "house" privileges a couple weeks ago, by consistently going to the door to go outside to potty. She has really taken to being with the "Big Dogs" and with us. It is so much nicer when a puppy gets to the stage where you don't have to watch them 100%!

It's not so easy for dogs to get comfortable in my no frills pickup truck. On my last trip to ERN, I took Clifford and Villa. I filled the back with hay, so the only place for dogs was in the cab with me! Of course, they just want to be with me, so that was all well and good. There isn't much room on the front seat for me and two (semi) big dogs. This was Villa's solution:

...and Clifford's:

They did shift now and then. I'd get a soft muzzle laying on my leg, or a nice warm body against my side. It is verboten for them to get in my space while I'm driving, and they understand that pretty well. No, they're not very safe riding like this. I've got plans to get seat belts and/or a crate stand. We don't ride this way very often.
(Photos were taken while we were on the ferry - I wasn't driving and clicking!)

Clifford is very resourceful. He's good at finding ways into and around just about anything he wants. He's a terrific hunting dog, too. If there are birds around, he'll find them. He gets so intense that he goes into all kinds of cover and gets covered with all kinds of things. He always comes out full of sticks and seeds. Then, he chews them out, if I don't get to them first. Here, he's pulling berry vines out of his feathers after tally-ho'ing through all the brush at ERN. This is the reason that spaniels shouldn't be dripping in coat! He has just enough feathers to protect, yet, not too much to work out the vegetation. Actually, most of the seeds slide out of his correctly textured Spaniel coat.

To end this post, here are Winnie and Thomas again. Thomas is accepting her as one of the pack; she's learning that the pack sleeps under the TV when "Mom" and "Dad" vege out. Don't they look innocent and peaceful?

- Franna

The Pleasure was Mine

2009-03-12T12:00:00.000-07:00

I am an AKC Agility Judge. Sounds like "True Confessions" doesn't it? heh...

One of the things I like about judging is watching the dogs work and do well on the courses that I've designed. In February, I got to judge for the Chuckanut Dog Training Club at the Fairgrounds in Lynden. Over the course of the weekend, there were a lot of good dogs running, some qualifying and some not.

Coincidentally, this trial was the first one for Winnie's dam, Tripper, after her maternity leave. As of that Friday, Tripper needed TWO "Double Q's" to earn her Master Agility Championship. (Double Q means that the dog earns a qualifying score in both Standard Agility and Jumpers With Weaves at the Excellent Level on the same day.)

Friday was an Excellent level only trial, and Tripper made errors on both the Standard and Jumpers courses, so didn't earn any qualifying scores. DRAT.

Saturday and Sunday the other judge was another friend who has Labradors, which was fun by itself. I enjoy judging with friends.

On Saturday, the timekeeper thought that Tripper didn't go fast enough, so I didn't check with Dan to see if she'd qualified in his ring. When I checked the results that evening, though, she HAD qualified in my ring! Sunday morning I checked and she'd ALSO qualified in Dan's ring - ONE Double Q to go! She could do it TODAY.

I was between classes and got to watch her run in Dan's ring AND IT WAS GOOD! It was too much to hope for...

My Jumpers course had pretty good flow. I made extra sure it was laid out well, and I was as inconspicuous as I could be while being able to see everything. You see, I am one of Tripper's special friends and she'd been stealing glances at me all weekend, just dying to come and say hello!

Here's the course map:

Imagine you're in the sky looking down on the ring. Each of the little symbols is an obstacle - in this case they are jumps - straight lines with little rectangles on each side have "wings" to make the jump wider looking, the straight lines with little "T"s on them are "wingless", the one with two lines is a "double" (has two bars to jump over) and the one with three lines is a "triple" jump. The one jump without a number is a "dummy" jump - one that the dog shouldn't go over! The 12 dots in a line (number 12) are the weave poles. Dogs have to weave in and out in a serpentine pattern, starting with the first pole to their left.

The curvy line is the perfect dog's path going from obstacle 1, all the way to obstacle 18. JP and the dashed line is the "Judge's Path" (for me), and the TS and RS are helpers in the ring. Agility takes a lot of helpers.

I had already judged quite a few dogs on this course, and knew it was going well. When I saw Lee and Tripper come to the start line I held my breath, crossed fingers and toes and watched. Tripper started, over 1-2 and around to 3 ... continued 4-5-6-7... through the serpentine 8-9-10... over the triple 11... finished all 12 weaves correctly... jumped around the pinwheel, 13-14-15, and headed down the final stretch...

CLEAN and FAST!!!

It is traditional that the dog and handler run a "Victory Lap" when they earn their MACH. All reservations aside, Lee got Tripper to turn on the afterburners for her Victory lap. The whole room was cheering and clapping. What a THRILL.

I got to award Lee and Tripper the final Q for their MACH.
Winnie's mom became:

Int. Ch., MACH Winroc Pedal to the Metal, MH, TDX, FX

CONGRATULATIONS!!!

- Franna

New Agility Obstacle

2009-03-10T22:06:00.001-07:00

Agility courses have all kinds of obstacles. In the very early days of Agility, they were very creative with what kind of obstacles the dogs had to negotiate - crawl under tarps with their dogs, playground teeter totters and slides. Recently, the obstacles have become standardized and rather boring. I think it's time for some new ones. What do you think?

The Wing Jump to the Sheep Pen obstacle. Let's see, what would they have to do in there? Jump from sheep back to sheep back? One point per sheep? Maybe the small dogs could go under the sheep. Minus points for stampeding sheep. No points for herding, but there is time lost.

Don't look for this one soon.

- Franna

Valentines Theme Supper

2009-03-10T19:54:00.000-07:00

Dave and I had such fun with the New Year's/Anniversary Potato theme dinner that we decided to do it again for Valentine's Day. YUM!

We pulled out the little baggie of "Theme ingredients" and blindly chose ...

GARLIC!!! Oh, the Grand Goodness of Garlic. We both LOVE garlic.

The first menu items came fast:

Garlic mashed potatoes.
Crostini with roasted garlic and olive oil.
Garlic Pizza.

Then it was off to the cookbooks and internet to find more recipes. The internet is such an awesome source for 'things'.

To the menu we added:

Garlic Soup.
Green Salad with Garlic Dressing.
Flank Steak Stuffed with Greens and Garlic.
Garlic COOKIES.
and Garlic ICE CREAM.

We needed a few items at the store - GARLIC for one! We got elephant garlic and regular garlic, cream, tomatoes, brussels sprouts, lemon.

----------------------------

Back at home, the ice cream got started first, then the cookies and the roasted cloves of garlic. The ice cream was made by folding a chilled gelatin garlic lemon mixture into whipped cream and freezing it, instead of going into an ice cream freezer. The cookies were just like regular chocolate chip cookies, except with minced garlic and some lemon zest in them. The minced garlic was soaked in maple syrup first. Mmmmm!

