Weather, Sheep, Dog, Etc.

The wind has finally settled down. Not that it's still, but at least large, heavy objects aren't flying around anymore. The very strong winds we had through much of May and June were exhausting, both physically and mentally. Almost continuous wind gets on a person's nerves after awhile.

Now it's just hot and dry. We haven't had any precipitation since April, and even then it was a below-average amount. There's a slight chance of rain this weekend.

I didn't plant a garden this spring. Too many things have been going on. I think I'll put in some squash, though; pumpkins would be fun.

I've sheared all but two of the adult sheep, Minerva and Gimli. I'm going to try to shear those two this weekend. I know they're hot, but they were the last ones sheared in the fall, so their wool isn't quite as long. I had delayed shearing because of the heavy winds, so now I'm catching up.

On December 28, I lost my amazing, beloved dog, Dierdre, to degenerative myelopathy. It was an incredibly difficult time. About four months ago, I adopted Logan. He's two and still very much a puppy. He's doing well with the sheep, though, and even behaved pretty decently during shearing.

I'm taking advantage of the hot weather and decreased winds to wash wool. It dries fast in the sun, but I have to be careful that it doesn't blow away (even with less wind). I also have to keep Logan from taking it to play with, which is an even bigger challenge. He'll learn, though.

Donating to a Dog (and Cat) Cause

Exciting news! I've arranged to donate 10% of my sales of hand woven dog leash add-ons and dog collars to United Animal Friends,  http://www.dogcatadoption.com/.

Below is the leash add-on I recently made for my dog, Logan. The second picture is one I made to sell. It's appropriate for a small- to medium-sized dog.

Here's a picture of Dierdre wearing her leash add-on. One end attaches to the collar; the other end hooks to the leash.

Dinnertime

Dierdre and I just fed the sheep. When we went out, they were on the far end of the property. I wanted each of them to have an equal chance at the hay, so I called them. They studiously ignored me.

Then Dierdre gave two sharp barks. Their heads shot up, and they started running towards us. I should have asked Dierdre to handle things to begin with.

Dierdre Sporting Her New Accessory

I didn't attach the leash because I didn't want Dierdre to think we were going somewhere. She was amazingly patient for the photo shoot.

Tablet-woven Dog Leash Add-On

A few weeks ago I mentioned I had learned to tablet weave (or card weave). I'm really enjoying it.

I work on an inkle loom.

This system has several advantages over the traditional method of tying one end of the warp to a stationary object, such as a doorknob, and one end to your belt, making you one of the warp anchors. An inkle loom is portable, you can get up and walk away at any time, you can take the loom outside and run in if it starts raining, which has happened to me, to name a few benefits of not being literally tied to your work.

I've been weaving a variety of items, including this dog leash add-on for Dierdre. One end attaches to the end of her leash, the other end to her collar. Blue is a great color for her! Do you think she approves of my work?

For a demonstration of tablet weaving on an inkle loom, check out this youtube video: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2gmUDmZAY.

http://www.earthguild.com/products/riff/rcdweave.htm offers a brief written introduction to card weaving.

For some history of the craft, go to  http://www.academia.edu/1488597/Hallstatt_Tablet_Weaving and  http://digitalcommons.unl.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1199&context=tsaconf.

Eggs...P.S.

Oops. I can't believe I forgot the funniest part of the egg story from yesterday.

As I said, the hens laid six lovely, large eggs. I wasn't expecting that many, though, and carrying six eggs was a little tricky. The laying boxes are in the hay storage room. I have to latch the door on that room to keep my persistent, clever, and ever-hungry sheep out. There was no way I could affix the hook to the door while holding six eggs, so I set them on the ground nearby.

Dierdre walked over, picked one up, and trotted off. I couldn't believe it. She'd never shown any interest in eggs before. I called, "Hey! What are you doing? Give that back." She set it on the ground and looked at me, all innocence. I picked up the egg. Other than being a bit slobbery, it was fine. She hadn't cracked the shell when she picked it up, carried it in her mouth, or set it on the ground. I was impressed. For such an active, take-charge herding dog, she shows a lot of gentle finesse.

Rogue

Rogue arrived on Wednesday -- a little black ewe lamb whose ma-a-a is a first-time mother. Many beginning mothers figure things out right away. This ewe, Petra, unfortunately did not. When Dierdre and I entered the barn and found mother and daughter, Petra fled from the dog, leaving Rogue alone. Not what a shepherd wants to see. Mothers should defend their young.

