A Chilly Winter

My older son and I took a walk this weekend to enjoy the freezing fog that had settled on this part of the valley.  It was very beautiful; the ice crystals had settled on every little detail of the landscape, making even the weeds, such as the teasel below, look magnificent.

Getting Ready

It's that time of year - that time when we get ready for the 100 plus lambs that will be born during a 3 to 4 week period.  It's make or break time for this shepherd.  Those are the lambs that provide income to purchase the feed for next year, some will be held for replacements - the best of the genetics for future generations.  Here are some of our girls, waiting their turn to be shorn.  Shearing the ewes before lambing (1) allows the lambs to find the udder more easily (2) keeps the ewes' wool cleaner as young lambs climb on their mothers and (3) makes for more space in the barn.

Manuel Santana from Albany, OR shears for me.  He is very good at what he does and is never rough with the sheep.  I should add that he is a wrestling coach and he knows how to turn a sheep into a pretzel.  Given that some of my mature ewes weigh around 240 pounds when they are not pregnant, I find that rather impressive!

Happiness is a Border Collie Chasing Snowflakes

We had our first snow this weekend.  I like snow because it creates a wonderful blanket of peace and quiet, something which we could all use after the horrific events of this past week.  I also like snow because "children go out and play in the snow" sounds much better than "children go out and play in the rain and mud."  However it was our Border Collie, Pete, who got first dibs on celebrating the snowflakes this Saturday.  He did his best to try and catch them, and here is the proof:

And for the grand finale:

He reminds me that there are many more good and happy things in this world, than there are terrible and sad.  Nothing can make the horror of the Newtown or Clakamas shootings go away, but we need to focus on the good, the "helpers" as Mr. Rogers mother once told him, so we bring light into our own lives and into the lives of those around us.

More Pelts for Sale!

North Valley Farm Lincoln Lamb Pelts

I just got 5 more pelts back from the tanner.  These are machine washable Lincoln lamb pelts with beautiful long wavy locks.  A wonderful accent for either a sofa, chair or bed.  If you want to purchase one for someone else, I can ship directly to them, with the pelt wrapped in tissue paper and a farm card, letting them know who it is from.

Fun with Friends

Every now and again, I get something right.  I am sure that my teenaged children would strongly disagree with me on this point (we are at that stage where I do very little right, according to them.)  In any case, a couple of months ago a friend - Colleen Smith -  suggested we get together so she could learn how to tail spin.  Finding a window of time where 3 of us (Loren Heath from Distracted Acres also joined us) were available was a challenge, but we pulled it off and had a great time together this past Wednesday.  Tailspinning involves using defined locks of wool to create a highly textured yarn that has the locks sticking out at all angles.  It is not a quick technique but it results in a fun yarn that can be used for accents or for an unstructured scarf.  The day had all the ingredients of time well spent: friends, food and fiber.  Of course, we got a little silly and wool turned up in all sorts of odd places.....Pete is such a good sport!

A Brief Respite from the Rains

Evelyn in front of the milking shed

After an unusually dry summer, it is hard to justify complaining about too much rain.  But since we are already 4" ahead of schedule for the year, I'll go ahead.  Close to 10" of rain fell here last Monday in a 24 hour period.  Needless to say, the North Yamhill River flooded and cut off our access to town, making the morning commute into school a little longer.  The good news is that we are getting a brief respite which both the people and the animals enjoy.

Dog Kisses

Today during a break from the rain, my Border Collie Pete and I went out into one of the pastures.  My ram lambs were very curious and came over to investigate.  Here one of them is getting a kiss!

Breakfast - Lincoln style

All sheep are excited about their meals.  Having raised both Lincolns and Romneys, I can tell you that Lincolns are particularly enthusiastic eaters.  It is not a wise shepherd who gets between a Lincoln ewe and her dinner - the result could be the flattening of the shepherd!  Here we have our old girl, Ingrid, enjoying her breakfast of oat and alfalfa hay.  Ingrid is 12 going on 13 years old and she lives with the ewe lambs we are holding over the winter.  Because the ewe lambs are still growing, they get richer feed than the adult ewes who are due to lamb in February.  And the reason that Ingrid lives with the ewe lambs is because she is an older girl, with worn teeth, who has trouble maintaining a healthy weight on the normal adult sheep fall rations.  Ingrid is currently our only retired granny sheep on the farm.  She was taken out of the breeding line up after 10 years of outstanding results.  I'm guessing that 15 to 20% of my ewe flock is related to Ingrid.  She was one heck of ewe in her day, producing champions in the show ring almost every year.  And more importantly her offspring were able to produce equally impressive lambs.  So it's good to see the old girl enjoying her golden years.

