The Day is Almost Here!

Tomorrow, April 13, we will host several farms for the Wonderful Woollies Fleece Sale! This is our third annual event & we are looking forward to seeing many of our old & new friends. We have some new farms participating, so here’s the complete list: Carol Boswell Camelot Ranch Alpacas; Dawn Deshmane CVM/Romeldale; Karen Washington Felicity Fibers/Alpaca; Joanne Martinis Windy Hill Farm Gotlands; Jeff & Niki Kuklenski JNK Llamas; Kathy Green Ferndale Fibers, various crosses & fiber; Rocky Long Little Orchard Farm CVM/Romeldale; John Park Marietta Shetlands; Nancy Giordano Nancy’s Farm, various crosses, fiber & fun batts; Patty Yager alpaca; Rhonda Wreggelsworth River Ranch Angora goats; Doug & Yvonne Madsen Spinners Eden Farm CVM/Romeldale; Allen Berry Spindle Smith carved spindles & tools; Brigget LeClair Wake Robin Farm, Icelandic. As you can see, we have a lot of variety this year - hopefully something to please everybody. I know I love to experiment with fleece from different breeds of sheep. Each has it’s unique place & best purpose in the fiber world. Here's one of our fleeces: As for our farm, we are happy that we got all our fiber back from the processors in time for the sale. A Great Big Thank You to both Creekside Fiber Mill in Lebanon OR, and Fantasy Fibers in Canby OR for their excellent work! We highly recommend both. We have roving from both mills, and some beautiful mill-spun yarn from Creekside available this year. And as a special treat, Spinners Eden collaborated with JNK llamas to create two gorgeous roving blends. One is a combination of our Athena, with JNK’s Sirmione - a great pairing. The other is a CVM/llama/silk blend that is to die for. I had some moorit yarn spun, and wondered how it would do in the dyepot, so I tried some bright primary colors. I was pleasantly surprised by the outcome, using Jacquard Acid Dyes in Brilliant Blue and Fire Red, and Dharma Trading’s Acid Dye in Brilliant Yellow. The thing I like about using acid dyes is that the only mordant needed is vinegar. That’s the acid. Not scary at all. :-) Using acid dyes does require some heat. I did the blue yarn in an old Goodwill crock pot that I use only for dyeing, & left it in for a couple of hours to cook, and a couple of hours to cool. (If I had wanted a more uniform color, I would have used a bigger pot with more room for the yarn to move around.) Back to the fiber sale, we will open at 10 a.m. Early birds pay double. Just kidding. Address is 5740 Mertz Rd., Bellingham WA. We are 1.1 mile east of Hannegan Road on Axton. It’s a straight shot east from downtown Ferndale, & if you get to Shuksan Golf Course, you’ve gone three blocks too far. :-) Hope to see you!

2013 - The Year of the Ram

We had three sets of triplets and two sets of twins this year (one stillborn). That’s ten rams & two ewes. Yes, it’s one of thooooose years again. The last time we had a year like this was 2007, the year Blossom was born. She was the *only* ewe out of that year’s crop of lambs. One of the rams is a runt - seriously. For our breed, a three pound lamb is tiny. Other flock members are double to quadruple his birth weight. Little “Tyrion’s” body temperature dropped severely (92.8) after birth so I brought him into the house & put him in a sink of warm water to bring it up. He had a few pretty significant ups & downs through his first few hours, but he made it through, and is now strong, healthy & back in the barn with his siblings. He still gets bottles of lamb milk replacer three times a day, but he is learning to be a sheep out with the flock. Although we miss having him in the house, charging around like a little version of the cartoon Roadrunner in his oversized diapers & onesie, I’m glad he’s able to be out there.

The two keys to getting these little ones off to a good start are colostrum (the “real” stuff from mommy), and keeping body temperature in a normal range (101.5 - 103). That meant going out to the barn & milking Tyrion’s mom, Contessa, and making sure he got that through his first few days. And of course, the colostrum doesn’t digest well if the body temperature is too low. So those are both critical ingredients to having a good outcome. We were especially lucky in that Tyrion had no other complicating factors - no infection or respiratory problems. He’s a little miracle, up to 7.5 lbs now at two+ weeks of age.

Waiting. . .

Lambs are due any day now. We’ve been saying that since just after Christmas. The barn is ready, with lambing jugs (stalls for the ewe & lambs’ first couple of days) in place, veterinary supplies updated (just in case assistance with birth is needed), a pile of clean towels to dry off newborn lambs, and warming lamps in place. The pregnant ewes have been sheared, immunizations updated, pedicures done, and the ones that want (particularly Helena) get back rubs whenever they want. They all look to be in good condition, well-nourished but not too heavy (which can cause difficulties with birth). So we’re looking forward to some healthy lambs very soon. At this point, the barn is very peaceful, with the girls up & around during the daytime, and tucked into ample amounts of fresh straw bedding at night. I’ll post photos as soon as something happens. Think pink!

