No water, again!

Water stopped running last Sunday evening. I shut the valve off in the house and thanks to a huge storage tank in the basement, the house still has some water trickling from the faucets--enough to make coffee in the morning.

The sheep, however, have been scrounging for water. We had a bit of rain one evening and I collected water running off the roofs of the shed and the house for them.  Friday, the last of that water was given to the ewes with lambs in the barn leaving the sheep outside of the barn without water. Feeling very sorry for them, I opened up the pen and let them out into the pasture after dark last night. They ran directly to the swamp and drank for about 10 minutes. Thankfully, Kit and I had very little difficulty running them into the pen again and locking them up.

This morning, after 8, help came in the form of a green truck with three 50 gallon barrels of water--Dad, of course.  We watered all the sheep and they drank their fill. Even have some water left over that will hopefully last a few days.

The water arrives

It's been a year and a half battling unreliable water at the farm. We've been without water at least six times--in November, it was a month without water (luckily lots of rain kept the sheep watered). Now, its been a week with no water.

I met with a well driller today who provided an estimate for a new well. We talked about where to put the well, when he could start and how soon I would have water. He plans to start drilling this week and assures me that the water will be flowing by the end of the week--if all goes well.

Great Weather for Shearing but Doesn't Bode Well for Lambing

Warm and sunny this morning. Unseasonably warm. Up in the 50s today. Great weather to shear the sheep in. Today, 35 sheep were shorn at the farm which included three visitors to be shorn.

Unfortunately, I'm worried about lambing in this warm weather. The sheared ewes won't feel inclined to come into the barn to lamb. Could have quite a few cold lambs if I don't keep a close watch on things.

Just a few fleeces that need to be skirted:

It's a good day to dye

The current outside temp is about 1F with a windchill of -11F. This seems like a very good reason to stay in the house and dye. The kitchen will warm up nicely (and get messier), and some much needed moisture will be added to the house air.

And, its time to start thinking about what to card come spring.  Planning on lots of colors and blends and many dyed karakul rovings to be ready in time for Shepherds Harvest Sheep and Wool Festival.

Although its Sunday, my usual day to put out enough hay for the week, I'll put that off 'til tomorrow when the prognosticators are predicting a heat wave temp of 20F. But don't worry, I'll throw out a few bales later today to tide the wenches over 'til then.

Oh, where, oh, where could those darn sheep be?

Foolishly, I opened the barn this morning and did not walk the sheep to the paddock and lock them in. They had been behaving for the last week and with a few lambs on the ground, I thought they would stay home. They have plenty of hay and I threw a nice green bale in the barn for them to munch on. But, alack, alas, when I went out later, they were no were to be spotted. Just one lonely llama, uselessly guarding the hay feeder.

I had my suspicions.....

I looked out into the pasture toward the ridge: No sheep.

I walked to the top of the ridge and peered down into the swamp: No sheep.

I descended the ridge into the swamp: No sheep.

I crossed over the fence into the neighbor's swamp and looked to the ridge again: No sheep.

I ascended the ridge and looked to the west: Finally sheep appearing as little dots in the distance.

"Sheep," I called. And again, "Sheep." A few heads perked up and a few "baahs" responded.

"Sheep. Sheep. Sheep," I called a few more times. They started toward my voice. That is not my homestead but those are definitely my errant sheep.

"Come on, Ladies," I told them, "Its time to go home. 

Leading the way, I descended the ridge into the swamp with a line of sheep trailing behind.

Through the swamp and through the fence (I really wish someone--me--would repair the fence) and up the ridge. 

Finally, home is spotted and with some baahing, the sheep run past me. 

Home again; home again; lickety split. And locked in the paddock until later when they will be locked in the barn overnight. 

I do not know what fascination my sheep have with the neighboring homestead, but this is the third time in a month or so that I have had to go fetch them home.  Yes, I feed my sheep. The neighbors do not feed my sheep. Guess its jail for them until we get a few feet of snow to curb their wandering spirits. 

Finally, Spring Thaw

After a long, snow-filled, and bone-chillingly cold winter, spring appears to be here.  Twenty-seven lambs are on the ground and running races across the ridge in the pasture.

Yesterday, I dusted off the carder after and awoke it from its winter hibernation.  With a little oil and a bit of persuasion, the card ran beautifully.  We, the card and I, processed about 70 pounds of dyed, luxury blend rovings--wool blended with silk, soysilk, bamboo, and/or nylon.  And a dash of angelina in a few.

Here are a few videos:

Red wool blended with bamboo

Pink wool blended with soysilk, angelina and nylon

The pink blend turning into roving

Purple wool blended with bamboo

The end product after winding into 4 ounce balls

Seemed Like a Typical Day; but not quite

Today seemed to start out like a typical day working on the mill.

Dad arrived a bit earlier than usual--7 a.m. instead of 8 and set to work on the picker. He seems obsessed with the picker. Today was the day to move the picker to its permanent spot and set it down off its skids. Which we did with very little fanfare and little difficulty and not too much arguing.

After being set down, we had a visit from Jessie, my 16 year old komondor. Normally, Jessie spends 23 1/2 hours sleeping in the house--a side effect of the pain medication she is on for bone cancer (in her back leg). But, today, she came outside and ventured into the shed to pay us a visit.

Jessie, resting under the picker while Dad works under the other side

The other dogs have their favorite resting spots, too, when they are in the shed keeping us company.

Kit, the border collie, likes to hang out under the doffer

Newton, the puli, likes to be within touching distance of wherever I am

The dogs are all banished to either the house or the kennel before any of the machinery is started up. I would hate to card a dog!

