Archive for the ‘Fleeces & Wool’ Category

Good and Bad

Tuesday, May 17th, 2011

To paraphrase from the famous line, yesterday was the best of times and the worst of times. We have gradually and finally emerged from the snow and cold. It has been warm enough to get the pastures growing, albeit slowly. The sheep seemingly can sense that it is time for them to be out on pasture and grazing. It has taken a while for me to get the pastures ready in terms of the fencing and watering systems. A couple of days ago I thought that the water lines were all set. I pressurized the entire line which runs, in total, at least a half a mile. Then I checked each connection for leaks and loose fittings from front to back pastures. Along the way I bled the air out of the lines and flushed any accumulated gunk. Pleased with the seeming lack of problems, I returned to the prime connection in the barn, only to find, to my chagrin, that the main line had sprung a leak and was trying to flood the barn. The leak was due to freezing of a section which did not get properly drained last winter. It took another day to replace the guilty section of pipe. The next day I got the electric fence tested, at least without the problems akin to the waterline. Yesterday was thus set for grazing.

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After making sure that the flock all had a good breakfast of solid dry hay, we were set. (One has to be careful switching from a dry hay diet to a lush green wet one. The major danger can be bloating and changing the balance of good bacteria in the rumen.) For the first day, only the ewes with lambs and their lambs got to go out. It is always difficult to get the lambs to venture out the barn door for the first time. The moms are willing and eager. Unfortunately they cannot take their children and calmly lead them by the hand where they have never been before. For the most part that duty falls upon the two of us. The vast majority of the lambs on the first day have to be caught and carried over the threshold. Once outside everything is “just fine” except for an extra bit of baahing needed to reconnect with mom. After a few hours on pasture, which included lessons on the forces behind electric fences, the lambs were seasoned pros. By late afternoon they were grazing green grass just like the adult ewes. We will repeat the routing the next day, with (hopefully) less shepherding and more voluntary lamb exits from the barn. The following day the “retired” ewes will get to rejoin them; the next day the same will apply to the yearling ewes. Then all of the ewes will be back together for the first time since January. It will be a happy time for all…almost.

Wendolyn with her lambs, Ashley & Ainsley

Wendolyn with her lambs, Ashley & Ainsley

In the midst of the preparations for grazing we were faced with a sick ram lamb, Abdul. He is Serena’s single lamb who had become quiet friendly very early on. He was growing extremely well. A week ago he acted depressed and began to swell up in an unusual fashion. Our vets were called in and were as puzzled by his condition as we were. We tried a couple of treatments and after a few days he seemed to improve. The swelling went down but he then stopped eating. He died quietly overnight, before everyone was to go onto pasture. Serena was lying with him the next morning. The bond between a ewe and her lamb can be very strong. Such was the case with Serena and Abdul. Serena was upset that morning, but she exited the barn with the rest of the ewes and lambs. Once on pasture she continued to look and call for Abdul.

As I usually do, once we have all the lambs out for the first time, I sit down in the grass in the middle of the pasture just to watch the ewes and lambs. Usually the friendlier ewes will stop by for a brief visit, as will the curious lambs befuddled by a crazy shepherd sitting on his butt in the middle of the pasture. Finally, Serena came over to me and stopped calling for Abdul. We spent a long time together, sharing quiet hugs. I have felt it before, but I still am amazed by the compassion and love these creatures can feel for each other. I am even more moved how in times such as these they can share their grief with us. My heart is with you Serena on this sunny, green day which should have been so happy for you.

***

This coming weekend (May 21st and 22nd) is the Door County Shepherds’ Market. We hope that lots of folks take advantage of the experience, especially if they are interested in things that are fiber related. There will be lots to purchase from a number of Door County fiber producers: everything from raw fibers to yarn to finished products. Gretchen spent the better part of two weeks with a couple of friends dying lots of our yarn with natural dyes, all in preparation for the Market. As time allows I will spend time with another blog detailing the project. But just to tempt you, here are a series of images of some of the yarn just after it came out of the dye bath.

