I've got new socks!

Years ago, I read or heard about this psych professor who would have his students go out and give a try to a list of 'stunts' designed to study social responses blah blah blah. Anyways, my 2 favorites from the list of things to do, were for crowded elevators.

1. Be the last person to board a crowded elevator. Face the crowd and grin. That's all, just smile. Really big & happy-like. Now, I don't know about you, but that's just disturbing and kinda scary.
2. Be the last person to board a crowded elvator. (I sense a lack of creativity on the part of the professor.) Face the crowd and announce boldly and with much enthusiasm: "I've got new socks!"

My brother once thought this was absolutely the best hands-down way to greet and freak out complete strangers. He was right. Now, I would like to chime in with him and announce proudly:

I'VE GOT NEW SOCKS!!

Just LOOK at what one of the club members made for ME!! Dudes. I am totally thrilled. As I sat here staring at the 1/4 knit lonely sock cast on in the wee hours more weeks ago than I care to count up, I might have mentioned the lack of hand-knit socks and the irony of it all, what with all the SOCK YARN that goes out the door here. And then these show up on my doorstep. Snug as a bug in a rug are my toes :) A billion thankyouthankyouthankyous to you Pat, thank you.

Please note for the record: The right foot looks a little... well, 'off kilter'. This is because of the 6 or 7 foot surgeries on that foot, it is NOT the socks!! They fit perfect.

Now, just when things couldn't get any better, ON THE SAME DAY, these also arrived:
Let's get a close up, shall we?

Helen has made me 2 of the most lovely potholders I've ever used to pick a pip'in pot off the stove with. They are double-knit, with colors different on each side, wickedly cool. She's a mighty creative gal, thanks Helen - I love them!

My daughter was not quite as pleased that none of the packages had her name on them, but she did enjoy wearing my new socks and using the potholders as blankets for her Barbies that afternoon.

Addendum to the Numbers.

First and foremost, my husband says I am to point out that the picture of the shearer is not of him shearing a sheep, but of the shearer who was also here shearing that weekend. The shearer sheared just over 200 sheep in 2 days, and we're very glad he did!


We caught that racoon the night we purchased the trap and were very pleased with ourselves... And then the next night lost 3 more hens to his big brother. We caught him as well. So far, the trap sits bated but empty and the hen house is down to 11 hens & a rooster. I find myself on the hunt so to speak, for new laying hens to replace the missing crew. No easy task, as folks who have hens for sale seem to want to convince me that the 3 year old scrawny bird sitting sullen in the back of the coop is really a 'good layer'. At that age and condition, the term 'good layer' translates to 'good at laying around all day eating and producing NOTHING'. The search continues.


The 5 little chicks are learning to fly I discovered, as I found mom and chicks roosting last night on the counter of the milk room they are currently staying in. They now share their home with 26 chicks. I'll try to get pics tomorrow of the mob of yellow fluff out there.


Eric has injured his neck leaving me in charge of EVERYTHING. I am exhausted, and pretty darn tired of farm chores (for more on that, see Lisa's latest post here. She came to visit, a wonderful time was had by all but I am to darn tired to go into more detail.


It did finally rain, and everything looks nice & green, but I worry about hay for the winter here. I don't know if we'll get another cutting from our farm. Price of winter could be high, we'll see.


Comments on the comments:

Let me say, I am sorry if I have not replied or responded to questions in the blog. First of all, blogger won't LET me reply directly. Secondly, well, I've been off my game lately (see spring=exhaustion).

So here goes:


Woolgirl: time to knit? time to KNIT?? Uh huh. You mean, like, with needles? I understand 'startitis' but what do you call it when you have so many projects you want to start that you stand in the middle of the fiber room and just stare in a daze with a handful of needles in one hand and an inhaler in the other for the minor panic attack in the other? time to knit she mumbles.


Andrea: Your welcome! The yarn fairy grins with glee :)


Colleen: We *try* to shear the sheep before they lamb. It's easier on everyone, even the lamb because they no longer recognize their mum after she's been sheared, I kid you not. Not to mention trying to sort sheep with lambs in the pens. No way to find the pair & keep them together through the whole day/ordeal. And, for the wool, it's better because lambing can cause a 'break' in the fleece (where the wool stops and starts growing again literally making a break or weak spot in that section of the wool fiber/strand). Very good question.


Jo at Celtic Memory, how'd that Imbas sock turn out?? and did I hear you mention Slytherin for House Socks? You should check out the House colors here...


Colleen: Rental Sheep have had lambs (a good portion of them anyways). Pictures were delayed due to well... more than 340 ewes giving birth and only 2 shepherds. I'm working on them, and the fleece from the rentals! Don't despair :)


Sorry, not much in the way of pictures. I'll leave you with this: Anyone want to guess what this is?

It's all about the Numbers.

Hi, remember me? Here's a quick, brief run-down (run into the ground, run-down) of what we've been up to around here. There's way more by the way, these were just the highlights of spring and lambing.

More than 200 sheep sheared in 2 days.... and 5 stitches for spouse in a shearing accident.













More than 80 fleeces to skirt - this is just a few of them...












The rest went into the wool-pool bags.

















More than 280 lambs (we were just to tired to keep counting by that time).

More than 16 bottle lambs total, with 7 still on the bottle (not bad considering the total lambs born is probably about 350-375-ish).

11 lambs who would have been bottle lambs grafted onto other mothers. (major happy about that one!!)

2 emergency c-sections to save the lambs.

7 animals treated for fly-strike (you do NOT want details on that)

8 new pigs on the farm.

