frustratedearthmother
Herd Master
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Ahem...! LOL!
norseofcourse's journal - spring and show update
- Thread starter norseofcourse
- Start date
NH homesteader
Herd Master
Baymule
Herd Master
Yeah, right. You DO know about sheep math don't you?
NH homesteader
Herd Master
I keep my goat math in check! I'm too cheap (frugal, nicer word) to keep too many extras!
- Thread starter
- #435
norseofcourse
Herd Master
You'll be shearing the lambs, too, right? I shear my lambs by 4 months old... and yes you will want to shear that lamb's wool and work with it - it's so wonderfully soft. And 3 or 4 more months gives them plenty enough re-growth that you can have the lambskins processed if you want. It's not dense like shearling, but it's still beautiful.
babsbag
Herd Master
I just read back in your journal and I would really like to know what a plumber is and what job they perform; I have never seen one. 
Shortly after moving into our house I walked into the kitchen one morning and the floor was very wet, huge puddle. I asked DH what was going on as he had been up for hours...he hadn't even noticed. 
I looked under the sink and a got an eye full, literally; a mouse had chewed a water line...a good reason to NOT have PEX...and it was spraying water everywhere. Ahh the joys of a manufactured home. Is this when I should have called this plumber that you speak of?
I really sympathize with the warm weather and blossoms on the trees. My apricot tree is in full bloom and last night it went down to 27°.
The weather man had forecasted 34°...I wish. I guess there will be no apricots on that tree this year; the peaches are just starting to show pink so they are probably ok. 
Shortly after moving into our house I walked into the kitchen one morning and the floor was very wet, huge puddle. I asked DH what was going on as he had been up for hours...he hadn't even noticed. I looked under the sink and a got an eye full, literally; a mouse had chewed a water line...a good reason to NOT have PEX...and it was spraying water everywhere. Ahh the joys of a manufactured home. Is this when I should have called this plumber that you speak of? I really sympathize with the warm weather and blossoms on the trees. My apricot tree is in full bloom and last night it went down to 27°.
The weather man had forecasted 34°...I wish. I guess there will be no apricots on that tree this year; the peaches are just starting to show pink so they are probably ok. 
babsbag
Herd Master
@Bruce doesn't mean I have to like it. I am going to open up a wall here soon to extend/move/install the water line for a new shower head and I can hardly wait to see what it there now. For the life of me I can't see how anything put copper can hold up the shower head arm but we'll see. My last home was built in 1956, obviously no PEX to be found. I am pretty sure that it is still not allowed in CA, but I might be wrong on that. Haven't put in any water lines under permit in quite a few years. My home is exempt from CA law since it is built to HUD standards.
ETA. just looked it up and PEX is allowed in CA
ETA. just looked it up and PEX is allowed in CA
NH homesteader
Herd Master
Yes I would shear the lambs, good to know about the timing! I like that Icelandics are triple purpose. Now I'll be on a research mission.
Here's a silly question- how on earth do you keep their fleece clean?
Here's a silly question- how on earth do you keep their fleece clean?
- Thread starter
- #440
norseofcourse
Herd Master
Clean?
I just don't take too many pictures when they're dirty 
Seriously, though. Icelandics don't have as much lanolin as many breeds, so their wool doesn't tend to attract and keep as much dirt and stuff. And their fleece is more open (less dense), so some vegetable matter and dirt falls out on its own. Most of what I'm currently picking out of wool is seeds from curled dock, thorns from multiflora rose, and little dark bits of vegetable matter that are probably bits of leaves or something. Sometimes there's dead bugs, too... Much of it picks or falls out pretty easily, again because of not as much lanolin. The adult fleeces have a bit more lanolin than the lambs.
The tradeoff is Icelandic fleece doesn't have the uniformity and fine diameter of many of the wool breeds. The thel (undercoat) *is* very fine and soft, but to use it by itself you have to separate it from the longer, less fine tog (outercoat). The thel also doesn't have anywhere near as many crimps per inch as something like Merino does. Most often the thel and tog are processed together and used for outerwear like sweaters or hats. I'll eventually be experimenting with separating the two coats, to see if there's a market for that (and to work with them myself, to learn more).
I love questions, and that's not a silly one!
