Our numbers are up!

With all this moulting going on around here, egg production has been way down! All last week out of 25 hens, we were averaging 10 to 11 eggs a day. Moulting can be a painful and miserable process for a bird of any kind. I work with owls at my job and they go off food and are not happy during moulting. However, this is how feed is bought around here, through the sale of our eggs. So we are glad to see them growing back their feathers, looking like pretty girls again and our rooster looking manly again as well! He is currently sporting no tail feathers!

A Breast Cancer Yarn...

 In honor of October and Breat Cancer Awareness Month, I made this yarn thinking of all those who have lost someone, know someone fighting and to celebrate those who have won their fight!

It was spun on an Ashford Country Spinner wheel, thick and thin with a pink metallic thread ply over. It's a soft and lovely merino wool which will make something soft like maybe a hat! This along with many other yarns will be available at our Open House next weekend!

A Fiber Adventure!

 On Wednesday I was blessed to go on a fiber adventure to meet a retiring fiber artist. I would imagine that this will happen to all of us one day. Her health and interests have changed and she is moving on. She was destashing! We filled the back seat, front seat and bed of the truck...

 I was privileged to get dyed batts, dyed roving, prepared fleeces, raw fleeces, metallic threads, and more and more and more!

 Just a sampling of what was in some of the bags! I believe this may be Angora. Some are marked and some are not so I am calling them mystery bags.

 I was even blessed to get this swing arm picker! It is an incredible tool to pick and clean raw fibers. This may cut down on the use of the mill. She told me it can be very dangerous to use. I will open this to all my friends to use.

and a Yarn Swift! I have always wanted one and now I have one! I am sorting and going thru everything and will be gifting some of this over load of fiber goodness to some of my friends. Thank You Becky and best of luck in your continued adventures, I will use all your things in the greatest of respect!

Starting October out with a rescue...

Welcome October! My favorite time of the year. Cooler weather, that homey feel, pumpkins, apples, cider, hay, pumpkin picking, wood piles, the sound of the wood splitter, hoodies, country fairs, apple and pumpkin pie, knitting by the wood burning stove and just slowing down a bit! Both my children were born in October as well, it's truly my favorite time of year!
My day didn't go off as planned and took on a plan all it's own. Then I saw that a friend had found a chicken in a box left abandoned. We always have room for one more so she brought her up. She is skinny, her comb is a bit pale but we will fatten her up and she will be just fine! Welcome Sandy (our friend named her!)

Help us name this little guy!!!

 We need a name for our little ram! This year we are keeping the little ram that "Lily" gave birth to, and his father is "Mo". He's an Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown ram.

We are looking for a nice english name for him. If we choose your name, a gift from the farm will be given to the winner! So good luck and bring on the names!!!

A Moulting situation...

 Oh the pain of moulting! Our poor Red Jr is down to one tail feather. It is the funniest thing to see him strutting around so proud with just one tail feather...

 This all began last week, I went up to the coop and it looked like a chicken had been slaughtered! I was so upset until I did a head count and realized everyone was accounted for. I then saw a chicken shake and a ton of feathers came off of her like confetti being thrown.

 Here are two of my girls, one in the moult and one not quite there yet. If you notice the chicken in the left hand corner she is almost naked!!! Oh my!

 Your next my pretty, you are next! This happens twice a year. They slow down their egg production and put all their energy into replacing their feathers for the cold months ahead. Once their feathers come back they resume laying. I really do thing it is a painful process, they just seem so miserable.

This is the floor of their run right now. You could make some serious things with all these feathers!

A spinning lesson learned...

 I have been absent a bit. Our daughter is getting married and there has been a lot going on! So I decided to unwind a bit today and sit down and spin some yarns people have requested and that's when it happened!

 That lazy kate on the Ashford Traveler is a wonderful thing but as I learned today has it's down fall. Not noticing until it was too late, the yarn from a spool had wrapped around the wheel bearing, really bad!