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These are reds, using Cochineal on both white and gray yarns. Next up are, among other colors, oranges and blues, using indigo and Cochineal as an overdye.

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Pussa, had to inspect each separate batch of yarn as it was hung out to dry. Here she is passing approval on a batch of greens, the result of overdying indigo on onion skins, tesu and chamomile

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The sheep could care less about dying. Toodles is just pleased to be outside and grazing. We will leave her editorial comment up to reader speculation.

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All the Lambs are here

Monday, April 11th, 2011

With the arrival of Winkie’s ewe lamb, Aimee, on April 4th, lambing was officially completed at the farm. From start to finish lambing covered 28 days. That is the tightest lambing schedule we have had in almost our entire history. It now seems like a short time, but for a while it seemed much longer. As shepherds, the two of us are perhaps showing our age just a bit!

In total 89 lambs were born this year. Unfortunately two were born dead and two died shortly after birth. The remaining 85 are doing just fine! The vast majority are now sampling solid food and the older lambs are enthusiastically eating hay with the adults. It is perhaps a misnomer to say that they are “eating hay with the adults”. Like just about every year, we soon develop “lamb feeders” and “adult feeders”. The Moms tend to avoid the feeders if they are populated by too many lambs. This photo is typical. Moms are at one feeder, the lambs at and in the the next feeder.

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The lambs that are eating hay now have functioning rumens. Of course that means that, like their adult counterparts, the lambs are periodically regurgitating their food for further mastication. However, unlike the adults, the lambs are often totally surprised by their burps, which are high pitched and a little “squeaky”. Below is Ainsley, who is one of Wendolyns twin ewe lambs (the other is Ashley). She is in the thick of things when it comes to eating and also looking cute. (I am not sure if I have heard her burp; when she does I am sure it is more sophisticated than some of the boys.)

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Since lambing is over we have been able to turn some of our attention to the final preparations for selling this year’s fleeces. Our previous customers from the last couple years should have already received notice, along with those who have requested to be on our mailing list. The list of 2011 fleeces will be posted to our website on our fleece page on Wednesday, April 13th at 10:00 AM CDT. For those who are new to our sale, you will find that when the new pages are posted on Wednesday that many of the fleeces are already shown as “sold”. This is because we offer last year’s customers the opportunity to reserve the same fleece(s) that they purchased the previous year. Like last year, many of you have taken advantage of that perk. Regardless of the advanced sales we will still have a large selection of nice fleeces available.

Since this is the lambing season it seems that we never can get enough time to enjoy all the lambs. So to close out this edition of Ewe Turn, here are some more lambs. Toodles has quite a pair of boys, Anders and Axel.

Hilsener fra Anders og Axel

Mange hilsener fra Anders og Axel

New Doo’s

Monday, February 28th, 2011

The rest of the girls and I have just been hanging out for quite a long time now. I figured that I better let the rest of the world know that we are just fine. Actually, I was planning on posting something about us sooner, but things got in the way.

First, the old shepherd guy got in the way. He had to let everyone know what a great pooper scooper he thought that he and his little machine were. What he did not tell you was the real reason that he added the extra patio behind the barn. It was so that we would have more room to spread out our deck chairs once it gets sunny.

Second, once I tried to get started writing something on the computer that Queso and I have set up, I realized that I was having problems seeing the key board: the wool on my forehead kept getting in the way. When you couple that problem with the logistics of typing with two feet that each have only two operational toes you can understand why I have not gotten much writing done recently. Some of us are less challenged with woolly faces. Queso was at least able to see well enough to take some photos to give you an idea of our predicament. This first shot is of Warp. She could barely see where she was going!

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A bunch of us (the more senior members of the flock) got together to discuss our predicament. This next photo is of Kassia and one of her daughters, Octavia participating in the conference.

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It turned out that before we could really get organized, the old bearded guy and the nice lady pulled a fast one on us. The shearer showed up! We should have known that it was going to happen, since it always happens in February, before the pregnant girls start delivering their lambs. It is just that none of us with calendars could read them to know what month it was. Be that as it may, the shearer has come and gone and now we all can see well again. (We did get to meet a nice bunch of people who came to help with shearing. I believe that the real reason they come is to help keep the old shepherd from getting too grumpy with us over the two days of shearing.) Almost all of our wool is gone. Actually, it is in bags up in the hay mow. Each bag has one of our names in it. It is just sitting there waiting for the nice lady to prepare it for sale.

