Fall Back to Work

I have no idea where the summer went or why it is the middle of November. I returned to work at school and just have not thought about updating this blog. Now I am and find I have lots to write about.

School I don't have as many students as I would like, but the economy has a lot to do with it. I do have great kids and love to go to work. Most of my students are international students; I have been called the Asian Academy equivalent.

Sheep Rose, Violet and Cowboy are doing well. Violet came back from the mill with a little goat mixed in and she is lovely. I have spun around 12oz of her, 2 ply Aran weight, for a Liesl sweater. It is a bit stiffer than I would like, but I think it will work for this pattern. I was hoping for the NG Anhinga, but I don't think there is enough drape. Cowboy and Rose fleece will be going to the mill soon. I have decided to mix Cowboy with a pound of soysilk. OK, I like soysilk and I can spin it. I know this because a bunch of people gave me theirs because they hate it.

Knitting I finished a Baby Suprise Jacket, handspun Dove socks, a felted bowl (Cat Bordhi) and a Snapping Turtle Skirt (NG). One blue, one red and two white ribbons. I was a bit dissapointed, but the judges chose some odd pieces for the winners. Acrylic, unblocked socks; a sweater with rippled ribbing for best in show. Oh well, it was an interesting experience.

Next time I'll tell you about the story of what is in the jar.

The Livin' is Easy

Summer has arrived with a completely different schedule - namely none. I have trouble adjusting after the screaming stress of preparing 17 kids for finals. Now I have the problem of scheduling what needs to be done and what HAS to be done each day.

Gym is a must.

Water aerobics, strength training, yoga, and Zumba. They keep me sane and keep the endorphins going. Just had another birthday, not the big one until next year, so I treated myself to the adorable above Schacht Ladybug spinning. wheel. Hurray!

On my birthday, I visited with Kim and Jane Caulfield of Far Out Farm (it really is). I spent the good part of the day visiting with them and their flock. I'm hoping to get a couple of Cotswold lambs later this year to start crossing with the Suffolk (I'll call them Coughs). I learned a boatload of information on sheep, fleece, and spinning. It was a wonderful day and I thank them most gratefully for it.

My spinning attempts have been off and on. I took a lesson at Haus of Yarn in Nashville last Thursday and did quite well. I brought the wheel home and stunk. Then I visited a friend who spins and got a tip. Came home and have done some respectable spinning. The picture is my first so-callled skein of -so-called yarn. I may have to felt it to allow it to be shown in public, but I can only get better. Violet's fleece is off to the mill for processing, and this week I'm going to see about scouring and carding some of Cowboy for myself - the sheep to shawl thing.

The garden is looking good, and I hope we do have some rain today so that I don't have to water. It has been quite warm, but nothing is drooping. Weeding is always there - that's why it is not often on my list for each day.

I finshed an alpaca shawl for Lois for her 80th birthday. It will be blessed at church. I'm also making her a lemon cake, her favorite. I finished the Brea Bag by Norah Gaughan. Check my Ravelry pages for pictures of the bag. Now on to two scarves for presents in July, another NG skirt or two, Flower Child sweater, and socks for everyone for Christmas.

Maybe even Cowboy socks.

Spring Deluges

It is raining and raining. I empty the little yellow rain gauge every other day and it measures five inches. The roads and low fields look like lakes. There was a bit of sun yesterday, but today I spent some knitting time sitting in the hall at school because we were in a tornado watch. The whole school sits in the middle hallway and chats while teachers wait for the all clear on the cell phones. I am working on Kat Coyle's Indigo Ripples skirt, a good pick for aging hippies. I finished my hemp skirt and because it wouldn't dry, I put it in the Southern dehydrator - the van. It dried nicely. I will wear it tomorrow to school and be very, very cool. Pictures will be up on Ravelry soon.

I am also working on the Flower Child sweater by Norah Gaughan. I'm using Ella Rae bamboo yarn in a beautiful robin's egg blue. You learn one thing through many of her designs - how to make a beautiful and even seam. You get lots of practice.

I've also started on the Lily of the Valley scarf - not mine anymore but a gift for friends that I'm visiting in July and I need to make her husband, the priest, a scarf in black or variegated greys for him. I'm not too worried as I still have lots of time. Sure, lots of time.

The new fence is beautiful and the sheep are gradually going out into the new pasture and grazing. This morning with the rain they were lying down in the barn and looking wistfully out at the pasture, but they do not like to get wet. The stray barn cat, always the opportunist, was right in the middle of them and staying very warm. They seem to really like the cat. He twirls around their legs and they gently nibble at him.

