Rosco

I love this time of year. The water spigot at the sheep pen is frozen, a trailer load of wood needs to be brought up at least once if not twice a week... feeding hay and carrying water now to 3 different lots for the sheep.. if it sounds like i'm complaining, it's just coming across wrong. I do love it. I didn't get out to do the feeding tonight until after midnight and it was well over an hour before all was done, but while i was out there I wondered what was wrong with me, and why was i enjoying it so much?

I think a big part of it is that the sheep seem to be a little more gentle this time of year. (ok, they're hungry) In the spring , summer and fall, a large group of them don't want to have much to do with us, and just seem quite unappreciative. They won't dare be caught in the barn.. they have plenty of grass and are just fine. Actually, a few of them are quite snobby! However, this time of year, they seem to appreciate the care they are given. Oh, makes it all worth while. Well, if they would start paying for their keep it would make it all worth while.. just kidding.


All that being said, there are drawbacks here to the cold. One, it's a bit cold for Wyatt to play outside. (not to say we won't be sledding down hills when the conditions are right) But the other drawback right now is getting pottery glazed! (i do my glazing outside due to the health hazaards of spraying the materials indoors without the proper equipment) I fired the bisque firing on the pots i had been working on since the wool festival either last week or the week before (my memory is shot) and it's like getting the stars and the moon to line up to get them fired again. However - we'll have a heat wave Friday (40 degrees) and Wyatt is going to visit his Papaw and Momaw while I glaze. So.. if I'm making a special pot for you (or glazing a long overdue pot that got broke in transit.. Nancy knows what i'm talking about...by the way, she has the patience of Job! And Alice - so do you! I have some pots in there for you too! lol) But anyways, next week - Glaze firing! Come rain, sleet or snow ... (i think they're forcasting all the above! but not Friday :) )


Here's how the latest mug design turned out. I'd like to have something "catchy" to call it besides "the shear shop" but.. my mind's shot at the moment. I do have one other new design that's on a mug now but I'll need to wait a couple of months to share it. I think it's a funny one, but .. again, it could be that my mind is shot. (i'll give a hint though: it has something to do with the "ewe.s.military" )

ok.. so, what have Wyatt and I been doing during the day when it's too cold to go outside? (Wyatt will tell you it's going to be a really long winter) We've been making stockings from wool.

These stockings are wet felted in one piece and without any seams.

They are made to have shape and be somewhat rounded even when they are empty. Not that stockings should ever be empty.

Notice Mildred here eyeing this one - she's certain it's her wool because she is the only black and white sheep we have. However Mildred, it was made from Carlie and Cody. Maybe next time.

Hope everyone is having a great winter. Oh wait, it's still Fall, isn't it?

Little Guy

Little Wyatt turned 1 last week. What a wonderful year we've had.

Rough sketch...

October and November..

Goodness, where does the time go? The month of October was over in a flash, and November seems to be clicking along at a similar pace.

October was the month for our fall shearing. I was really hoping to get started in September, but was probably lucky to get them sheared in October. It's not an organized shearing where they are all put up and sheared in a few hours.. it's a month long process. A sheep here - and a sheep there. I think 5 sheared in one day was the record. I've heard some shear more than 100 a day, but it will never be a goal of mine. Shearing went pretty well, other than near the end... my toughest girl was on the shearing board and my clippers started to short out - argh! She's a fighter to begin with and she's just hard to settle down - so to have her nearly controlled and the shears not work was really aggravating! And to turn her loose half sheared wouldn't have been appropriate (although it has happened before)

this was her first shearing back a couple of years ago- and my first attempt at shearing. Is it any wonder she is a fighter now?

On a positive note, I called Oster and explained the problem i was having and they sent out a replacement cord - i was impressed with their customer service.

So with 'most' of the sheep sheared, it was time to get back to pottery.

It took a while to get back into the swing of things. A lot of pots were made and soon tossed - because I couldn't trim them in time and they would dry out - argh! But not all is lost.. they will be recycled into another pot.

I hope to fire the kiln later this week. It's full of special requests, orders, and a few new things too.

I don't know if you noticed, but Ewenice was getting pretty big! Here, I thought it was a grazing and grain issue.. what was I thinking? She is actually not due until spring.. looking at the calendar, I'm thinking it will be in May.

This little ornament I'm hoping will be ready next week. I was trying to design an ornament that looked a little more like a suffolk, and Susy here was what came out of the clay. She'll be made from white stoneware clay and will have handpainted black legs and face, and a little red on the hat.