1 steer off to butcher.

What felt like a bazillion-teen skeins of yarn for Cookie's Garden, the spring sock kit for the club.











1 set of double rainbows.












Deja-vu with another astronomical number of skeins of yarn for The Summer sock kit for the club... (pick your own 3 out of 5 ice cream flavors - what was I thinking??)

10 broiler chicks (round 1 - round 2 would be 25 to be delivered next week)

21 hens laying an amazing number of eggs (quiche, anyone?) , down to 13 - see the next 'number'.

1 raccoon who lightened the hen-pen by 8 hens in 4 days... followed by the purchase of a trap.

200 bales of hay at about 600lbs each (that's 1/2 of what we need for the coming winter, folks).



2 1/2 inches of rain in almost 6 weeks (very bad).
5 brand new baby chicks with mommy-hen (2 peeking out here).

Team Work

"Ok now's our chance to escape!"

"I saw this in a movie once, and it worked for the fish."

"Everyone: Lift UP!!"

Surfacing for Air

VERY quickly, I do still exist. I have TONS of pictures waiting, and I've gotten as far as downloading them from the camera... which is a huge step forward.

I expect to catch you all up to date on the farm life in the next day or so, but for now let me just say that we recorded 28 lambs just for today. 28 new lambs, people. The spring newsletter is here, and should go out tomorrow but let's face it - it's ALREADY tomorrow and I haven't gone to bed yet so expect a postdate on that for Wednesday because my reality check is obviously broken.

Before I forget, if you have left a comment and hoped for a response... I cannot figure out how to answer you privately as Blogger sends me a copy of your comment via a 'no-reply' email address which seems sort of silly. So, I'm really really really not ignoring you or your question and I'll answer some of the asked questions when I start catching up in the next day or so on blogging. With pictures. Lamb pictures, shearing pictures, cutest-ever-4-year-old-pictures, yarn pictures, and numbers. LOTS of numbers.

Now I'm going to bed. Don't anyone wake me for at least 5 hours.

The Force is strong with this one.

Well! The snow disspeared in record time - as soon as the sun came out that is. And, I'm fairly certain that the sheep can actually hear the individual blades of grass growing. You'll see them trying desperately to graze what little stubble is out there, when suddenly, a large group of them will head in the same direction with singular purpose (mildly borg-like) only to arrive at a mysterious destination in the middle of the field.... only to begin grazing stubble in the NEW spot.

Anyways, yesterday was the first really warm, sunny, why-the-heck-am-I-doing-barn-chores-wearing-a-wool-sweater day. And we found this out in the pasture, motherless and forlorn first thing in the a.m.

She is a sweety. Another ewe was valiantly trying to be her mother, but failing as she herself isn't due for several weeks and has no milk to offer. Mom was no where to be found, and after a careful search we decided she was a single orphan. Now let me tell you. When we bring the ewes into the barn yard, they line up at the feeders for a bit of grain and it is an impressive site. We do this for a couple of reasons.

1. Sheep are not the brightest creatures. Reminding them that the rattle of a grain bucket is a yummy thing, keeps them running for you and that bucket in the middle of summer. This is especially handy when a fence comes down and the sheep are out of their pasture. (the grass really is greener on the other side of the fence.) The fact that all year long they continue to fall for this trick is a tribute to their brain-power, and yet they do occasionally outsmart me. nice.


2. It gives us the opportunity to trick them into confinement so they don't try to eat the bale of hay as it comes of the tractor, sacrificing themselves under 600lbs of feed. Or the wheel of the tractor.


3. Prior to lambing, it gives us the chance to get a good look at everyone, catching and handling any ewe with a problem.

In this case, it gave me the chance to walk through the barnyard while they were all head down in the feeder looking for the errant mother. Now, I'm sure you all can guess how we do that here. Even my 4 year old knows what to do, and she's quite good at it. We walk the line of bums, looking for tell-tale signs of labor and/or delivery. Couldn't find a thing. Husband finally found her about an hour later, by accident as he was catching another ewe with a limp. He noticed blood the size of a quarter on this ewe's back leg. Talk about a good eye! Noticing that on one sheep out of 300, in mud up to their bellies. We are impressed by him on a daily basis. Anyways, this was as suspected, a first time mum suffering from the 'what the heck came out of my butt' syndrome. I'm happy to say that after 24 hours tied in a stall with her offspring, she is now untied and no longer trying to head-butt the poor thing. Why she even grudgingly gets up to let her nurse! Serious progress. In a couple of days she might even get nervous when I take her lamb away for a moment.
That lamb? This afternoon she weighed in at a whopping 5lbs 7oz. She probably weighed under 5lbs at birth. We are seriously impressed with her will to live. Not bad for a preemie!

Sock Progress: I'm happy to say, that if I give up 5 more minutes of sleep a day, I can actually add a row or 2 to this sock. And let me just say, I LOVE my knitpicks circs. LOVE.

What's in the dyepot you ask? Harry Potter. Or, at least Harry Potter themed colors. House colors to be exact, go check them out here at www.nysfarm.com/harrypotter.htm and while everyone seems to want the self-striping yarn, patience is going to have to be the word of the day on that one. To make that project feasable, I'm still working out a better mousetrap for skeining/dyeing. I'll keep you posted.

Word of the Day: Demoralizing.