Sheep Sermon 2005

We have little or no experience to truly understand the agrarian metaphors that abound in the Bible. Our lives are disconnected from the land, from nature, from the natural rhythm of the seasons. The gospel reading for today speaks about sheep and details some sheep behavior. Most of us don’t know much about sheep, other than the lovely pastoral pictures we see of sheep grazing in a field, or perhaps the religious pictures of Jesus with a lamb in his arms. Our bishops carry shepherd’s crooks – of course not the kind that are useful like this one. Metaphors and symbols of sheep and lambs and shepherds abound in Christianity and in the Bible. Psalm 23 that we said earlier is the most well-known psalm in the Bible. Why? What is it about sheep? Sheep can exist on poor pasture, and eat what larger animals will not. Sheep were probably a common site in the dry scrubby hills. But the image you have in your mind of a peaceful flock grazing on green pastures is far from reality.
But what do you really know about sheep? I have listened to many sermons on this Sunday and many of them are about sheep. But I am a shepherd. A part-time shepherd, but a shepherd. I know about sheep, and I would like to set the record straight on a few things.
Sheep are dumb. They die from panic and run into fenceposts and break their necks. Stray dogs or coyotes don’t have to touch them to kill them. If the herd panics, they run in any direction, even over a cliff. Rams will breed until they are exhausted and die – really. Sheep will find any way to get through a fence and get something they think is better on the other side. They have special dietary needs, and can die if they aren’t taken care of properly. Sheep have been bred for thousands of years for their meat, milk and wool. Not for brains or self-preservation. When the gospel reading speaks about being called through a gate, I cringe. Sheep will maim themselves trying to go through a small opening for something they want. Lambs get trampled that way. Sides get ripped up on wood, and legs get broken. This is true even of a small flock.
Sheep are directionless. Even if there is a lead ewe or bellweather, they may wander away from the flock and then not find their way back. Even older ewes do this, and lambs are the most vulnerable. One of the most startling parables for me is that of the lost sheep from the gospel of Luke. No earthly shepherd would leave the flock and search for the lost one. Although Jesus was speaking to tax collectors and Pharisees, they would still be startled at this story. Losses are a part of nature. It makes no human sense to leave those that can be kept safe to search for another that may be already gone.
Sheep are defenseless. As I said, natural selection doesn’t play a part in domesticated species, so any inclination to protect themselves or their young is largely lost. Sheep will challenge dogs that they feel can’t enforce the rules – but this is sheer stupidity. Dogs have the teeth to back up their orders, yet sheep (remember I said stupid) do so occasionally to see if the dog is paying attention.
Sheep do come when called – especially for dinner. In Biblical times several flocks would be put up in a corral for the night and called to separate them in the morning. My sheep know my voice, or actually my van as I drive through the field. They walk alongside the van up to the barn and wait sort of patiently as I prepare a meal for them. I use a dog to keep order and make sure that they don’t hurt themselves as they walk through the gate to get their meal.
Thy rod and thy staff they comfort me. Why? The rod is more of a club with spikes in it to protect against wolves. It has evolved into the scepter of kings. The staff is the crook, which is used to move and catch sheep and direct them where they need to go. Sometimes you have to get physical with sheep to get them where they need to be, and the crook comes in handy.
Many countries have legends about kings whose early careers were as shepherds. The youngest son was generally sent out to tend the flocks, as he was too young to help with heavier work. It is a lonely job, and gives you plenty of time to think. You suffer along with the sheep in all weather, you stay up all night listening for predators, you lead the sheep to different pastures according to the seasons. In the spring when you return home, you hope you will have many more sheep than you left with. The Bible has several stories of shepherds. My favorite one is Jacob, who had a great knowledge of genetics. He knew how to breed spotted sheep to enlarge his herd. David was a shepherd before he became king. God told the shepherds in the hills about the birth of Jesus. Isn’t it interesting that they were one of only two groups who were told of the birth? Perhaps because the Shepherd of Humanity had just been born.
All of this sheep discussion brings us to the realization that we are just like sheep. We often rush around with no direction, stick our sheep noses where they have no reason to be. We wander off the path, and lose our way. We have so much pride that we think we can handle anything, yet so many times we find our selves defenseless. We follow leaders blindly, not knowing where they are leading us – we just feel better following someone who seems to know where they are going. We need a Shepherd. We need to recognize his voice, and follow Him. We need his rod to protect us from predators, and his staff to keep us on the right path. Sheep do know their shepherd and follow him, just as we do.