We were pretty busy, so didn't get many in-process photos. This one shows the lamb stuffing ingredients. The recipe called for collard greens, but we thought that brussels sprouts (one of DH's favorite veggies) would blend well with the lamb. It DID!

Lamb flank steaks were pounded thin and cut into rounds to roll around the stuffing. Then they were browned and braised. WOW, did that ever smell good!

Being good cooks, we made sure everything got tasted along the way - and it tasted as good as it smelled! :-)

So, here's the STAR - GARLIC.

(I even found some heart napkins stowed away in the far reaches of a cupboard.)

--------------------------
Ta Daaaaa!

First course:

Garlic bread with olive oil, balsamic vinegar and roasted garlic. An all time favorite.

Second course:

Creamy garlic soup made with our yummy homemade chicken stock. Served with garlic crostini. This soup was very much like the Vichyssoise we had in January and could have had more garlic flavor. Except for that, it was rich and creamy and well balanced. I love crunchy bread with soup!

Third course:

Roasted Garlic Pizza with Green Salad and Creamy Garlic Dressing (homemade, of course!). Homemade pizza dough, homemade white sauce, lots of garlic makes a feast for the senses. Then with just enough greens to make it feel healthful. ;-)

Fourth (Main) Course:

Stuffed Lamb Rollups with Garlic Mashed Potatoes and Braised Vegetables. This was the WOW dish. Brussels Sprouts aren't my favorite veggie but in this stuffing, they were PERFECT. "Spot" donated the flanks for the meal - thanks, Spot.

Then we get to dessert. Can you believe Garlic Chocolate Chip Cookies and Garlic Ice Cream with Raspberries? We almost garnished it with Candied Garlic, but ran out of time.

The recipes both warned of being a bit strong flavored, and appropriate to follow a dinner with strong flavors. Dave and I commented that we 'missed' the garlic flavors in the dessert, though they were delicious. The cookies were chewy-crisp and buttery, the ice cream rich and velvety. The raspberries, of course, were tart and full of raspberry flavor. And you just have to have milk with cookies.

Even though we cut down the recipes, we had plenty of left overs for several days worth of soup, lamb, pizza, cookies and ice cream. We found out that the cookies and the ice cream really needed to follow a garlicky dinner! On their own, there was a distinct "off" taste. That didn't stop us from finishing every last one, though.

I wonder what theme ingredient we'll choose next time???

- Franna

My, Oh, My

2009-03-10T19:51:00.000-07:00

I've been quite remiss in blogging. I have lots of blog fodder, photos and updates and !

... a little window of time.

So, just in case "something" else comes up - again - I'm putting up this tease of a posting.

MORE TO COME!

- Franna

Bold Beautiful Best B's

2009-02-07T09:39:00.000-08:00

Nancy, at A Shepherd's Voice shared a fun game that I decided to join in. To play, you must name 10 things that you love, beginning with a letter assigned to you by the blog owner who's blog you saw the game on. If you want to play, mention it in my comments and I'll assign you a letter. Nancy did a Fabulous job with the letter "F" - my Favorite letter - and assigned me the letter "B".

The Beginning - the first thing I thought of when I read that my letter is "B" -

One of the first times I saw the show "Sesame Street", they had a Band of muppets singing (to the tune of "Let it Be" by the Beatles) "Letter B". I loved that show, and watched it even when the kids didn't. Who could forget Big Bird and Bert?

My son Bryan (who was almost a "Ben") and daughter Jennifer. They are both Beautiful adults, all grown up and making their own way in the world, and they'll always be my Babies. (So I could get this post out today - I "stole" their myspace photos. Most of mine are on film - Gasp!)

Bryan has quite a sense of humor, and Jennifer likes to show her Beautiful side.

Baby animals of all kinds - puppies, kittens, lambs, chicks ... maybe even pigs.

Big dogs, Because they can't stay puppies forever.

Bacon! Now that's some pig I can get into, especially mouth watering Bacon from our own pigs. We had some for Breakfast this morning!

Berries, of all kinds, shapes, sizes, colors - Blackberries, Raspberries, Strawberries, Blueberries raw and cooked, for Breakfast, lunch and dinner. Produce from Terry's Berries and Take Root Farm in Buckley.

Blossoms, especially the intricate and more unusual ones. Witch Hazel is in Bloom now, Flowering Currant, Hazelnuts.

Bounty from the garden, including Beans, Beets, Big ears of corn, Bunches of greens and carrots, Bootiful pumpkins and squashes.

Baking Bread, cookies, cakes, pies, though I don't do it often enough.

Being with my Sweetie and our family and friends :-)

Oh! Balloons. Fun Balloons and BIG Balloons. I'd rather be looking up at them than inside, but had an unforgetable Birthday ride (HIS birthday) with my Sweetie in this Buoyant Beauty's Basket.

Birthdays! I love celebrating another year of life, and looking forward to more. :-)

Blogging and reading all your interesting, fun and fantastic Blogs, and Blogs on your lists, and on and on....

I almost forgot our Boon Road Property! Someday we'll move the whole farm to Whidbey Island.

Brainiac things that exercise my Brain. I love working on challenges - like finding ways to list the things I love using the letter B and Brain Age Sudoku!

My Bad - I didn't count and I think there are more B's than Ten.

Thanks, Ben for inspiring Nancy to Bless me with the letter B.

- Franna

Puppy!

2009-01-31T12:20:00.000-08:00

Winroc Winsome Winifred came home with us yesterday evening. Yes, she's named after the character in one of Robert Heinlein's books. Yes, we're SciFi geeks.

We have a system. We each have "our" dogs to train. Of course, they're all family dogs, too.

Ideally, we get dogs 5 to 6 years apart, so that one is at or near retirement, one is in their prime competition years, and one is just getting started. At most that would be 6 dogs in the household, two youngsters, two competition dogs, and two seniors. The other thing we do, is try to choose the dam and lines ahead of time. There are so many Labradors around (number one AKC breed once again, darn it!), and we are selective about the qualities we want. By choosing ahead of time, we can avoid the tempting puppy syndrome, yet when the right litter comes along, we need to be willing to add to our household.

Lonie died last fall, leaving Dave with one dog - Thomas. Now, Thomas is just 4, so a little young for the next in line. However, our friend Lee has a black lab that Dave has admired for years. Tripper is from show and field lines. Her sire is a Ch./Master Hunter and is All Age Qualified. (Those of you who know will go "Oooooooo!" "Ahhhhhhhh!". Those of you who don't - just let it be known that any one of those three - Ch., MH, or AAQ - is a major accomplishment, and to have all three is very rare!) Tripper herself has a Master Hunter title, and is two "double Q's" away from achieving her Master Agility Champion title! (See my TOTALLY AWESOME! post.) She also has a Tracking Dog Excellent title and International Championship - a real versatile, beautiful Labrador. Dave is in her select circle of favorite people, and the feeling is mutual.