Definition:

1. To undermine the confidence or morale of; dishearten.



2. To put into disorder; confuse.

This is DEMORALIZING. I mean really. Let's look at the calendar, shall we?? This was yesterday's picture. And, please note that the crap on the tin roof of the barn over the visible slider door, was ALLLLLL on the ground in front of the door this morning. And, just for fun, does anyone want to guess how long it took to do chores & feed 340 odd sheep in that? To long, people. To long. Finishing just in time to start evening chores. And, it's raining on top of it all. Which, I might add is NOT melting the snow, since it isn't really snow... it's slush. 8 inches plus of slush. Back-breaking, shovel breaking, tractor-getting-stuck, slush. I'll stop now before the twitch under my left eye starts up again.

Painter's Tape - EXCELLENT idea from the comments the other day for the 4 year old, hardware store here we come.

Sock Progress: Needles came, thank goodness or I was going to start knitting with bar-b-que shish kebob skewers. Don't think I wasn't fixing to see what size they were! Anyhow, we lovelovelove our new knitpicks 32inch size 1 needles. So, if anyone needs a 29inch size 1 & 3 COMBO circ, I've got you covered. If not, than I suggest avoiding Boye needles like the plague. Interesting conversation with them the other day by the way (I get on the phone & call folks when I'm cranky about their poorly constructed tools). According to her, all of their size one needles have a larger than guage size join from needle to cord and back again. Apparently, I shouldn't have a problem with it, regardless of the fact that YOU CAN'T USE THEM FOR SIZE ONE PROJECTS (and yes, I realize I'm shouting). She didn't see this as much of an issue for some reason. After several hopeful and polite questions, I finally asked where I should send the useless needles so that they could refund my money (the store I bought them at was closing it's yarn section - probably because they kept selling useless needles). With only mild grudging, she gave me the address. I do not in any way blame her, but for heaven's sake people (Boye in particular) - what were they thinking?? And to tell me 'they are all that way' in a voice that clearly said 'you are mildly off your rocker for thinking a size one needle actually be a size one needle...'

Also, for the record (Again Boye, listen up) their website does not work. The parent company website links to 4 different companies, one of which IS THEIR OWN WEBSITE (duh??) another is Boye which does not function... and finally, one of the other remaining actually has a customer service number you can all. Excellent job Boye, excellent.

I'll never catch up.

Holy Crow, I can't believe it's the 12th of April.
April, people. And it is SNOWING. Not a quick little flurry, no, we're accumulating this crap at an alarming rate. Perhaps my attempts at thawrting the time/space thing for my own nefarious dyeing, knitting, and other fiber-related dastardly deeds, have messed with Mother Nature's timing. Well isn't that handy. The only time warping I've done is prolong the CRAPPY weather, instead of helping to make a dent in the 'to do' list inside the house.
And, I'd LOVE to show you a picture of progress on that sweet little blackjack sock, but it would look suspiciously THE SAME except on a longer set of circs. Now, if you read the last post, you would expect progress as I've purchased a longer set of circs to enable the 'magic'. But here's the thing. I bought this here 32 inch size 1 Boye needle. And, ya know the join where the needle 'joins' the length of plastic cord to connect to the other needle? Well, that little tiny teeny 1/4 inche or so length of plastic is all that stands between me & progress. I cannot slide my size 1 stiches over it's SIZE 3 CONNECTION. Now, did I miss something here??
Here's my theory:
In my efforts to avoid sock knitting so as to get something ELSE done around here, I have not replaced my lost size 1 needles, long gone. Until now. Driven Encouraged by the Harlot, I might have run head-on into a needle display at a lys with wild abandon the thought that I might find something useful. I might have wound some yarn, and gotten as far as the toe before trouble found me.
My theory is, that I angered the knitting gods by avoiding knitting, and this is their curse: to be desperate to knit socks, and unable to do it. Kind of a Greek Tragedy sorta thing, eh?
Well, ta heck with them, I went shopping and SEVERAL sets of size 1 circs are on their way. One sock? Heck with that, we're casting on SEVERAL socks with ALL of the new needles and leaving them recklessly about the house for random knitting moments.

In other news: Harry Potter. Have you heard of him? Silly question, I know. Anyways, I'm putting my dye pots to good use (again) and working on 'House' colors for the knitters out there. Check the website for the Potter page, and check back here for more posts & pics as I work on options for colorways.
I'm thinking of offering solids in all of the colors, as well as 2-color skeins... and I've been working on some type of self-patterning dye-job that doesn't require me to skein yarn around the room over couches & lampshades for the dog to trip on and the daughter to hang her toys on. It really Does. Not. Work.

Question of the day: Can anyone tell me (without suggesting I spend 3 hours searching the 'help' files of blogspot) how to MAKE this thing see all of the proper sentence punctuation? I mean, I know we've lost some writing skills with all this computer 'stuff' but I should still be able to put 2 spaces after each sentence and this freakin' blogger system refuses to see even one, let alone the 2 that are supposed to be there. I hate for folks to think I don't have a clue about basic writing skills... A little help here before I go nuts?

Still Catching Up.

Knitting Tip Number 2.
There is nothing magical about a 24 inch loop. 29 inches, 32 inches, both very magical when it comes to knitting a sock on (or is that with?) 'the magic loop'. No matter how hard you try, this will only end in madness.


And Miss Tsarina, yes, you should feign enlightenment for my sake & let me keep what little dignity I have left. We shall forever more pretend understand that these knitting 'revelations' come to me in divine moments of knitting bliss and serenity. Very ZEN-like ya know. (ya'll got yer boots on, right?)
And, since we're taking time to respond to commentary, that 'top down raglan' is coming along nicely, thank you very much. More on that later.