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There they are, all 127 of our fleeces.

So now we can communicate with the outside world without all of our visual limitations. The old shepherd is busy getting the barn ready for lambs and the nice lady spends much of her day in the basement of the house working on our fleeces. (At least that is what Pussa, the cat tells us. We have no other way of knowing, but it figures, since we have not seen much of the nice lady recently.)

At least we can hang out and socialize with each other. Here is Tessa discussing with Tempest the pending arrival of her lambs. A couple of sexy ladies if you ask me.

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We figure that lambing is not very far away. By my calculations the first lambs should begin arriving around March 9th. It behooves all of us to get some good night’s sleep before then, because things will be much more active at our level of the barn once that time arrives.

It is time for me to sign off. Queso was gracious enough to include my picture in her collection. Here is me in my new ‘doo. Bye for now…

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your friend, Nanoo Nanoo.

A Peaceful Transition

Friday, November 19th, 2010

It is now the week prior to Thanksgiving. Compared to this time last year everything has been going well. There has been at least one snafu during the last few weeks, but it was manageable and now has been resolved. (More about the snafu in a little while.)

A year ago Ulmer (the ram) managed to severely sprain my right ankle. The rehabilitation set up a backlog of many tasks for us, some of which we still have yet to completely resolve. Nevertheless, the ankle is almost healed. Whatever remains of the damage could, potentially, be repaired surgically. The extended downtime resulting from such surgery would be as long and as disruptive as the initial rehabilitation. With it would come no guarantee of success. So this old shepherd has opted to live with the slight residual discomfort. At least this year, Ulmer was a proper gentleman during breeding. The two of us got along just fine!

Mid October to mid November is the month in which our ewes are (hopefully) bred. This year we had 58 ewes with five separate rams. This number of ewes is slightly smaller than last year’s. We now have quite a contingent of ewes who have retired from breeding and who can concentrate solely upon producing wool and providing friendship.

We got through breeding with few problems. A new brand of marking crayon insisted upon falling out of the harnesses worn by a couple of the rams. This left us with a short period for each ram when we could not verify his performance.

One morning found Ukiah’s group split up between three pastures. Most of the ewes were where we had left them the previous night in Pasture #1. Ukiah, and three of his girls were in the next door Orchard Pasture, luckily across the temporary fence from Ulmer and his group. And one ewe, Whosits, had somehow ended up in Pasture #2, in with Stud Muffin, and his harem. No one seemed the worse for wear. We got Ukiah and all of his girls, minus Whosits, back together in #1. Whosits spent the remainder of breeding in with Stud Muffin. We can only speculate on the overnight cause of panic. Ukiah’s group was in the area of #1 which includes the apple trees. While there were few apples left, the deer still insist on visiting, in the hope of one more apple. One or more deer  jumping multiple fences into Ukiah’s pasture in the dark of night was the probable cause of the chaos.

All of us managed to survive a three day period of intensely strong winds. The storm was likened to the storm which sunk the Edmund Fitzgerald. Luckily for us no trees blew down in the pastures and no sheep blew away in a strong gust. (The storm was a few days prior to the scattering of Ukiah’s group, so we cannot blame it for the re-shuffling of sheep.) Our few hours without power were manageable and were not nearly as long as some outages in northeast Wisconsin.

All in all, breeding went well. Toward the end, the weather calmed a bit. For many days, when the skies permitted, we have been treated to spectacular sunsets. This image is of Ulmer’s group on one of their last nights out. (By the way, the green eye reflection indicates the lack of Moorit genetics. That is Ulmer, with the white nose spot, looking straight on.)

