Shifts Happen

As we grew into adults with careers, life got busy. I’m sure you can relate – running from one engagement to another, taking another quick day or weekend trip, and likely some of you have had children and pets which complicated the busy.

Our lives kept that busy pattern even after we moved to the farm. It was a different kind of busy, but we were still busy. If we weren’t securing fences, we were constructing pens in the barn, putting a new roof on the house, taking care of the garden or something else as equally demanding. Nice weather only lasts so long to get these items crossed off the list, and then for the last few winters, we were running non-stop on our few days off. Winter weekends became one small adventure after another. Small, only because we had to be home by sunset in those short days to take care of our animals.

And we were always tired.

So we shifted.

Somewhere in the late fall, we decided to slow it all down. We now take one day a week to blow off steam, let go of outward obligation, and take care of ourselves and each other. Of course we are still responsible adults and make sure the sheep and hens are taken care of, but now we say no to going out on Sundays. We reserve that day for something we each want to do. Yes, sometimes that means a day trip into Toronto to go to the museum or art gallery, but mostly it means we are at home. This is the time that I spin and knit and read for me, not for homework or customer orders. This is the time that Jeremy experiments with making lip balms and hand lotions and games on his computer. Sometimes, it has nothing to do with sheep, bees, wool, honey, gardens or fences.

Today, I spent three hours separating a fleece, lock by lock for the wash.  This fleece is going to be a special project for me to work with, because this fleece came from our wether, and he’s one of my favourites (but don’t tell the other sheepies that!). As I pulled each lock and placed it into the bags, I was able to feel connected to my sheep, admiring the crimp and lustre in the fibre, smelling that earthy sheep smell of health and wellness, pulling bits of vegetation out of the wool and wondering how he got into it. At the end of those three hours, I had nine mesh bags full and only a third of the fleece sorted. Oh well, it was a meditative time.

I found Jeremy in the kitchen trying out a new lip balm recipe with his beeswax. I’m always an eager tester! He’d been focused in his own world too. Then, because he had the wax-melting equipment out, I rounded up all of my candle stubs from the last few months and together we made candles in a few of my Grandmother’s teacups. They will look nice on the table tonight when we sit down to dinner.

We didn’t vacuum or dust or run into town for groceries, all the things we should have done. In fact, on Sundays, if we start a sentence with “I should” or “We should”, it means it’s time to back off and reconnect with ourselves. 

As the days lengthen, we are going to get busy with the farm and keeping things going. There’s always something to do and something that needs fixing or finishing. We are, however, going to keep Sundays low key. Events will come up that will interfere with this plan, after all, we have animals and they don’t care if it’s Sunday when they break out of a pen, or it may be the only day in four days that it hasn't rained and the garden needs tending. We will just have to roll with it and keep shifting back to this plan of quiet.

Today has been a very good day. I feel productive. I took care of me and that will allow me to take care of the rest of my little corner of the world.

Solstice Shenanigans

We've always noticed the little things about our animals. For example, our house cats get a little wild and weird around the full moon. Our 15 year old girl likes to "sing" the day and night before the full moon while our 7 year old tabbies rocket around the house like their tails are on fire.  It is generally entertaining.

As the lead up to the Summer Solstice tomorrow, we've noticed the sheep in general are more vocal and more assertive for love and cuddles, but this morning, all hell broke loose on the farm, one thing right after another.

It started with the morning feed on the ewes and the lambs.  Everyone was determined to nudge each other out of the way for attention and bash each other around to get to their breakfast hay. The lambs are now seven weeks old and are quite solid with a determination to rival the adults.  Those sweet little lambs were bouncing around and getting underfoot and being extra cute.  Once we opened the door to their pasture they took off as if they had never seen us before. Silly sheepies!

We continued with morning routine - feeding chickens and turkeys, collecting eggs, letting the rams out to their temporary pasture they are sharing with the chicks. Rams go out in the mornings, chicks in the afternoons. We are in the process of building a new ram pasture, so sharing is a necessity.

I turned my attention to fleeces while Jeremy began his day with his market vegetable garden. I put up my two screens near the rams and laid out two fleeces for airing, skirting and washing. I had just finished skirting the undesirable bits off of them when I heard a funny sounding "baa" from the ram pen. I looked up to see Kerny, with his head hanging and his belly swollen to three times the size it should be. Muttering four-letter words under my breath, I hollered for Jeremy and took off for the gate.

