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!

Petunia the Pig

Every farmer that I know has a pet here or there, stashed somewhere in the barnyard.  A creature that we hold near and dear to our heart.  Petunia the pig is just such an animal for me.  She is smart, opinionated and curvaceous.  Many of us know that pigs are smart - I would guess that Petunia is smarter than 4 of my 5 dogs, the Border Collie being the exception.  But did you know that pigs talk quite a bit?  They are very vocal and it's easy to tell whether Petunia is excited (loud grunts and squeals), upset (shrill squealing) or happy (quiet grunts.)  Here Petunia is telling me that it is time for a tummy rub:

She loves her tummy rubs!  The only thing that will divert Petunia from a massage is the promise of food, because being a pig, she needs to maintain her streamlined figure.  My pig also has lovely dark brown eyes and the best snout in the barnyard.

Hot Summer Days

The dog days of summer are finally upon us.  After a long and wet Spring, summer was slow to arrive.  However these past few weeks, we've had several days with temperatures in the low 100s.  As you can well imagine, wearing a wool coat at this time of year is rather uncomfortable.  Our breeding groups will be put together in the next couple of weeks, so it is important to keep the sheep healthy and happy - and happy at this time of year means naked, if you are a sheep.  Below are photos of our shearer, Manuel Santana, hard at work.

Feeling comfortable and looking great!

On a Tear

I've been infused with more energy lately - who knows why.  It's not like I have less to do.  But I find there is a welcome and subtle shift in my life, a greater emphasis on the important and a move away from the trivial.  I am able to create again.  This skill left me during the time of my mother's illness and subsequent death from ovarian cancer during 2007-2008.  Mom would be glad to see that I am creating again; she was an accomplished photographer and was actively exploring digital media at the time she became ill.  She always encouraged me to become and illustrator because she loved my drawings.  And this fall I've enrolled in a class on the topic - who knows where it shall lead, but it feels right.  These past few weeks, I've worked on first spinning and then knitting this small shawl.  The yarn is a 60/40 wool/bamboo blend and the colorway is called Downton Abbey after one of my favorite TV shows.  It's the first time I've worked with bamboo and I like it.  It adds shine to the wool and is a great blend for our cool summer evenings.