It’s That Time of Year
Instead of doing another crochet post, I thought I’d share my sister Carol’s good news.
On March 19, I received an email with pics of the latest additions to her sheep family. Twin girls! They were born at 5 a.m. to Secret Seven. One weighed 10 lbs 15 oz and the other weighed 11 lbs.
The Mom is Dorset & Corriedale. She was bred with an East Friesian & Lacaune dairy ram for these cute little lambs. Carol’s granddaughter, Madison, named them Joy and Snowflake, for now.
I had written about her new sheep acquisition last year here:
https://feltingandfiberstudio.com/2016/04/25/welcome-to-the-family/
Carol is expecting her East Friesan/Lacaune dairy ewe will deliver this week. Her other two Corriedale & Dorest mix will deliver next month. She has 9 older sheep and the two babies at the moment. Three Corriedale & Dorset ewes, three Corriedale & Dorset wethers and two East Friesian & Lucaune dairy ewes and a East Friesian & Lucaune dairy ram. She’s hoping to get a Corriedale ram this year.
I hadn’t heard of the Friesian or Lacaune breeds. So, I looked them up.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/East_Friesian_sheep
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacaune_(sheep)
Evidently, they are both known for their milk being used for gourmet cheeses. So, my sister plans to milk two of them to make cheese.
While they will be busy with babies, they will also be shearing the sheep soon. Yes, I will be getting fleeces to play with!
14 thoughts on “It’s That Time of Year”
I hope your sister does well with the cheese – I’d much rather buy cheese from a small farm than from a superstore.
The photos are lovely.
Fleeces will be good, but rather you than me with the prep of them!
Thanks Lyn! They pretty much live off the land and do a lot of trading. So, I’m sure nothing will go to waste. And she’s good at those sort of things.
As far as prepping the fleece, I’m not physicallly capable. So, I imagine I will have it processed at the Illinois Wool Mill Cathy and I visited a couple of years ago. Unless of course my husband volunteers. Haha!
Exciting news for your sister! Can’t wait to see your fleeces and how you manage the processing.
Thanks Cathy! It’s only the beginning for my sister. As far as the fleece, I’ll probably be seeing Jane at the Mill. Unless you want a shot at it or want to try spinning in the grease. 🙂
Such adorable little lambs! You’re so lucky to get to play with a new fleece 😀 (I got a new fleece recently as well, but shh, it’s a secret!)
Thanks Leonor! I won’t be playing with them for a while. But now your secret is out. So, will you wash it yourself or just spin in the grease?
I always wash my fleeces because I just can’t stand the VM… But is it weird of me to admit I like the washing process? Seeing the fibre changing from dirty to clean just makes my heart sing 😀
What will you do with yours? I bet you won’t run out of wool anytime soon!
I’ll have mine processed att the wool mill. I can’t physically do the washing. Then? Who knows? I’m sure it willl find its way into many future projects.
All that lovely fleece! 🙂
Yes, yum!
What cute lambs and I love the names Joy and Snowflake 🙂 I think it’s a heck of a lot easier to have your fleeces processed rather than attempting them yourself anyways. And the end result will be better. Hopefully, by the time you get them and get them processed you will be able to do a little felting.
Thanks Ruth! I thought Joy and Snowflake were cute, too. It’s still cold in WI and babies are always a joy. 🙂
I will probably get them next weekend. I’ll definitely have to get them processed which will give me time to figure out what to do with them. I may even have them turned into roving or batts depending on cost.
How cute!! I bet they’re hard work, but so nice you get free fleece 🙂
Yes, Zed they’re cute.
If I didn’t have to have them cleaned, the fleeces would indeed be free.