This is why

the blog has been so quiet.

Haying season has started.

 Because of 2 tick bites, I am back on Doxcycline

for 3 weeks. Therefore, I can not be in the sun.

So, I sit in the truck while Jerry is out on the tractor.

I have a couple of shirts hanging from the visor to

block the sun coming in through the windshield.

 The windows are open to let in any breeze. But, this 

truck does have air conditioning if there is no breeze.

In the meantime, I am balling up a very tangled skein

of our Horned Dorset yarn, kettle dyed by me.

 Hubby baling in the first field of the season.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And, mowing in the second.

God is good!!

Last year a 'gentleman' approached 3 of the owners

of fields that we had mowed for our sheep for the previous

3 years (at least) with the story that he was a local that 

needed the hay to feed his cattle. These owners 'gave' him

the fields. We ended up buying hay. 

This year, one of the customers emailed to say this person

backed out of doing her fields, could we come back? Yes!

Then the day Jerry was cutting this field we came home to 

a message on the answering machine from one of the owners.

The 'gentleman' sold his cows and would not need the hay.

He would be coming in to bush hog it. The owner did not

want that and wanted us to have the fields for our sheep

and was sure the other owner would as well. Were we still

interested in the fields for hay? Again, yes!!

With my broken ankle last year, I was unable to help

Jerry at all last year. The neighbors did what they could,

but they have their own farms and lives. God knew what

he was doing when he took these fields away. And,

despite having to buy hay, I am most thankful to all

who purchased fleeces from us over the winter and 

spring. That is how we paid for hay and grain.

Now, it is time to get off the computer and get some fleece

work done. I hope to be posting fleeces on the wool blog soon.

http://eweifarmfleece.blogspot.com/

TTFN

Our newest business card

Our newest card made to give out to those participating in the 

Livestock Conservancy's Shave 'Em to Save 'Em Campaign. 

This was inspired by the Vermont Sheep and Wool festival's 

fiber contest. https://vtsheepandwoolfest.com/festival-contests/

This year's theme is heritage breeds. As a breeder of Horned

Dorset sheep I am entering items made from my hand spun

yarn as well as yarn mill spun for us by

 http://www.salliesfenfibers.com/

As Jerry is a shearer of small flocks through NH, we 

bring home LOTS of fiber from a lot of our customers.

(THANK YOU to all who hire Jerry yearly, and to those

who share your fibers with us!!) This means I have fiber

that is part of the SE2SE campaign. 

https://www.facebook.com/groups/SE2SE/

https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/heritage/internal/conservation-priority-list#Sheep

https://livestockconservancy.org/index.php/involved/internal/SE2

I am planning on knitting a hap shawl from the various colors

of Shetland that I have spun over the years. I will need to spin 

more though as the center takes 1200 yards. I am hoping to work 

on that mid July when we have a week of rain coming in and I/we

won't be out in the hay fields, or the garden, or trying to get the

last of my fleeces re-skirted to put out for sale.

I am also hoping to knit a small lace shawl(ette) from the 

Navajo Churro that I've been spinning in the grease. It is 

not a wool I'd associate with a shawl, but with rugs. But,

this fleece, although it comes from an aged sheep, has 

been outside (both the black and the white) on a cattle

panel getting washed, and dried, repeatedly by  Mother

Nature. At this point the black looks more like a gun

metal gray. I need to go bring them in before it rains again.

I am not sure  if I will spin any Jacob, or if will just knit

with the yarn made for us by Friends Folly Farm in Maine

years ago. The Aran sweater jacket I am interested in 

knitting calls for 1200 yards of Aran weight. While I 

can easily spin that much into a fingering weight, I

would need to spin 3600 yards to make it into a 

3 ply in order to make Aran weight.

I won't get the Oxford back as roving until the 

VT Sheep & Wool festival, so I won't be doing 

anything with that except making a sample skein.

And, I've not decided yet what the hand spun Tunis

wants to be knitted into. Maybe it will just go into 

the skein competition. 

In the meantime, if someone is looking for fiber or 

yarn, we do have quite a bit available.

Unfortunately, it is haying season and we are not 

home a lot. I do not have the internet on my Tracfone,

so I am not online until early in the morning when I am

having coffee, or later at night just before bed (unless

we go straight to bed after chores) Some days I don't

get on at all. So, if you email, please be patient.

Email is eweifarm @ msn.com

When I get a chance, I will post yarn and roving on the 

fleece page. http://eweifarmfleece.blogspot.com/

TTFN

Dragonflies

We LOVE our dragonflies. We look forward to their return each year. Last year, with all the rain we had, we had dragonflies hatch out 3 times. If I can get a picture of any of ours, I will post it here. Right now my camera can not catch the large numbers of them in flight.