The lamb was dry and seemed to have nursed, but I wasn't sure. Petra went off to dine with the other sheep, leaving Rogue alone again. Before I went in that night, I wrestled Petra and made her let Rogue nurse. I did the same the next morning.

When I got home from work, I was quite concerned that the baby wasn't eating, at least not regularly. I found Petra socializing with the other sheep and Rogue alone in the barn. I decided I better pen them together. I made an enclosure using some chain-link gates. I coerced Petra inside and plunked Rogue in with her. I made sure she nursed again, as well.

Let me digress about the wonderful usefulness of chain-link gates. Someone gave a dozen gates to a friend of mine a few years ago, and he gave me three of them. They're 3' high x 4' long. I've used them as wool drying racks, to enclose part of the shearing enclosure, and as portable pens. Moveable, strong, and sheep-proof, they're incredibly handy to have around.

Petra has finally figured out the mothering thing. Rogue looks well-fed now. I'm going to leave them together in the stall until tomorrow, though, just to make sure Petra understands this ewe-lamb relationship is ongoing.

I don't have any pictures yet but will soon. So in the meantime I decided to include two pictures of Dierdre. It's been raining for a couple of days, and there is a lot of mud near the barn. Dierdre takes her job seriously, which means she braves all weather. Wow, is she wet and muddy.

I had to buy and unload some hay this afternoon, despite the rain. Dierdre, as always, kept me company. We were both drenched by the time I finished. We came in the house, and I changed clothes. I couldn't figure out why I still smelled like a wet barn until I looked down and saw Dierdre standing next to me. Hmmm, the source of the odor. I cleaned and dried her as well as I could. The "wet" picture is the result. The second photo is what she usually looks like.

Very Busy

Last week I finally planted some peas. Since they haven't emerged yet, the chicks are still day-tripping to the garden; I take them in each evening. They are thoroughly enjoying being able to run around, chase bugs, and do some experimental flying. They're about seven weeks old now and growing like mad.

They had a scare two days ago. Friends visited with their dog, who is quite a bit smaller than Dierdre. He squeezed between the fence and garden gate and went after the chicks. Luckily the visiting kids were already in the garden and caught him as he grabbed hold of the tail of one of the chicks. Although she lost some feathers, no real harm was done.

I finished a large weaving custom order and shipped it on Monday. Yesterday and today I and other members of my fiber guild are selling our work at a fair in downtown Prescott; I spent yesterday morning there. I also gave a talk yesterday, "From Sheep to Shawl," at the Prescott Highland Games. Afterwards, I went back to the Courthouse Square and spent a couple more hours at the guild's booth.

Dierdre accompanied me all day. I think she was a little overwhelmed by all the people and dogs, but she seemed to have a good time. I have a small skein of yarn I spun from her fur, so I showed it to people as an example of "chiengora." People often jokingly suggest I spin her fur, since she has so much hair, so it was fun to show them I had done so. By about 4:00, she was giving me that "are we going home soon?" look, so we loaded my spinning wheel into the car, went back to Wilhoit, and fed the sheep and chickens.

Lamb Psychology

I know, I know, in my last post, I said it was pointless to try to figure out lamb psychology, but this lamb's actions are just too strange.

She keeps following Dierdre around. Last night, we went to the barn to feed Astra. There's a divider in the barn that used to be part of a stall. While I stood there with a bottle of milk in my hand, Dierdre circled the divider four times with Astra in tow. By the end, I think Dierdre was getting kind of freaked; she couldn't shake the lamb. I finally stepped in and grabbed Astra, who hungrily started eating when I stuck the bottle in front of her face.

Today, Dierdre and I were walking, and Astra ran up to us. I veered left, Dierdre right. Astra followed Dierdre, sticking to her side, slightly behind her shoulder, just as lambs often follow their mothers. The dog swerved and changed pace; the lamb stayed with her.

I feed her. Dierdre pesters her and herds her. Yes, Dierdre is sort of sheep-sized. She has four legs. She's very furry. But I feed her! I just don't get it.

On a cute and less-confused note, two friends helped feed Astra yesterday. All parties were quite happy (once we got Astra away from Dierdre).

