Happy Mother's Day to Ewes!!!

Our grass is SO LUSH now. Today, it rained off and on, and it was still cool enough I wanted a coat for going outside. Nevertheless, I insist that summer is here. Why? Because the barn swallows returned today. Just as their leaving marks the beginning of winter for me, their return marks the beginning of summer. They return, the same as my mother who winters in Mexico does, sometime between May Day and Mothers Day. The sound of the barn swallows flitting in and out of the open barn windows is the background hum of our summers here and their return brings great joy and happiness to my heart.



After keeping our two newest lambs inside and separated for over a week, they joined the rest of the flock today. I worry about the wee little things -the bigger lambs are a bit rough and pushy, the pastures are so big, they don't know about electric fences yet......I'd prefer to keep all young things (incidentally, tonight is senior prom night for my youngest) totally safe and protected forever, but you can't keep little lambs (or teenage girls) locked up forever. Before putting them out with the rest of the flock, I brought my other two ewes in and they all had the sheep equivalent of a mini spa treatment: they got their hooves trimmed and...well, with all the good spring grass and the nice wool on my ewes, they needed what shepherd's call crutching or crotching...I sheared their butts. Happy Mother's Day to Ewes!!!

Sheep to Shawl

Yesterday, members of the Valley Spinner's Guild, myself included, did a sheep to shawl demonstration at the Evergreen State Fair in Monroe, organized by guild members Elaine Wilson and Gretchen Wilson (same name but not related). Labor Day is considered the end of summer and -with the seasonal departure of my barn swallows also yesterday- I have to agree. I can think of no better way to end my summer than by participating in the sheep to shawl event. It was about 60 degrees and pouring down rain at the fair, leaving no doubt that summer is definitely over. Tie Dye, a little Romney sheep of guild member Eileen Hordyk, was volunteered to be dyed before shearing (done 4 days prior to allow sufficient time to dry) and then sheared for the affair.

Amy Wolf sheared Tie Dye in just a few minutes, all the while entertaining the crowd with her silliness and charm. She exudes enthusiasm and fun, and yet at the same time, is deeply passionate about educating the public about the connection between animals and their products -sheep and wool- AND she does an expert job of shearing.

All silliness aside, Amy is an artist. Spinning the fleece she had just sheared and finding no second cuts AT ALL, seeing her expertly handling the animal while bantering with the crowd, and knowing how committed she is to what she does, I'm awed by the artistry and skill Amy demonstrates. As with all true artists, it is a thrill to watch her.



It is always fun to see a fleece coming off a sheep during shearing. Tie Dye's fleece was particularly lovely, so nice in fact, I think Eileen must have had a few regrets about donating it. Amy's shearing last year of Rainbow, a Romney from The Pines Farm (Lin and Al Schweider are Amy's parents), was filmed by guild member Charisa and can be seen on You Tube (click here).



First the fleece was skirted of any waste wool, sorted by colors, and then picked by hand to open the locks before being carded.

We had several drum carders set up, and volunteers to crank them. One drum carder was having a mechanical problem but that was eventually solved. The sorted wool was carded into batts of different colors.

We spinners then spun the carded batts into singles of different colors. About 7 spinners can keep one weaver busy (Barb mentioned she had read this in a book on historical fiber arts) and that was about how many of us there were. We spinners were given cards with samples to help us all spin the same grist singles (A really excellent idea). We were spinning in front of the shelves holding the absolutely gorgeous fleeces entered for the wool judging (Note the purple ribbons).

Barb then plyed our singles into a two ply yarn that Lynn, who was also spinning singles, then wound onto the shuttles used for weaving.

Karen Chabinski was our weaver. She had woven about 45 inches on the shawl by our ending time of three o'clock. To do justice to our endeavor, she decided to continue at home and bring the finished shawl to our meeting on Thursday and, unlike the ending of summer, I look forward to seeing the finished shawl.

