baby bunny

I have been trying to save a baby english angora rabbit. This is much harder than most would think. They are very small, and hard to get to eat from anything much other than an eyedropper.

In the past I often was finding myself trying to save .. "the battered and bruised one" the one that mom kicked out of the nest" or one that was allready listless and cool to the touch .. my success rate has been BAD.. the longest I ever had a baby survive was 14 days.

I have undertaken this huge trial yet again and today was day 5 .. his brother (for lack of knowing the actual sex of either ) died 2 days ago. He had been the weaker of the two and chilled when I got to him. Neither baby ever recieved any dams milk so no colostrum. I did have some ewe colostrum tho and added that for the first day to the KMR I am using to feed with I am careful not to over feed, and to stimulate it to urinate after each feeding

This little fella is so far hanging in there and tomorrow if the lighting is good I will photograph him to show you.

Another year ... more lambs and sculptures.

We are getting some lambs ready to take to MDS&W to show in May .. they have been jacketed all year, and are now showing us some beautiful fleeces under these coats.

Weather is supposed to get below freezing tonight so the tender veggies are not yet going out.

Out of the lambs born this year, we had 13 lambs.. 4 ewe lambs and the rest Rams . One of those ram lambs will show at MD in may alongside the sculpture that I am currently working on . I cannot post it on the blog site because judges may be lurking and visiting sites. I know they cannot see my FB page so I can allow my FB friends to see my latest work.

That lamb there is called Cho , and she is 1 year old .. out hopes are that she will be bred to the "Dutchman" in the fall along with 3 other yearlings .

We had a Bunny class at the shop a weekend ago and had great fun. All students came away with bunnys and we spent the better part of the class laughing and having a great time.

The two new piggies are here.. one is black and white spotted the other is just pink and thats ok, if it ets much hotter they will soon be looking for a pool.

the only ewe lambs being kept this year is "Paris" we dont care if shes smart... we care if shes pretty

GETTING ready for SAFF!!

Im packing up and making wonderful santa , witch and snowman felting kits . I have put them together with what I think is a TON of packaging to help make creating these critters a little easier. BUT as we all know, I will be unable to make everyone happy all of the time.. so Im aiming for making most of the ppl happy :)

I have new puppets, and am packing up things for my class, getting little touches to each persons kit . and typing up instructions . Hubbie and I went to make color copies of my instructions and at staples that would have cost me OVER 180$ THAT was much more than I anticipated , so I have decided to buy more color cartridges for my printer and go with that approach . not cheap by any means but it certianly dosent cost me $.50 per copy !!!

My mom and dad will be manning the booth, while Linda and I teach classes, and this year I WILL take pictures of the classes completed work !! We have added so much new stuff to our booth I really hope it is a good event.. christmas and the seasons Hay is riding on it.

We are going to dye our own yarn , proudly spun from my sheep to our items this year, and we are handpainting it tomorrow. We are getting down to the wire, with 2 weeks to go until we leave and still so very much to finish !!!
VERY stressfull!!.
anyway please let me know if you went to saff and what you did and MORE!!!
M

New creations and events

We completed our lambing and kidding, 4 cashmere babies, one cashgora baby and 20 healthy lambs. sold half of the adult girls to great homes for lambs and fiber makers , and just finished what I will enter at MDS&W this spring. Im actually putting in 2 sculptures, but one is brand new. Here he is , I call him "baby bear"

the Dinosaur puppet was completed late last year and she will also go to MD to compete. I doubt that they will be as warmly appreciated as the bobcat was last year, but I think many of the visitors at MD will like them . after all the goal is to get them "seen"

Here is me hoping you all like them

Lambs kids and sculptures OH my !

So far we have delivered 8 healthy bouncing lovely corriedale lambs .. all sexes but it seems to be swaying in favor of ewe lambs at the moment. I have completed a new sculpture to put in at MDS&W .. heres hoping the work is as appreciated this year as it was last year.