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Each day from November 6th onward, we brought a breeding group back into the barn. Once there, the marking harness was taken off the ram. He had his hooves trimmed and was perhaps fitted with a larger jacket. The ram was then reunited with his buddies. (A week or so of semi-violent re-acquainting followed.) The incoming ewes also had their hooves trimmed and jackets replaced where necessary. By noon on November 10th everyone was back in the barn.

Part of the time when the rams were out with the ewes, Gretchen was off attending SOAR (the Spin-Off Autumn Retreat). She came home re-energized with all sorts of spinning ideas. She was especially inspired by her class on natural dyeing with Demetrio Bautista Lazo. One of the things the class inspired her to do was to assemble and standardize all of her samples from her natural dyeing projects from the last few years. Below is a photo of the collection. The image does not do justice to the colors, yet it is exciting to see the assembled colors (most of which were derived from plants, either wild or cultivated from Whitefish Bay Farm). Job well done, Gretchen!

dye-sample

Breeding News

Friday, October 22nd, 2010

Once again the old shepherd guy has left the computer unattended. Consequently, we (i.e. Queso and I, Nanoo Nanoo) figured that we better get everyone up to date on the real goings on at the farm before the old guy finds out what we are up to.

In many ways fall has come early to the farm. Most of the deciduous trees turned to their fall colors ahead of schedule and have, by now, already dropped their leaves. From what we can see from the barn, there are still a few nice looking sugar maples and a couple of aspen. Nearly everything else is bare.

last-mapleAs yet it has not gotten too cold and therefore we have had no frozen water buckets and water lines to have the grumpy shepherd to worry over. Yet, despite all of the confusing weather we sheep still know it is fall. The rams get very testy with each other and when they do, they also get such a masculine odor. The shepherd and the nice lady think the rams stink, but what do they know? At least the two of them recognize that it is breeding season. As a result they have let the younger ewes join the rams in breeding groups scattered around the farm. It will be a couple more weeks before everyone is back together in the barn in the evenings.

Each year the shepherds decided who should be retired. This is now my second fall without being in a breeding group. I kind of miss not having a lamb to care for in the spring, but then it is also a lot of work. There are now quite a few of us on retirement in the barn during breeding. So we are having a grand old time being cared for in comfort. We also have this year’s 13 lambs with us. That keeps us young in outlook, even if we do not do some of the goofy things which lambs tend to do.

There are five breeding groups out on pasture. We have a pretty good idea of what is going on out there even without the shepherds telling us. Each group is close enough to the next that nearly all of them can pass along any news, which eventually makes it back to the barn. Rhett and his girls are closest to us. They get the best of everything: 1) the most handsome and sophisticated of the rams, 2) grazing on the lush pasture next to the road during the day, and 3) they get to come back into the newer wing of the barn overnight. The shepherd guy worries if they were out overnight so close to the road. Every evening Rhett and the girls bring us the latest news.

Next to Rhett’s group is Vermicelli and his goofy bunch of moorit girls. They are in pasture #4 (the place we know as the Rock Garden). We can converse with them in loud voices as they are still rather close. Unfortunately for them, they are in the pasture which always has the smallest amount of grass. The bearded guy has already taken them some baled hay as compensation.

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Ukiah's group, with Stud Muffin's in the distance

Next in line is Ukiah. He is in the first and oldest pasture. Currently they are near the south end, but are slowly working their way north. It is always a nice pasture: lots to eat and it contains the apple trees! Usually during breeding there are lots of wind-fall apples out there. But, the word is that most of them fell so early that the deer, raccoons and porcupines have already cleaned them up. There is always one tree that ripens very late. Ukiah’s group is hoping that they get there soon. It is difficult to get any fire lit under the old shepherd; he keeps telling them that they need to finish grazing where they are before he will move them.

Beyond Ukiah’s group you will find Stud Muffin and his gals. They are in the second pasture; we call it Queen Anne’s Pasture because it always has so many Queen Anne’s Lace plants. Stud Muffin’s  is about as far away as any of the groups. There are no sheep in that lush third pasture to the south. The shepherd guy fusses about it being too close to the cedar swamp where all the coyotes hang out.

ulmer-1-10-10

Ulmer and his gals

The final group of ewes is with Ulmer. They are up on the high ground where the cherry orchard used to be. It is really good pasture up there, but it can get a bit unpleasant if the wind picks up and it is cold, since it is completely out in the open. We hear rumors that the grumpy old shepherd decided to put Ulmer in that pasture this year because the ground is smooth up there and it is more difficult to get your legs tangled up on a big rock. You have to realize that it was Ulmer who wacked the old shepherd last year during breeding. He still remembers that, I can guarantee!