Between the Phoebes, the Swallows and the dragonflies, we have very few mosquitoes and black flies around  the house and barn. The white faced wasps and the spiders help with fly control in the barn. The only biting bug we've not found not being eaten in large enough number for us in the gnats (AKA 'no seeums')

Things you may not have known about dragonflies taken from other websites.

Living all the river's edge, we already have a number of these plants growing on the farm naturally.
10 plants that attract dragonflies

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dragonfly

It amazes me every year that I am on Face Book (https://www.facebook.com/Ewe-I-Farm), the number of people on the farm and garden sites that post 'What is this?', and they are all looking for ways to kill them, and to keep them out of their water sources. https://nature.mdc.mo.gov/discover-nature/field-guide/dragonfly-larvae

This is an old article, but did you know that you can buy dragonfly larvae?
https://www.seacoastonline.com/article/20080428/NEWS/804280316

And, here.
http://www.connecticutvalleybiological.com/aquatic-insects/dragonfly-larvae-per-25.html

Even as nymphs, dragonflies are fantastic killers!
https://www.dragonfly-site.com/dragonfly-larvae.html

https://lifeinfreshwater.net/dragonfly-nymphs-odonata-anisoptera/

I just love how, if we work WITH nature, life around us takes care of itself AND takes care of us.

Yes, I know the ticks are horrific this year!! But, with the grass being short (thanks to sheep control) and DE (Diatomaceous earth) placed correctly on the ground as to not kill the bees, we've not seen one (except when we go out in the woods) for quite a while. We had none for 2 years, thanks to the chickens, the sheep grazing, and the possum. But, no chickens since I broke my ankle and I think we lost our possum this winter.

So, get rid of your chemical  weed and bug killers. Plant the plants that will deter mosquitoes and that will attract the dragonflies. As well as flowering plants to attract the native birds to eat the bugs. Work WITH nature, not against her!

Our new ride

 Our new farm van.  We still have the 3/4 ton

Cargo van, but this is easier to 'muscle' for those

long trips. Like yesterday...

It is a 2003 Honda Odyssey with no rust

(it was a FL car until a couple of years ago) 

with only 107,000 miles.

 Jerry got my Ez-Up in place for me over the skirting 

table. Now I need to find time to get some skirting done.

This is what came home with us yesterday after

being gone for 13 hours and 250ish miles.

A couple of llama fleeces, from 2 different

farms on opposite sides of the state of NH.

2 alpaca fleeces and 6 sheep fleeces from

2 farms in Stark, NH.

We left at 8 am and did not get home until 9 pm.

 Before I cleaned out the van, I let the sheep and 

llama out in the side 'yard'. Tomorrow or Saturday,

I will let them out on the house side of the driveway.

 One of my helpers. Callie Calico.

 We had no idea when we bought the van how big it

really was. My last van would fit a 4'x8' sheet of 

plywood like this van, but Jerry had to cut the corners

to make it fit. Not in this van. And, the llama chute

fits!!! We were just looking for a vehicle for long trips.

This is all a God inspired blessing! From the size of 

the van, to the condition, to the price, and that the 

person before us put in an expensive stereo system

with a CD player. It is wonderful to be able to listen

to the kind of radio we like as we travel NH, and 

eventually to CT. When we get a farm sitter...

 Ready for our next shearing trip.

No, Callie is NOT coming with us.

 Lazy llama laying in the grass, chowing down.

 2 4' gates across the width and 2 5' gates along 

the sides. We are picking up 2 Horned Dorset lambs

today, 1 ram and 1 ewe, from the gentleman that 

we are shearing for. It is great that everything fits!!

Tess FINALLY got sheared

You know the story about the cobbler's family having no shoes? Well, today I got my shearer (hubby) to shear the llama.

She is 17 years old and has never been sheared... Her former owner did brush her out, but her skin has not seen the light of day and it showed. She is a bit thinner than we'd have liked, but under all that fiber you could not tell. We still need to cut her teeth, but she was traumatized enough for one day between getting into the chute and then getting dewormed and a CDT shot.

 

Llamas should not have scurf...

 Yes. She is 17, but we should 

not see this much bone.

 Since we have cut way back on the flock, she

can now sleep with the sheep. But, we had to get

creative about feeding as I have a couple that will

 try to climb the wall to get into the llama grain.

 Someday we may actually find her dead.

She sleeps like this outside A LOT!!

I think I've been forgiven.