So, it was natural that Dave made it known that he'd love to have a Tripper puppy when and if there were some. Well, they happened, and we've been pup-ticipating for several months. There were 5 females to choose from. We visited last week and chose 2 "finalists". (Thomas and Villa are from the same line... a most famous and longtime line that's produced title holders in all AKC venues, and making a fallacy of the statements that show dogs can't hunt and field dogs are ugly.) We went back yesterday afternoon and chose this beautiful baby from our two finalists.

Right now, she's a Little Girl in a Big World.

Bonding with Dad...

...and enjoying the great outdoors in the Pacific Northwest in January.

The rest of the pack feels excluded. Most of their interest is directed toward the puppy toys...

...though they're giving Winsome a warm welcome.

Welcome home, Winnie!

Thank you, thank you, Lee and Marianne!

- Franna

Baking Time

2009-01-31T11:20:00.000-08:00

Our favorite breads at the grocery are $4.00 per loaf now. They're the "Artisan" types because I don't eat soy products. The mass produced loaves have soybean oil and occasionally soy flour included.

After one more time putting the bread back, I decided to bake some. Years ago I was on the fringes of hippidom and back to the earth types. I climbed mountains, grew vegetables and fruits, canned and dried foods, and lived out of the pantry most of the year.

By and by, work and school and other hobbies led me to buy most of the groceries. Well, now, since I graduated, then retired I have more time for such homebody things again. (Yes, I know it's been years but some things just take time to change ;-)

Wednesday I knew I'd be home most of the day (because the furnace was getting replaced - another story). I got out the mixer, the yeast, flour and pans. I have a wonderful cook book - The New York Times Bread and Soup Cookbook by Yvonne Young Tarr, that has great recipes in it, organized by country of origin. So many times when I cook I take a basic recipe, then adjust as sounds good. Not with bread. I stick pretty close to most bread recipes, with just a little ad lib.

First was French Bread. I love a great crusty French bread. The recipe (and I) made two loaves of wonderous, crusty French bread. (The key is to put a pan of hot water on the lower rack in the oven.) It didn't take too long to get the dough mixed, kneaded and rising. There was still a lot of time to "kill".

Another recipe I'd been wanting to try is "Anadama" bread. It's a white flour bread augmented with yellow cornmeal and molasses. We had the ingredients, so it went into the mixer next. Again, it got to rising fairly quickly, and I still had time after shaping the French loaves.

On the next page there was a whole wheat recipe with sunflower seeds and coconut (!). Dave doesn't like coconut, so I left it out and added a few more sunflower seeds. This recipe produced a wonderfully light, soft dough.

I juggled the rising, shaping, rising and baking so that there was no conflict in the oven, and kept constantly busy. By dinnertime, we had 2 loaves of French bread, 2 loaves of Anadama bread, 3 dozen whole wheat rolls and 2 mini-loaves. I froze them all except one loaf of French. We've been feasting on bread, French toast and toast.

I froze it quicker than pulling out the camera, so sorry no photos. You'll just have to imagine the look and smell. Yum, yum, yum!!!

I didn't price it out, but 10 lb of flour was just over $4, and it's about 3/4 gone.

---------------------------------------

Paying it forward.

I was the fifth lucky person on Michelle's Pay it Forward post! So now, it's my turn. What fun to think of possible goodies to pay forward. I have several patterns and recipes rolling around in my head just waiting for an excuse to put into reality :-)

Now, the first five people to respond to this post will receive surprise goodies from me. You all can expect them before my birthday, June 30th. I will try to make something tailored for each of you five people in some way or another. This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
- You will have no clue what it’s going to be. However, it will be something homemade from my stash and/or larder.

Wanna know the catch before you respond? The catch is that you have to make the same offer on your blog! And I'll appreciate some hints from you on your likes and dislikes.

...on a rare sunny winter day in Auburn, Washington
- Franna

Meeting the Public

2009-01-28T15:55:00.000-08:00

Every year the Puget Sound Labrador Retriever Association has an information booth at the Washington Sportsmens show. I've been taking a turn in the booth for years. It's great socialization for the dogs, a wonderful opportunity to talk to people about responsible breeding and getting the best out of their dogs, in addition to promoting the PSLRA and recruiting new members.

This year it was hard to decide who to take. Dave chose Thomas - pretty easy decision there. I knew Kiss would schmooze and talk and relate to all those folks with chocolate Labs. Villa was harder to predict. She'd never been to a busy, noisy, crowded venue where all kinds of people want to touch the dogs. In the end, I chose Villa, and Kiss kept Clifford company at home.

I almost regretted bringing her as she lunged, lagged, dragged and pulled, wide eyed and panting, all the way to our booth on the second floor of the Pavilion building. She was the epitomy of the dog trainer's dog who isn't very well trained. gah! Well. Once we got to the booth and I got a chance to work her a little for clicks and cookies, she settled down... mostly.

We were there with our good friends Beth and Keith, and two of their dogs - Jazzy (black, 4 yo) and Chaos (yellow, 10 yo).

Most of the time, we had two dogs out and two resting in crates in the back of the booth. It is very intense for the dogs, and they appreciate a rest after 20 to 30 minutes. Besides, Thomas, Jazzy and Villa wanted to race each other 'round and 'round the booths. That would have been utter Chaos! heh...

This is a very popular event for parents and kids. This year the kids seemed much more polite than previous years. Most asked if they could pet the dogs, then were quite gentle.

We got to hear lots of stories from people about their departed and current Labradors. There is a reason Labradors are the number 1 AKC registered breed - they are wonderful dogs. The consensus from the crowd was that Villa was "cute" and Thomas has a "gorgeous head".

Most of the time it was so crowded at our booth, that I couldn't get photos, or had to get closeup.

We closed down the show on Friday evening, so I got a few clear photos as the crowds thinned out.

Villa was so good! I'd be holding the end of her leash and notice her ears go up and tail start wagging. She'd be looking down the aisle in front of us at someone, usually a young girl, sometimes an adult. They'd make eye contact and have to come in and stroke her head, scritch ears and sweet talk her. She really enjoyed it! She even moderated her wiggly waggly enthusiasm more than once to avoid knocking the very young kids over. Many dogs never learn that skill! Of course, she still knocks me cattywompus sometimes. I must not count.

I must say, I enjoy getting out and promoting Labradors, responsible dog ownership, showing off our dogs (and getting a chance to visit the other booths). I'm also glad when it's over.

Good dogs Villa, Thomas, Chaos and Jazzy!

- Franna

Identifying Extraneous Feet

2009-01-26T13:40:00.000-08:00

Here are the household "helpers". They are so enthusiastic about "helping".