Ulmer and the girls in "The Orchard"

Ulmer and the girls in "The Orchard"

So there they are, all the breeding groups. After nine days more than 60% of the girls have been marked by the crayons the rams wear. That should be a good sign as it hopefully means they are now bred. Now we just hope that the rest of them get the job done before the weather turns cold! We figured out that the Gallery is already closed for the year and that the Bed and Breakfast must also be closing soon. We had our last visit from all the nice visitors a couple of days ago and now there apparently are not going to be any more for a while. The nice lady was telling Queso that she was about to leave for SOAR, which stands for Spin Off Autumn Retreat. She hopes to learn a bunch of new things that she can do with our wool. She should have fun. She also hopes to meet up with a bunch of people who buy our fleeces each year. Queso asked her to say “hello” from all of us. I just hope that we can put up with the old grumpy guy for over a week. We will try to humor him, but who knows….

Green Grass and a Shepherds’ Market

Sunday, May 16th, 2010

Yesterday the old bearded shepherd guy said to me, “Nanoo Nanoo, what do you and the rest of the girls think about getting out onto pasture today?” Needless to say, I hardly had to take any poll; it was a unanimous and resounding “YES“. As a result, the old guy and the nice lady arranged for us to take all the lambs with us and head out to pasture for the first time this year. Were we ever glad about that, although, I must admit that many of us were not too lady-like in our rush to get out the door. It was also the first time that all of us girls were together this year, as the old guy kindly let last year’s ewe lambs join us for the festivities. The only ones who could not join us were the rams, but that was just as well, knowing how rams are!

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Today is now our second day on pasture. I am proud to say that nearly all of this year’s lambs were pretty quick to figure out that going outside was not as spooky as they sometimes think it is. Maybe in a day or so the old grump will not even have to chase after the stragglers to make sure they stay up with us. It is quite a sight all of us together. There are 207 of us adults and lambs all in the group. Fresh grass, clover and trefoil never tastes better than it does on these first few days outside. We are in the first pasture, working our way south. Tomorrow we will be under most of the apple trees. Everything is so early this year, even the apples are starting to bloom. Today were were happy to greet the first Bobolinks back to the farm. Three males serenaded us all morning, either flying high above us or perched at the very top of the couple of ash trees that border the western edge of the first pasture. It is always nice to have music while we graze. We look forward to the days we graze in the pasture next to the big hay field when the Bobolinks can sit on the fence posts next to us and regale us with tales of their winter in South American.

Zuzanna

Zuzanna

Besides getting us out onto pasture the shepherds have been busy the last few days. The Bed and Breakfast has been open for the season since the beginning of May. This morning was the first day that we had visitors from the B&B on pasture. It is always fun seeing old and new faces (and getting a few extra chin rubs to boot!).

The big push this week is getting the farm ready for the annual Shepherds’ Market. It is taking place next Saturday and Sunday. It is an excellent chance to see what can be done with our wool and the fibers from our cousins the angora goats, llamas and alpacas. In addition you can purchase lots of fiber, yarn and finish items; the proceeds from which goes to support all of us. I would be remiss if I did not also remind you that the old shepherd guy’s book, Ruminations a Grumpy Shepherd, will be for sale at the Market. (I need to talk to the old guy, he forgets to plug our work and instead just writes about morels and asparagus!)

Yo Yo Baa and friends waiting for the Shepherds' MArket

Yo Yo Baa and friends waiting for the Shepherds' Market

Queso and I, along with all the girls and their lambs will probably be in the forth pasture those days. It is just down the hill from the gallery building, so we should be able to send you a greeting across the pasture if you happen to stop by the Market this weekend. I hope we see lots of you!

