Great Weekend. Now Sheep.
The Wichita Convention
I am happy to report that the convention went well. Very well. In fact, it went so much better than I hoped it would.
We had loads of conversations with folks about Beast to Blanket, about sheep, and about life in general. It was encouraging and informative, and we are SO glad we went.
Greg was buzzing with thoughts to process and brainstorm on the ride home after the second day. I was buzzing with the aftereffects of adrenaline and two days of sensory overload. Oh, and two solid days of spinning.
Note to self: Train up for the next one, girlfriend.
Several people went home with copies of the curriculum, which feels a little surreal to say. It’s hard to express the combination of excitement, gratitude, and satisfaction that goes along with that statement.
It’s closely related to the feeling I had when I saw the “click” when someone realized they really could learn and teach this stuff themselves. That something that seemed impossible was actually accessible to them.
What a joy that is. It makes this introvert pretty sure that I can manage another convention here in a few weeks even if it turns me into a mass of quivering goo by the end of three days. I may not be able to speak in complete sentences by the end of it, but I’ll be enjoying the experience of sharing what we’re doing!
Labor and Delivery, Pemberley Farm Edition
For those of you keeping score at home, we are about to enter Interesting Times.
First, we are approaching the normal expected lambing window for the first group of sheep for which I have any clue about their procreative behaviors.
Up until now, every ewe has been a Lady of Mystery. I have no social calendar to check for the dates of their romantic encounters, and some are even coy about the identity of their chosen companions. We’ve discussed this method of carrying on. At length.
But finally, there is a group of four Babydoll ewes (Louisa, Lydia, Margaret, and Maryanne) who have a more definitive history. I know the who. I know the when. I know these because the girls were brought from a sheltered environment where they’d never even seen a ram to Mr. Bingley’s enclosure on the evening of December 11. He did not pause for polite introductions, a considerate tour of the paddock, or even a shared snack. No, sir.
You can find sheep gestation calendars online to save you the trouble of counting days. They’re very helpful for general planning.
Based on those calculations, and the fact that Maryanne looks like she’s about to start affecting gravity at a local level, we moved the Babydolls away from the rest of the flock to a separate paddock and two connected smaller stalls that we use for lambing and isolation. If they happen to lamb when we’re not there, they’ll be in a quieter and safer space than if they had to navigate big sheep and rambunctious older lambs during their travails.
The wild card in all this is Lizzy. She is a Merino ewe who is also pregnant. She is a Lady of Mystery in every sense. We have no idea when she went for a midnight stroll with a ram, nor do we know if she went strolling with Mr. Knightley (Merino) or Mr. Darcy (Valais). And she’s not talking.
She’s showing some Lucy energy with some “maybe I will and maybe I won’t go into labor soon” episodes, but I refuse to be drawn in. I have been down that road to Crazytown. I see Lucy’s hoofprints in the dust and I am not going there again. I’m not. I mean it.
(But I am going to check in another 45 minutes.)
Greg’s Got Questions
(As a matter of procedure, the poll function takes you to another page to submit your vote, so if that happens to you, you’re on the right track!)
Question 1: What’s the most demanding part of using a spinning wheel, physically and mentally?
Question 2: Based on the many, many questions you had while you were spinning all day for two days, what are people most interested in learning as they watch you?
Question 3: If Lizzy and Mr. Darcy did indeed share a special moment together, what do you expect from the Merino/Valais lamb’s wool? Do you think it will still be good for spinning into yarn, like a Merino or will it be better for felting like a VBN? Any guesses on what to expect from that new Pemberley Farm wool factory?
Happy knitting,
Kiersten J