A Quick Hello

What a busy Summer and Fall this has been! I should start with a huge apology for not making it to Black Sheep Gathering in June. It was a disappointment for us, but we were very grateful that Doug had the time blocked off from work. Doug's Dad's health took a turn for the worse, and Doug needed to travel to Arizona to organize Dad's relocation to Bellingham. Dad is now getting the kind of care he needs, and is just a few minutes away from family. We did get to Oregon Flock & Fiber Festival in September. What a great event! As one fellow shepherd commented, there is no place we'd all rather be at that time of year. . . the perfect end to Summer, in the company of our many fiber friends. We have set the date for Wonderful Woollies next year - April 13, 2013. More later. . .

THANK YOU!

to everybody who participated in or attended our annual Wonderful Woolies sale! I hope you had a fun day.

The little lambs have grown since then, and are fast approaching the time when they will be weaned from their mommies. The little ram boys will go to stay with the wethers (non-breeding fiber dudes), and eventually all the guys will be together. As for the girls, we’ll see how it goes. We may or may not need to separate them from the moms. We plan to have this all done well before Black Sheep Gathering in late June.

Yes, we will be showing lambs and yearlings at Black Sheep! They are a little younger for the show this year. We usually plan for January lambs. This year, they were born in March. We got a little behind last fall because of our travel plans. I hope this will not be a huge factor in the show ring. . . we’ll see. Every time we show, it’s a learning experience. We are relatively new at all this, and have been focused on fiber quality. But part of a healthy flock is having beasties with good body structure. We are working on that as well. Black Sheep Gathering is always a fun event - a great place to take classes, shop for treasures, and connect with fellow fiber fanatics & yarn farmers. The Spinner’s Lead is not to be missed! It’s in the evening, following the potluck dinner. It’s a fashion show, with the related fleece beast in tow. I participated with our ram, Elmer two years ago. This year, I’ll be walking with our yearling ewe, Olive, modeling a shawl (which is still in progress). . . .

I hope to get over to the Pavilion to watch the judge assess the vast display of fibers, but most of the time I will be in the sheep barn. I hope that if you’re there, you’ll stop by the Spinners Eden banner to say hello!

WONDERFUL WOOLIES FLEECE & FIBER SALE at Spinners Eden Farm!

The 2012 fleeces have been sheared & carefully skirted, and will be available for sale on Saturday, April 14, 10 a.m. - 4 p.m. at our farm. Spinners Eden Farm is at 5740 Mertz Rd., Bellingham WA 98226. We have a wonderful assortment of colors & different fibers available, and some *to die for* hand-made Turkish drop spindles.

From Interstate 5 northbound, take the Sunset/Mt. Baker Highway exit (#255) and head east. After a mile, turn north onto Hannegan Rd. Continue past Smith Road (light) to Axton, and turn right (east) on Axton. It’s 1.1 mile to Mertz Rd. Turn left (north) & we’re the first barn on the right. If you get lost, my cell # is 360 770 6044.

From Interstate 5 southbound, take the Ferndale Main Street exit (#263), and head east. The road will turn into Axton Road. Continue east, past Hannegan 1.1 mile, to Mertz Rd. Turn left (north) & we’re the first barn on the right. If you get lost, my cell # is 360 770 6044.

Our other participants this year:

The Spindle Smith - Allen Berry’s hand-carved Turkish drop spindles
Nancy’s Farm - Nancy Giordano's flock
Little Orchard Farm - Rocky & Michele Long’s CVM/Romeldale
Riversong Farm - Christie Stewart Stein’s Lincoln, Cotswold, and Romeldale crosses
Marietta Shetlands - John Park & Tina Thommsen Park’s Shetlands
Felicity Fibers - Karen Washington’s alpacas
JNK Llamas - Jeff & Niki Kuklenski’s llamas
Brenna Brown - Brenna’s CVM/Romeldales
Rhonda Wreggelsworth - Rhonda & Vicki’s Angora (mohair) goat
Ferndale Fibers - Kathy Green's flock, washed fleeces and carded wool

There will be raw (unwashed, well-skirted) fleece, washed fleece, roving, top, batts, & the most beautiful hand-crafted Turkish spindles you’ve ever seen, and little lambs romping in the field.

Lambing 2012

I’m happy to tell you that little Zoroaster survived & is doing well after his birth ordeal. After emerging from his mommy he found himself in a mud puddle up to his armpits. Thank goodness he started out a vigorous little tyke, with a determination to survive. The first night was iffy, but since then he has been flying along with the rest of the flock.

Among sheep, births usually occur without too much difficulty. The ewes are often independent, requiring little intervention other to make sure that the mother has a safe & warm place to deliver her lambs. I’m not sure what mortality is like for range sheep, but here we try to keep a close eye on everybody for good nutrition throughout pregnancy, and to watch before & during labor for problems. This year, we have mostly first-timers, so this is new territory for all except for two of our girls. It is our fourth year of lambing.

Here are Rachael & Quinn. They're from two different mothers, but are good friends. So much cuteness!


Ellen has been uncomfortable for three full days. The vet has been out to see her & felt that the lambs were getting repositioned for delivery, which could occur any time within the next few days. We have watched her fidget, stretch, sway, paw (and I’m sure this is where the expression “piss & moan” came from). But no labor. You may see fireworks of celebration when she finally gives birth.



Three more ewes left to give birth. And then we can get some sleep, at least until our new puppy comes! (More on that later)