Category: Community
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Yarns and More
I’m getting set up on Ravelry as a yarn vendor. Over there, my username is OogieM, and our yarn brand is Desert Weyr. Below are the yarns I currently have in stock. This is a blend of 50% Black Welsh and 50% Western Fine Wool from a local Delta County flock. It’s designed for lace… Continue reading
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Being Filmed
I was interviewed for the Locavore Movie, which is about local food, sustainable farming, and the state of modern agriculture. I have no idea whether any of my answers will be in the movie. It’s due to be produced only on DVD, and it’ll be available in Spring 2009. Flat Stanley got his picture taken… Continue reading
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Flat Stanley Has a Busy Day
Today was quite a busy day here at the farm. Things didn’t really get started until the afternoon, but we had a lot to do. Our first problem was the septic tank. We’ve had some sewer gas backing up into the house when we do laundry. The plumber came yesterday, and we found a trap… Continue reading
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Meat Cutting
We had the great opportunity to watch some of our sheep being processed at the slaughterhouse recently. This is the typical carcass of a US-line sheep. The first step is breaking the carcass in half. This is the cross-section. It’s not a very meaty loin compared to some of our sheep. We had one lamb… Continue reading
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History Lecture to Small Vision School Class
I was asked to give a short lecture to a very small, five-person class of Vision students about clothing from between 1625 and 1750. I dressed in my mantua and full Golden Age of Piracy outfit made from Reconstructing History patterns. I’m not very good at spinning on a hand spindle. My spinning wheel is… Continue reading
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Making Cider!
Our orchard was primarily used to grow apples for cider. My mother had Kate’s Sweet Cider as a business when I was in high school. We still own the crusher and press, and I’d hoped to get it all running. This year, we had a huge crop of apples. We couldn’t get pickers, so most… Continue reading
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Garvin Mesa Day
On Saturday, October 4th, we had our big Garvin Mesa Day Open House. All three wineries and our farm were open, with special events planned. We had a barbecue with mutton legs for tasting, plus some locally-produced cow’s milk cheese. The three wineries – Terror Creek Winery, Stone Cottage Cellars, and Azura – all had… Continue reading
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Wales Trip
I was fortunate to be able to attend the Black Welsh Mountain Sheep Annual Show and Sale in Abergavenny, Wales, on September 4th, 2008. Then, I got to judge and view a number of flocks, culminating in my attendance at the Cadet Judges training. It was held at the Ted Williams Garth Uchaf Farm in… Continue reading
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Somerset, September 6th, 2008
Another day with Melinda Baker. We sorted and looked at her entire flock, then got to finish two other flocks as well. Here are Melinda’s show sheep, ewe lambs, and wethers. After getting the catch pens set up, we got the sheep into the pen. It was refreshing to see someone else set up pens… Continue reading
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Somerset, September 5th, 2008
My next stop was at Melinda Baker’s farm in Shepton Mallet, Somerset. She had to work for part of the day on Friday, so her husband kindly took the day to take me around and play tourist. This is the chapel of the Marston House. It belonged to the Earls of Cork and Orrey. The… Continue reading