With all these helpers, there are a lot of extraneous feet that can slip into photos.

Here's the most identifiable foot.

I mean the creamy paw foot with the dewclaw, not the green ones with the straps.

Not white and not fuzzy, not brown and not studly. And certainly canine.
Michelle was closest in guessing either Thomas or Villa. Can you tell now whose it is?

Now the tougher one. Granted, it's a bit out of focus and dark-ish.

It is most definately brown-tone, and not fuzzy. Michelle gets some extra points for remembering Clifford's name. Huzzah!

The Key:

YES! It was Villa. She's right under my feet even now.

- Franna

For Michelle - or Redeemed!

2009-01-24T13:02:00.000-08:00

Before:

After:

- Franna

TOTALLY AWESOME!!!

2009-01-18T11:33:00.000-08:00

Photo by the Oregonian

A good friend and his FIRST dog, earned their AKC Master Agility Championship yesterday. Mark and Strider are an amazing team.

CONGRATULATIONS!!!!!!!!
- Franna

Fiber!

2009-01-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

In and between caring for sheep and dogs, hauling hay, straw and other feed, reading others blogs, planning agility trials and dog shows, eating and sleeping and other mundane household things, I actually got some fiber time in.

Starting with the first "started" (by no means the longest standing UFO in my stash....)

Socks!

DH chose this yarn at the Puyallup Fair in 2007. I offered to knit him a pair of socks to wear with his sandals, and he wanted bright green. After looking several places, he found this lime green variegated gem in the Artist In Action booth. It took me a while to get going on them.

I chose the Spiraling Coriolis pattern in Cat Bordhi's New Pathways book. I added some ribbing in the back and along the sides to help snug up the socks, and put a 1x1 rib band at the top. I also used Elizabeth Zimmerman's woven cast off, and, indeed!, it is very stretchy.

And they're very handsome with sandals.

The next project began last year with the Black Sheep Creamery Auction. One of my donated items was a custom knit hat or pair of mittens. The winner wanted a hat made from her own alpacas. So, the alpacas were shorn in late spring, and our friend Jill spun yarn from three different fleeces, and I got them in October.

Oh, so nice, she spun "Z" and plied "S", which is ideal for knitting. I fight with yarns spun "S" and plied "Z", as they untwist and then separate and sometimes one ply gets dropped and makes an ugly loop on the work. bleah. Well, the "Z" then "S" gets more twisted and is lovely in a knit fabric.

I got to pick the pattern, so I designed one to show off the three colors. I call it the "SqueezeBox" hat. It is a top down design, with increases at 8 intervals around the hat.

The lightest color is from a cria fleece, and the other two are adults. This is the SqueezeBox "closed".

And here is the SqueezeBox "open". Closed, the hat sits high on the forehead, and open it comes down over the eyebrows.

That's TWO Finished Objects!

Between knitting and to give my hands a break, I started spinning this yarn. I bought a whole pound of the roving at the Black Sheep Gathering last year - like I needed more roving.... I stopped into the Rowan Tree Woolery booth to thank Linda for her support in the Black Sheep Creamery auctions and this roving just kept calling to me.

...and calling me back.

...until I rescued it and brought it home with me. I've got half of it spun, using my first wheel, an Ashford Traveler fitted with a Wooley Winder. Fun!

It has a lot of subtle color in the yarn - much red, some black and some white in the base grey/brown. It also has scattered funny coarse hairs, some white and some black, that are easily pulled out. The rest of it is medium fine and will make a nice blanket... maybe.

I also spun some of our Gotland fiber. This is from a Gotland/Shetland ram lamb (Vince), that I carded with some blue/purple mohair and some teal Shetland roving. As a fleece, I didn't really like the fiber, but as I started spinning, it really grew on me. (Photo shows above mentioned Traveler with the WW)

As yarn, Vince's fleece is silky, soft and supple. It has wonderful luster and is really enhanced by the blues.

The yarn on the right came from another ram lamb, Cloudy, who is half Shetland, one quarter Gotland and one quarter BlueFaced Leicester/Border Leicester. It is lightly blended with some red/pink mohair. It, too, makes a nicer yarn than I expected from the fleece.

Both of these skeins are samples from the boys fleeces. Last spring we traded 5 ram lambs for 5 piglets, and I got the fleeces in the fall. The "Pig Lady's" request was to get a sweater from Vince and Cloudy's fleeces. So, the rest of their fleeces - sans mohair - has been processed into roving and is being spun by Sharon at Bel Tine farm. I'm not sure yet how the sweater will get knitted. Maybe there is another trade coming. :-)

- Franna

PS. Ten points to whomever finds the "helpers" in the above photos. ...actually, I think the same one got caught "helping" twice.

Bringing in the New Year - Right!

2009-01-05T12:19:00.000-08:00

Dave and I got married on January 1st, three years ago, after being together since late 1999. So we get to celebrate every year together with the heralding of the New Calendar Year.

This year we cooked a theme dinner. It took all day. It was WONDERFUL!

Our favorite TV show - the only one we watch on purpose - is Iron Chef America. It's on the Food Network on Sunday evenings and features several "Iron Chefs" who've won their position with outstanding culinary skills. Every episode features a "Challenger", outstanding chef in their own right, who chooses one of the Iron Chefs to compete against. The menu is based on a "secret" ingredient that is revealed at the start of the show. Some of the most interesting involve such things as Kobe beef, suckling pig, Yellowfin Tuna, carrots, chocolate, eggs, etc. The chefs and their two assistants then have an hour to make 5 separate dishes featuring the secret ingredient. These dishes are judged by a panel of 3, sometimes foodies, sometimes not, judges. They're scored on originality, taste and presentation. It's all very interesting and inspiring.

Dave and I chose 10 different items that we thought would make fun themes and not be too expensive or difficult. We did NOT choose truffles! Those 10 went onto pieces of paper and into the hat. I pulled out POTATO. YUM!

It didn't take too much time to come up with a menu:

We each chose dishes to be the "lead" on. One of our recently processed chickens was already thawing, so we incorporated it into the dinner. Still, we needed a few groceries, but mostly we had the ingredients.

First things first - the chicken stock and cooked chicken were needed for the soup and the hash. Into the pot went carrots, onions, garlic, herbs and chicken pieces - wing tips, back, neck, liver, heart and gizzard. The filleted breasts went in to partially cook.

The leeks went into another pot to saute and await the chicken stock.

The spudnut dough is yeast risen, so it was started at the same time as the chicken stock. Into the mixer with the dough hooks that I'd never used! (They worked great :-)

The dough had to be kneaded and set to rise for about an hour...

...before rolling and cutting into doughnut shapes. I used to have a biscuit cutter, but all I found was the fluted thing shown. I used a combination of that and a large diameter glass and cut the holes with some little plastic thing I found in the "junk" drawer. Of course, we saved the holes.