The rams are always curious when we enter their pen and they came over to me with chins up and tails wagging. Yes, our rams are very sweet tempered, but we don't let that fool us; they are still rams. I got my hands on Kerny and tapped his belly just as Jeremy made it over to the fence. He made a hollow, drum-like sound. Our little ram had bloat. Again.

This was the third time in two weeks the little guy had done this. Bloat is a build-up of stomach gas and just like in people, it needs to pass. With sheep, it passes through the day in a series of burps and everything remains fine. When it gets to the point of bloat, the gas is obstructed and cannot escape which causes the belly to swell up. Very uncomfortable and fatal if left untreated.

I began to rub Kerny's stomach and throat in hopes of moving air while Jeremy penned the other two boys.  If we leave them out with us while we treat Kerny, they get a little competitive for attention and put their heads down to butt us. Jeremy jumped in his car and headed to town to the veterinary office to get the anti-gas med we had just run out of. I kept rubbing Kerry's belly and throat and was managing to get little burps out of him.  Every so often he would wander away for a few minutes and glare at me, but then he would come back and lean on me, wagging his tail while I massaged his belly and sides.

When Jeremy returned, Kerny was the half the size he was, but hadn't fully deflated.  He just kept swelling up.  So Jeremy loaded a syringe with 60 ml of anti-gas med. It is green, chalky and smells strongly of mint. I call it Pepto-Mint. Jeremy straddled Kerny, held his horns so he couldn't struggle and I tipped his head back and slowly pumped the Pepto-Mint into him. Once we got it into him, we we went back to belly and throat massage. That's when the burps started coming rapidly, and they aren't pleasant.  They stink, to be honest. They smell like soured, fermented grass. Yuck!

Within a few minutes Kerny was fully deflated and back to normal again, even if he had a mint green smile.

Ok, back to fleeces. Managed to get four fleeces sorted out and under control when I decided it was time for second breakfast. Jeremy was thinking the same thing so we came inside and turned on the stove for fried-egg sandwiches. I was looking out the kitchen window while washing my hands when I noticed the rams all bouncing around small white balls. Grabbed a hand towel, more four-letter words issued from my mouth and I told Jeremy that his chicks had busted out into the pen with the rams! (More four-letter words from Jeremy.)

Stove off, boots back on, running out to the ram pen. Three-week old chicks flapping and squawking, Renegade our huge wether trotting after a few of them, Kerny and Lugh in the chick house looking quite interested in these feather sheep. I grabbed Kerny and Lugh each by a horn and dragged them out of the chick house, Jeremy ushered Renegade into the barn behind me and the twins, and we proceeded to round up the chicks. In the process I had forgotten to lock the three boys in the barn and only pulled their door shut. Do I really need to mention here that my crafty little Shetland sheep sprung the door and came out to play with us and the chicks?

Unfortunately, Renegade thought this was a great big game and trotted up behind Jeremy and butted him hard in the thigh. Jeremy quickly ended that matter by taking hold of Renegade's horns and forcing him to his knees on the ground and holding him there for a moment or two until Renegade got the message that he isn't king. It didn't hurt Renegade, and it is completely an alpha male show of dominance. Renegade may be king of the sheep, but Jeremy is king over the sheep, and Renegade knows it. He stood up and lowered his head submissively and sidled up to Jeremy sideways and offered a tail wag. They are still friends.

After that, the boys stood back while we rounded up chicks. Jeremy admitted that he forgot to latch the chick door this morning during feeding. Oops!

We made it back into the house, started breakfast. I looked at the clock. It said 10:00 exactly. That was the most adventurous three and half hours we've had in a long time. We definitely earned our breakfasts today! I just hope that as the next two days pass from spring into summer, so do the adventures!

The Spindle Challenge - Part 1

Recently I have heard a lot discussion surrounding the usefulness of spindles.  There have been statements made that spindles are nice to have or collect or use for sampling, but they aren’t effective for getting anything done.

Really?

Perhaps I am a little biased, but I think spindles are very effective.  For thirteen years my only tools for spinning were spindles because I didn’t have room for a spinning wheel and honestly, I couldn’t afford a wheel at that time. I was in college and had student loans and rent. I spun a lot of yarn on my spindles.  Enough yarn to make matching hats and mitts, shawls, scarves, an afghan and may other things.

The last six years, I have spent a lot time spinning on my spinning wheel and for the last year, most of my spinning has been for homework for the OHS Spinning Certificate Program.  That is a lot of wheel spinning. 