Out and About on my Horse

I went on a ride down the Rail Road Grade at the eastern edge of our property today.  My Dad came with me just to make sure that my horse, Coriander, was ready for the task at hand.  She is a 15 year old Arabian that came to us as a rescue just under 4 years ago.  At the time I got her, she wasn't even halter broke, let alone under saddle.  And on top of that, I had taken a 23 year hiatus from riding - what a great combination!  As luck should have it, we stumbled upon a wonderful local riding instructor and trainer, Bethany Jernigan. With a great deal of skill and patience, Bethany has brought this odd couple a very long way indeed.  After about 5 minutes of walking down the gravel road, Dad unclipped Coriander and we were on our own.  She did great - here is the view from the top of my horse.

Pasture Fix

Although the rains arrived late this year, they are now solidly entrenched as part of our weather landscape for the next 6 months.  Fixing bald spots in the pasture wasn't possible (or wise) earlier, as the ground was still very dry and my pasture harrow would just have bounced over the top of the soil, rather than scratching it up.  The bald spots are caused by gopher and vole activity, which is why trapping the varmints is necessary to keep the grasses healthy and productive.  You would be amazed to see how much damage small, furry rodents can wreak on acres and acres of fields when left to their devices!

Yesterday was a rare clear day, so I took the pasture harrow out to our biggest pasture and prepared an area of the field for overseeding.  This year I am trying out a new blend of perennial grasses that have been developed for their higher sugar content which should make them extra tasty to the sheep.  After harrowing and overseeding, I gave my Pop a ride back to the house in the bucket of the tractor.

People and Landscapes of the Chrysochou Valley

A lot of people have been in touch with me regarding my mother's recently published book People and Landscapes of the Chrysochou Valley & The Princeton Cyprus Excavations, 1983-2008 and where they might purchase a copy.

You can try getting in touch with the Princeton University Art Museum; they are selling the book in conjunction with the City of Gold exhibit.  However if they are sold out, you can get in touch with the publisher in Cyprus, Moufflon Publications.  They are sell and ship books all over the world - I believe the book costs 25 euros plus shipping or $35 in the US.  Here are some sample pages from the book:

A Special Weekend wih my Pop

This past weekend, I made a quick trip to New Jersey to visit my father and attend the opening of a very special exhibition at the Princeton University Art Museum - City of Gold.

Dad is an archaeologist and has been running the Princeton University Excavation in the Republic of Cyprus in Polis Chrysochous.  City of Gold is a collection of artifacts from a number of museums around the world that were found in Polis over the last 100 years.  Dad was digging up the ancient city of Arsinoe, which dates to between 500 and 400 BC.  In addition to getting the exhibition ready, Dad also worked tirelessly on pulling together Mom's book, a photo and essay collection of this area of Cyprus.  Mom was diagnosed with advanced ovarian cancer at the age of 64 in 2007; she died after a recurrence in December of 2008, not having had the chance to finish her project.  Dad completed it for her, using only her photos and text and got a publishing house in Cyprus to generate a first printing in conjunction with the opening of the exhibition.  Needless to say, it is selling like hotcakes.  Honoring Dad's lifetime of archaeological work this past weekend was wonderful, but the great gift that he has given all of us is his dedication and love for Mom which is reflected in his efforts to finish her last project.  I can not think of a more special gift for both my brother and me as well as our children.

On the flight back to Oregon (Dad came back with me and is enjoying some R & R on the farm) I worked on my latest pair of socks:

Fall's Arrival

As you can see from the yellow grass and the changing colors of the leaves, fall has arrived at North Valley Farm.  The first rains are giving a little life to the pastures after almost 3 months without any water falling from the sky.  We've been feeding grass hay since the beginning of September because of the unusually dry weather.  And today we got a load of oat/alfalfa hay to get us through the first part of winter.  You don't want me to blog about feed prices this year because it would just be a string of unprintables.....the good news is that I found a wonderful grower/hauler - Ken Threet - with whom I've been working for 5 years now.  He and his wife work over 1,000 acres; in fact, his wife raises sheep, so they have a really good handle on what kind of hay we need, year in and year out.  Buying directly from the grower means I get a better price than if I bought from a broker.  And Ken knows he can rely on my business, so the situation works well for both of us.