Once we got cooking in earnest, the photos tapered off. Here are the dishes as they were "plated"

First course - vichisoisse: made with our own chicken stock, russet potatoes, leeks, whipping cream for decadence and topped with green onions and garlic-butter sourdough croutons:

Second course: a picnic plate featuring Potato Salad with Peas. Firm new potatoes paired with green peas, shallots and a sour cream dressing garnished with parsley.

The potato salad was accompanied with fried chicken drumettes, Dave's special deviled eggs, and crispy slivers of chicken skin.

Third course: Twice Baked Potatoes with Broccoli - Russet potatoes baked, then halved and scooped out. The potato was coarsely mashed and blended chopped broccoli, cheddar cheese and "Uncle Dan's" sour cream dip. Back into the oven for a final baking yielded these gems:

Fourth (and main) Course: Chicken Hash and Egg - cubed chicken breast is combined with cubed new potato and egg, then fried crispy and topped with a egg. (If we'd been real Iron Chefs, the egg would have been a quail egg! and truffle would have been grated over the top... heh.) Garnish is a fresh green onion.

Fifth (Dessert) Course: Glazed Spudnuts - Russet potatoes form the base for this fried airy delight. The spudnuts are flavored with lemon zest and a bit of nutmeg and topped with a simple powdered sugar glaze.

Enough cooking and talking. Here is the FEAST:

We were hungry after all that cooking! There was enough to feed us for 2 days, plus. :-)

Things we learned:

It was fun cooking together - well, we *re*learned that one.

An incredible number of recipes are available online (and are easily modified).

Without the resources of a "Kitchen Stadium" and multiple "sous chefs" a time limit for our "theme dinner" was unreasonable.

Plating and presentation were the most challenging areas.

We can cook!

Happy New Year All!

- Franna

What???!!

2009-01-02T13:46:00.001-08:00

We woke up to this:

It wasn't predicted.

It had just all melted.

There isn't very much and it's weirdly pelleted and light and fluffy at the same time.

Shetlands, Midnight, Lini and Bessie are NOT amused.

Neither are the ewes in Jack's group.

Kiss and Villa are VERY amused.

Villa was inspired to really stretch out and run!

This Shepherd is surprised and taken in by the beauty :-)

- Franna

FO and a Hat Pattern

2008-12-27T13:02:00.000-08:00

I got a few things completed for Christmas gifts :-)

Between battling with ice and snow, a bit of RSI on my arms (fingers, wrists, elbows... argh!), I got two hats and a pair of mittens to their giftees.

I used Knitty patterns for the hat and mitten set : Center Square hat and Matrix mittens. I thought these two patterns went well together and had a lot of fun doing the Fair Isle type knitting. I used Crimson and Grey colors for my Washington State University Cougar daughter. Sorry, I didn't get photos before she wore them off to the frigid reaches of Eastern Washington.

The second hat showcases some of my handspun yarn. It's a gathering of Lonie, our recently departed GSD, undercoat and blended with some relatively soft English Leicester wool. This was my first dog spinning, and it was a prize winner! For several years, the yarn sat around waiting for the perfect project. There wasn't much - just a skein.

So, I designed a simple hat to fit the yarn. The hat is very warm - bulky yarn, chiengora, and ribbed construction - combined to make a hat quite suitable for our current frigid weather! I like to start hats at the top, especially with a limited amount of yarn available...

...and I try to use a smaller diameter edge, as wool hats seem to have limited elasticity, and like to stretch out of shape.

It's a stocking type hat, I believe they're called "beanies" these days, and the bulk of the hat is K1, P1 rib, with the edgeband knit on smaller needles in K2, P2 rib.

So here's the pattern:

Yarn - bulky handspun. My hat weighs 2.7 ounces.

Needles - Sizes 10 and 8 (to fit the yarn - larger should make a nice supple fabric, the smaller will make a fabric that feels a little tight) - double pointed, two circulars, or one long circular, your preference

Gauge - not critical; starting from the top, you can measure for gauge after several inches, plus try on the hat if you use circular needles.

Cast on 8 stitches using a circular cast on.

I like a version of Emily Ocker's circular cast on. In my version (that I "unvented" several years before reading about other versions), I simulate the cast off for a circular thumb, hat, mitten by making a double circle with the yarn, then picking up stitches around the circle, as in a provisional cast on. Make the double circle big enough you can cast on all of your stitches along one side. Scruntch the stitches (watch out for twist!) and knit one row like an I cord (knit starting at the first cast on stitch, pulling the yarn between the last cast on stitch and the first knit stitch tight).

After your first row, you can put half the stitches onto the second needle and tighten up the circle. If you want, you can divide the stitches onto two needles before knitting the first row. It's a little more fiddly for me that way, so I like the I cord type solution.

If you use the EO version, don't knit one row after transferring stitches to the needles, start right in with Row 2.

Row 2 - Knit front and back in each stitch - 16 stitches, 8 on each needle.

Row 3 - K1, P1 around

Row 4 - K1f&b, P1 - repeat 8 times - around - 24 sts.

Row 5 - K1, P2 around (repeated 8 times)

Row 6 - K1f&b, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 32 sts.

Rows 3 through 6 repeat, with 8 increases every other row until there is enough hat to go around the intended's head. I designed in about 2" of negative ease - about 20" around for a 22" circumference head.

Here's how my hat increased:

Row 7 - K1, P1 around

Row 8 - K1f&b, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 40 sts.

Row 9 - K1, P2, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times)

Row 10 - K1f&b, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 48 sts.

Row 11 - K1, P1 around

Row 12 - K1f&b, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 56 sts.

Row 13 - K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times)
Row 14 - K1f&b, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 64 sts.

Row 15 - K1, P1 around
Row 16 - K1f&b, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 72 sts.
Row 17 - K1, P2, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times)
Row 18 - K1f&b, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 80 sts.

Row 19 - K1, P1 around
Row 20 - K1f&b, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, P1 around (repeated 8 times) - 88 sts.
Row 21 - K1, P2, (K1, P1) 4x around (repeated 8 times)
Row 22 - K1f&b, (K1, P1) 4x around (repeated 8 times) - 96 sts.

You now have plenty of stitches to check your gauge. 96 was enough for my hat.

Rows 23+ - Continue in K1, P1 pattern until hat measures about 7 inches, or 1.5" to 2" short of desired length.

Edge band - Switch to smaller needles and change pattern to K2, P2 ribbing. Knit until hat is desired length.

Cast off - Using one of the larger needles as the working needle, cast off in K1, P2 pattern. Weave in loose ends. Block (or not) and Enjoy!

