The Process Begins?

What a day! I am laying on the couch with a heating blanket on my back - too much fun and I didn't quit until my upper back insisted. I had to take a long hot shower.

I was up before the alarm and in Lake City at 8:30am as planned. It was cold this morning, in the 20's. We did chores, feeding the ponies, sheep and goat. Barney the goat is adorable and friendly. His coat is not as thick as the sheep and he was shivering. I will be making Barney a coat and/or giving him the knitted one I made for Sadie. Sorry, there are no photos from the farm, my hands were way too cold. I couldn't even hang on to a bit of carrot to feed Barney.

I don't remember if I told LC Guy or not, but when I had my horse, I always enjoyed taking care of her more than riding her. She was always brushed, hooves clean, and tail combed. I would haul water across the street with a big trash can in a wheel barrow. Maybe, I had, because he assigned me the chore of feeding the hay to the ponies and sheep and it seemed natural and I was happy to do it!

LC Guy mentioned he may pick up another sheep or two this week at auction and that they would probably need shearing. Maybe I will get a chance to participate in the shearing after all?

Much too soon, my visit came to an end. He had two large bags of wool set aside for me to take home and play with and we put them in the back of my car. I got in the car, smelling like hay and sunshine, and headed to Grayling. My goal was to be done with errands and home to stay by noon. I made it too! With one minute to spare. I even came home, picked up the dogs, took them for a nice walk and then went into town to pick up a prescription!

While we were at my office, I ran in and weighed the bags. I don't think its important, but since I am trying to record the process in order to learn from it, I thought it would be a good idea. Each bag weighed 6.2 lbs! A little over 12 lbs of wool to process. That's a lot of wool!

I ate lunch, called and left a message with my fiber friend, Barb, to say "wanna see the wool I got?" and headed back out into the sunshine. By now, it had warmed up to about 45 degrees. I put on long underwear under my sweatshirt and set up an improvised version of a wool cleaning rack on the back deck. I used two saw horses and some hog fence from the shed. I picked a bag and pulled out some wool and got started.

It was a productive afternoon. Barb came by in response to my phone message and for about 2 hours we cleaned the straw and other vegitation out of the wool while we chatted in the sunshine. She had to run home to prepare for her weekend company. I invited her back, and included her friend, for tomorrow. I gave her some wool to take home and play with. I think she was going to try felting some of the shorter locks.

After she left, I filled 4 sweater bags with pre-cleaned wool and washed it. It was much "greasier" than the sample I had from before. Greasy just means it had a lot of lanolin in the wool. It had a stronger smell as well. I washed it twice with Dawn and once with Tide before I was satisfied. The inside of my washer was even dirty! As I type this, it is soaking in clear warm water. I will soak it at least one more time in cold water. I plan on hanging it on the line tomorrow along with the laundry!

Additionally, I cut out a new fleece coat for Barney and had enough left over that might fit Mork (the lamb). I braided about 10 more feet of roving for the rug and while dinner was cooking I carded some more wool from Polly (the first sample).

At one point, I sat on the couch to eat my dinner and started to doze off. The dogs picked that moment to insist on going back outside. It was still sunny and I puttered around the yard. The neighbor stopped over and showed me a sample of the wood floor they are having installed next week. It is bamboo and it has a wonderful and interesting wood grain. I told her I would love to see it when it was done and she assured me she would let me know when it was done.

My new toy of the week: My DirecTV DVR. I wasn't going to get a DVR, but Twisted Sister said I would love it if I did. I do! I am still learning everything, but I love how it works so far. So much easier than setting up your VCR to record. Of course, I love having my DirecTV back.

My eyes are drooping, so it is time to go count sheep. As if I didn't have enough wooliness in my waking hours! :)