Fiber Frolic 2008

Dave Kennard and the sheepdog (border collie) demonstration Tree
We had a great time at the Fiber Frolic today! The first thing we did was to grab an order of the most delicioius french fries (chips for my British reader). Thinly cut, cooked to perfection. Yum.

Then we tucked in to watch the sheepdog demonstration with Dave Kennard from New Hampshire. Dave runs about 200 head of sheep and 50 head of Boer goats on his farm, and brought 4 border collies with him, ranging in age from 7-14. The fifth was home with a broken leg in a cast.

We shared some curiousity with a few bystanders as to how herding the goats would work, and they certainly handle a bit different than sheep, but the dogs knew their stuff, as you can see in the above photo, where they have herded a mixed group of sheep and goats (notice the goats going in last and thinking about dodging away) into a chute.

Only one dog is visible in the photo-on the down command, eyeballing the sheep and goats to keep them from breaking left.

Then we made our way over to the Youth Showmanship ring, to discover there had only been one entrant and they were finished!!!!

We found Boss with a nice table of product, and Clarevonne with her triplets. Boss also brought four bucks to show in the adult buck division. She asked if we would give a hand, and I readily agreed. The young firebird took Grey, I took Hjalmar, Boss took Nishak, and an unlucky goat person took Chris, who spent the whole time in the ring rubbing his bucky head all over the guy.

Boss offerred to switch, but the fellow didn't mind at all. He knew Chris-he had just finished showing two yearling does that were Chris's daughters.

Chris won first and best in show (we knew he would take the first), Hjalmar took second, and it was funny, because when the judge said, "second goes to..." I stepped forward with Hjalmar and then she said, "Nishak" and Boss and I both exclaimed, "Nishak?!?!" and then the judge looked again at the scorecard and corrected herself to Hjalmar. LOL

Nishak took third and Grey took fourth. They were the only four bucks entered.
We had a ton of fun, although the little Tree was quite put out that she was too small to handle one of the bucks. She did get the chance to carry a triplet of a doe that was being shown by another farm from the pen to the ring.

The fiber goat community here is quite laid back and everyone knows each other-especially since Boss really started Cashmere goats in Maine. Even the judges started out their goat farm with Boss' goats.

I did find myself wishing that we had brought our Nicolas-he would have kicked butt in the yearling class, even though he has not totally shed out. I have a huge bag of fiber from him already, and his look is very good. Of course, he also is from Boss' stock. :D

The goats were only there for the day-tomorrow are llamas and alpacas and it supposed to be a very hot humid day, so I think we will pass on the show tomorrow.

Ugh

Today is not going very well. For starters, when I went to grain my goats this morning, I discovered that a skunk had been in the goat house during the night. The house smelled so bad I was retching-and the goats, some of whom slept in the house, didn't smell much better.

The bright spot? Thanks goodness I decided to wait another year before showing any goats at the fiber frolic tomorrow!!! I would have been pretty upset to be faced with skunky goats and a goat show! We are looking forward to going to see how things are run to be better prepared next year.

Other screwy things include going to the laundry to discover the accounts lady had just used all the hot water-so I drove another 20 miles + to another laundry to have our whites come out dirtier than when they went in-despite the unusual pretreating effort I did, and actually used bleach for a change. They must have hard water, because I kept adding soap but it just wouldn't foam....So now, a lot of the clothes will be permanently stained since they went in the dryer before I realized their condition.

Then on the way home I stopped to buy hay and the dealer was out-so I went to another dealer and while we were loading, ambulances and firetrucks went racing by-never a good sign. The fire was at a dome home I had been in years ago for a child's birthday party...gone now, and I hope the occupants made it out safely!

The Senate squashed a climate change bill today that would have capped emissions and created a CO2 trading deal-mostly aimed at large companies. Although the bill had more yes than no votes, there was not enough to override a Republican filibuster. Because it would have been too costly economically. Hello? How much worse can it be when gas is $4 a gallon ? Oh right, costly to BIG BUSINESS. I wonder how many midwestern senators voted against it-while their towns are being devasted by tornadoes and flooding?