When I can't get down to the pottery room, I've been enjoying working with the wool, and have been experimenting with the "fulling" felting process. I'm excited about a few new projects and will share results when they are finished.

I've been picking thru wool from our Henry - which is a yearling icelandic ram. It is on the drying shelf and the carder is standing by.

We have 3 yearlings that was sired by our moorit ram Andy. Henry and Ziggy are 2 of the 3 and after going thru their wool, I am looking forward to our next crop of lambs as Andy is the flock sire this season. He will then be moving on to another flock. We've enjoyed having Andy here,
he's been a good ram with such a laid back personality.

Thanks Andy!

Shearing TIme Again

Where does the time go? October is shearing time for our Icelandics, and although I was going to start in September this year, here it is - October already.

Virgil was the first to step up to the shearing board, and he was a breeze to shear. He must have been ready to shed this wool - and with the heat we're having this week, I don't blame him. The ones to follow weren't quite as cooperative, but understandably so. I'm just hoping that no one saw me trying to hang on to Joe as he tried to get away mid shearing... (no one besides Wyatt anyways.. he giggled - and I think I did too at the thought of what it must have looked like) we both were on the ground, and both were kicking our legs. Joe is gentle, he was just uncomfortable :) I think i was too. Needless to say, Joe's wool didn't come off in one pretty blanket - it was a little stretched out. lol.

Virgil was voted least likely to survive or thrive last year, but we think he has turned out beautifully. He seems to have grown horns overnight as well - beginning the spring a yearling with small scurrs? Is this the same guy? His wool turned out very nice as well.All in all, the shearing is going well - still have several to go, but I have to say it is so nice to see freshly shorn sheep out in the field!

Every little kid needs a swimming pool..

Of Some Sort!

(photos were taken 2 weeks ago, when the weather was really warm ) :)

Yes.. I'm really behind on my pictures, and blogging.. in a few weeks I'll tell you how the wool festival went! lol. Actually it was a really nice time. For some great photos from the sheep and wool tent, visit http://kentuckysheepandwooltent.blogspot.com/

A few more sheep designs...

It's hard to believe that it's fall - that it's dark at 8:30 now.. and that the wool festival is 2 short weeks away! I have a couple more days of making pots and I will be packing the clay away to move on to the firing and glazing.

This is a few designs that are currently on the drying shelf:

There's so many different pottery ideas that i'd like to try, that sometimes I have to remind myself to just focus so that I can finish what is in the works.. but I wonder if anyone has ever tried "sheep wool" pottery? (you know, like the horse hair pottery??) hmm.

focus.

All fired up..

literally.. getting all 'fired up' for the Ky Wool Festival http://kywoolfest.org/ that is less than a month away. My pottery wheel had been out of commission for a time, but is all fixed and running better than it was before the lightning hit it! I can't say that "I'm" running any better, but it is. :)

I have a few new designs to bring to the festival - like the "day 6" mug here, In the works, is a "ewe haul", a knitting ewe, "work for weeds" "ewenited we stand" and a few others.

Along with the new designs , Ewenice will be coming along as well.

I'm looking forward to the Ky Wool Festival. The kiln is loaded, so the pots are on their way to getting fired up too. Hope to see you there!

Master Spinners

These pictures were taken a couple of weeks ago, but I couldn't help but wonder at the time, if

spiders dread dewy mornings?

Summing up Summer

where, oh where has the summer gone?

Vines growing up the garden tiller..i need say no more about that project..

Wyatt is getting around rather well (army crawling on his belly). He's pullling up on the coffee table, chairs and etc, so it's full-time keeping up with him at the moment.

We recently sold our goats.. seems they might have been the cause of a few sheep injuries here over the years. They weren't convicted of anything, just suspected. I think they might have found a nice new home with other goats - or possibly been eaten...

Meanwhile, we have a little lamb in need of a physical therapist. Somehow, her back leg was broken (appeared to have been butted.. but again, no arrests were made - all speculation)

The little lamb has recovered from the surgery, but is not able to stand or walk on her own. It's been 2 weeks and she has a follow up with the Dr tomorrow, we'll see what he thinks. Despite the injury, she seems to be enjoying a little (ok, a lot) of extra attention.

We have 2 new lambs - they are adorable - what little lamb isn't? (they were bottle lambs from another farm)

What else is new...My pottery wheel is not working! Lightning struck close a few days ago and the wheel was plugged in and hasn't worked since. (nor has the fence charger) But all is well.. and it's a great summer! Hope everyone is having a wonderful one as well.

