Hanging Out

We are getting ready here to start our Second Annual Breeding Season here at Blue Goose Farms. We have Slate and Rhodes ready to go and come next Weekend they will be with their respective Ewes. All of our Sheep have been checked over and all are healthy and doing well. There will be one last look over before the Boys are put into then Pens and then they will be in Heaven for a while.

Other than all of that it has been busy around here. Vance has been slowly painting the House when he can and it is looking great! I am madly working on Christmas gifts and helping out with a Wedding. I have been making some Party Favors for the Guests....























Also, I am doing a few decorative things and am making a Shawl for the Bride to be. It is made out of 100% Llama that was Sheared from Roxywood Farms in Eads, Tennessee. Rebecca raises and shows some very fine Llamas, The Fiber is just amazing!

We are still here!

Well, it has been a busy busy fall both personally and Farm wise. A few weeks ago I made a trek up to Iowa to visit Crosswinds Farm. Corrine was VERY nice to suggest a Breeder for a Ram and also went to pick the Ram up while She was in Wisconsin... I am very touched by Her Generosity. I stayed a few nights near the Quad Cities and MAN there is A LOT of Corn! I forgot my Camera which really sucked but I have an Awesome memento from my visit...and a Ram too!














Here is the Wonderful Rhodes, We got him from Ramsay Farms in Minnesota. I have some lovely Ewes lined up for him.


Let's see, I have been Spinning some Alpaca for a Lady in New York. I am doing different blends and sending some back to her when I have enough to fill a package. I am enjoying this project. Here are some pictures I have...













I also recently sold some of my Spun Wool to a lady in Texas and some Fleece to a lady up North. I am very excited about all of this.










For Fans of my Shetland Lamb Lily, I have taken a few more pictures of how she is changing colors again...

Busy busy busy...

August already??? Where does all of that time go?? We have been building more pastures and adding a few more animals along the way. In the the fall we will be adding 8 lambing pens and other things I am sure.
Last weekend I drove to Texas to look at some Angora Goats and I met a wonderful couple Mea & Roman Stone in Keller. I almost thought I would not make it because I woke up Saturday VERY sick and queasy. I did not want to turn back so I pushed forward once I was feeling better at the Hotel. I made it to the house around 3:00pm and and wandered around like a Kid in a Candy Store (pardon the pun)...








Roman is an amazing cook and we had Prime Rib the first night I was there...I was VERY spoilt! Yummy Broccoli & Cheese and Chicken links the next night...I could have moved in! Mea taught me how to Spin Mohair from Cloud, it was all new to me and I was quite surprised at how easy it was. I really want to go back to Texas to visit Mea & Roman and possibly see some of Texas too. I did pick out two beautiful Bucks to bring home Nook Comet and Joshua. They were so well looked after it might be hard to do as awesome of a job Mea has done with them but we will do our best. Here they are....








Since the boys have been here I have been reading the book The Angora Goat written by Stephanie & Allison Mitcham. I highly recommend this read if you want to have some Angora Goats or if you already have them. Mea gave this book to me and gives it to each person who buys a Goat from her. I think that is a great tradition that should be passed along, how very thoughtful and it helps people like us get on the right foot.
Well, today we are building another Goat Shelter and continuing on to the Fall where Breeding is right around the corner...so much to do but we enjoy every minute.

Putzing around while washing Wool.

Around the Farm

Here are some pics of around here. Some of the Lilies my Mom & I planted when she was visiting last year. There is also a Guinea on her nest and look at Lily the Lamb! Her colors are still changing everyday...not sure what she will look like yet.

We survived our First Shearing!!

Whew! It was a Day!! We started around 6:00am just focusing on waking up and picking up some Help. We made sure everyone was ready to go and the Babydolls were set up as well. Then it was sit and wait for a bit until the Shearer made it. We were VERY fortunate to find someone at the last minute and he was Awesome!!! Everyone had their feet clipped, wormed, and their Booster too, it was a zoo here. He made the whole thing look VERY easy so we knew he was good. Our Babydolls have to be the most impressive since they were the rattiest looking of the bunch. Here are some pictures...They all look so graceful...Greta looks like she will start tap dancing any minute with those white feet.












They all look so great! We could not do it without our wonderful Shearer and Taylor our helper. Thank you! I am looking forward to next season!

Growing Pains

This past weekend my Good Friend and I travelled to Missouri to Indian Springs Farm. They were Celebrating something called "Wool Days" and have been doing this for over 20 years now. The drive up there was great but we became VERY VERY lost and the Road kept getting more narrow and then turned to dirt. I have no idea where we ended up before we turned back and called for help with Directions...it was a blast! I went with the intention of possibly getting some Angora Goat Does and I wanted to get there early so I could have more to choose from. We left at 3am and travelled through some nasty rain with lots of Lightening and potential flooding on the roads. When we got there the place was just AMAZING! it was 500 Acres of Trees, Pastures, a Stream and lots of flowers. A beautiful Peacock greeted us as well as the VERY friendly couple (Jim & Avalene) that run the Farm. Jim was VERY patient with me and many other people who asked him about the Goats and all of the different things found on the Farm. I greatly appreciated the time that Jim gave me and came home with a few beautiful Does...Also I appreciated Jamie who helped me load the Does and answered many of my questions too. Avalene was amazing as well, She is just so friendly and personable. I did not have as much time with her as my friend did but every moment with this couple was fascinating.

Here are the Does that I was fortunate to come home with... The first one is the Mom to the little Black Doeling










Here is the single Doeling I bought as well



I am very excited to see what will happen in the years to come.

Our trip was great and I enjoyed the company. It was hard to drive 6 hours there and back but we made it.

The worst part of our trip was on the way home. We saw first hand the Aftermath of the Storm that recently went through Missouri. I had never been at Ground Zero so close after something like that, Trees were ripped out of the ground and thrown distances on top of Vehicles, Houses and Roads. We saw the Power Company out in full force cleaning everything that they could to get Life going again. Many buildings were missing Roofs and a lot were caved in as well, Metal buildings were wrapped around Trees and other things. It was so sad to see and more sad because...what could I do? At one point I saw a Man coming out of the side of his yard to the Garage pushing a Wheelbarrow. He had a Cigarette hanging from his mouth and it looked like he didn't have a care in the world...just another day but he had more to do. In a sense it amazed me because that about summed it up. I wish all the people affected by that Storm well and I think of you and hope for the best. I know you will all be fine.