Announcing a Literary Event

Wednesday, April 21st, 2010

I suspect that many of you have been wondering what I have been up to for the last few weeks. After all, for quite a while the old bearded shepherd guy has been hogging most of Ewe Turn space. I figured I would let him get away with that, since most of what he has written was directly related to the flock. At least, for once he has gotten his priorities straight.

You may well then ask what I, Nanoo Nanoo, have been occupied with for the last few weeks. As you probably remember, this is my first spring in which I did not have a lamb. I kind of missed it, but then again it has been pretty nice just taking it easy with the rest of my retired buddies. We at least have gotten to witness and, in some cases, help with all of the births. Best of all, with the new scheme, after the lambs are born I don’t have to do all the rest of the work. I know, that really takes a lot out of you as a mom! But, I digress….

Few of you are aware that the flock at Whitefish Bay Farm is actually a multifaceted enterprise. One of our branches is Baa Baa Doo Press, of which I am editor-in-chief. Over the last few months, while many of the ewes were occupied with the gestation of their lambs, I have been helping the grumpy old shepherd guy with a “gestation” of his own.

As editor-in-chief of Baa Baa Doo Press, I am please to announce our first publication, The Ruminations of a Grumpy Shepherd. As you probably guessed, the author is the old shepherd guy. He has collected together essays about life on this farm since he came here 27 years ago. He has written those pieces over the last 14 years. Now he has combined them into a book. He will never admit it, but I actually did a lot of ghost writing for him on the project. (We all know that he needs lots of help!) But I will give him credit since a lot of it was written prior to my birth. I was at least able to get a few of my own literary gems incorporated into the book.

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As part of my duties as editor, I have the task of shamelessly promoting the publication. The book is printed both as a paperback and a hardcover. The old shepherd guy and the nice lady will have some of the paperbacks to sell at the farm. If you wish to order a copy it is better to go directly to our printer. They do a better job of packaging than the old guy will ever manage and the cost will be the same.

If you wish to purchase the paperback click on this link. The cost is $19.95 plus shipping.

If you wish to purchase the hardcover (my personal favorite) go to this link. The cost is $27.50 plus shipping.

So do the old guy a favor and buy his book. It will make him feel good. It is his first and, probably, only opus. He is too shy to do his own publicity so I will continue to handle it. Oh, and did I mention there are photos of us sheep and even one with the old guy and me together? What more can you ask?

Thanks, Nanoo Nanoo

Preparing to Sell Fleeces

Thursday, April 1st, 2010

An event that is always intertwined with the birth of lambs at Whitefish Bay Farm is our annual fleece sale. We shear the sheep just prior to the beginning of lambing. We then spend the time in between shearing and lambing preparing the fleeces for sale. By the time that lambing is nearly completed, we are ready to sell our fleeces on-line. The sale usually lasts, at best, a day and a half. Its intensity is even greater than the busiest single day of lambing.

The information that follows is intended primarily for our fleece customers (past, present and future). For those of you following the Ewe Turn for other reasons, we hope that you will also find some of this to be interesting.

We have nearly finished with the final skirting, sorting and evaluation of all the fleeces. When that task will actually be finished depends upon the cooperation of the few ewes who are still pregnant. If all goes smoothly, we hope to have fleeces ready for sale by early to mid April. Before the sale day, a number of things will happen for all of our fleece customers.

Previous and Current Customers - For all of you who have purchased fleeces from us within the last two years, we have just sent you an email to alert you to the information that you are currently reading on our blog. That email is also intended to verify that you are still using the email address we had for you a year ago. In the near future, we will re-contact you regarding the fleeces that you purchased last year. If you purchased one or more fleeces from us last year, you will get the opportunity to reserve the fleece(s) from the same sheep again this year. This assumes that the sheep is still with us, and that the fleece does not have an imperfection that makes it unsuitable for sale (e.g. a wool break). We will ask you to reply with your decision if you wish to again purchase this fleece(s). We cannot and will not reserve any other fleeces ahead of time. We will also alert you to the exact date of the upcoming sale.