Pottery photo shoot...

I was trying to get a few good photos of some pots to post on the website, but it wasn't as easy as it sounds. The pots were reflecting the background, the sky, me... One after another I placed them on the fence post (the finest of pottery photos must include a fence post, right?), and one after another I had bad pictures!

There's so much reflection on this pot that it's hard to tell what the glaze looks like! I'm sure a class on photography, or even a book on the subject would be money well spent. (but for the time being - I'll keep experimenting)

Then I turned around to check on this sweet little guy that had been so patient as mom was trying to get something done and i realized that my camera had been pointed in the wrong direction.

This is what I should be taking pictures of!

He was quite tired, so we don't have any smiles, but sweet just the same.

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much more cooperative than the pottery!

New Pots..

The kiln was opened yesterday, and with a few exceptions, I was happy with the results. There was several new glazes in the kiln this time - like this clear glaze on the bewelah mugs and yarn bowls. This glaze did well as long as it wasn't applied too thick (then it got cloudy)

Above is the clear glaze over the white stoneware, and below is the same glaze over brown stoneware, which came out a nice tan color.

This is a glaze that I used a few times quite a while back called "ketchup red" I liked the way it turned out as well.
And this is an experiment of Ketchup red with a blue glaze sprayed over it. Some of this turned out ok, but some of the pots will be put in the "yard sale" box. lol. I've found that even the worst of glazes/pots are big hits at a yard sale! ? I liked how this one turned out though.

This mug was a little cloudy..
yard sale box!

I'll be adding the pots to my website within the next couple of days.

Thanks for stopping by!

The month of June

Where has the month gone? I haven't posted to the blog since..goodness, early June, so I will try to get caught up here.



It seems like it's been a wet month with a lot of storms!



This storm came thru a week or so ago and brought the darkest clouds that I could remember. Fortunately there were not any funnel clouds.



Earlier that day...Fortunately, we didn't need all those wagons. Jack cut quite a bit of hay, but decided with storm clouds coming to roll bale quite a bit of it. So even with all the rain, we have been able to get some hay cut and put up.

No pictures yet, but I have been glazing pots. It's always been the most time consuming aspect of making pottery, but it has taken on a whole new meaning with a baby now. Even though the glazes are safe once they are fired, it's an entirely different story when they are being mixed, and when I am spraying the pots. I wear a respirator during the whole process, so it sure isn't something the baby can be around. Getting the pots glazed has been a struggle - but it's all downhill from here.

Speaking of struggle... the rams are all sheared (and it's almost July, why wouldn't they be??) Actually, they were sheared the last week of May and first week of June. That was a process as well.. one here, one there. For some reason I thought they would be easier to shear because they were so much bigger - seemed like they'd be easier to hold than some of the smaller sheep. And.. well, if it weren't for those horns, they might have been. I think I have figured out the shearing part now, but still need to work on how to get a good hold on them and keep it! (and need to work on those second cuts -arh) Oddly enough, despite the struggle with the rams, I enjoyed shearing the sheep this year.

This is Cody - he was a good sport and very cooperative with the shearing (and shearer). I've been taking pictures of the boys this month for the website. I finally put a website together. It has several "check back for updates" pages, but it has been published. Stop by and visit if you have a chance http://www.flatcreekwoolandpottery.com/

Andy..
and LeRoy.. I can't believe how much the sheep have grown the past couple of months! It's like there's a miracle gro out there in the pasture. And when I say "grown" - it's not just 'up'! Sometimes it's 'out'. So many of our ewes look like they're expecting again ...But maybe it's just the angle. They do say that the camera adds pounds.

Speaking of growing...

Wyatt just loves checking on the sheep. He loves to be outside and around all the animals.. and looks like they love it too. They keep coming back anyways, and we seldom have treats.
I love Rosco's eyes in the picture above.. he's saying "what about petting me Wyatt?"

ok.

Poor little guy has been sick this whole last week. Come to think of it, we've all been sick here within the last month. Isn't it June?

A brief "mutton bustin" lesson.

Well.. i think this brings us up to date!

Hope everyone is enjoying their summer!

Myrtle

Just wanted to share a few pictures of Myrtle. She is so full of personality. She's a year old now, but still jumps around and hops like a little lamb. She might not ever grow up and we're ok with that.

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She had her first shearing recently, and what she was hoping for was "a little off the top and sides""this is not what I asked for!"
"does this new cut make my ears look big?" "um, well Myrtle...it makes your neck look small"

"Wyatt, it's me... Myrtle"