Snapshot before shearing

Snapshot was a bottle kid so it was easy to pick her first to shear out of the yearlings, since she is always under my feet. Blaze, her mother decided to stop eating about 5 days after her kids were born last spring, so her milk started drying up, I put her twins on bottles of goat milk from Tanner, after about a week Blaze started slowly eating and recovered. Sometimes having twins and triplets just takes too much out of the mother, even if she is fed well. Snapshot's fleece was a soft long lock about 6" long with an inch of blonde tip, but the other five inches are chocolate brown. Blaze has always been one of my favorite fleeces for spinning yarn for my shawls and now that she is getting older and retired, Snapshot can provide the mohair I need.

Afterwards

With all the hair coverage, I had forgotten Snapshot had a couple of white markings, just like her mother Blaze. I think Henna, Blazes mother, passed this trait on to every kid she had, and so has Blaze and her daughters. I was surprised to see Snapshot in such good condition considering the hot summer we had. It can be hard for growing kids and lambs to gain wait and grow in such heat, the yearlings have fared well.

Can't stop grinning

I think the sheep and goats are grinning, and I know I am, we love this weather, and no, I will never tire of it. Worked the afternoon in the gallery and came home to find a hen had hatched new chicks. She made it to the lambing-kidding barn and was just sitting there  on the ground. I cleaned out the chick waterer then made fresh chick starter of crumbled biscuits, egg yolk, egg shell, grits, corn meal, oat meal. Popped a pen up around them to keep the goats and dogs from stepping on them in the night. Hope the kittens don't try to catch them. This cool weather is making everyone hungry, the big hay stack is almost gone and the grain is going fast.

Everyone enjoyed the afternoon

The dogs and goats have stopped digging holes looking for a cool spot to lay in. You could actually see the sheep, goats and dogs out in the daytime enjoying the day. Wag loved sleeping in the sunshine. I managed to get in a few dye pots, skirt and a soak a fleece. Some of the leaves are turning yellow, the hickory and sweet gums, no orange or red yet, maybe the rain we had will bring them on.

Fallish day

Today was a perfect weather day, very fallish. Wanted to take some time off to enjoy it, but instead I enjoyed working in nice weather. It does make a difference when you work outside. Spent most of the day working on fences to keep the billies in. You could hold back a hurricane easier than a billy goat. No fence is ever strong enough. I've had bulls, rams and been around stallions, none of them are as strong as a billy goat. Hope they hold.

Sunday morning

Woke up at 4:30 Sunday morning, worried about Miracle. Miracle is a bottle raised doe that prefers to live with sheep because when she was a kid I turned her in with the ewes and lambs instead of the does and kids. She bonded with Midnight. Goats are mean to little ones that have no mother to protect them. So Miracle got along with the sheep and now thinks she is the boss sheep and likes to butt them, especially Midnight. Sheep don't always get in the barn when a storm comes, until it gets bad. Goats hate to get wet. I went out to find her, she wasn't standing at the gate and she wasn't in the sheep barn, after much searching and calling she came out from under a small stand of trees just before the bottom fell out. We made it to the hay barn and she spent the night there.

Shot of the gallery

Finally remembered to take a photo of part of my display at the art gallery. Sales are picking up, just small items like roving and dyed locks for spinners and felters. My other space needs replenished, so I am working on that tomorrow. I'll be taking my wheel and loom to the gallery next week to help bring in customers. Had a good time at the guild meeting today, the crowd was way off, but it is good to see two footed fiber friends at least once a month, and talk to something other than a sheep or goat. The bucks mostly get yelled at to get away from me and the does hardly ever speak to me, just want chin rubs. After unloading the fiber from my truck I hooked my trailer to the truck, went to the billy goat farm and loaded them up and brought them home. They need sheared, some need banded, and some need sold. I hope they don't tear the fences down before I get it all done.