Potential New Customers – If you have contacted us since last year’s fleece sale and given us your email address, we will send you an email prior to the sale date so that you will know exactly when it will occur.

Buying Fleeces – If you are new to the sale, be aware that the fleeces tend to sell very quickly! Pay attention to the date and time of the sale and do not procrastinate! On the day of the sale, we attempt to answer your emails and phone calls as quickly as possible. As previous customers know, things get very hectic that day, but we will work things out. There are just the two of us and the technology we are using is slow and relatively primitive. (We have no pool of “operators standing by waiting for your call”!) This procedure is imperfect. We will do our best to get you the fleeces that you want. We will also be happy to discuss any of the fleeces with you once they are ready for sale. We have left all of our listings of fleeces from 2009 up on our web site to help you as a memory jogger. The fleece listings start at our Fleece Page.

Address changes – It is important for us to know ahead of time if you have changed addresses (postal and/or e-mail) since last April. If you have a new address and have not already notified us of it, please let us know now, so that we do not miss contacting you and so that your fleece order does not get shipped to an old address (that has happened!).

If you do not want to purchase fleeces from us in 2010, or you wish to be removed from our mailing, list please let us know right away. The correct e-mail address to use is: fleeces@whitefishbayfarm.com.

Shipping– We will make every effort to ship the fleeces in the least expensive fashion without jeopardizing the welfare of the wool. Please recognize that the cost of any form of shipping continues to rise dramatically. If you have a method of shipping that you prefer, even if it is more expensive, we will honor your wishes.

We are also quite happy to ship fleeces directly to a processor if you wish to have it washed and carded by them. We have had experience using a number of processors; we are happy to discuss our opinions of each as it relates to Corriedale fleeces. We also have some very strong feelings regarding certain of our fleeces that should not be sent to a commercial carder, if you are to maximize the fleece’s beauty. If you prefer direct shipment to a processor, you will need to have processing instructions ready for us when it is time to ship the fleece.

Feedback- As always, we welcome feedback from you regarding our fleeces. If there is a way in which we can improve our product, we would like to know about it. If you have questions or problems that we may be able to help with, please let us know. We look forward to hearing from each of you and we hope that we will provide you with some wonderful fleeces in 2010. Take good care….

Nanoo Nanoo is Back!

Sunday, March 7th, 2010

Hej ovine fans!

It has been a while, but finally I have returned. It took me a lot less time to get over my ear infection than it took the old bearded guy to fix his foot. But I have not been idle. Rather, I have been busy with a very big literary project. I am not quite ready to spill the beans in that regard but there will be some big news in the near future.

Right now I figured that I had better get everyone caught up on the current state of the flock, because lots has been going on and there is more to come. First off, we all got sheared just a while ago. This is a picture of me, taken by Queso, the flock photographer. This is what I looked like just before I was sheared. nanoo-preshearI must admit that I was looking pretty good there, but am I ever glad to get rid of all this wool. The weather is already starting to get warmer and it will be nice to be comfortable! It took just under two days for the shearer and the crew to get all of us clipped up nicely. I waited until close to the end for my turn. This is just the beginning of “good bye fleece”.

nanoo-shear-3Once I graciously parted with my wool, the nicely lady and her friend, MJ, did a good job of skirting it so that only the best parts remained. The nice lady has been spending a lot of time ever since shearing doing further skirtings on all of our fleeces. She tells me that she hopes to have them all ready to sell in about a month. I hope she can keep up with that pace because she is going to be busy with other things very soon!

The old shepherd guy’s brother was here to help with shearing. He is the one who set Queso up with her camera. He took this picture of Queso for her , before she was sheared. Obviously she was in no position to take any pictures at that moment. He even managed to get a picture of her with the old grumpy shepherd guy (he was starting to look pretty tired by then!)queso-shear-1That is him, with the dirty red hat; Queso is the one who could hardly see at that point (a bit of a problem for a photographer!). She is now looking quite chic.