The realization that I miss my spindles came to me while I was writing my research paper for the start of OHS Level 2.  My topic was to compare five different types of spindles.  It was amazing! I spent a few months just with my spindles, but I wasn’t spinning for an end use.

So I decided to challenge myself this year, on top of homework, work, farm and a few other events that are coming up (more on those in future posts).

Shetland wool in three colours:  white, grey and
dark grey.

Challenge Rules

1.     I chose a little knitted bag in three colours from a back issue of Spin-Off Magazine (Summer 2006).

2.     My spinning time cannot interfere with obligations or daily duties (example: I cannot skip the dishes or the laundry to spin).

3.     I can only use one spindle to spin and ply with. Not one type of spindle, just one spindle.

4.     Only spinning and knitting time counts, not the fibre preparation time.

That’s it.

I combed through my stash of fibre and I came up with 3 different colours of Shetland wool.  I am using white, grey and dark grey.  The grey is already in roving form.  The dark grey and white are washed locks, so I just need to comb them, which I will do in the late afternoon and evenings when I do my other fibre prep.

Some of the tools I am using for the Spindle
Challenge. Forrester sheep spindle, pvc niddy
noddy, spinner's control card and wpi gauge/diz.

42 grams (1.5 ounces) of each colour should give me enough for the end result. The pattern only calls for 28 grams of each (1 ounce), but there should be enough for enough for three bags in alternate colours.  (It’s September and I am thinking about Christmas presents.)

My tools consist of my Forrester sheep spindle (24.5 grams), my wraps per inch gauge, my Hawkins mini combs, my diz and my niddy noddy.

My goal with this challenge is to reacquaint myself with my spindles and make useful items for the people that I care about. My spindles bring me comfort and peace when I use them.  This is a perfect opportunity to enjoy the little moments between the bigger moments of my daily life.

Stay tuned for the next post in this series where I discuss when I found the time to spindle spin for this challenge.  

Shaun the Sheep Movie - A Review

When a little sheep decides that the

routine of the farm is too boring, he takes a

day off and ends up

thinking outside the pasture.

The day starts out innocently enough when Shaun and the rest of his small flock conspire to escape the farmer by locking him in a trailer and spend a day watching movies, lounging on the couch and eating treats.  Things rapidly devolve and the plan goes downhill – literally - when the trailer rolls off the farm and into the Big City with the farmer inside.

Shaun packs up and heads into the city to find his farmer, and it isn’t long before the whole flock joins him.  During their adventures, the sheep befriend a little stray dog of undetermined breed, enjoy lunch

Shaun the Sheep Movie poster as
photographed outside the theatre at
Galaxy Cinemas in Peterborough, Ontario. 

in an upscale restaurant and discover their farmer in a surprising situation. Shaun guides his friends through the city streets, donning disguises and evading capture by the Animal Containment Unit, but the Big City just isn’t ready to cope with a flock of sheep running amok leaving chaos, mayhem and destruction in their wake. 

Done in the style of Wallace and Gromit, this clay animation movie by Aardman Animations had me laughing out loud at the antics of the sheep.  At times I found myself wondering if someone had installed cameras on my farm and was using my own little Shetlands as inspiration.  I was still giggling as I left the theatre.  Some of the best moments were the little side jokes and innuendos.

The film score had a delightful blend of upbeat music that perfectly punctuated the plot.  Musical performances included Shaun’s baa-baa-shop quartet that featured a beat-boxing sheep.  The talents of the Shaun and his friends have left me promising I will never again underestimate my own flock’s capabilities.

I am sure that I would have to see Shaun the Sheep Movie a couple more times to fully see and appreciate all the comedic subtleties.  It is highly recommended for an afternoon of lighthearted sheepy fun.

Creativity with a Ten-Year-Old

Spring has been busy this year – busier than normal.  It all started with spring shearing.  Who would have thought that eight Shetland sheep could create so much fuss?  It didn’t help that the weather didn’t cooperate either.  Every time we picked a date to shear, it rained for 4 or five days and then we had to wait another few days for the sheepies to dry out.  By that time, it was raining again. We did eventually get it done, and then the washing began.  Heavy work, and with the weather being fussy, I still have two Shetland fleeces waiting to be washed.

I have also been preparing for the OHS Spinning Certificate Program in August.  Level Two starts soon and I am completing my spindle research paper that is due the first day.  Not overly worried about comparing five types of spindles in 4-6 pages and showing spun samples.  I can do that.  It would be easier if I could dedicate 4-6 pages each individual spindle since there is so much information!

