norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update

[Latestarter]

Sounds like the "building plan" will ease things up for the sheep really well. You are one busy person! What ever happened with the wool from your sheep? Weren't you going to be using it to spin? I can't recollect ever reading how all that went for you... Hope you get lots of milk from your girls this year. Will you be doing the once a day thing or twice a day? I remember last season you got a bit tired from getting up so early before going to work.

 

[norseofcourse]

Sounds like the "building plan" will ease things up for the sheep really well. You are one busy person! What ever happened with the wool from your sheep? Weren't you going to be using it to spin? I can't recollect ever reading how all that went for you... Hope you get lots of milk from your girls this year. Will you be doing the once a day thing or twice a day? I remember last season you got a bit tired from getting up so early before going to work.

Thanks Actually I can be a lot more lazy than I'd like to admit... And i have to fit things into weekends and after work, and that's when the weather cooperates! whine.... lol

This coming weekend is the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in Wooster, Ohio. I'll have some of my wool (roving and raw fleeces) at a friend's booth, so this will be my first chance to see if I can actually sell some wool. I'll also have some sheep's milk soap - not as much as I had hoped to bring, but some. Wish me luck - and good weather! We have an outside booth...

I've only milked a few times so far this year. I still have lots of milk frozen, and so far have not had any quality issues using it.

The lambs are doing well. I did their first set of shots last week. Eyelid colors were all good. It looks like all the undercoats are coming in white/cream, which will turn the black ones grey, and the brown ones much lighter. Except - the 'tuxedo pattern' lamb will stay solid black and white!

With everything growing so fast, I've been trying to keep up with mowing, and get the garden ready for the year. I have a bunch of tomato starts, and I'll get some other plants at a local place. I could maybe fit one more load of manure on the zucchini area, and then that's done. The rest of the garden... well, I let the mowing get away from me, so I've got a lot of clearing to do. But once it's done and planted, I'll be using black plastic like I did on the zucchini last year, to prevent weeds and hold in moisture.

It's late, so I'll wrap this up for now and try to get some new pics to post soon.

 

[norseofcourse]

Things the soapmaking books don't tell you:

NEVER, EVER, EVER put lye or the lyewater in the microwave!!! (hint: lye is sodium hydroxide. Sodium is a metal. Metal and microwaves don't get along...)

The oils heat up a lot faster than they cool down. Good to remember when you're trying to coordinate the temperatures of the oils and the lyewater.

If you're using spoons to stir with, make sure they're long enough so that if you drop them, they don't drop entirely into the oils or the lye or the soap mixture. They are all messy to get a spoon out of. The second and third time, too, for those of us who learn slowly....

Necessity is the mother of invention - and a procrastinator was probably the inventor of hot-process soap. However, the soap still has to air-dry for awhile.

A wire that's fine enough to cut soap into bars, will also cut you. Wear gloves or wrap the ends of the wire around something to use as handles.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

OOOHHH! I am going to be at the festival all the days What should I look for I would love to look at your fleeces!

 

[norseofcourse]

OOOHHH! I am going to be at the festival all the days What should I look for I would love to look at your fleeces!

My friend has an outside booth, they're mostly in a group between the buildings. She's usually close to the row of booths with alpacas. Will be glad to see you!

 

[Roving Jacobs]

You haven't bragged about it but I just wanted to say congrats again for coming first in white double coated and second in natural color double coated at the Great Lakes Fiber Show fleece show! It sounded like you got some great comments and advice from the judge too and I saw a couple people walking around with pelts they bought from you so hopefully you had a good weekend!

 

[Latestarter]

WHOA... Norse!! You never said anything!! Congrats!! That's awesome!

 

[BlessedWithGoats]

Congrats!!

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

Congrats (again) from me
I am happy to say I was helping with sign in and got to chat with her (talk her ear off lol) and am the happy owner of the white first place fleece. It called to me, I just couldn't let it go home with someone else!

 

[Ferguson K]

Woah congratulations! That's awesome!