Spring has come to the farm, and life is returning to everything. I go out with the dogs to see the gardens, and something old or something new is emerging from the soil. We have had a cool and rainy spring, good for ticks (ugh) and lots of lettuce to share with the new bunnies. I love to go to the barn without a flashlight to feed in the mornings. What a treat.

Easter was a bit exciting with the tornadoes. I had to rehearse the men's choir without the organ because there was no power. Flashlights again for the musicians. When I got to church Easter morning, all the presets on the organ were gone - bad news. But the service went off fairly smoothly and everyone was joyous.

I finished the Vogue shrug (Ravelry picture) and a market bag for Linda, our priest. Ellis, the vest by Nora Gaughan, is well on its way. The hemp skirt is not as far along as I would like because I only work on it at school. I also started as practice the Lily of the Valley scarf from the Estonian Lace book by Nancy Bush. Lilies of the Valley are my favorite flower, and the ones I transported to the farm from my home made it through the dry, dusty summer and cold winter and are almost ready to bloom with the ones I just planted.

Work as a tutor always picks up during the last term. I now am teaching Geometry to a student so that he can pass a final exam. That's an extra 4 -6 hours a week.

The sheep fence should be started soon. Then I can decide how many and what kind of sheep I will get to augment the flock for working dogs. Mine will be sheared at the end of May with another flock close by, since I have only three - Cowboy, Violet, and Rose. Soon they and some new friends will have almost 5 acres of pasture and I will have good options in spaces to train again. I so miss it.

Enjoy the wonderful spring and make the most of your time on earth.

Bell Curve Skirt

I finished the Bell Curve skirt. It is gorgeous. I'm also almost (one sleeve short) of finishing the Vogue shrug. Life is good.

We had great thunderstorms this morning, and I had strange vivid dreams. No, the content will not be discussed. The dogs are muddy and track everything into the house. I will hear about it tonight, I'm sure, but we all had fun stomping in mud puddles before I left for the gym.

I started Ellis by Norah Gaughan yesterday, and the Berrocco Suede is an interesting ribbon type yarn. I got some on sale in a terra-cotta coral color. I think I like it. More Zoe is coming in purple for another Bell Curve skirt, and I think I'm set for the summer for projects.

BH is reneging on the sheep fence - too expensive and he doesn't want to take the time. He did promise, and it was the one big item I insisted on before marrying him. He has no idea what he is in for. I need sheep to work, and to have students, and to work my own dogs. That is the reason I agreed to the family farm purchase. Everything else about the quality of my life has degenerated for the sheep.

The sun has come out now, and it is a warm lovely spring day. I enjoy seeing my kids after spring break, and they are now preparing for the end - graduation. I will miss them, but there is always another batch coming along that needs tutoring and mothering. But this group was special. They were at the wedding.

Spring Break and New Beginnings

I have been having a blast on break. Most of the usual chores are done, and it is spring (well, it is supposed to snow again) and I'm on the way to more sheep! The UT extension guy, Brian, is coming on Friday to help me out with shearing and such and discuss his new sheep project in Coffee County. Tomorrow I'm going to teach two women what I know about dyeing (not terribly much, but I've done it and they haven't). Theater tickets, a haircut, and a trip to the big nursery are also all in the cards very soon.

I attended the SnB in town last night and had fun. I normally can't go as it is 45 minutes from me, but breaks and summer I plan on going. I even got some work done. My Bell Curve skirt is almost finished, I started Kat Coyle's Linen Trumpet Skirt in hemp, and I just need the sleeves on the Vogue Shrug. I do feel I'm making progress.

I went to the Alpaca show in Shelbyville on Sunday. What interesting animals. I had not seen one up close. Of course I bought some great yarn - laceweight for the Estonian lily of the valley scarf and some heavier for whatever. You know, whatever because it is alpaca.

The sheep are craving pasture. My husband has had a year to put it up and it may happen soon. He becomes pissed if I ask him about it, so I have to keep quiet. I do see numbers on a piece of paper and I saw him measuring, so it may happen soon. I just hope it's about five acres or so for a dozen sheep to have fun in.

Happy spring.

PS The puppy needs a home. She showed up about a month ago in full heat. She is now spayed, shot, loves cats, small children, and needs to be an inside dog. Runs with my pack like a veteran. She's probably 9 months old and a beagle/lab mix. No name so I don't keep her.