- Franna

Ice and Snow

2008-12-27T12:46:00.000-08:00

We're finally warming up somewhat, here in Western Washington. The backyard is only about 80% white, and "Lake EverRanch" is back. One thing about the cold that I really like is that all the mud is FROZEN! At least the muck boots handle mud (and snow) well.

The dogs think this white stuff is great fun. Here's Thomas wallowing in the deep stuff.

The Hilton sheep - Jack's group - are wimps! Their only sheep trail in the snow is around to the fence by the garage, from whence the goodies come!

They gather by their door...

...unless they think a handout is forthcoming. Scottish Blackface, Sweet Pea and Eve, are the worst beggers.

The turkeys mostly hang out by their feeder building. I'm always amused to see them roosting in the tree. That is, unless they fly up there when I'm trying to catch them!

It's been wonderful icicle growing weather. They're so beautiful. This one's quite gnarly...

...and this one is just ominous!

I hate crawling up in the attic, but SOMETHING is going on up there! Water in the attic is never a good thing.

This icicle is in the porch overhang - a very narrow space for not-so-narrow me.

I hope everyone had a great Christmas and is looking forward to enjoying 2009!

- Franna

Living Nativity Part 3 - More Photos and Videos

2008-12-16T13:20:00.001-08:00

Hear Ye! Hear Ye!

Included in this Blog are photos taken during the Living Nativity Production put on by the Highline Christian Church. At the end are links to YouTube videos of the Production.

I feel so blessed to have had a small part in the Production - EverRanch Farm provided the sheep for the Shepherds to lead. Shetland Sheep EverRanch Silver Lining ("Lini") and Stonehaven Astrid ("Astrid") behaved appropriate to the occasion and their young Shepherds were very attentive.

The play was set in the middle of suburban, commercial Burien - surrounded by Denny's, Big Lots, Safeway, the Keg, the very busy arterial 1st Avenue, and near enough to SeaTac airport to hear the planes taking off and landing. All this vanished into the background once the play started. We were all transported to Bethlehem for twenty minutes at a time, and it was altogether magical. Pastor Tim gave a short sermon after each performance - and each one was different and very inspriational. We even sang Happy Birthday to Jesus :-)

Thank you to Annette deLeest and the Highline Christian Church for permission to publish these photos and share the true meaning of Christmas with all of you.

This first photo shows Mary and the Stable Boy (Girl) waiting while Joseph talks to the Innkeeper about a place to stay. Mary (the actress) is REALLY pregnant! She's expecting her baby around Christmastime - how special is that??! (An aside - in the last performance, the donkey decided to "leave" and took Mary with him - we're all willing her to stop! She's in no condition to go chasing a donkey - in the snow, no less! Stable Boy came to the rescue before the audience did ;-)

Stable Boy and the Innkeepers wife convince the (henpecked) Innkeeper to let Mary and Joseph stay in the stable, and she gives birth to the baby Jesus (played by several REAL babies! They rotated performances because of the weather.) Just look at this couple; they're so genuine.

So here are the Shepherds, waiting their turn to appear, taking great care of Lini and Astrid.

The Shepherds make their way to Bethlehem after talking to the Angel, who tells them about Jesus. They join Mary and Joseph in the stable with their two little sheep.

You have to indulge me a little - there are a few more photos of Lini and Astrid in here....

Here are Astrid and her Shepherd being attentive to the Baby Jesus...

...and Lini, checking out the audience.

The Holy Angels join the Birth celebration at the Stable. Semi-visible behind the donkey are two goats and a calf. They are real, too, and stayed in the stable during the production.

And another photo of Lini and Astrid taking care of their Shepherds. Oh, right, that's vice versa.

We can't forget the Three Kings. They come from the East (stage right) leading their very regal llamas. I don't think anyone even missed camels, the llamas were so wonderful! ...and they are camelids :-)

The costuming was fantastic. The Shepherds were clothed in plain cloth and fleece, the Kings were, well, you can see, all sparkly and royal looking... and their beards are real!

This is the finale - Joy to the World! The Lord has Come! I can see the creche from my childhood in my mind, and it will never look the same to me.

The Star was a work of art - simple and so meaningful.

Like the Wise Men, it was the star that brought me to the church. I sort of got lost in the sea of parking lots and the dark and the rain, until I saw it suspended by a crane above the hillside. Then I could see the parking attendants and the church below me, and made my way around and into position to unload the sheepies.

These few photos have little of the power that the whole performance does. The narration and Carols, the people and animals, the whole Message. I recorded the performance twice. Once from the left (my favorite) and once from the right (much better views of Mary and Joseph, and the Wise Men). Each one is in two parts (YouTube has a 10 minute limit on videos).

I offer them as my Christmas present to you, my readers.

Don't lose sight of the true Meaning of Christmas.

Part 1 from the left:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4lxo1jLr2Nw

Part 2 from the left:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W3IHvW0vTkE

Part 1 from the right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mC32BDLeIWo

Part 2 from the right:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eu_UY40I3d4

Oh, and here's a little walkthrough of the set:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nSZiBtgE490

God Bless you and your loved ones,

Franna

Fun with Handknit Socks

2008-12-15T16:59:00.001-08:00

Enjoy this video courtesy of Knitting Daily. Get ready for lots of toe tapping and smiles!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SNh13e2s3hA

I like my handknit socks and reserve them for special wear. They get nicer with each washing.

I haven't forgotten about the Nativity photos - there are more to come!

- Franna

Living Nativity - Part 2, Teaser Photos

2008-12-13T22:58:00.001-08:00

It was Awesome.

- Franna

Living Nativity - Part 1

2008-12-12T22:51:00.001-08:00

Well, we made it! In the teeth of the first (almost) winter storm, Lini, Astrid and I made the 40 minute trek to Burien and the Highline Christian Church. Lini and Astrid are stars and I got wet. (My Shetland sweater, hat and wool socks kept me fairly warm through the 2 1/2 hours and 4 performances in the rain, snow and wind.)

The Nativity was very well set up. They had an "Inn", the stable (of course!) and heavenly clouds (for the Angel appearing to the shepherds), plus the Star suspended from a crane above the stable. The set was against a hillside, so you could almost forget you were in suburbia. Costumes were wonderful from the shepherds in fleece and robes, to the wise men all royal and sparkly (leading regal llamas) and Mary (actually due in 2 weeks!) and Joseph leading the donkey, the henpecked innkeeper. A couple of goats rounded out the livestock.

The Shepherds who led Lini and Astrid were very good with them (and felt oh! so special that they got to lead the sheep!) The two Shetlands garnered many comments and led like troopers, baaing at appropriate intervals. Of course, the real star of the show was the baby Jesus, who took all the fussing and weather rather well. I think I heard there were 3 babies who rotated the part, from 6 weeks old to 3 months old.

The narration was recorded and Carols played a large part in the play. Oh, Little Town of Bethlehem, We Three Kings, among others.

