Great Lakes Fiber Show and Sale - Wooster - 2013

As Memorial Day approached, it was time for our annual trip to The Great Lakes Fiber Show in Wooster. We loaded up the camper for its first trip of the year along with five lambs in the back of the truck and headed north. Unlike last year when it was in the 90's, it was a chilly day barely in the 50's.

Once we arrived, it was time for settling in and trimming, while catching up with everyone. On Friday night we gathered at the Great Western for a potluck with the other border leicester breeders. Thanks to the Fogles for organizing and furnishing delicious lamb.

On Saturday it was time to get ready for the show. Judge Judy Moore placed two of the lambs in second and one in first in their classes.

That night we met for our annual Border Leicester Breeders dinner at the Olde Jaol Restaurant in downtown Wooster. We had excellent company and food along with a silent auction featuring wines, foods, photographs, and a quilt.

On Sunday we were pleased to have a good turnout of buyers at the sale. All of our lambs sold at good prices and went to homes in Indiana and Pennsylvania. One even went home in the back seat of a car!

The ram lamb and one of the ewes found their way to Pennsylvania.

What's next? We'll be shearing in July and will have fleeces for the Michigan Fiber Festival, which is the third weekend in August in Allegan. Don't miss it!

Summertime 2011

ZNK Border Leicester Summer Update

Great Lakes Fiber Festival - Wooster, Ohio

Memorial Day weekend is the traditional kick-off for summer, and ours began with a successful weekend at the Great Lakes Fiber Festival in Wooster which hosts the National Border Leicester Sale. We sold three sheep. The black ram lamb won his class and was sold to Sarah Jakeman of Some Day Soon Farm, New York. The white ewe was second in her class and was sold to Montana Aerie along with our other yearling ewe in the sale.

June and July on the Farm - West Liberty

In spite of a very hot summer, it was a good one. As soon as Jerry arrived home from Wooster, our granddaughter Lucia's 2-week visit began. Zac and Rebecca took off for Spain, and we gladly offered to entertain Lu while they traveled. We introduced her to the sheep, hoping that she'll get to feel comfortable around them and help her Pappy show them someday. Her favorite activity, as seen in the photo, was helping Pappy mow the lawn.

In the meantime, I started renting a booth at Hidden Treasures in West Liberty. I have hand-painted yarn, hand-spun yarn, roving, and hand-knitted items for sale. I'm hoping the sales improve in the fall when people are looking for woolen projects to do, as well as hats, scarves, mittens, and wrist-warmers to keep them warm this winter. Look here for future listings of fleeces for sale.

In July, Christine, a dear childhood friend, visited us from California for a few days. She thoroughly enjoyed the small farm experience, including helping Jerry wash and trim sheep.

It was time, of course, to get them ready for the Ohio State Fair later in the month.

Speaking of the state fair, we had a second in a class of 5 and a 3rd in a class of 12. Two of our fleeces placed second and third. We had hoped to do better. Unfortunately, the ewe we thought could be a winner didn't get entered.

Michigan Fiber Festival - Allegan

Mid-August brought us to the Michigan Fiber Festival in

Allegan where we were very successful.

In the yearling ewe white long-wool class we had a first

and third. Those 2 ewes then won the pair of yearling ewes.

The first place ewe went on to win champion white long-wool ewe and then supreme champion ewe.

In the natural-color long-wool show our yearling ram won

his class and was reserve champion NC ram. The NC yearling ewe and the NC ewe lamb each won their class with the yearling being the champion and the lamb being the reserve champion NC ewes.

We also sold a lot of fleeces, so it was definitely a successful year in Michigan!

What's Next?

We're headed to the Big E in West Springfield, Massachusetts, to show for the first time. We look forward to seeing familiar faces at the Border Leicester Show and meeting new breeders as well.

Spring Update

Okay - I am ashamed for not keeping up with the blog. I really thought I would do it, but life just gets in the way! Anyway, here are updates on what we've been up to in the past several months:

-It wasn't until mid-March when we were finally done lambing. We ended up with 16 lambs.

-We went to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival the first week of May (should've known it was going to be a hot summer since the temperature reached 90 that weekend). We took the camper for its first trip and had a great time. No sheep showing this year!

-Our nephew Brady was visiting with us for several weeks and we got him involved in a lot of projects, including washing sheep and painting the barn.

Here is Brady washing sheep - not sure who got wetter!

- At the end of May (Memorial Day weekend), we headed up to Wooster to be bystanders again at the National Border Leicester Sale. We did find a rack to put in the back of the truck at the equipment auction, which later this summer came in handy when we took sheep and the camper to Allegan.

Here are Jerry and Brady at the Wayne County Fairgrounds

relaxing at the camper after the sheep show.

Coming Soon!

Not much to report right now. Jerry's been trimming sheep getting them ready for August - Ohio State Fair and the Michigan Fiber Festival in Allegan around the 15th. We'll take the black ewe (Sporty Spice), the new black ram (Othello), and at least a couple of lambs (no names yet!). I'm also planning on entering Othello's fleece and a few skeins of handspun yarn into competition. I really just want to get an idea of how I am doing compared to other spinners.

In the meantime, I'm getting things ready for the first annual Lavender Field Day at the Freckle Bear Lavender Farm in Champaign County (6332 Nine Mile Rd.). There will be all sorts of great foods (including amish baked goods) and crafts. I will have homespun yarn, hand-dyed yarn, hats, scarves, market bags, etc. for sale. I will post some pix over the next couple of weeks to highlight some of the items. We hope to see you there!

Fleece at Wooster

We made it to Wooster. It was great to catch up with new friends we have made through the border leicester connection. The Koeppels from Ann Arbor were there and did very well in the sheep show and won the fleece competitions. We saw Barbara Thompson and her daughter's family (Seldom Seen Farm) from Rhode Island, and of course the Fogles from Raymond, who have been very supportive. The people are all so nice and helpful - a great community.

Jerry had hoped to buy a new black ewe lamb, but he didn't see what he wanted, so decided to wait it out. We did show 2 fleeces for judging. The white one was too short (Jerry gets carried away with trimming), but it did sell! The black ram's fleece (see picture) ended up in second place - I guess he was a good buy! I brought that fleece home. By the way, we decided to name him Othello.

The Wooster show had a good turnout with many vendors - gets bigger and better every year. I got many ideas to try out in Fern's Fiber Studio for fall open houses and the market.