Fourth Farmblog anniversary! (and bathroom renovation and Fair Isle knitting)

Today is the fourth anniversary of my first blog entry on the first of my three farmblogs.  The first entry was:

"February 7, 2005

It's currently winter although some days feel like spring. The ground is muddy and some of the goats and sheep are bred- due in April. We have three kids born January 15th from when the buck escaped in August and bred a doe too early. They were very chilled when I found them one hour after they were born. They are thriving now and oh so cute! Chores involve feeding and watering everyone which is great exercise! We're just trying to keep the peace here and the predators at bay. We really want spring to get here and more light- it's pretty dark and wet right now!"

It is more or less the same this year except since our flooding and snowstorms it has been remarkably dry here- much less mud.  Plus I have more time off during the daylight hours so the dark is not as much of an issue as in previous winters.  There were no successful accidental breedings this year so lambing and kidding should occur on schedule and in better climate this year.  So all in all improvements over time noted in the now old blog.

I have not been taking on farm projects lately since we have taken on renovating our bathroom.  It, of course, is taking more time and costing more than anticipated.  I have been taking photos on our progress.  When we are done I will post them somewhere and provide a link from a post here on the off chance that someone would like to check out our bathroom!

I have also been involved in what little free time I have in a Fair Isle Workshop.  It is being run by Liz Lovick of Orkney and is at the EZasPi site (http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EZasPi/).  I was excited about my progress until I looked at the photos of the other participants works- much more intricate and colorful than mine.  Oh well- I am really enjoying Fair Isle knitting and think I will be doing it for a long time.  I am proud to be using all of my own Shetland wool except the light grey which is Shetland wool yarn from Whoamule farm on Whidbey.  It's all natural colors too except the dyed brown on the second to bottom pattern.  That was a dying experiment for olive green went wrong.  I experimented with knitting with a larger black yarn and it caused some puckering so I would not suggest it.  I plan on finishing it when I find a chance and making a hat with it.  So I am very excited about this workshop and learning directly from a very experienced Orkney knitter!

The Stash

The Pattern and the Progess

Thinking about Blackberries

Today I am thinking about blackberries.  This is because I am doing my annual, mid-winter pruning of the bases of the vines in our yard- trying to keep them at bay.

I am thinking about when I was a kid, and we would pick the berries at my soon-to-be step-father's house- eating a good percentage of them and getting our hands, clothes, and faces purple.

I am thinking about when I would walk back and forth to school and stop to eat blackberries in a vacant lot- not minding too much if I accidentally ate a bug inside- not really understanding why adults did not like them.

Thinking about all the blackberry jelly my grandparents have made from their vine in their yard and how good it tasted.

Thinking about "Still Life with Woodpecker" and how I moved into a house in a ravine completely surrounded by blackberries and feeling a little like the woman in this book.

Thinking about all the time I have spent using a machete and pruners trying to keep them under control.  Thinking about how Tom had a blackberry thorn go through his glove, his skin and into his finger joint, and how his finger swelled, and how he will never have the same ring size on that finger again.

Thinking about how a couple spend significant money hiring us and our goat to eat the blackberries growing on their property where they are hoping to build their home.

Thinking about how much our goats and sheep love to eat the leaves of these plants- how they are like candy to them.  Thinking about how much the bird like the berries too.

Wondering about the native blackberries and if they will survive in competition with the European plants.

Thinking about the amazing blackberry wine aged three years we had at a wine tasting last Friday- how it was one of the best wines I have ever tasted.

Think about drinking blackberry liqueur made from wild blackberries and vodka and given to us by Alta for keeping her ewes extra time during the snowstorms.   Thinking about how I drank it and watched the inauguration balls and got tipsy.

Wondering about if there are others areas of the world where there is such a love/hate relationship with this particular plant.

Pruning Accomplished

The pruning is done!  It took us three days, but we really accomplished a lot.  About 9 of the trees in the orchard needed some serious topping, and the rest just simple pruning.  Tom took a class from Skagit Extension regarding caring for your cider orchard and learned some pruning tips.  I hope we did a good job and there will be a lot of fruit this next summer.  Now we have to figure out what we are going to do with all of the fruit tree branches.

Shearing Date for Schoonover Farm

We have our shearing date scheduled for March 11th, a Wednesday.  Tom is insisting that I not shear all 30 of our sheep alone this year.  Last year I injured my back in the process and missed several weeks of paying work.  So this year we are hiring Zander Woofenden.  He is young, well trained, and recommended by local Shetland shepherds.  So anyone who lives in the area (Skagit County) and would like to visit are welcome.  I am offering a 20% discount and first choice on fleeces to those how help with the process.  (I get the CVM fleece this year though).  Let me know via comment or email (donnawh@earthlink.net).

Inauguration Day

We woke up and watched the inauguration of our new president this morning.  While they went to their "luncheon", we fed our animals and then planted our Christmas tree on the border of our orchard.  We buried the birds that died with the bad weather next to the tree as a memorial and as nutrients for the tree.

Then I tagged the tree.  I am hoping that as years go by, we can reflect on this day and on the positive changes that occurred since today.
Now we will watch some of the parade before we do some orchard pruning- life will go on.