There is some good news. An Eagle named Beauty, whose beak was shot off by poachers has received a temporay prosthetic beak. Quite interesting, here's the link for a slideshow and more information about raptor rehabilitation.
http://birdsofpreynorthwest.org/

Susana Bombal

Alta en la tarde, altiva y alabada,
cruza el casto jardín y está en la exacta
luz del instante irreversible y puro
que nos da este jardín y la alta imagen
silenciosa. La veo aquí y ahora,
pero también la veo en un antiguo
crepúsculo de Ur de los Caldeos
o descendiendo por las lentas gradas
de un templo, que es innumerable polvo
del planeta y que fue piedra y soberbia,
o descifrando el mágico alfabeto
de las estrellas de otras latitudes
o aspirando una rosa en Inglaterra.

Está donde haya música, en el leve
azul, en el hexámetro del griego,
en nuestras soledades que la buscan,
en el espejo de agua de la fuente,
en el mármol de tiempo, en una espada,
en la serenidad de una terraza
que divisa ponientes y jardines.

Y detrás de los mitos y las máscaras,
el alma, que está sola.

Jorge Luis Borges

Amor es bueno en sí naturalmente

Soneto

Amor es bueno en sí naturalmente...

Amor es bueno en sí naturalmente,
y si por causa dél males tenemos,
será porque seguimos los extremos
y así es culpa de quien sus penas siente.

El fuego es el más noble y excelente
elemento de cuantos entendemos,
mas tanta leña en él echar podremos
que al mundo abrasará su fuerza ardiente.

Cuanto más si le echáis otras mixturas
de pez o de alquitrán para movelle,
como aquéllas que eché en mis desventuras;

por donde en el ardor de sus tristuras
tan quemado quedé, con encendelle,
que en mi rostro se muestran mis locuras.

Juan Boscán

Lost

A friend of mine got lost in the woods on Sunday. We had stopped in for a visit and left around 1 pm. Shortly after that, P decided to walk over to the blueberry field to see if there were any blossoms.

This was a spur of the moment thought-he had just opened a beer ( I know, I know, 1 pm Sunday..but hey, it WAS hot and sunny out) and left it on the picnic table. He didn't plan to be gone but for a minute. Me, I would've taken the ale with, personally. :D

Once in the field, he heard some chainsawing out in the woods. The woods go for four or so miles back before they cross the road I used to travel to the farm. To the West they go through the valley another four miles or so to the top of the mountain I love to take scenic pictures from-Candian geese flock was the last pic posted from there (not mates).

That is to give the idea of how large the woods are.

Being curious as to who was cutting what and where, he started off through the woods. Shortly he realized that he was lost. He walked for three hours before he came out. The sun went away and thunderstorms moved in, so he had no idea which direction he was heading. He found snowmobile trails and followed them, but would decide he was going wrong and turn back and retrace his steps.

We figure he walked about twelve miles and lost a pint of blood to the mosquitoes.

He didn't have his cell phone on him, and said, what would I have said, I am out in the woods?

I said, well, we could have gone in banging pots and blowing whistles to give you a direction to head in. (Before we called in air search)

Part of the danger is that he suffers from back problems, and has even had surgery. He could barely stumble by the time he did find the road a half mile from his house. And of course, it's all uphill from there.

He did have a lighter in his pocket-at least I am always comforted if I know I have fire on me.

This story also has a personal story for me involved. I love hiking through woods, and have done so since I was young. Eleven years of age I had permission to walk through nearby woods, as long as I took the dog. (That was the best dog!)

The only time *knocks on wood* that I have ever been lost in the woods was the same woods that P was lost in on Sunday. I think even the circumstances were the same...I heard logging and went in deep to investigate. Both P and I are fairly familiar with the area, but the lure of the noise seems to leave one without the focus to make landmarks to mark the return trip.

Also, the time I was lost, the skies were also cloudy, and difficult to make orientation. (I know the house and road frontage would be South, as the woods are on the North side of the road)

Also, in both our situations, we struggled to hear car engines to indicate where the road was, but failed.

Luckily for me, I had taken the dog with me. Once I realized I was lost (after turning circles and panicking for ten minutes or so), I told the dog, "Let's go home!"

This took another several minutes for the dog to understand that I was not going to lead, and then I followed the dog, even though the direction felt wrong. Sure enough, I was only a hundred yards or so off the trail, and she led me straight there. That was a good dog, too.