The lovely toe-up toe (duh) using my own BlackJack multiple repeat yarn. I must say, I am LOVING the tiny little color repeats.








Note to whoever keeps searching on 'Beautiful Icelandic Girls'. DUDE. (at least, one assumes it's a dude...) These are SHEEP. Now, move along please. And, on the off chance that the fact that they are SHEEP does NOT bother you, PLEASE I beg of you, move along even faster.


Quote of the day: Do not anger the Dragon for you are crunchy, and taste good with ketchup.

Knitting Tip Number 1.

When doing a provisional cast-on, use yarn so brightly colored that a street trollop would be embarrassed to be seen in it. So garishly different from your actual project yarn that horror is expressed, even by the color blind. Do NOT use yarn the same color and/or weight and texture as your project yarn, especially when the project is on size 1 needles. Ever. Not even for just a couple of stitches. EVER.

Catching up, one step at a time.

So in the wild, these are the signs that the elusive 4 year old-asaurus has been here before you.

Please note the 'SharkTales' Sticker found on the butter sometime around midnight while mom was having the preverbial 'midnight snack'.

While eating, this tell-tale sign was found on the whiteboard:

Note how small mom's space is... the small square on the right. Notice how the wild four year old-asaurus has broken through the extensive fencing system strayed out of the confines of her wilderness park generous space allowed for her 'work', ever encroaching on the mother's tiny, eeked out scrap of modest space. Steps must be taken to reinforce fencing on the wilderness park review 'whiteboard etiquette'.

Setting the record straight.

Dear Sheep,

Most of you have been with me for a while now, and we still don't have what I'd call a good working relationship. I'd like to take this opportunity to explain my expectations for you. Perhaps after this, we'll both enjoy our jobs a bit more here on the ol' homestead.

1. I expect you to (and this is critical) NOT drop dead.

This is a biggy girls. It is distressing to see you acting completely healthy and fine, only to find you on death's door 12 hours later. It is even more upsetting to spend the next several hours making you as comfortable as possible inside the barn, feeding you by hand, providing delicacies like honey-laden yogurt and important meds to sustain you, only to find you dead in the middle of the night when I come out to check on you. Please have the decency to make up your mind much earlier: Either simply drop dead, or buck up & stay healthy enough to not come into the hospital barn. And FYI: it would be ever so handy if you do decide you can't possibly go on, if you would drop near a gate or something, so we're not hiking to the back of the back 40 to fetch you.

2. Getting to know us.

Now, some of you have been with us for several years, and all of you have experienced the 'routine' of the seasons and what goes with them at least once in your lifetime. We are the shepherds, you are the sheep. We feed you EVERYDAY without fail. Same ol' us. We wear the same jackets & winter hats & boots, say the same thing to you, move you in & out the same pastures and gate systems every single bloody day. Please stop acting as if you have no idea who we are, or what we're doing. If you see the chute system in place, cast your mind back a measly 2 weeks to the last time you saw it. Do you remember that NOTHING bit you in the arse, poked you in the neck, chopped off any vital bits, or permantly distanced you from your flock mates??? Well for cripes sake, it's the same thing over and over and for the millionth time, over again. Now please put your self in line and get your pampered little fluffy butt through the chute.

3. Chute System Ettiquite.

Speaking of the chute system, if you do happen to feel a small sting through the 15 inches of wool on your bum, that would be the ever-so-gentle electric cow prod. Now, keep in mind that IF you are feeling this, than (pay attention please)
You. Are. Doing. It. Wrong.
I cannot stress this enough. Please stop backing up, turning around, or trying desperately to LEAP up and out of the chute system. It is not built to kill you, ya ninny. If you happen to be first in line, consider that good as you'll be first out and stop trying to defy the laws of physics by putting you and the 6 sheep behind you, into the exact same spot. You cannot now and never will be able to occupy the same spot. Stop. Trying.
Not sure what to do in the chute? Watch ewe number 876 for example. She walks in at a brisk pace, all the way to the end or at least to the sheep in front of her, has even been known to push the ewe in front to help squeeze in a few more behind her (not sure how she knows to do this, but we love her for it). She stands calmly, and best of all, does not COMPLETELY freak out when we reach over the side and touch her in some manner to administer whatever we're there for this time. I mean for heaven's sake! I'm standing right there next to you every time you go through the chute, and you looked right at me when I leaned over to do whatever it is. This is NOT a signal to try to LEAP out of the chute, it is the signal to perhaps brace yourself and hold still.
One more thing. If you happen to notice short blue containers referred to as 'foot baths', please try not to leap over 9-12 feet of water/med-filled baths. You severly over-estimate your leaping skills. You will not make it, and you will likely fall and bathe in the 2nd or 3rd container. This is stupid distressing and costly in time and meds. Simply walk through and stand until released. No sheep has ever died walking through a foot bath, but there have been threats to those who do not, so heed the warning girls. We eat you for dinner. Literally.