Life is about to get even busier in the barn. The pregnant girls are nearing the end of their five months. There are quite a few of them who are due in just a couple of days. This is my first year for being on holiday. It is kind of nice just standing back and watching all the action without being a major part of the craziness. Today the shepherds re-installed the baby monitor so that they can listen in on us. (We have to be a bit more circumspect with what we say as we never know who may be listening in on us. For all I know the neighbors may be picking us up on their TV or radio.) The shepherd also set up the first couple of pens for the new moms (they call them “jugs”).

I really doubt that the old shepherd guy will get the job done spreading the news. In case he does not, Queso and I will make sure that the world gets regular updates as the lambs arrive. That’s it for now!

Back on the Saddle

Thursday, February 25th, 2010

For those who may be wondering, Whitefish Bay Farm and its occupants have not fallen off the edge of the earth. My apologies for being rather quiet during the last few weeks. For those who may not remember, in mid-November I managed to sustain a rather severe high right ankle sprain, complements of Ulmer, the ram. Until early January my movements were significantly limited by a large boot which encased my foot and lower leg 24 hours a day.

In January the boot was replaced by a much smaller brace and I was given the go-ahead to proceed with physical therapy. I have been at it ever since, under the watchful eye and tutelage of Ann, my physical therapist. It is truly humbling to find out just how much muscle atrophy can occur when you do not use your lower leg for that length of time. Nonetheless, the tendons and ligaments are healing and the muscles starting to strengthen. Thank you Ann! Without your help I would not be nearly as far along as I am. And thank you Gretchen, my co-worker and spouse, who picked up so much slack for me during this excruciating winter.

Once into the recovery mode, my goal was to be able to handle all my normal duties before we reached the date when the sheep were to be sheared. The secondary goal was to shed all the excess weight that was gained while I sat around and did lots of reading. I made it to shearing; the weight loss is still a work in progress. In that regard, we purchased a stationary stand for my old Gitane bicycle, so that I can ride indoors during the winter. I am now riding from Faaborg to Korinth and back (in Denmark) every day (or at least trying to visualize the trip). Cycle shops, however, are dangerous places for me to visit. Needing a trip odometer for the Gitane, I also ended up purchasing a new Trek cycle: further incentive to finish recovery and get on with spring! Perhaps by summer’s end I will get into a century ride.

Opal and some of her pals waiting to be sheared

Opal and some of her pals waiting to be sheared

Of course, shearing takes precedent over just about everything else in late February. Once again we assembled a topnotch crew (some veterans and some new members) to assist our shearer, Dave. For once, the weather has co-operated. It has been unseasonably warm for February and as a result the sheep have managed to stay comfortable without their full fleeces. We sheared all 129 sheep in less than two days.

The next step is to prepare each fleece for sale. We can work on a maximum of seven fleeces a day in the warmth of our basement. Each fleece needs to be spread out on a rack to air. Under good light Gretchen then skirts the poorer quality wool (generally the wool not covered by the sheep coats). When all the fleeces are processed, we will weigh each one, group them by shades and color patterns and then price them for sale. With any luck they will be ready for sale in mid April. (Anyone who is not already on our list and who would like an opportunity to purchase one or more of our fleeces, should check out the Fleece Page on our web site for instructions on how to get your name on the notification list.

Lunch is well deserved and relished once shearing is done

Lunch is well deserved and relished, once shearing is done

We would have the fleeces ready much sooner, save for one “minor” interruption. On about March 8th, our ewes will begin presenting their new lambs. From that point and for the next four weeks our schedule is not our own. Fleeces get processed only when the ewes are not in labor and the lambs not in need of attention. Shearing is exciting, both in terms of seeing the beauty of the fleeces as they come off the sheep and also in terms of being able to see just how far along are the ewes’ pregnancies.

Of course, life goes on for the rest of the farm as well. The wild Turkeys make periodic raids on the areas under the bird feeders. The White-tailed Deer seem to be herding up. Recently we counted 13 in the back yard. Once lambing begins we will be stumbling upon both groups of animals as we work our way to and from the barn.

Adding new meaning to "bird feeder"

Adding new meaning to "bird feeder"

So stay tuned, we should be able to share news and “baby” pictures soon!