Snow, Mud, Sheep, and a Hen

From Saturday night to Monday morning we received about 10" of snow. It was beautiful but quite the storm. Saturday night the wind and rain were extreme, and we lost electricity for awhile.

By Tuesday, the snow started melting fast, with temperatures in the 50s. Now we have snow and much mud. Dierdre's legs are covered with it, and she kicks it up onto her belly every time she runs. She could definitely rival Harry the Dirty Dog. It's just so lovely that she wants to sleep right next to me, considering she smells like a muddy barn.

As usual, the sheep appeared affronted by the snow. They spent a day and a half in the barn while the snow was falling. That always makes feeding them a challenge, since they have a tendency to stomp the hay into the mud that they've tracked in. Dierdre was determined to herd them even there, although they were already where they should be. Therefore, she kept circling close to the inner walls to keep them in as tight a group as possible. The sheep didn't appreciate it much.

My hen seems to be trying to set a record. She's laid 8 eggs in the last 13 days, even with a snow storm. A few weeks ago I told her I was going to buy some baby chicks. I thought it was simply polite to let her know she'd have company when they were old enough to roam. I certainly didn't mean to imply I was going to boot her out or something, but she does seem to be showing me that she's up to the task of supplying us with eggs!

The Trials of Motherhood

I was sitting at my desk working, with Dierdre laying nearby, when she suddenly started barking. At first I thought she was responding to a dog in the distance, but then I heard what she did: a sheep baaing. A single baa doesn't worry me, but the noise continued. As we went outside, thoughts of a dog or coyote on the property entered my mind.

From the deck, we surveyed the scene. Boudica, the newest mother, was standing alone, voicing increasingly desperate-sounding baas. A lamb some distance away responded and started towards her. I watched, assuming a tender reunion was about to take place, but the lamb trotted right past Boudica and on to Minerva and started nursing.

Boudica's baas continued as she joined a group of sheep, searching among them for her baby.

By now I was worried. I could see the older three lambs but not Boudica's. Dierdre and I left the deck and headed towards the sheep. A few yards from the barn, I spotted the errant youngster. He was snoozing in some left over wool in the shearing pen, totally unaware of his mother's growing panic.

Dierdre entered the pen and nosed the lamb. He raised his head, looked at her, and got up and stretched, giving a little baa. Boudica immediately responded. He baaed a couple more times, and she came running.

Dierdre and I moved away a bit to watch. Mother and lamb met, Boudica full of concern and checking him out, the lamb, only interested in milk, trying to nurse while Boudica ensured he was safe and sound.

As we returned to the house, I congratulated Dierdre on her sheep-guarding abilities. She had heard a sheep in distress, let me know, and together we solved the problem. Luckily, it was nothing serious, and now everyone was happy.

Are You My Mother?

While I was feeding the sheep this afternoon, I picked up Boudica's lamb to check on him. As I set him down, Dierdre, my dog, approached. I told her to get away from the lamb, and she did.

The only trouble was the lamb decided to follow her. So Dierdre trotted off, the lamb followed, and Boudica, in a panic, hurried after. Dierdre sped up, so did the lamb, and, definitely, so did Boudica. The scene was hilarious until Dierdre entered the shearing pen, closely followed by the confused baby lamb. As Boudica came in, too, I was really worried about the dog and ewe getting into a fight in the enclosed space.

Luckily, Boudica decided to make sure her baby was alright, and while she was doing that, Dierdre slipped out of the pen behind her.

What do you think -- is it understandable that a two-day-old lamb would confuse Dierdre, a big, gray, furry animal,












with his mother, a big, gray, woolly animal?

December 26

Happy Boxing Day!

Does that mean I have to herd sheep while Dierdre, my dog, feeds and waters them?

Dierdre's New Bed

I sewed a bed for Dierdre last week. I stuffed it with old, worn-out clothes: Mark's clever idea. Mark and I think it's quite nice, but Dierdre won't use it. In fact, she won't even touch it unless we insist.

I guess she's never had a bed before.

I put it on the floor near our bed where she likes to sleep, and she laid in another spot that night. Mark wondered if she was avoiding it out of disinterest or out of courtesy. Maybe she thought it was ours, so she politely stayed off it.

Right now it's on the floor near my desk; so is Dierdre, about a foot from the dog bed. Oh, well.

We're gently encouraging her to use it, but if she really doesn't want to, we won't insist. Perhaps this winter she'll find it appealing.

Front and back of the new bed.