I am very pleased with the quality of sheep our flock is producing.  Here is my favorite white ram lamb from this year's crop, out on the pasture.  His father is a Larson ram from Michigan, and his mother is a ewe of my own breeding.  I've kept his twin sister as well - this is a top producing line that has done well for me over time.

In fact, this ram lamb was the champion white longwool ram just a few weeks ago at the Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in Canby, OR and went on to be the grand champion white ram of the show.  Here is a photo of the same ram lamb at the show:

It's always nice to do well at a show, but ultimately the test of our flock is whether it is thrifty and productive, in terms of producing good carcass lambs and quality fiber - the other stuff is just icing on the cake.  Our sunrise this morning:

Machine washable pelts for sale

We just got our first shipment of machine washable pelts back from Bucks County Fur Products in Pennsylvania.  As in past years, I am very pleased with the results.  These pelts are from lambs that were never shorn, so the staple length of the wool is over 6" in length.  Bucks County really is the premiere pelt processor in the US which is why we spend the money to send these clear across the country.  These have a great handle, lovely colors and are just wonderful all around.  If you are interested in purchasing one (a great Christmas present!) please get in touch with me through the website, either by e-mail or phone.  In most cases, the pelts cost $125 plus shipping.







Please note that we do not specifically slaughter lambs for their pelts.  These are lambs that were going to the butcher's anyway and this is just our way of using all of the animal, rather than letting the wool go to waste.

Petunia the Pig

I have a good friend in the barn yard - her name is Petunia and her favorite thing in the world is food.  Her second most favorite thing is tummy rubs.

Know Your Wool by Deb Robson - featuring North Valley Farm

I should have posted this link months ago, but sheep happen.  In any case, during my trip to the National Lincoln Show and Sale in Estes Park, CO, I was fortunate enough to take part in a video shoot for Craftsy.  Craftsy is a newish company that publishes all sorts of really nice instructional craft videos - cooking, knitting, sewing, spinning - to name a few.  Deb Robson, author of the Fleece and Fiber Sourcebook and a former editor of Spin Off, was in Estes Park as the host of the video shoot. 

Lincolns are one of the featured breeds in the video which is available on the Craftsy website for FREE; here is the link to the spinning page.  I highly recommend it, not because you get to hear me compare my 250 lb. sheep to tomatoes, but because it contains some very good information and is well presented.

Birth of a pair of Felt Boots

Two weekends ago, I had the good fortune to be able to take a boot felting class taught by Caren Engen at the Oregon Flock and Fiber Festival in Canby, OR.  It was extra fun because several friends were also signed up.  All the ingredients were in place: friends, wool, soap and water.  Here is the evolution of my set of boots:

First we chose a color or colors for our boots; I chose green which I am sure was no great surprise to my family or friends (it's a genetic thing - Germans are born liking green as far as I can tell.)  We laid out thin strips of roving in multiple layers on a large plastic template like so:

After we made the wool wet, we worked for quite some time to get the fibers to cling to one another and keep the shape of the template:

Once enough felting had taken place, the template is removed.  As you can see, one still needs to full the boot extensively to get it to shrink down and fit on the foot.....This is one of my boots begore it was fulled.........

And here are the boots after fulling - success!

Simple Beginnings

A really good day starts with a mocha.

Harvey Warrick's Lincolns

Every now and again, something so wonderful happens in my life, that I feel I should pinch myself to make sure that I am not dreaming.  Just such a thing has happened yesterday.  These lovely sheep walked off of the trailer and onto my farm:

They are the core of Harvey Warrick's white Lincoln flock, which just arrived here at North Valley Farm in Yamhill, OR from Adrian, MI courtesy of Doug Montgomery of Bideawee Farm over in Newberg.  They are absolutely beautiful, every last one of them, and their fleeces are divine.  And so begins another chapter in my quest to put together a Lincoln breeding program that is commercially viable using these tough and intelligent sheep that have roots going back to the Roman invasion of England.

Dinner a la Romanesco

Every once in a while, I get a bee in my bonnet and I'll get busy in the kitchen.  This time of year, the Romanesco broccoli makes its appearance.  It's quite dramatic, with bright green spires and twists here and there.  It is considered an heirloom vegetable and is classified as a form of cauliflower.  Here is the gigantic head we picked up at the grocery store today:

I use it in a recipe for broccoli and potato soup.  First I brown some yellow onions and then add the Romanesco florets.  After about 5 minutes, the peeled and chopped potatoes are added, as is some beef broth.  One cooks the soup just long enough that the potato becomes soft and starts to fall apart.  Serve with freshly grated pecorino, plenty of pepper and some shredded basil leaves - yummo!