Whimsical and Homespun Art Creations with a Little Rural Living Thrown In





Sunday, July 30, 2017

Meanwhile back on the Farm ~ Wool, Fur & Feathers

I had to go visit the kids' at their farm.  So many new faces to see!  Unfortunately, the most important new face is not going to be present in this post.  Hopefully, Annie will forgive me.  :(   She is the new German Shepherd gran puppy.  I will catch her a little later along with Elliot, the gran cat. ;)  Even with these over sites, there were a lot of new friends to make acquaintances with.
 
Farmerboy is still waiting for the paperwork on his newest Shetlands.  Their names have been forgotten by my son...  He better get those papers soon... I have a habit of coming up with some doozies on my own! ;)  Here is his new EweI call her Freckles. (Yep, that is how fast I play the name game! LOL)  She is absolutely darling.  Freckles keeps the flock guessing what she is doing in the pasture.  She will eat any green vegetation she finds.  The rest of the group is spoilt and picky about their eats.  So when they see her nibbling away happily, they all come running thinking she has a special treat! LOL
 
 


Why did Farmerboy buy another ewe your asking?  First, Freckles has a tendency to produce spotted lambs.  Second, she has super fine fleece.  See these majorly crimped curls?  They are so springy and tight like a fine carpet.  The original flock has some great crimp, but this is ridiculous! :)




Our Max and his beautiful colored fleece went on to a new farm with a new group of  ewes.  It was bitter sweet.  I know he will be happy, but I will miss scratching his forehead.  He was a gorgeous ram. *sigh*  To bring in a fresh blood line, a new ram came to the fold.  Kind of looks like Count Chocula to me.... Maybe??? ;)   Any who, next Easter should bring us some very interesting lambs.




Not to be out done by the new sheep, little Moon Pie decided to bless the kids with the first babies born to their farm... Let's just call the new arrivals "The Lucky Seven".    This photo was taken after number five.  Momma took a rest and then surprised the kids with two more!

 


The local businesses are sent to bid on 4H animals at the county fair.  One of the purchases made for my son's facility was a duck.  None of the crew bidding wanted to have the honor of butchering and eating their winnings from the highest bid... So yeah you guessed it, the boy who raised the duck was told to deliver the feathered friend to kids' farm.  They found out before they left the auction that in fact two ducks were going to be delivered.  By the time they arrived, there were three!   Apparently, the boy who raised them was having problems with a raccoon that attacked one of the male ducks.  He said its best chance for survival was to stay with the other two.  After a little TLC to the wounded member, all the feathered friends are settling in nicely.  :)

 
 
 
Can you believe it?  Even the new fruit trees planted this year are getting into the action!    I can't believe one is actually going to produce pears!!  LOL
 



It has been such a fun summer.  I just wrapped up the Tour de Fleece last weekend.  (Photos coming soon!)   This month is going to be spent washing fleece, ordering some shelving and painting my new studio area.  I cannot wait to get my sewing machines and art supplies back in order.  My goal is to have the space up and running by my vacation in early September!  :)

Tuesday, July 4, 2017

Where did June go?

I cannot believe we are already in July!  It has been a busy time trying to get Farmerboy's room emptied out and the majority of my studio items moved into it.  Some of my items are in storage in the closet area, since we have not tackled the walls or floors yet.  Farmerboy still has a few larger pieces left to move.  I am not to worried.  It is a functional space.  Hopefully, the studio will get finished by mid August. 

What else happened in June?   Quite a bit actually.  Even with all the rain, we were able to frequent some flea markets.  Yay!  I found out my cable provider has always offered Hallmark Movies and Mysteries.  Love the shows!  Purchased a new Schacht Ladybug spinning wheel to spin along with my Matchless during the Tour de Fleece ;) on Ravelry.  Will share those details in a post very soon!   Was able to use my sewing machine for the first time in way to long AND set up my large drafting table that has been in storage for 15 years.  Excited to work on some projects with those REAL soon! :)  Finally and most importantly, this guy showed up on the 2nd of June in our pond.  You guessed it... Gary is back!   I almost had a photo of him sunning his body on the terracotta island we made, but he was too quick.  So, a head shot will have to do!

Four years and counting Gary...


I feel like a load of necessary work was completed in June.  It will be wonderful to get back into some projects that have been waiting patiently.  I am more than excited to start this chapter! :) 

I hope everyone had the same beautiful day that Northern Illinois was given to celebrate The Glorious Fourth!