Canine Psychology

I enjoy trying to figure out dog psychology. I'm sure dogs would laugh, if they understood my conclusions, but, hey, I try anyway.

I often compare Dierdre's actions with those of our previous two dogs, Rousseau and Dreamer, both Lab mixes.

Today Dierdre accompanied me to the gate to take out the mail (as usual). I realized as she stood there, inches from the open gate as I came back in from the mailbox, that I never worry about her trying to bolt. She doesn't ever try to escape, unlike the Labs who took pretty much every opportunity to sneak out any open portal.

That's not to say Dierdre doesn't go through the open gate sometimes, but when she does it is with calm deliberation. She saunters out, clearly implying she has every right to do so. She'll investigate nearby bushes, the trash barrels, etc. and sometimes ambles further afield than I would like, but it's always with the attitude that it's natural, that of course she should be doing this, with nothing furtive about it. And when she comes back in, usually at my insistance (we don't allow our dog to wander loose), again it's with an air of virtue because she's Dierdre, she's entitiled to do these things.

Prescott Highland Games

I attended the Prescott Highland Games last Saturday as a vendor. I also demonstrated spinning with great success. It's always fun to do so. A fair number of people have seen spinning wheels but very few have observed them in action. People are astonished at both the simplicity and the complexity of the process: in my hand I held wool, and a few moments later, it had become yarn on the wheel's bobbin. To many of them, it's almost magic.

Dierdre made it very clear she wanted to go with me to the Highland Games. She jumped into the back of the truck and sat there while I loaded it.

Unfortunately, she had to stay home. It would have been too complicated to take her. For one thing, they had sheep herding contests, and she definitely would have felt she should be in charge (oops, make that participate).

Below are some of the items I wove for the event. The first scarf and the bags are MacColl tartan. The second scarf is a Robertson tartan.

http://www.highcastlecrafts.com/bags.html

http://www.highcastlecrafts.com/scarvestablerunners.html

More Sheep Tales

When Mark and I got home the other day, we saw sheep scattered about the upper section of the property. It was close to 7:00 p.m., well past their dinner time, and they had gone foraging.

I was driving, so Mark got out and opened the gate. As I pulled the car through, several sheep baa-ed and approached the car. By the time Mark had latched the gate, the sheep had blocked the driveway. He yelled at them to move. He shooed them. He waved his arms and yelled some more. They stared at him and then looked back at me and baa-ed. Apparently they weren't going to let me out of their sights until I fed them. Of course, that wasn't going to happen anytime soon, if they didn't get out of the way.

I called to Mark and suggested he let Dierdre out of the house. She'd move them! So he unlocked the front door and called her. She ambled out a few steps, looked at him, looked at the sheep, and started back into the house. Gesticulating, he urged her to go herd the sheep. She stared at him and didn't move.

I stuck my head out the car window and called Dierdre. Her response was immediate: she raced down the two porch steps and into the middle of the flock. In less than a minute, the driveway was clear, the sheep were running toward the barn, and Dierdre was looking at me proudly, a job well done.

Poor Mark. The sheep ignored him, and the dog wouldn't obey him. Dierdre likes him, but she's definitely chosen me as her person. I had thought the sheep came first in her eyes, though, but it turns out I hold that lofty position.

Last summer Mark fed the sheep a couple days when I wasn't feeling well. Dierdre always goes with me to feed them, so Mark tried taking her along. She went out onto the deck, laid down, and watched him walk to the barn. She calmly surveyed him while he got mobbed by hungry sheep, showing not the slightest interest in helping. He learned how valuable her assistance is, since I don't get swamped by sheep anymore. Twenty or so large, strong sheep who are intent on grabbing the hay from your hands can easily knock you over, and they don't care if they step on you once you're down (believe me, I know).

Although she really likes her sheep, apparently it's the team of Dierdre and Diane that truly makes her happy. I feel honored.

Such Silly Sheep

I've been so busy lately that I've neglected my blog. However, the sheep have been busy, too, providing all sorts of fodder for writing.

A few weeks ago I woke up in the middle of the night hearing a lamb baa. It sounded like she wanted her mother. I tried to go back to sleep, hoping the situation would sort itself out, but the baa-ing persisted. After about 20 minutes I surrendered, got up, put on shoes and a jacket, grabbed a flashlight, and went outside. Dierdre accompanied me, of course.