Last week, however, I took a five-day break from all of this fun.  My niece, Abigail, came to stay with us.  Abigail is 10 and in love with animals and spinning. She has been spinning with Nanny and I since she was an infant.  She started on our laps while we were at our wheels, and then a few years ago, Nanny put a spindle in her hands.  Abigail and I spent last week adventuring in fluff.

We started with sun tea. Dyeing wool locks in jars was a fascinating experience.  Abigail checked on the jars every hour or so to feel the temperature and to see if the water was clear

Sun tea dyeing in jars.

yet.  She couldn’t wait for the jars of wool to be completely saturated with colour.  That evening, we took the locks out of the jars, rinsed them and laid them on a screen to dry.

While the wool was drying the next day, we went for a lunchtime boat cruise on Stoney Lake.  Abigail was impressed with the sizes of the cottages and all of the rocky islands on the lake. The cottage shaped like a castle was her favourite.  Ice cream for a treat on the way home. I think Uncle Jeremy enjoyed that part the best.

We also did some wild tie-dyeing!  And I really mean wild.  That young lady proclaimed herself the Tie-Dye Queen and her t-shirts came out great!  She even did three pairs of

Tie-Dye Creations by Abigail.
One of a kind.

Granddad’s work socks because she felt he needed some colour in his life. While there was more dye on the shirts than on Abigail (which surprised me the way she was flinging the tie dye around), she was uninhibited in her application of colours and designs. I was impressed at her enthusiasm and attention span, considering the technological age we live in.

I gave her a pair of hand cards to try when the sun tea fibre was dry.  She took to carding so quickly and easily it was like she had been doing it all her life.  It brought a tear to my

Abigail hand carding.
What a natural!

eye more than once to see how happy she was.  I am sure that Nanny is smiling down on us.  She would have loved to see Abigail experiencing all this spinning and woolly fun.

And on the final day, Abby sat on the couch with her spindle, spinning away to Harry Potter movies.  My husband and my father laughed over that for all the times Mum and I sat spinning quietly with the Harry Potter movies running.  I guess a tradition was started and is being carried on.

Abigail went home with almost a pound of carded wool, her spindle, and some wonderful memories.

Everyone has been asking me if Abigail wore me out while she was here.  I would like to answer yes, but the truth is, she didn’t. I was busily creative during the days and slept well at night. It was a pleasure to have her with us.

I had a very good week with Abigail.  It reminded me to relax more with my spinning and my new life on the farm.  I am more interested now in being fearless and playing and trying new things.  No one told Abigail that carding or dyeing or spinning was difficult, so when she tried it, it wasn’t.  I hope I can approach fibre arts with that same outlook.  It will make the process much more enjoyable.

Rainbow wool from the sun tea
jars. Very pretty colours to spin.

Next week, Abigail’s younger brothers come to stay for a few days. Got a few things planned for them, including tie-dyeing. Hmmm… wonder if I will survive with these two.

Create a Sacred Spinning Space

When life gets busy with other obligations and promises, spinning may take a back seat and soon we notice a day or week or month has gone by and our spindles and spinning wheels are covered with a layer of dust.  This may bring up feelings of sadness for not spinning or guilt at leaving a project partially completed.  Those feelings can lead to resistance to coming back to our art.

Returning to spinning doesn’t have to be difficult, and with a little imagination, we can recapture that enthusiasm and create a sacred spinning space.

Change Your Wheel’s Geography

If you always spin in one corner of your basement family room, move upstairs near the living room window.  Or if you are tight on space you could turn your wheel to face a different direction.  The new orientation of your wheel may be just enough change that it catches your eye every day and pulls you back in for some quality fluff time.

A special space for spinning can make you
want to pick the fluff and find comfort.

Pretty Up Your Space

Is there room to add a small table with a lamp and a plant?  Even if your green thumb is really brown, a pot of pretty silk flowers might brighten up your space and encourage you to try new colour combinations with your spinning. Accessorize with a pretty bowl to hold your fibre so that you are excited to return to your spinning space.

Learn a New Spinning Technique

Trying something new is a great way to bust out boredom.  Have you always wanted to do core spinning or make a delicious boucle yarn? Take a class or buy a book or find instructions on the internet. Find a technique that grabs you and practice it until you get it. The possibilities are endless for you to try something new.

Whatever the reason that you have fallen off the spinning wheel, climbing back on should be fun.  Finding the inspiration to return to spinning can be difficult journey, but it is worth it if it means picking up our fibre and settling into the comforting rhythm of the wheel turning.