I guess I need to actively start looking for another dog if I want to do any woods walking this summer...Thanks for that lesson, Mom. :)

I also want to add that the time I was lost, P was rather derisive as to how one could get lost in those woods. Now, years later, even though he has travelled those woods every summer since (not thoroughly, though) he found himself in the same situation.

And that is how the majority of people get lost- unprepared (see why I would take the beer?:P)
and spur of the moment. Don't follow the fairies into the woods folks..we might never hear from you again.

Under the Milky Way Tonight

Lyrics
Sometimes when this place gets kind of empty,
Sound of their breath fades with the light.
I think about the loveless fascination,
Under the milky way tonight.

Lower the curtain down in memphis,
Lower the curtain down all right.
I got no time for private consultation,
Under the milky way tonight.

Wish I knew what you were looking for.
Might have known what you would find.
Wish I knew what you were looking for.
Might have known what you would find.

And its something quite peculiar,
Something thats shimmering and white.
Leads you here despite your destination,
Under the milky way tonight(chorus)
Under the milky way tonight.
Church

Barack is the Democratic Nominee

It's official, Barack Obama is the Democratic nominee for president of the United States.

"Day by day I grow more knowing in the ways of the trees and the moss and the snow on the ground, and all things are my friends." - --
Knut Hamsun

Vacation

I am officially on vacation!

I spoke with Boss yesterday, and since cashmere season is pretty much over, I wanted to finish early.

I much prefer to work with the animals than fixing odd jobs around the farm-especially when my own things are piling up around my ears here. I hope to go back to the farm in the fall to see to extending the Prescott pasture-if she doesn't have the boys do it this summer.

I'll miss all my animal friends at the farm, but I hope to stop by the Fiber frolic on Saturday and will be able to see a couple of the young bucks Boss is planning on showing.

Ran some errands today and it was nice to be home and finished by noon. The sunny hot morning has changed to threatening clouds, and we have a good chance for some thunderstorms.

I guess I will curl up with a good book and put my feet up for awhile. :D

Today's Bitch= OIL

Where do I start? How about a couple evenings ago while watching the National news?
I let out a shocked gasp of exclamation, and clamped my hands over my face in shock. My children came running, asking, "What's wrong, what's wrong?"

How to explain to little ones compassion and the plight seniors and everyone else that relies on oil to heat their homes are facing?

What was it that I heard on the news? That local oil companies are pre-booking winter heating fuel at 4.50-5.00 a gallon.

Now allow me to explain. Here, heating oil suppliers allow customers to prepay this time of year for heating fuel they will need in the winter, usually for a lower price then when the demand increases.

Last year folks were faced with prices around $2 a gallon, and many huddled around their home cookstoves (electric or natural gas) to keep from freezing to death. Homes require a minimum of 100 gallons of fuel of month to heat. That is 450-500 a month at current pre-booking prices, with a five month heating season. That is almost as much as most have to pay on their monthly rent or mortgage.

Scary stuff! I was very worried for folks last year, but thankfully we had a relatively mild winter (although with lots of snow). The snow hurt me more than the cold, as I heat with wood but have to pay to have the driveway plowed. That was 2-3 times a week for quite awhile, as my regular reader will recall.

I digress. What started this blog happened when I logged on to my news homepage. Paulson, secretary of the treasury says, "there is no quick fix for oil" and it is "a matter of supply and demand."

Right, and Iraq had weapons of mass destruction.

The price of oil is driven by speculators. We are screwed.

Paulson used this opportunity to encourage oil producing countries to open up to investment, exploration, and marketing. What that means is that a big oil company, such as Exxon, goes in and offers less than 20% for what is pumped in exchange for absorbing the cost of exploration, drilling, and transporting.

Last month, gasoline demand here in the US was down 7% from last year. There was a 4% drop in Memorial day travel at the Maine toll.

Car dealers are offerring 2.99 a gallon credit on the purchase of a new truck for the first 12,000 miles. Gotta keep us consuming....

Because what is going to happen when we all cut back on our oil use? Good things for climate change, we hope, but not good news for those oil companies. The price could drop. Maybe, if we are lucky.

Or there are going to be some cold folks around here this winter.