It was very touching. It hit that Christian place within me that doesn't come out too often. I found myself humming along with the Carols and getting misty eyed with the enactment. He lived and died to save us. Let's keep the Christ in Christmas, folks.

And, can you believe it??? I forgot my camera. Both my camera and video camera. And it's snowing. Our hill can get really treacherous in the snow and ice, and my pickup doesn't do slippery well. Well, one of the last things the pastor said was that the show would go on through rain or snow or sleet or hail. Wish us luck.

- Franna

Living Nativity

2008-12-08T22:13:00.000-08:00

Several years ago, not long after we "got sheep", we were contacted about providing a sheep for a living Nativity scene at a local church. We turned them down, and every year since I've wished that we'd done it.

Well, yesterday, we were contacted again about providing sheep for a living Nativity PLAY. They want two or three sheep that lead, as they are given a real part in the play. This church has two nights of several performances each. The sheep will be led by young shepherds, and have a pen for between performances to meet "their public". It is a very popular event garnering hundreds of spectators.

This time I said YES. Now, how do I decide which sheep to take??? All of the sheep are halter trained to some extent. The little Shetland rams are so cute, but can be rammy. Silver Lining is just as cute and leads quite well, and could go with her mom, Bessie, or with Astrid, who is more her size. Marissa and Asa are still fluffy, though they can be headstrong. Electra is a good ambassador, though, she can be challenging at times to lead. Then there are the Gotland crosses. Bossie has been a Ladies' Lead sheep multiple times, and, well, is another headstrong sheep and larger than the Shetlands. Bits is so very friendly and not quite as well halter trained. Charcoal is another former Ladies' Lead sheep, but I think she's carrying AI lambs, and don't want to jeapordize them at all! The horned Scottish Blackface ewes, Sweet Pea and Eve, lead very well and would be quite impressive. Hmmm, they might be bigger than the Shepherds, and could go just about anywhere they wanted. Better stick with Shetlands :-)

If you're in the area, please come by and say hello! We'll be at the Highline Christian Church in Burien. It's on the SW corner of First Avenue South and S 148th St. Performances are Friday at 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, 8:30 pm and Saturday at 6:30, 7:00, 7:30, 8:00, and 8:30pm.

Farewell

2008-11-28T16:40:00.000-08:00

When Dave and I got together 9 years ago, we both had multiple dog households - "yours" and "mine". Gradually, our household has added "ours" to the mix. This morning we said good bye to the last of the "yours or mine" dogs.

Lonie came into Dave's life as a "rehomed" dog. Her original owner got married and didn't want her anymore. Dave, being the great guy he is, took her in. She is a long haired German Shepherd Dog with a beautiful carriage and was poetry in motion. She wasn't always easy to live with because of separation anxiety and her tendency to escape any and all kennels and crates. Most of the time, though, all she wanted to do was be with Dave. I became an acceptible substitute, and I always felt safe with her around.

Over several years she'd been getting weaker and thinner, though acted happy and content and enjoyed playing with the younger dogs. Just three days ago, she started picking at her food, then refused it, and last night couldn't get up from her bed. This morning the vet examined her and confirmed that she was very ill. At over 12 years of age her prognosis was poor and we decided to let her go.

Tomorrow we'll put her to rest in the (future) orchard of ERN alongside Penny and Clover.

Run free, Lonie, till we meet again.

- Franna, Dave, Clifford, Thomas and Villa

Free Range Chickens!

2008-11-26T12:00:00.000-08:00

All year I planned to grow out a batch of broiler chickens. The days, weeks and months flew by. Finally, I ordered them to arrive in late August, hoping to get them processed by Thanksgiving. They finally arrived the second week of September. The weather's been mild enough that they've done well. They went from the garage brooder to the chicken tractor (after the turkeys vacated), then to the "tent".

The "tent" got way too wet in our deluge earlier in the month, so they again got moved. At the same time, the pigs took over more and more of the barn, and I needed to put together the sheep breeding groups. (Everything is connected.) The Hilton was left for breeding groups, yet I had to keep them separated by something more than a wimpy hog panel fence. Chickens!!!

Yes, the chickens are now the buffer between Jack's and Kibble's breeding groups.

Here are a goodly portion of the 40 some "Red Broilers" and the legs of members of Kibbles group. I'm taking the photo from Jack's group's pen. There's a good 10 feet separating them. With crossed fingers and prayers, I hope that's enough.

We believe that chickens are healthier and taste better if they've had access to green grass, bugs, and those invisible elements that chickens always seem to find in the dirt. On the right edge of the photo, the chicken's yard is visible. Quite a few of the chickens are enjoying the sunshine and fresh vegetation.

Here's another view of their yard. It's enclosed by an electric net poultry fence - yet another double barrier between Jack and Kibbles.

The chickens are most of the way grown now, as shown by this young Roo. Just a few more weeks and they'll grace our table and freezer! So much better than grocery store chickens!

- Franna

Kibbles Group

2008-11-23T12:00:00.000-08:00

Kibbles group is considerably smaller than Jack's group. The ewe above is EverRanch Bunny, Jack's dam. Bunny is Gotland/Shetland and has wonderful Gotland character in her fleece! In this photo it's only grown out about 2 weeks. In another 2 weeks it'll have a full curl on all those locks!

Bunny is the only AI'd ewe in Kibbles group. I'm sure he appreciates that! Kibbles has actually been a busy ram this year. We used him last year as a cleanup ram, and he bred two of the AI'd ewes. Earlier this year, Kim Kerley used him on some of her sheep, looking for more softness and luster in her fleeces. Now he gets the "virgin" group of ewe lambs... every man's dream!

Amy the llama is also in the group. Amy seems to be leaving Kibbles alone to do his job, so that's a good thing! Standing with Amy is Shetland Lini. Lini is the only ewe we're trying to leave unbred this year and we don't have a good place to put her. She'll probably end up in Jack's group, or maybe we'll separate one or more ewes after they get bred. The problem is, we don't always see them get bred. hmmmmm.

The ewe below in front is Razel, Bit's daughter out of Bubba - one of the 2007 cleanup rams. Razel is 50% Gotland, 25% Finnsheep and 25% BFLxBL - another Heinz ewe. Except for the Leicester nose and ears, though, she looks alot like the 50% Gotland/50% Finn ewe lambs. The ewe standing behind Razel is Ice Princess, dozing in the mid-November sunshine. Ice Princess is 50% Gotland/50% Finnsheep from Niblet.

This ewe lamb is Glamour Queen. She is a single lamb out of Pinky. Pinky treated her like a Queen and she grew quickly and well. She is also Gotland/Finn.

The lamb on the left is Brain child (Gotland/Finn) andGlamour Queen snuck in for another photo.

