Meet some of the cutest little critters this side of the creek!

Here is Slobo’s picture of Emma and her two babies. She is such a good mommy!

and one of the babies just after nursing…

Nothing like a happy baby!

I am so excited to meet Emma’s owner, Sandra! She and my family are members of the Sweetwater Camera Club. Slobo scheduled a photo field trip for the club to her and her husband’s farm and I got to tag along and see what her sheep and the farm look like.

Sandra and her husband raise babydoll sheep on their Sweetwater Creek Ranch farm. Babydoll’s are an old-world breed, miniature Southdown sheep, and they are absolutely adorable. Her goal is to increase the population of this rare breed. I am excited at the chance to shadow her so that I can learn more about caring for these sheep and get to know my future wool providers.

With all of the flooding in our counties the past month, unfortunately, her pasture is still a wetland. You can see some of the water in the picture of Emma above. She relayed the panic they felt the night of the heaviest flooding a few weeks ago. Her husband woke her up at midnight to let her know the creek had flooded it’s banks and was quickly engulfing the pasture. She said the water eventually rose to the roof of their barn (They have about a 10 ft tall barn). They were able to rescue most of the sheep, but sadly one was lost in the rising water. The sheep had to be kept in her basement until the water receded from the barn. She is now having to give them round the clock feed until the water can drain from the once lush pasture.

While, I was there, Sandra and I talked about fleeces. She has tried to wash the raw fleeces herself but ran into so many problems from allergies to felting, that she decided to use a fiber mill. With the $300 price tag for processing, it was not worth messing with it (as she says, I don’t knit, spin, or weave – so why do it?). However, being a knitter, spinner, and weaver – I’m jumping at the chance to give it a try! In the spring, when the sheep shearer makes her rounds to the farms, I will be able to purchase the fleeces from her seven sheep at a very good price. From what I have read, the fleeces work into a yarn with the equivalent softness of cashmere and with a gorgeus variety of color. It will be a wonderful opportunity to process, spin, and weave wool that is from sheep which I get to befriend! Yes, I am in sheep nirvana…………………

P.S. I’ve finally woven off the warp from the loom I built, making 4 dishtowels and 2 dishcloths. While the towels were gifted the moment they came off the loom – I do have one cloth that I’ll post a picture about along with plans for building a loom of your own. Coming soon….