Hello Dear Readers! Welcome to the new folks joining us! The sheep bid you good morning and hope that your coffee is strong!
Thank you to the newest paid subscriber Judith W. I am grateful for your support!
I’ve often been asked “Why sheep?”
Well, I just love their sweet little faces! But…that’s not really the answer people were looking for from me.
For me it was an organic growth in fiber arts. Or was it a desire to be self-sufficient?
Shortly after my kids were born, I got really into knitting. Making sweet little sweaters, mittens and hats for them made my heart happy. I also sewed most of their clothes at the time. Fabric was cheap at Walmart and it made sense at the time. 2-3 yards of fabric netting me several outfits for them both. Same for the good old Red Heart Supersaver yarn. One big skein made lots of mittens or one sweater for only a few bucks.
I’ve always been the kind of person who desired to take things back to the original start. That sounds weird but I can’t think of a different or better way to say it.
Bread means grinding my own flour.
Yeast means using sourdough starter.
Knitting means spinning my own yarn.
Spinning means having sheep to provide the fiber.
Does that make sense?
Before I met my Rob, the kids and I had a small farm in Arizona. Primarily we had chickens, ducks, turkeys, and one lone goose. At one point, a goat who was to provide us with milk, however, we lost her to pregnancy toxemia, so that didn’t happen. The eggs we got provided lots of meals for us, plus a source of income from sales.
After moving to Colorado, our lives expanded into horses and cows. I had been around horses since I was a kid, so they were not new to me, but cows, well, there was a pretty good learning curve and it’s a good thing Rob was a “mostly” patient teacher.
If you have ever been around people working cows, you understand what I’m talking about. Words were said. From both of us. LMAO!
Rob knew of my desire to have a small spinners flock of my own. He totally loved the idea of having hand knit socks and hats from our own farm. He also understood my desire to go back to an origin point with stuff. He was a history nerd like me, and understood that desire to go backwards, as it were.
My sweet love gave me 3 sheep for our 3rd wedding anniversary. Two ewes, Miss Lucy and Miss Putt Putt and the original ram-ly one, Mr Ned.
Sheep worked well for us also. We were set up to incorporate them to the farm with little disruption. Fencing was sufficient to keep them mostly in, except for here in Wyoming where my fences are absolute shit. They survived on the same graze and hay as the cows and horses. They were easier to manage with their smaller size, and while they can put the hurt on you if they really wanted to, it’s easier to get hit by a sheep than an 1800lb cow.
I’m not sure if that is an offshoot of a desire to be self-sufficient?
Got cows? Beef in the freezer
Got horses? Source of transportation
Got garden? Veggies to go with the beef
Got sheep? Warm clothes
One big factor in the pursuit of self-sufficiency was the blizzard of 1978. We were snowed in pretty good for a while during that mess. My parents were not prepared for something like the massive quantities of snow, lack of power, and no heat that came along with that storm.
We had a fireplace in the living room, but very little wood to keep it going. Certainly not enough for multiple days of heating what was a rather large room.
The only food was canned soup and baked beans. A lot of that was eaten cold as the fire was not sufficient to heat it up well.
No water, we were melting snow for something to drink.
And I never forgot that.
I always find it fascinating how the psyche can take a situation as above and shape your life to create that sense of safety, so you are not in that situation again.
I have been in situations with prolonged power outages but have never been in the dire straits as when I was a child. Firewood, food, water, and the ability to get thru something with very little disruption is how it goes now.
Along with cozy warm woolie things from my flock!
So why not sheep!
Ultimately, I just love their sweet little faces!
Blessed Be!