While Dad picked away at the picker, I picked away at some saffron colored wool/silk/nylon blend in hopes of someday carding it. 

Saffron colored wool/silk/nylon going through the little picker

Noon came and Dad decided it was time to go home and work on the mounts for the anti static bar for the carder (yippee!). He would return in the afternoon. While he was gone, I finished picking the wool, continued dyeing wool, washing wool and then unrolled the apron for the picker and applied some belt dressing to the leather. When I was finishing that up, Dad returned with the mounts for the anti static bar. 

He mounted the bar, connected it to the power source while I spliced together a belt for the doffer comb--the two final things that remained to be done before we could actually card wool. 

And, then we carded. And we attempted to feed the wool through the orifice to draft into roving. Ugh! I was highly unsuccessful. Not quite, as I tell my students, frequently. I was greatly disheartened. What if I can't make roving!

Well, a break was in order. While I made brauts, Dad adjusted the doffer comb. 

After we ate, we tried again. 

The video and pictures below tell all.....

Dad pulling the roving as fast as he can

Trying to keep up

The garden cart full of roving

A closer view of the roving

Busy, Busy, Busy

Gosh we've been busy and August is flying by. I can't believe its been a year since I bought the mill.

Hidden Valley Woolen Mill

On August First, we flew to Wisconsin to visit Carol and Paul Wagner at Hidden Valley Woolen Mill. We toured their mill, watched Carol make a 15 pound quilt batt! Observed one of their carders in action. Picked their brains. Looked over the machinery. Saw their beautiful farm and sheep. And had a fabulous lunch.

What 15 lbs of wool looks like on the roller

Gently removing the batt from the roller

Rolling the 15 lb batt

And then stuffing it into a 55 gallon bag

One thing we really wanted to see was their picker.  Our picker is now in pieces and parts and missing some parts and we needed some ideas on how to get it back together and working. Unfortunately, the Wagner's have a completely different brand, make, model and type of picker from ours. But we did get a good look at it.

We came back from Carol's and Paul's with full stomachs and lots of ideas and suggestions. Thanks to Paul and Carol for a great day and for being such kind and generous people. I highly recommend Hidden Valley Woolen Mill--they do beautiful work and I've had my fibers processed there for many, many years.



Pieces and Parts of the Picker

The picker is picked apart.

In July, Dad picked it apart and started painting it while I picked wool on the little picker (the working model).

The Picker and Blower before being picked apart

First the blower got the beauty treatment.

The blower before treatment

Powerwashing the blower

A little bit cleaner after the washing

Two coats of tractor/implement paint later (not John Deere green, btw)

Then its the picker's turn to be picked apart and given the beauty treatment.

Partially picked apart and before the bath and paint job

Two coats of paint later

In between coats of paint, while I was diligently picking wool on the Meck picker, Dad would pick out the wool from between the slats on the picker apron. All in all, he spent about three days working on that. 

Pick, pick, pick

And, pick, and, pick, and pick

 While he picked and painted and puttered about, I picked wool on the John Meck picker.

The John Meck Picker (working model)

I picked and picked white wool

I picked and picked natural colored wool

I got bored and started picking colored wools

All in all, I think I've picked about 150 pounds of wool and I now have picker's elbow in my right arm. I pieked so much, so long, and so hard, that I broke the bolt holding the handle on the picker Saturday morning. I had to make an emergency trip to the hardware store to buy bolts. 

First Official Visitors to the Mill

On Saturday, August 3, we had our first official visitors in for a tour of the mill.

Alice and Gordon Stone of Texas, formerly of Braham and Cambridge, MN, came for a visit. Gordon is my Grandmother's cousin (Dad's Mom). They attend Braham Pie Day every year and made a special stop at the farm to see the mill. It was a great pleasure to have them both here. We visited; showed them the mill; ran the carder; and greatly enjoyed them. Hope you both will come again next year!

Minnesota Valley Woolen Mill

This past week, on August 14, we flew down to Austin, MN to visit with Tom Yates of Minnesota Valley Woolen Mill. Tom gave us a tour of his mill. We spent a lot of time with Tom talking about mills, gathering information, hints, and suggestions. We looked closely at his picker in action (again, very different from our picker). We were also able to see his carder in action. Tom has a newer carder that he was using. I believe it was built by Carolina Specialty. He also has an older, 1800, carder that he was working on.  We saw Tom's retail shop full of fibers, knitted and woven goods and beautiful yarns. We also saw his wool scouring facilities in town and got a tour of the town. Tom was a great source of advice, hints and suggestions and I will definitely be asking his advice again. 

Minnesota Valley Woolen Mill also does a lovely job of processing fiber. I can highly recommend them. And, he has a pin drafter!

Faribault Woolen Mills

I thought Faribault would be close enough to drive to, but no, we flew down there on August 15 to tour the woolen mill. It was a very interesting tour and I highly recommend it to anyone interested in the process of making wool into roving into yarn into woven goods. And dyeing, too. It was fascinating to me. Their woven blankets and scarves and finished goods are just beautiful. 

After the tour, we walked downtown and had lunch at the "Cheese Cave." Great cheeses from the Faribault caves. 

Then we flew home in time to work a bit on the mill (well, I picked wool and Dad did some work).

Are We Ever Going To Card?

YES! And SOON!

We are so close to carding. We just need to mount an anti-static bar and power it up, make a belt to drive the doffer comb, put the chain on the drafter, power up and get going. I am hoping this week will be the week that we actually see some wool come off the carder.