The night was bright--the moon almost full. Dierdre and I walked toward the barn, where the crying lamb had retreated. Just as we neared it, the lamb and several adults appeared from the far side of the building and approached us. The lamb stopped baa-ing, so I figured her mother was part of the group. We turned around, returned to the house, and went back to bed.

In the morning, we went out to feed the sheep as usual. (You notice how I speak in the plural; it's pretty much a given that Dierdre accompanies me where ever I go!) I heard that same lamb crying again. Hmmm, this wasn't good. And, sure enough, I quickly discovered why: there were half a dozen sheep trapped in the hay storage room, the lamb's mother, Frejya, among them.

Now this was bad for several reasons. One, the incarcerated sheep had eaten part of my stored hay, which meant I was going to have to buy hay sooner than I expected--definitely an unwanted expense. Two, the almost half-full bag of COB (corn, oats, barley, and molasses) was stored in there, and it had disappeared. That meant they had eaten close to 20 lbs of COB--definitely not good. Three, they were hot and thirsty from being stuck in a small room with only a single window to allow their hot and humid breath to escape. And four, they had removed storage container lids, torn open two trash bags full of empty feed bags, and pulled loose from the bales a fair amount of hay, and all this debris had collected in front of the door.

Between the mess and the crowd of sheep, I couldn't get the door open! Not even an inch.

I grabbed a shovel, put it through the open window, and tried to push some of the junk out of the way, but it didn't work; I couldn't get enough leverage to budge the compacted hay. I thought about climbing through the window, but I was going to have to stand on a chair or something to reach it, and the area in front of the door slopes steeply. I figured that was too risky.

What to do....And meanwhile the sheep inside the hay room were baa-ing to be let out. The rest of the sheep were loudly complaining because I wasn't feeding them, and Dierdre was jumping and barking, upset because she couldn't get into the hay room to reach the sheep she knew were in there. Oh, and I was supposed to be leaving to drive to Phoenix within the next half hour. My stress level was definitely rising.

Then I suddenly thought of a neighbor boy who sometimes feeds my sheep for me. At 13 years old, he could probably get through the window without needing a step up. It was kind of early in the morning, but I called him anyway. His mother said he'd be right over. He and his older brother showed up about 15 minutes later. One climbed through the window, while the other handed him the shovel I'd been trying to use. He shifted the debris in a few minutes and got the door open just wide enough to admit (or exit) a sheep.

Now, being sheep, they of course wouldn't move. They'd been whining about being stuck in there, and now they wouldn't budge, despite some forceful pushing from the neighbor. Dierdre to the rescue! She charged in and very quickly convinced one of the rams that the dog-free outside was much preferable to the Dierdre-dominated inside, and he bolted out the door. Being flock animals, the others followed at once. Hmmm, five of the six culprits were rams....

After that, every time I fed the sheep I checked and double-checked the door was secure.

A few days later my feed guy delivered more hay. As he reached the barn on his small tractor, pulling a trailer piled with hay bales, I caught up with him. We looked in the hay room, and what did we find? Yep, a room full of rams, with the door wedged shut again and the same scenario: loud unhappy sheep in the hay room, rowdy, hungry sheep outside, and a frantic dog wanting to reach the miscreants.

This time I had an idea, though. My feed guy pushed a hay bale off his trailer and placed it in front of the door. Using this large and stable "step stool", I climbed through the window, shoveled away the additional refuse the sheep had found, and pulled open the door. Dierdre repeated her how-to-remove-sheep-from-a-small-space maneuver and cleared the room. We unloaded and stacked hay, while the escapees hurried to a water trough; it's thirsty work eating illicit hay.

Since then I've devised a new way to fasten the door, and so far no one has broken in, although I've seen evidence that they've tried. Such silly sheep!

Hey, Don't Eat That!

Dierdre keeps eating the COB (corn, oats, barley, and molasses) I bought for the sheep. Do all animals have a sweet tooth?

I rarely give the sheep COB, but I wanted the nursing ewes to get some extra calories, so I purchased a bag. All the sheep (including the rams who certainly don't need to put on weight) love it, as do the hens. But the dog?

PBSD

I think the hen Dierdre laid on is suffering from PBSD--Post Briard Stress Disorder! She's still moving slow and looking kind of groggy. Poor thing. But the hens have always recovered from Dierdre's herding imperative in the past, so she should be fine.