We have also had 4 beautiful cashmere kids. 2 boys and 2 girls .One of the boys is a black buck with a white belly band and is SO CUTE... sadly he will be for sale . Since we own his daddy and not enough room for a second billy.

I completed a new puppet, a filly, that is currently being shown off at my local feed store.

We had a GREAT year at the NC state fair . We took all KINDS of top honors including NC born and bred ewe and NC born and bred reserve !!!

im including a photo of the ewe that took all the great ribbons .

MOMS can change the world, AND the acceptable imports.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=595here is a link to all the lucious imported poisions in fish .. you know, fish we are supposed to eat more of for the benefits? here is a list of the products that china continues to send us... who needs Al Queda... we will harm ourselves by the products we buy . Not to mention what we will allow our kids to ingest... lead... GHB when does it end?When do we stand up and STOP buying the things we dont read the labels of !!!We shop at Wally world because its cheap not because its safe... well how bout if you stood up for your children, for our future, for our rights as consumers to demand a safe product by not buying one that IS NOT safe.put your money where your future is !!! rewad the label , buy us only fish ... and shop around for US made toys this holiday season lets say to china ... they cannot convert us to communism by increasing our national debt.if you need more information or impetus then herehttp://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/28/safety_woes_widen_for_chinas_goods/

MOMS can change the world, AND the acceptable imports.

http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=595

here is a link to all the lucious imported poisions in fish .. you know, fish we are supposed to eat more of for the benefits?
here is a list of the products that china continues to send us... who needs Al Queda... we will harm ourselves by the products we buy . Not to mention what we will allow our kids to ingest... lead... GHB when does it end?
When do we stand up and STOP buying the things we dont read the labels of !!!
We shop at Wally world because its cheap not because its safe... well how bout if you stood up for your children, for our future, for our rights as consumers to demand a safe product by not buying one that IS NOT safe.
put your money where your future is !!! rewad the label , buy us only fish ... and shop around for US made toys this holiday season lets say to china ... they cannot convert us to communism by increasing our national debt.
if you need more information or impetus then here
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/28/safety_woes_widen_for_chinas_goods/

SAFF felting and FUN

I dont know about anyone else but I had an absoloute ball teaching a class at saff this year. I hope if any of my students log onto my blog they can shoot me photos of their creations to post here ,If noone does then I will just have to take cameras into next years classes .

I will be teaching a Christmas ornament class in my town of Richlands THIS saturday. Class begins at 10 am. imagine my suprise when I was told at saff I had a class this sat that I had comepletely forgotten about I told the inquiring person ... class begins at 10 am ...then I went and asked Linda... "do I have a class this saturday?"

In any case, goats are in my sheep yard and seriously need haircuts, I slept this morning until 11 am ... oh my, and have to fix those things husbands may not always pay close attention to.

to look at the photos of puppets etc , they are here they may just be older posts .
so look through... ask questions whatever you want and Ill try to answer !
thanks !

handpainting sock yarn

My grandmothers gentleman friend passed away this week and she is understandibly sad. She is a "lady" to her bones , and a very frilly one at that, so here I go painting some yarn I had spun for socks, yarn from my sheep,

... for some reason the photo is not as bright as the yarn really came out but you get the general idea... I think I will spin up some more corriedale and card some long peices of angora bunny wool in, for the cuffs... make them super duper frilly and soft.

I will post how they turn out and here is hoping the picture comes out better then than now.

now while the yarn dries in my dehydrator lol Im off to work on more needlefelting for Saff.

another new puppet

a mini schnauzer. Hadnt mads many "k-9" puppets so here is my version.

Besides the one I mailed off .. We will see how it goes. I hope everyone likes this .

Latest puppet

I will be sending this puppet to the Oprah Winfrey show on Monday. I had heard her commenting on her cocker spaniel having a hard time with bouts of kidney troubles.

Its a dual edged Idea, this one. While Im an animal lover and really enjoy my sculpting, I cannot think of another venue that would "possibly" offer me the chance to have my work seen.