 What a dilemma I had! So off came what I was spinning and I had to hand unspin it off...

 A closer look of the mess I had made. As I was spinning the tension was getting harder and harder...

So from this day forward, each and every spool on the lazy kate will be taped down...from this day out!!!
So the wedding is this Saturday, we will be back to announce our Open House during the Columbus Day weekend, but until then, we are off to celebrate our only beautiful daughter's wedding!

A Bridal Shawl for a special bride!

 My first project on the triangle loom was making a bridal shawl for a very special bride. To say I was on a learning curve was an understatement but I managed to do okay. Included in the purchase of the loom was a tutorial DVD that was wonderful in learning this amazing way to weave with a continuous strand of weaving. There was a lot of freeze framing going on. I was under the gun because the mill was delayed in getting my fiber done which arrived with my order having been done all wrong. I am not happy with that mill right now or how they handled their error. So with just 10 days to get going I worked on this morning noon and night. It was fun and I am looking forward to working on the next one!

Handspun Alpaca

The beginning of the weaving process

A side view of the self warping

Under way!

Almost done, just a few more strands to go!

Adding the fringe...

All done!

A close up of the finished product

Off the loom and done!

New Triangle Loom!

 I have been so busy and behind on blog posts! Our daughter is getting married in just a month so there is a lot to do. I recently got a new toy!

 When it arrived it was over 7 feet tall! I was actually up on the hill tending the bees when I saw it arrive, being carried over the UPS guys shoulder.

I came down and quickly put it together and got to work getting ready to use it! If you look it makes our wood burning stove look small to the left. In the next post I will share what I made.

A Sea of Bee Balm!

 My favorite flower of summer is Bee Balm, hands down. It is so beautiful and blooms around the 4th and all throughout July. I planted a garden of it some years ago in our driveway and it has thrived.

When I was out taking these pictures I found a few species of bumblebees, this is a large one busy at work...

 and then I looked over and saw a very rare Hummingbird Moth hovering about drinking some nectar from the flowers! There were also honeybees, butterflies, hummingbirds and smaller bees partaking in the feast as well.

Such a beautiful perennial flower also known as Horse Mint, Monarda, Bergamont and  Oswega Mint . The Native Indians used it for a medicinal plant as well as teas. If you plant it, give it room to take over, it loves to spread out and share it's beauty!

How everyone is keeping cool in this heat!

 Here in Connecticut the temps have been in the 90's for days with high humidity. I walked around today and observed and helped some of our farm residents to stay cool. The bees "bearded" outside the hive...

 they even hung out under the telescoping cover to stay cool. If the bees are hot than it's hot!

 I caught the bees collecting water to help cool down the hives in this extra chicken water bowl. I have been filling it up diligently as they deplete it, which is just about daily...

 The chickens are panting and trying to stay cool. I caught these two wandering trying to find a place to get cool...

 and then I found these little ladies in the greenhouse making a mess throwing dirt on themselves to stay cool.

 The bees got a special treat today of sugar water and Honey-B-Healthy. I put these out around 1 p.m. and they were sucked down dry in 4 hours!

 The Alpacas enjoyed a spray down and enjoyed every moment of it! They kept coming back for more...

 and more and more! Even "Garth" our Suri who doesn't go for this stuff enjoyed the hose!

 The sheep, well bring on the hay and they completely forget about the heat!

 The fish in the pond are even a bit lethargic with water as warm as bath water. They just lay there floating, however we have witnessed a lot of breeding so the baby fish will be along soon.

 Even Honey Bunny got a bath and a day of beauty to cool down today. She actually enjoyed her bath sitting in the water and letting me clean her. Later she got brushed and trimmed so she can better deal with the heat.

 Autumn caught a nap from a hot day of helping with farm chores and watch duty...

but never fear Zoe was on the job while she slept staying cool. Stay cool everyone and enjoy the summer!