Kibbles has one more ewe lamb in his group - Chardonnay. Char arrived after these photos were taken. She's Gotland/Border Leicester.

All these white ewe lambs! They're hard to tell apart from one another. Razel has the hint of Leicester in her nose and ears, Brain Child has pink eye rims, Queen is standoffish and Princess is underfoot. I think it was Queen that was bred the day I put the group together (I wrote down the tag number....). Lambs expected in late March!

- Franna

Jack Daniels Breeding group

2008-11-19T12:00:00.000-08:00

This fine young fellow is EverRanch Jack Daniels. He is one of our two 75% Gotland ram lambs. We think he has a fairly bright future - at least for now. His dam is EverRanch Bunny, a 50% Gotland, 50% Shetland ewe who was born on Easter day, 2007. His breeding "group" consists of most of the "AI" ewes, plus one ewe lamb.

"His" ewe is on the right - EverRanch Loutoo. Loutoo was supposed to be a market lamb, but she's so sweet, and not really finished well enough for the market. She's a real "mutt" sheep. Her dam is half BlueFaced Leicester and half Border Leicester; dad is EverRanch Kibbles - half Gotland and half Finnsheep. (Kibbles will be featured with "his" ewes in a future post.)

The rest of the ewes in this group - all 11 of them - were AI'd with semen from a purebred Gotland ram in the UK - Whitehall Daniel - D72. Later this week, I'll be watching for (re) breedings with Jack, hoping for NONE!

The ewe on the left, above, is EverRanch Lou - Loutoo's half sister out of the Finn ram, Eino. The ewe below is our "easy keeper" (i.e. FAT!) ewe, Hortense. She's a half sister/cousin to Lou and Loutoo's dam, and is a BFL/BL cross. She's given us two nice half Gotland ram lambs. I really want a half Gotland ewe from her, so keep your fingers crossed!

This white ewe is one of our two white Finnsheep, The Brain. She had quads last year - one ewe and three rams! We kept her ewe lamb, Brain Child. Brain has an enormous udder that the lambs had a tough time latching onto for the first several days.

Our other white Finnsheep is Pinky (Pinky and The Brain, right? heh... sometimes it's interesting how we come up with sheep names....). Pinky had twins her first year, and had a beautiful 50% Gotland single ewe lamb this year. Glamour Queen is in Kibbles breeding group.
We're hoping for multiple lambs in April from this very nice ewe.

The pair below are mother and daughter. Niblet the Finnsheep is on the left, and is dominant black. Her first lambs for us were Kibbles and Bits (remember sheep names - though credit for these names goes to our friend Julie, who first saw the twins). Bits, the Gotland/Finn is on the right. Both of these ewes have the most wonderful fleeces! Niblet's fleece is crimpy and soft, Bits has a looser crimp/curl and a lot more luster, and retained a lot of softness from her dam. Niblet gave us twins again in 2008, Ice Princess (ewe), and Legg's (ram).

Freckles (below) is our 4th Finnsheep. This will be her third lambing for us. We kept one of her daughters...
... Charcoal, shown below with mom, Freckles. Charcoal and Freckles also have wonderful fleeces. Freckles 2008 daughter, Moll, went to live with Donna and Tom at Schoonover farm. Her wether son, Spatz, lives with friend, Tina, nearby.

Charcoal is shown again on her own below. She has a looser curl to her fleece, gorgeous luster and a very soft, silky hand.

This ewe is Bossie. She is also a Gotland/Finn, and this is her second AI breeding. Her first breeding produced EverRanch Bill (the Bull), a 75% Gotland ram. Bill was awarded the Best Colored Ram in the Island County Fair this summer. Way to go Bossie and Bill!

The next two 50% Gotland ewes are new to us in 2008. Deepti (aka DT) is a Gotland/Shetland ewe from Susan Kimball's Owl Hill flock in California. DT's grandsire is a UK Shetland, Drum Ram, who is also the grandsire of our Shetland Midnight. Drum Ram's line tends to have wonderfully square and long bodies. DT fits that description and she has a very silky, lustrous fleece with less curl than our other % Gotland sheep. She is a sweet ewe and a welcome addition to the flock.

We bought Anneke from Carol Ronan. Carol's Gotland breeding program is far enough along that she's selling some of her 50% ewes. We got Anneke for her color genetics (AwtAgg) and longwool heritage (1/4 Lincoln). Neka is the largest of our % Gotland ewes, and has a considerable different feel to her wool. It's nice, just different.

There they are - Jack's group. Hopefully, Jack will get one breeding experience. Time will tell.

- Franna

ERN Update

2008-11-17T14:16:00.000-08:00

Progress is steady on ERN (EverRanch North - our upcoming farm on Whidbey Island). We'd like it to be faster, and settle for what is. We'd like to have more money to throw at it, and settle for reality.

These are the folks who are building our Shop/Garage:

They're nice folks and build a more progressive pole building with laminated and cross fibered poles.

This baby is what they needed to dig the holes for the poles in our glacial till soil. ...and we thought ROCKS were hard to dig in!

The auger makes a nice hole for the laminated poles.

This was my first view of the building under construction - a forest of poles and assorted materials.

A week later, framing was started and more materials showed up! Windows...

...and more windows.

More lumber, and the important little hut.

This is what the shop looks like as seen from the house (site), looking WNW. If the hill wasn't there, we'd be looking out the Straits toward Vancouver Island!

From the other side, looking back. Dave's standing in front of the carport/RVport and next to the garage bays.

Looking out the windows and slightly to the North, here is the view. To the locals, this snow cone is recognizable as Mt. Baker.

We'd been looking forward to having a wood stove in the Shop, and bought one and all it's accompanyments on sale at the local Feed store. We optimistically brought up fitting kit, hoping to put in the roof vents during roof construction.

Whatever happened to good old wood stove heating??? Our county, apparently along with many, most?, all?? others in the US, doesn't allow wood heat as the only source of heat! So we have to rethink the wood stove option. See all the trees around? Doesn't it make sense to burn the downed and thinned trees rather than letting them rot??? Plan B is to go to a propane stove, plan C is to put in the wood stove and enough wall heaters to satisfy the "non-wood primary heat source" requirement.

Our latest trip to ERN was yesterday, November 16th. We drove up to consult on Plans B, C, D, and E (another, later, post), pick up hay and check on progress. Here's the Suburban and trailer (with hay!) coming up the drive. "Someday" it'll be coming HOME that way. :-)

This is what we saw - ROOFING! ...

...and LOFT FLOOR JOISTS!

Progress is good.

- Franna

Thank you Veterans!

2008-11-11T22:31:00.001-08:00

Whereever and whenever you served, and for whichever branch of the Armed Forces, thank you for your service to this Great Nation.

- Franna
proud to be married to a Navy Veteran
and the daughter, sister and granddaughter of Army Veterans