4. Be friendly with the ram, and raise your lambs.

So, you have (basically) 1 job here on the ol' homestead. Have TWINS and raise 'em up good. This begins in the winter months when we introduce you to your new boyfriend. He has one purpose in life sweetie, and your it. Be nice to him, cozy up to him when the mood strikes you, and ya know, let nature take it's course. In a few months, your going to have lambs (note again, the plural reference. one lamb gets you into trouble.) and I'd appreciate it greatly if you'd follow this short list of guidelines:
I understand urges, but please avoid any that include dropping lambs in puddles, manure, or smack up against the fence line (especially the one that bites you on the nose when you try to get to the grass on the other side - it's electric and bad for lambing). Aim for somewhere dry, out of the wind, and hopefully not in the middle of the flock. Get some privacy if you can. I mean, it's a 40 acre pasture, I'm sure you can find a spot by yourself.
And just a note here for those that haven't lambed yet but notice another ewe in labor. Leave her and her new lambs alone! They are not your lambs, nor will you want to keep them when your own pop out. Save us all the trouble, and wait for your own.
Now, once you've had your lambs, please for the sake of the species and your mortal life, clean the buggers off and help them nurse. Don't run from them, this happens to you every year, same schedule. You should all be over the new mom 'what-the-heck-came-out-of-my-butt' syndrome so get a grip.
Lastly, lLet them nurse WHENEVER they want, not just when your bulging udder demands it. Here's a clue: If they don't look good, than YOU don't get to stay alive long look good.

5: Shearing.

Besides lambs, most of you have the ABILITY to produce a decent fleece. Now, we do our part by providing quality feed for you all year long. Please for the love of your life fleece, hold still on the shearing board. We do this every year, you don't shed so stop trying. The guy with the clippers is GOING to remove your fleece. He WILL NOT hurt you if you STAY STILL. Think of this as the dayspa: new hairdo, get a pedicure, no shots. Just relax, and find your freakin' happy place, will ya? It only takes about 4 minutes.

A note to the rams on the farm:

Rams, the only thing I'd add for you would be to behave yourself. Your job is to be a lover, not a fighter. I know you have short attention spans, but listen carefully:
If you put your head down and aim for any part of any human body with any HINT of aggression, You. Are. Stew. I don't care how pretty you are, how great your fleece is or how good looking your lambs are because here's the reality:
Your beautiful, wonderful spinning fleece you think is securing you a 'life' here also doubles as one INCREDIBLE pelt. And, your good looking lambs can easily be repeated next year by using one of your offspring for next year's ram. Now go graze quietly until I need you again next winter.

Ladies, I've enjoyed our little chat. Now, please review this at your leisure and chat amongst yourselves about everything we've discussed. I hope this clears up any misunderstandings we've had in the past, and clears the way for many years of calm and enjoyable flock & pasture management.

All our love,

the shepherds.

Winter 2007 Newsletter

Below is the regularly scheduled newsletter, but before I get to that I'm remiss in posting a picture of the twins that were born in February, so here they are. Please take note of the 2 very different fiber types. These animals are definately different in every possible way (well except they are both boys). This is the result of crossbreeding. Sometimes, you can even find different types of fiber on the same animal!

---

Vancalcar Acres
Winter 2007 (already?) Newsletter

392 Elwood rd Ft. Plain, NY 13339 518-993-4326

Does anyone remember me saying this in the last newsletter? “We are NOT expecting a February lambing group again!!” Well, next time you think I’m about to make a statement like that, just begging the Fates to giggle and slap me on the side of the noggin, stop me. So far we only have 3 lambs, but as I do morning chores, I’m pretty sure there are several other girls due in the next 10 days or so.

It has been a busy winter as the sock kits by Tsock Tsarina (Lisa Grossman) at www.tsocktsarina.com continue to keep the dyepots cooking with several new kits and a sock club. Lots of new FlockSock sock yarn colors are in the works, some with an eye towards St. Patty’s day. If you’ve never knit socks before but would like to, take a look at the Learn to Knit Tsocks Kit titled ‘Tsocks 101’. Everything you need to know. Yarn for an adult pair, yarn for a sample/child’s size to give you the chance to test the different options Lisa provides. Different styles of heels, toe-up, cuff down, and new stitches to learn and challenge you. The kit even comes with a set of Double Point Needles. Everything you need to be an expert sock-knitter! Did I mention the color pictures throughout the book for extra how-to help? Check the website for samples.

Up until this year, the farm Blog was an online version of the newsletters. As many of you have asked for more frequent updates on things around here, I’m giving it my best shot on the blog. I’ve learned a bunch of new technical things, which is great for this old techie. Did you know I was building websites when it was all done by hand, line by line of code in Notepad? Back then, being able to make the background a color other than gray, and put up an actual TABLE was amazing. Do you have any idea how long it took to build a website?? But that was another life, and I digress. If you don’t know, the blog lives here: http://fiberfarm.blogspot.com

Fiber: We’re planning to shear sometime in the end of March/beginning of April. Every spring someone asks, so I’ll get the reminders out of the way here. If you are renting a sheep, please remember that you may not get your fleece or yarn until (typically) the summer newsletter, the end of the rental year. For us around here, that usually means August/September timeframe. Even though we shear in early spring, lambing follows close behind and is intense for several weeks. I will be skirting your spinner’s fleece myself, as I can’t seem to get the other family members to be as picky as I am about it. If you’ve rented a knitter’s sheep (or flock)… remember, I have to spin it ;) . If your fleece or yarn happens to be first on the skirting board, you may get yours sooner, but until I figure out how to warp time to suit my own dastardly plans, everyone can’t be first.
Grassfed Meats:

 Lamb currently available by the cut in limited quantities.
 Pork orders: taking reservations for ½ or whole now, we expect to go to butcher in April More info on the spring newsletter, or you can email or call me to discuss. $50.00 deposit for ½ or whole. Contact me for pricing and availability, and cut options.
 Grass-fed ground Beef in 10, 25 and 50 lb sets. **Not your typical ‘trim’ ground beef! We’re taking the whole steer and making ground beef and a limited number of prime cut steaks (filet mignon etc). This is extremely lean ground beef, I find no grease left in the pan when browning this ground beef. Contact me for pricing and availability.