I cannot imagine Ms. Winfrey having any difficulty with an entrepreneur taking a risk.

so here is one of mine. Now I can only hope it makes it past the mail room.

more on nais and traditional farming

recently discovered a blog that goes into how the AG bureaucrats plan to force nais upon us like it or not, http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2007/1/23/the-secret-plan-to-make-nais-mandatory.html
there were also several other outstanding articles on raw milk and more.
and someone has asked, do farmers blog?
I think the answer is yes, if they have the time. Nowadays they may be getting more time since urban expansion and sprawl are cutting deeply into the ag community. old farms that used to be corn are now new developments. Im thinking the only solution to this issue will end up being families who get 50-100 acres, and homestead, or create an environment where they can eat what they grow etc. but with the NAIS they wont be shipping animals or dairy off their land...

is palm oil worth it ?

palm oil, everyone is beginning to hear of it now, but palm oil is destroying the greatest forsete we have on our planet. the animals who live in them, are innocent victims. Read the label... pass the word, no palm oil in our products,.not in our face cream , shampoo or coditoner, not in our easter candy , chocloates, or anything else, and definatly not in our cars.
We, the masses say what goes into the things we buy, make your dollar matter...
buy very local produce, this is the time of year. and freeze it in a very energy efficent deep freezer, it is better than the 3000 miles some of our food travels to get to us . there are EASY cost effective ways to be middle class and green !!! matter of fact, im thinking of a new blog... maybe not tied to the farm, but on being green and poor ...
not poor exactly... but middle class, and the definition of that has changes too. anyway
look for the new blog site , Ill post
the name here soon.
in the meantime,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070528/sc_nm/indonesia_orangutan_dc
here is an article on what palm oil is doing.

another nais action

if you are anti NAIS another step you can take is to go to moveonh . org and bring attention to our cause. we are of course trying to inform anyone and everyone how this will affect them weather they have a farm or animals or not but this step may just bring a bit of attention to us .
http://pol.moveon.org/feedback/fb/form.html?tp=suggest

please go there and let them know what all will be losty if nais is imposed ! thanks Melissa

flickr photos

Recently I opened a flikr page here is a link http://www.flickr.com/photos/8291178@N03/
and it shows many of my sculptures and puppets. DO feel free to comment ! I have been making more things and will be working on a new puppet this summer as well as a sculpture that I have in my head. My garden is growing great , my lambs all look fantastic and many of my 08 fleeces have been reserved. If your interested in an 08 fleece please do e-mail and I can tell you which I still have avaliable. grayjoe@charter.net thanks ! Melissa

MDS&W results

My MDS&W entry won best in show. I couldnt have been more thrilled and excited. Lots and lots of people took photos of my work and everyone was so nice and positive.

The turnout at MD was HUGE tons and tons of people there on saturday and by comparison sunday seemed slow and relaxed .

My parents came and my husband and son went too . We had a great time and I bought lots of new wool to create with as I also got several new Ideas. My friend Laurie was there and I got my annual laurie hug. But she brought me wonderful shetland treasures, and some mulberry trees I need to transplant today before they die.. they do look a bit pathetic after the ordeal they have been through.

check back because after MD I am very inspired and will have new things in the works on a very regular basis ! thanks !!!

MDS&W

Well, we will be headed to maryland this upcoming weekend. I have entered my lynx into the needle felting competetions, and shipped it last week. I hope it does well.. I can only cross my fingers. My parents who have never attended a fiber fest will be cutting their teeth so to speak at MD.
I also will be taking my 5 yo , who is calling it a sheep carnival. We will see how much he likes it
I will also take my camera and be sure to get plenty of photos for everyone.
I know I will be carrying wool to zellingers for priocessing and checking out sheepman supply for jackets for the sheep, but more than fleece shopping I will see, because it totally will depend on money lol.
anyway I hopwe to see lots and lots of ppl and things, we missed last year so this year should be great !

Averesboro fiber fair .

