Felting Books for Sale

I have a couple of great books for sale - "Magic Wool" by Sagmar Schmidt & Freya Jaffke and "More Magic Wool" by Angelika Wolk-Gerche.   I've seen them on amazon for more than what I'm asking, which is $5 CAD + shipping.  Leave a comment if you're interested! Thanks!

First Peek at New Lambs!

Oh, we've had some excitement around here lately.  By my calculations, our first possible lambs could arrive around March 9th.  So as I am heading out to the barn on the morning of the 9th, I remind daughter that lambs could be making an appearance very soon.

Lo and Behold!

Unbeknownst to us, Sunshine had lambed over night, giving life to 2 sweet little things, 1 ram lamb and 1 ewe lamb, right in the middle of her herd sisters!  She had them all cleaned off and nursing and seemed like an old-hand at all this mama business, even though it was her very first experience.

We closed her up in the barn for the first 3 days, like the "books" all say to do (I have to follow the books, as this is MY first experience as well!), but by the morning of the 4th day, she was demanding to be let out into the yard for some fresh air and exercise.

She is doing just fine, as are her babies, and I will post more photos soon.

Jagger's Legacy

You remember Jagger?  He was my big, black, LOUD Ameraucana rooster.  Well.  I traded him in.  He was the brother to ALL my Ameraucana hens and so in-breeding was unavoidable if I wanted more chicks.  I did that a bit, last year.  This year, I decided I wanted some new blood, and my new friend at Tangible Farm needed a rooster.  I wanted some of her Buff Orpington/Lavender Orpington eggs.  So we swapped.

The Buff/Lavender X chicks hatched the other day, and MAN are they CUTE!  Apparently they are what's called "Isobel" in color, but we'll see what that looks like when they feather out in a few weeks.

We hatched out a couple more Buff Orpingtons with them.  They are totally unrelated, so perhaps we can breed a buff to a buff/lavender in the future.

Right now, we're just enjoying the cuteness!

Mail-Order Eggs

I got my birthday present early this year!  This arrived in the mail for me today:

This is absolutely a new venture for me, order eggs in the mail.  But, the small, family-run hatchery Briarwood Poultry on Vancouver Island comes highly recommended, and specializes in the 2 breeds I want to add to my flock: Marans and Ameraucanas.  I already have 5 ameraucana hens and HAD one rooster, my dear Jagger, but I traded Jagger for some other hatching eggs (more on this later), as he was the brother to my hens and I didn't want to inbreed my birds more than they (probably) already had been.  So.  Briarwood has beautiful Wheaton and Blue Wheaton Ameraucanas which I think will pair beautifully with my blue hens.

The Marans?  Well, they seem a little hard to get, and lay a gorgeous dark brown egg, as you can see by the photo:  

My thinking is two-fold.  Maybe I breed these Marans next year and make a little extra cash from the eggs or chicks.  And, I want a rainbow of eggs to sell:

Just because I think they are pretty and if I have enough of them, I'll do the farmer's market once in a while and have a little fun.

Hello March!

Well... Can I say it?  Spring has Sprung!

And with it, my dear sweet ewe's ever-widening bellies!

It's only the very beginning of March, but it truly felt like the end of April today.  We were outside all afternoon, digging in the garden, frolicking with chickens, and checking out the state of the very pregnant sheep.

Here's Sunny, who's not as far along as Dulcie...

And for those who haven't seen a pregnant sheep close up, and for my own records as I am totally new to this realm of sheep-keeping, here is Dulcie:

Dulcie from the front...

... and from the back.

 I am hoping that this time next year, I can look back on theses photos, and go, 'Oh, right, so they have x more days/weeks to go when they look like this."  Dulcie's and Moo's (they are sisters) udders are getting quite full and they have a waddle happening as they stroll across the yard.  They are moving none too fast these days.  We're all having a guess as who's carrying what.

For the record, we think that Dulcie and Moo, both quite wide, will birth first and have twins.  They themselves are from triplets.  Sunny and Stella will be a little later, a couple of weeks maybe, and birth singles.  This is what we're thinking anyway.

A Buff Update:
It was SO warm out today, 13C this afternoon, and plenty warmer in the (new!) greenhouse where these little ones were having a party!

Oh, the things to discover when you're new to the world outside!

And, in the garden, I couldn't believe my eyes when I saw that I hadn't killed the rhubarb, and it's coming up!

And the garlic too!! Wow, must be spring!

Observations from a Home Schooling Mama

So, we're 3/4 of the way into our first homeschooling year, and by all accounts, I think it's going well, though I really have no "measure", other than how my children are feeling & acting and how I am feeling & acting.

I can tell you, I feel much freer, not being tied to the public school schedule, and I am pretty sure my daughter feels the same way.  She has been able to try so many new things this year, partly because our "school", Self Design, gives her a learning investment (read: loaded Visa card of a set amount) on which to spend on educational pursuits; and partly because she is not tied to being in school and "busy" for 30 hours a week, which frees up lots of time she wouldn't have had otherwise.  For example, last year, when she attended public school, we usually opted to stay home on the weekends and any other time she didn't have dance or soccer, which were the 2 extra-curriculars that she was involved in.  Instead, this year, we have done several field trips (museums, guided nature walks, art galleries, the local science center, a bee farm, and several out-of-town play dates with like-minded families); she has dabbled in Kung Fu and gymnastics; and volunteered to be a patient for medical students!  She reads at least a novel a week because she wants to and is raising a batch of Buff Orpington chicks all on her own (she bought the eggs to incubate with her own money).  We do insist that she does some math and English several times a week, to keep her mind learning and current with the BC Grade 4 curriculum , though we do this via several different tools.  Math might consist of workbook exercises, puzzles, or books like the "Life of Fred"; English could also be a workbook, but also includes things like mapping out her plans for the chicks or writing to friends.

Now, in contrast, my boy has never been to school.  Not even preschool.  I wasn't working so I didn't see any point in sending him off when I could hang out with him.  How he learns is SO different from his sister.  He will pick up a workbook or puzzle book at any time of the day (but enjoys bedtime best) and practice his letters (he's just turned 6 so would be in Kindergarten this year), does word searches or sudoku puzzles - because it's fun.  He is totally fine with deconstructing something shortly after he's built it, which tells me he's enjoying the process and not just the end result.  His sister, by contrast, is almost completely focused on the end result and needs to keep the thing around for a while.  She can get down-right irate if someone wants to use some pieces from her lego building to make a new thing, even if it's been around for a few days.

This could just be personality style or something more.  The boy was allowed to finish his projects as he was home in his youngest years.  The girl, well, she was in preschool, Kindergarten, and public school to grade 3 where the children are told when they are done, so then don't get to gauge that for themselves.

Hmmm.

Interesting.

Something I'll keep watching, for sure.

Fresh Knits, Fresh Eggs

Ok, this time I'm absolutely and shamelessly coping Soule Mama's picture of a couple of weeks ago.  It was just So Cool, I couldn't help myself.

My first knits are fingerless gloves, much like hers, only for me.  My first knit from wool that I washed, carded and spun myself.  Only difference is it's not from my sheep.  I don't have woolies yet.  But I did buy the fleece straight from the shepherdess, so pretty close.  Hers were for the guy who does most of the farm chores, and is out in the elements several times over the course of the day.  Well, over here, that's Me.  And the eggs?  Well, the blue is an ameraucana, the green is from Banana, an Easter Egger, and the brown, one of our faithful cross-breed layers.

Two of my favorite things, in one picture.