Pelts: I have 3 white good-sized pelts available right now, these are machine washable. $120.00 and free shipping.


Eric, Jennifer, Nora & the animals.

Winter Break is Over!!

Wow, I can't believe how fast the time has flown. And yet, in some ways, it went very slow.

Last week was winter break for Nora. Now, when I was in school, we didn't have this 'winter break' thing. We were off for xmas & new year, and then we toughed it out until Easter for spring break. We had to walk a mile to school or the bus stop as well, none of this bus at each house thing. There were gangs of kids all over neighborhoods waiting for the bus when I went to school... but I digress.
So, Nora was off of school for last week, and most of the week before due to folks being unable to even FIND the roads, let alone plow them. And, the week before that, she was home sick. I tell you what, when she's in high school she's going to be so mad she won't get 3 weeks to binge on cookies and 'Dora' of quality time with mom again!

If you'd like to see the 'aftermath' pics from last weeks' storm, they are here:

Storm

I would like to point out that we had 38 inches of snow. 21 of them in 4 hours, according to the town barn at the bottom of our hill (yes, it's good to live that close to where the plow trucks live). I would also like to point out, that if you live in a city/state that tracks it's average snowfall (as opposed to say, Phoenix Arizona where 'snow' is that stuff you shave off the wall in the freezer) than you really should know where your snow shovels are. Please note the plural version of 'snow shovel'. You should also note that when your county, and the several surrounding counties have declared a state of emergency... when one of the plow trucks is on it's side in a snow drift/ditch and the crane they brought in to lift it out is now also buried and useless... when your neighbor stops by on his snowmobile and asks if you need him to carry a message to any other neighbor... do not call the town barn insisting that they plow your road immediately, when you can't even GO anywhere. Instead, begin packing to move, because you really ought to be in Phoenix.

We did have another lambing, a lovely set of twins. I will get the pictures off the camera as soon as the batteries are charged. In fact, I am getting ready to go out & check the flock now, as there were a couple of girls who look to be fairly close to a motherly way.

Looking for your opinions: Color repeats in your yarns? How long should they be? Random or repeating? Post your thoughts here & let me know what you think.

It snowed a little today... and it's a bit breezy.

This is my Volkswagon Vanagon (Pop-up camper style, for those who are interested).

This picture was taken at about 5pm Wednesday evening.

Incidentally, last night at this time I could see the entire vehicle, even entire tires.

The Lawn Tractor? That's your everyday riding lawn mower.

Ah yes, and here, for perspecitve is that same Vanagon at about 1pm. See the wheel well? I told you it has tires.

And, you can forget about a plow on the front of a truck. Those are cute & all, but not at all useful here. Tractor with a bucket. And the haybale you ask? Well, if you're familiar with driving in the snow, you know that it's common to toss a cinderblock or 50lb bag of kitty litter in the trunk. The weight gives the car a little 'traction'. Well, think of the round bale of hay as a 600lb cinderblock for traction. You have to learn to think outside the box a little around here :)



This was about 10:30 this morning. Please note that I had already cleared the deck of snow at about 8:30 am, there were probably 8 inches of snow when I shoveled.
For some reason, the snow did not pack against that gap of the porch so it's hard to see, but there is at least another 4 inches of snow pictured here.



Look familiar? 3pm. Pretty cool, eh?
No. this is
So.
Not.
Cool.




8pm. We've added a little more snow I think. I'm going to bed now, but I leave you with a couple of things to ponder. First, when I look out my kitchen window at 11pm, the vanagon has snow up to the windshield. This is daunting to say the least. Secondly, if you are looking for a good leg workout, put on the heaviest workboots you own and a fullbody carhart zip-up suit. Add appropriate longjohns (2pair), wool sweater, dickie, hat, earmuffs etc. Now (and this is where it gets fun) Add a 45lb toddler in similar attire to your back in true piggy-back style. Ok, ready? Great! Now wade through snow drifts that average hip-deep for about 100 feet. Feeling good? How about those thighs? Bunns of freakin' steel. How's the breathing because I forgot to mention the 40mph gusts of subzero temps driving the still-falling snow into your face. Refreshing! Did you make it from the barn to the house? Ok, now take off all the crap, get that 4 year old to the potty, suit back up and get back to the barn. What's that you say? No problem because you've already blazed the trail? You are a very funny person because do you remember that 40mph breeze I mentioned? Your trail is SOOO gone. Have a nice work out, I'm going to bed. Oh and by the way, while your out there, could you shovel off the porch for me? Thanks, I appreciate it.

P.S.


And I forgot to mention!! This weekend we had our first lamb born. Mom must have been pollinated, because we aren't supposed to begin lambing until May. See the snow in the pictures above? Nope, to much to think about right now. Maybe in another post we can discuss lambing in the winter without a proper barn.

Stud-Muffin

It is definately winter here. February. Now, normally we have put studded snow tires on the car by now, but it was such a mild winter, there was no reason for them. Until now, that is. Now, with everything a blanket of white and the roads covered in slushy snow, and crazy drivers out on those roads it is time for studs.

So, I don't know to much about how this all works, but basically they take a perfectly good tire and shove short little nails or 'studs' into the tires for traction. Typically when I run over a nail, I puncture and ruin a tire. When they put nails in my tire, I am once again able to drive. Go figure.