We attended the fiber fair in averesboro this past Saturday and I have to say it was quite a good time. Met a lot of new and wonderful people out there, and taught some of them in my needlefelting class. Several I hope to see again.
I am happy to say I finished the lynx/bobcat .. sculpture over the weekendand she will be winging her way into the care of someone in charge of submissions for MDS&W sometime today.
I also hope to get a couple of the sheep sheared that I will then carry to Zellingers woolen mill, to have processed into rovings that I will offer at SAFF.
Linda and I are discussing other fiber gatherings that we may wish to attend and naturally would like to stay close to the east coast for now.. so if anyone knows of any , that are just starting up or are planning to become an annual event please lety me know ! but for now , farm catching up to do !

feed prices and my solutions ..

First of all this photo is my "Strider" a 3yo percheron colt.

He is 17.3 HH and about 2200 lbs.. he is large but very sweet and goofy. I truly am enjoying owning this coldblood. This coming from a serious lover of arabians. Perhaps it is my age and knowledge that Im not unbreakable ..

In any case as corn prices have continued to increase , and according to my feed store will keep going up,

I have had to come up with alternative feed regimines.

rather than a basic "complete" pelleted 12% protien feed, I am now feeding, for example if the horse normally ate 5lb complete pelleted feed, I measure out in the same scoop, (not by weight)that I used to measure out the pellets, 4 scoops of dry beet pulp.

1 qt container, is my measuring device.. and I give 4 of those,

and then I also give 1 qt of alfalfa cubes. = the 5 origional lbs of feed, I soak this for about an hour... alfalfa cubes and beet pulp may cause choke in horses..

to help raise the protien lvl for those younger horses, I give 1/4 C soybean meal, and for the baby babies, I give 1/2 C rice bran too... because the beet pulp is a great base, but low in fat percentage , it is also only about a 6% protien.

the percherons are better off on less protien but my arab cross mare needs a little more, so she gets a little soy as well...

I personally chose to also add source, for the miocronutrients, and believe it or not still come out quite a bit less expensive in the long run ..

I do add horse mineral salts to the program too

I have incorporated this feed program for my sheep and goats as well with tweaking to meet specific protien needs, for example my rams do not get alfalfa cubes, but do get cottonseed meal for a boost in protien. cottonseed meal in stead of soy because soyhas some estrogenic compounds, and I do not want this to cause breeding complications.

my lactating ewes, get more alfalfa cubes than ewes that didnt lamb... as well as more soy bean meal and cottonseed meal.

I hope to have a feed that meets the nutritional needs of each species without breaking the bank . I believe as prices continue to grow, and NAIS gets pushed harder and harder small farmers will either need cost effective feeding alternatives or they will sell out .

IF you do try this feed alternative please use common sense , and watch the weight and condition of your animal closely.

I am not an equine nutritionist , but I have fed and owned horses for 30 years.

I am using a method I am trying out based in logic not in any proven scientific studies.

I would like to know your own results if you too try this regimine. and I will keep you posted on the overall health and condition of all of my animals on this feed program.

Melissa

Frost..

We are supposed to get temps in the upper 20's tonight. definatly a frost. I will need to try to protect the small bean sprouts and more coming up that will likely die from a frost.Hope it takes a bit of the pollen count down. But I also dont want to loose my peach crop, small but important to me.. I have tried very hard to have an edible landscape. we are on 6 acres, but I grow dye plants and medicinal herbs as well as a grape vine, we cut out the hedges close to our house, ornamental boxwoods, and are replacing them slowly with blueberry bushes... down by the barn Ill be growing pupmkins, for the sheep and goats as well as to put pumpkin up for pies later in the season. Iam trying to grow luffa..gourds, and heirloom seeds... Im trying a new tomato caslled amish paste, I will see how that does. and then the standard ones one grows in their gardsns, after this frost anyway.. makes me very glad I hesitated to get my cukes and squash in the ground.. they are in here on the table... thankfully they are looking great.. I wonder if a lot of others were lulled into a false security and planted before me.. if so , they are hating themselves now.