Moroccan-Style Pork Shoulder Roast

After coming and shearing my sheep, Constance also drove up to Granite Falls and sheared fellow guild member, Becky Zegstroo's two lambs. I visited Becky and Chris' place (Farm Visit post) not too long ago. Becky, with her deceptively quiet demeanor, sent me this fun photo of herself. I fell in love with their Jacob Sheep and...



...their young Highland cow. I think she is absolutely adorable!



Becky sent me this photo of the boys after their shearing. If anything they are even cuter! I know Becky can't wait to get her fleece back from being processed and to start spinning. There is such immense satisfaction to be found in using that which you have raised yourself, both fiber and food.

The following is a recipe Chris made for a guild pot luck last year and getting the recipe is how I met Becky. As soon as I tasted it I knew I had to have the recipe. It is so good! It is a remarkable combination of comforting and exotic, savory and sweet, complex but easy -everything I love in a casserole. After discovering who had brought it, I introduced myself to her, begged the recipe and later e-mailed a reminder (I'm shameless when in pursuit of food). I'm so glad I persisted because I may not have got to know Becky otherwise. And now I have this great recipe! In a couple of weeks when the pig we raised this summer returns from the butcher's shop as packaged pork, Chris' casserole is one of the first things I'm going to make.

Moroccan-Style Pork Shoulder Roast
Submitted by The National Pork Board to Allrecipes.com

Trim visible fat from 4-5 lb. boneless pork shoulder roast
Drizzle with 2 T. soy sauce
Rub with 2 T. curry powder
Brown roast in 1-2 T. olive oil in Dutch oven

Add:
2 sweet potatoes (or golden nugget squash), peeled and cut into large chunks
1-2 sweet (red, yellow or orange) peppers, coarsely chopped
1/2 c. dried fruit, mix of apricots, plums and raisins
15 oz. can lite coconut milk
1/2 c. OJ
Cover with lid and roast in 350 degree oven 1 1/2 - 2 hours or until potatoes (or squash) are tender. For traditional Moroccan-style: Remove meat and vegetables to a platter. Coarsely shred meat. On stove top, heat Dutch oven and bring sauce to a boil. Cook 5 minutes to thicken slightly. Either, pour sauce over meat and vegetables on platter, or serve alongside in small pitcher, with a mound of cooked couscous. For a less traditional potluck or casserole style: return meat and vegetables to Dutch oven (or simply remove the lid for the last 15-30 minutes while roasting and shred meat in Dutch oven) and mix in cooked couscous.
Note: Couscous is one of the easiest things in the world to cook. What's available in the USA is instant couscous. You simply put 2 1/2 c. instant couscous (I buy mine in the bulk foods section) in a dish, add 2 1/2 c. boiling water and 1/2 t. salt. Stir vigorously. Cover and leave 10 minutes. Mix in 2 T. olive oil and fluff or rub to break up lumps. If you want it steaming hot, put in a 400 degree oven to heat for 20 minutes. Stir or fluff again before serving.

Shearing Day

Until this year I've done my own shearing. It takes me several hours to do one sheep -that's not necessarily a bad thing, just time consuming. This year due to problems with my shoulder and wrist joints, I had Constance Wiseman shear my sheep. To contact her (click here). Here she is trimming Kia's hooves before starting to shear. Constance trained at the Washington State Shearing School and though a petite woman, she handles my ewes and lambs quite competently. She sheared Paris the ram beast this spring with the aid of hobbles and I was absolutely delighted to see him subdued without anything but his pride being hurt. Yesterday, Constance spoke gently to the lambs and Kia while shearing and handling them, and you can see Kia didn't mind at all.

After shearing Kia, Constance also sheared three lambs. Shearing is hard work and I am delighted to have the job done in just a few hours. Afterwards, Kia, all shorn and lovely, relaxes in the barn with the two confused shorn lamb rams. They didn't recognize each other after being sheared and felt compelled to pummel the daylights out of each other for quite awhile -silly sheep. Constance took Kia's fleece with her and will process it into roving. Shearing and processing all at once is great service. Now, if only she would clean the barn too!