Anyways, 2 days ago, while trying to take my daughter to school, my husband stood laughing at me at the window while I tried to get out of the driveway. After several attempts to move through what seemed like a small amount of snow, he finally came out and towed us out to the road. The irony was not lost on me that when I struggled to back out of the driveway, the town plow truck drove by... I'm sure I heard him giggle.

Upon my return from the school, like a complete idiot, I pulled right back into the driveway where I normally park. I guess I'm a glutton for punishment because nothing had changed... and so when I got ready to leave again later for the appointment to have the stud tires put on, he had to drag the car out again. Let's all take a moment and be grateful for tractors.

Now, I have studded tires on the car. I can go places that I had feared to go before, like the parking lot of the grocery store and my own driveway. Things are a little different now, the road noise is amazingly loud. So loud that I keep thinking I forgot to shift gears or something as the sound 'winds up' as the speed increases. Oh well. Crank up the radio, the heater, and check that we're in the right gear every once in a while. I have studds on the car, and don't care about anything else.

Things I've learned while my 4-year old has been sick.

UPDATE DEC 2007: **If you found this link searching for information on colds, cold medicines, cold treatments and children with any of the above, the post with way more information for you, is this one: http://fiberfarm.blogspot.com/2007/11/search-words.html I've made a post just for you, because your not the only one searching for info on that subject who finds themselves here.

My daughter is in preschool. She has before this, not been 'exposed' to other children on a regular basis and so we have been experiencing the best her immune system has to offer. Head colds. Over, and over, and over, and over again.
Now, they say that kids will build up an immunity to colds, getting fewer of them. And, that there are about 200 cold viruses out there. I've lived a long happy life so far, and have had my share of colds. Spent plenty of time in public school, after school babysitters, lots of cold exposure. So, could someone please explain to me, why I have ALSO caught every cold she has brought home? She went back to school today, after being home for a week as we all recovered from this round, and here are the things I've learned.

1. If the sick child sits on your lap, she will cough in your face. Not on purpose (I think), but it will happen. When you wipe her nose, she will cough. When you are tucking her in or getting her dressed, she will cough. Through all of this you will remind her to cover her mouth, use a tissue, wash her hands (and yours). What will you learn from this? You will get sick. Now, excuse me while I cough.

2. Cough medicine, is a joke. Unless it has codiene in it, it will not work. Period.

3. The 'bear' on the children's show 'Franklin' is NOT the same as the character 'Little Bear' on the childrens' show 'Little Bear'. All this time, I thought they were, but there are enough differences that I now see the error of my ways and have watched those 2 shows this past week plenty of times to be completely sure.

4. It is impossible to count out yarn yardage for a skein of yarn on your first try. And most likely the 2nd and 3rd tries won't be all that reliable either.

5. It can very well take 4 or more hours to dye a single skein of multi colored yarn. Dye one section one color... get glass of juice for sick child. Come back and rinse that section of yarn... rewind Disney Snow White. Come back and prep new color... wipe child's nose, wash and sterilize everything remotely related to that episode. Come back, dye new section of yarn skein... cajole child into taking medicine. Come back, rinse that section of yarn... well, you get the picture.

6. Whoever designed the Play-Doh containers has no children. I can barely open the freakin' things, how do they expect small children to do it??

7. Sick children can survive on air and juice for days. And everything they think they might want to eat 'tastes funny' (thank you, head cold). This means you throw away the equivelant of what they normally would have eaten.

8. Zicam is hands down the worst tasting, most foul product on the market to be put in your mouth for any purpose.

9. As expected, Zicam is also hands down, the only zinc product out there that seems to actually make a difference. Probably specifically because it tastes so bad, words cannot describe.

10. After about the zillionth head cold, you will pay just about any dollar amount for Zicam. Invest heavily before illness strikes. While your at it, pick up 3 bottles of lame cough syrup, a box of REAL sudafed (not the pansy stuff they sell now and pretend is sudafed) Pseudoephedrine Hydrochloride, and some Halls cough drops.

These are important things to remember if you have young children with school careers yet to begin. Good Luck.

BlackJack!

Ok, my favorite vice in the casinos is really craps, but blackjack holds a close 2nd. Taffy on the other hand, I'm not so keen on. Gets stuck in your teeth, takes FOREVER to eat, and until that taffy is in your mouth and your jaw feels wired shut, you don't really know if you like that particular flavor. Better hope you DO because did I mention it takes a long time to eat?
Anyways, now that you know what candy NOT to get me on my birthday (I prefer gift certs. to a dayspa for a good massage), I remind you of the colors of taffy. Specifically, BlackJack Taffy like the kind shown here:

Now, a very nice gal in the FlockSock Sock Club, mentioned that on her yarn wishlist she was hoping to find yarn that sounded familiar in a flavor sort of way. This was odd for a "color of yarn description", as I normally don't eat much yarn. So, I set up the dye pots. When I was finished, I realized why the yarn looked good enough to eat:

BlackJack!

The skein in the middle is a one-of-a-kind so forget it, I ain't doing THAT again. Now this really still sounds good. Knit to a section with pink yarn. Come to that section again, but instead of more pink, you have black. Or white. Reality? Amazingly huge pain in the arse to dye. Sections of skein grouped into smaller, random sections for tiny dye pots... well, let's just say that it sounded good in my head but outloud? not so good. Yarn in tiny dye pots of different colors, (while trying to maintain white sections as color in and of itself) spells disaster when you need to REMOVE from tiny dye pots, transfer to sink, and RINSE little sections by color and keep them seperate until completely rinsed. And away from white sections. Ya, we're not doing that again. (P.S. anyone need some 'tiny' dye pots, you just let me know.) My favorite is the one on the far right side. small color repeats over the whole skein. I plan on taking 5 minutes (see previous post) tomorrow and knitting a swatch from this one.

I think this might be the valentine yarn that goes up for sale, what do you think? Take your pick of skein 1 or skein 3. Forget skein 2, unless you offer me gobbs of legal tender. Gobbs. Large, huge, stuffed pockets.

MIA

SO, has anyone seen my missing 5 minutes? You know when someone says "can you just put this frozen 100 feet of garden hose in the bathtub to thaw so I can finish watering the flock, honey? It will only take 5 minutes..."
Somehow, there is a timewarp in my house. I come out with 4 year old in tow at 7-ish in the morning with lots of Plans (note capitalized word, this implies importance). Most of the Plans, are small things on the 'to-do' list. Most don't really take more than a few minutes, but before I know what has happened, it is time to start dinner and several Important Planned Items are as yet, unfinished. Most not even begun.
And, if you live in my timezone (aka timewarped house), you know that the day is not over. It is in fact, never over. Much like some lost episode of the Twilight Zone, I am always able to convince myself that 'as soon as I finish THIS, then I'll have time for THAT.' But I've noticed that before I finish THIS, something else becomes the THAT which immediatly becomes the current 'THIS'... and I never seem to get to THAT.
It is 11pm, I am on day 2 of a migraine and did I mention it is 11pm? Most meds don't work, so I use codeine occasionally, and while it works doesn't-do-anything-but-I-feel-like-I'm-making-an-effort-by-taking-it, it tends to keep me awake of all things. So, here I am at the dyepots finally getting to the THAT which was my PLAN for the day. Orange for Lisa for Swan Lake, Lager/dark beer for Oktoberfest's upcoming toast to St. Pattie's Day Beer Drinking Festivities, and some very interesting ideas from some Club Member's wishlist.
Please don't ask for pictures tonite of any of this, or the THIS and the THAT will never become the OTHER (there is always OTHER to be done. Like taking pictures, that will only take 5 minutes... wait, I've heard this song before...)

And, as a note to Lisa, nice clean pillow case. Hows' about I send you my laundry to wash use for felting projects?

Now, I'm off to rinse all the freshly-dyed yarn so I can go to bed, I PLAN to take pictures in the morning of the fruits of my laobr tonite for all to see.

Fall 2006 Newsletter

Vancalcar Acres
Fall 2006 newsletter
392 Elwood rd Ft. Plain, NY 13339 518-993-4326

Time has been flying by here. It’s late fall on the farm, and we’ve officially begun supplementing stockpiled pasture grass with large round hay bales. The girls number 282 right now, just shy of our goal of 300. It was a difficult summer here, and we have decided not to purchase any replacement ewes this winter. We will strive to build our numbers next year from within our own ewe lambs born this coming spring. We are planning our breeding groups this December for a mid-May lambing start. We are NOT expecting a February lambing group again!!
We went to the New York Sheep and Wool Festival in October this year as a vendor, and met several of you face to face. We had a great time, we hope you did as well! We introduced 5 sock kits with designs by Tsock Tsarina (Lisa Grossman) at http://www.tsocktsarina.com/. Our hand-dyed sock yarn and her patterns were a hit and we’re backordered now on yarn to fill after-show sales of those kits. If your waiting for yours, I expect the yarn to arrive around the 15th of December. I’ll be up all night dyeing yarn J Pictures of the sock kits are on the website under ‘sock kits’ and there will be a sock club beginning in January, details will be online in the next couple of weeks.

Fiber: As some of you know, we lost the majority of our fiber clip this past spring. Because of that, there has not been much roving available around here this year! Occasionally, I’ve made special purchases of superwash merino fiber, wool/silk blended fiber, wool/mohair blended fiber to dye and card. I am expecting more wool/silk in the next week, and have just gotten merino top roving for dyeing. Watch the website for the fiber to go up for sale. We will be shearing the flock in mid-April this coming spring, so our own fleece will once again be available soon after.

Grassfed Meats:
Lamb currently available by the cut in limited quantities.
Pork orders are on hold here. We have a new group of heritage-breed piggers out in the garden doing a good job of roto-tilling things now, but they are not ready for butcher yet.
Taking reservations on freezer lambs, availability of mid-December, and mid-January.
Grass-fed ground Beef in 10, 25 and 50 lb sets. **This is not typical ‘trim’ ground beef! We’re taking the whole steer and making ground beef and a limited number of prime cut steaks (filet mignon etc). This is extremely lean lean ground beef, I find no grease left in the pan when browning this ground beef.
Poultry: We raised out about 20 broilers this summer. Processed here on the farm, they were very flavorful and it was good to know where they came from. So much poultry in the grocery stores is raised in caged or at the minimum, indoor penned environments and fed low doses of antibiotics and other additives in efforts to maintain them under these conditions… well don’t get me started! We will be raising at least 3 groups of broilers next summer for our customers.
**If you want more information about current standard commercialized growing and processing of beef, visit http://www.eatwild.com/index.html and read her articles and scientific references. Sobering information!
Pelts: I have 3 white good-sized pelts available right now, these are machine washable.
What’s on Sale: Going to be driving out this way? Bring a cooler and stock up. 25lbs of ground beef from our grass-fed steers, made from the whole cow… not just trim! Just back from the butcher, get 25lbs at the 50 lb price of $4.00/lb, packed in 1lb tubes.

Eric, Jennifer, Nora & the animals.