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It’s been a non-stop trip so far. Our group of seven are veteran travelers, shoppers and full of the desire to learn and try new things!
We spent three full days in Saigon and traveled to Lauris each day to study in the atelier of Michel Garcia, natural dye expert and former president of the Association Couleur Garance, the French natural dye organization. The course was entitled Printing on Fabric with Natural Coulors From Plants. It was absolutely great to work with Michel. He taught us how to achieve a range of colours from one plant material by adjusting the mordant variable on cloth. It was an intensive but we also enjoyed lunch together each day at Michel’s favorite eateries. And the French enjoy food and wine! Wine was included as part of every meal where we ate. That is not always the case but Lauris served with style.
Then we travelled by private transfer to a new auberge a bit further south with our wonderful tour guide Marlene. She knows Provence like the back of her hand and as we had some time after we left Michel until our next destination she drove us to Rousillion so we could see the ochre quarry and also do a bit of shopping. We also toured the ochre museum to see how ochres were mined and created. Rousillion is a beautiful village sitting atop a hill. It has narrow streets, beautiful vistas and small shops dotted everywhere.
We have spent the last three days in another area sightseeing both known and less known attractions.
Where’s Nanette?
Atop a rocky outcrop crowned with a castle ruins. The Mistral winds are blowing and it was extremely difficult to navigate the rugged terrain with a constant wind speed in excess of 40mph and gusts up to 70mph. What was discovered there which would be of interest to a natural dyer?
One note…..you only have one chance to win during this series. When I return from France I will get in touch with the winners about mailing your token from France!
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Bonjour! I arrived in Paris early Tuesday morning and after a bit of confusion found the gent that would drive me from the airport to the train where I would go to meet up with the rest of my group. However the traffic was a complete logjam and it took far longer than expected. He was very kind and took me into the station which is quite large and got me to the ticket line as I had to cancel and buy a new ticket. Within time I had a new ticket on the marvelous TGV. We departed at 11:15 and I took a seat in the upper level. The TGV quietly travels though the French countryside at about 180mph, I believe! I had lunch in the cafe and listened to music, napped and with a few hours was at my next spot. Here I was supposed to join everyone but they had a glitch also and so I took a cab about 45 minutes to where they were having lunch.
Where’s Nanette?
An absolutely beautiful village in the south of France. Within the village was a quarry known for ochre production up until the 1940’s. It still serves as a museum and educational center for the history of ochres at this quarry.
Internet communications are a bit of a challenge so bear with me as I travel this incredible journey.
The first person (not privy to my whereabouts) to guess my correct whereabouts will receive a small gift from my travels! Good luck!
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For the bonne nuit part…I am home from the NH Sheep and Wool Festival and as always it was just a great show. The weather was challenging with driving rains on Saturday, leaky roofs and an overall damp feeling. Today it was dry but a gray sky loomed with a cold wind. However that is the best conditions for us fiber folk who love wool! It may sound like a broken record but I love seeing you all….just the comraderie, hugs, smiles and happy faces work for me! Is this a pair of happy faces or what?
They came down the isle by my booth and I just couldn’t resist this baby face, or the Mom! 5 months old and just so happy she was, as was her mom on Mother’s Day today.
There were a couple of difficult moments in my building…Josie and Tom had to close yesterday as she was rushed to the hospital with a medical problem and then Lars Garrison’s wife, Gail, suffered a heart attack late yesterday and her prognosis is unclear. I spoke with Lars this morning and he was more than concerned for her recovery. Please say a prayer for them all, they are mainstays in the New England fiber community.
As for the Au revoir part….I depart for France tomorrow for a 2 week journey with Earthues and friends working with two French natural dyers along with days of sights relevant to the natural dye world. Very exciting and a once in a lifetime trip!
Because I enjoy your company on my blog and would wish you could take this same trip with me I am doing the best next option….
I will be posting blog entries here and there entitled “Where’s Nanette?” I will show a photo and a clue as to where I am. It will be your job to determine where I am in France. The first correct entry posted on the blog post will win a token gift from the area in France I am located.
This is for the fun of it….it will take a few days for me to get settled and of course the internet connection challenge exists. If all else fails I will still post the game on my return. The geography challenge exists! Good luck and be well!
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Recapping the past 10 days…..
First, the Ct Sheep and Wool Festival last weekend was a great show as always. We had beautiful weather, not too hot but lots of sun. As I drove home Saturday night I reflected on the day and was happy. It is an incredible amount of work but always the reward is meeting fiber lovers and dear friends, some who I only see a handful of days each year. As always it was great to visit with Kris, Bev, Manise and to meet so many new people as well. There is nothing quite like doing what you love and be able to share it with others.
On the farm front it’s calmed down a bit. I settled on the names for the lambs, finally. It takes time to get to know them! So here’s Griffin. His name was an instant yes.
He’s so cool. He loves everyone and I can scratch his chest and within a few minutes he just lays down and schmoozes. Of course I will have to wether him as I have been way to sweet on him and if he remained an intact ram, I’d have a mess on my hands. But he was slated for a wether from the get go!
And this is Magnolia, Maggie for short, hanging under her mom, Della. Smart little ewe, it was actually sprinkling rain and she knew how to get undercover!
And this is Austin with his mom, Bea! Thank you Sam for the great suggestion. He is such an Austin type. I am not spoiling him as he will be sold and should someone want to keep him for a ram he will be perfect. Strong bodied and handsome.
And then there is Lily. I originally chose Phoenix but she has grown into a Lily. Lily is a town in Georgia so I was delighted to crown her with the name! Here she was at 4 days old, weighing about 7 pounds, right in the swing of bottle feedings.
And a week later she gained 5 pounds and is thrifty as can be! You can see how her belly has rounded out. She is one lovely little ewe, Della loves her just fine and cares for and protects her so it is a blessing all we have to do is provide the food.
It is taking a small toll on our sleep as we get the last bottle to her at 11PM and the first at 5AM, not to mention not being able to leave the farm for more than 4 hours at a time, but that will ease up as she grows and turns to more grain and green grass.
We moved Bianca, the hen, into the barn with the lambing group as we have a new flock of chicks now.
We made her a roost and she actually loves her post. She made a nest in the hay bales and each morning by 8AM she has laid her egg and is off and running for the day. She comes and goes as she pleases. Come night fall we make sure she is in the barn and tucked in with the flock. It was a long winter for her as the lone hen here and I trust in time she’ll be happy to have some new hen friends. I have to say, Bianca is unique. She walks with us around the farm and joins us as we work on projects. She is so personable and cool.
The chicks are in the hen house and will learn to come and go from there once they are old enough. Here they are the first day while we got them adjusted. I put a small plate in their box and they all fit on it! A week later they are already showing wing feathers and flitting around their domain.
At the studio color is continually being poured on fibers and I have a great group of four-legged friends to help me! Kalie guards the door on the roadside while Sidney and Luna man the dyepots. Right….
Today we celebrated our 29th wedding anniversary with Faith and Derek here at the farm. A wonderful start to a new year together.
The NH Sheep and Wool Festival is coming up this weekend and I am wrapping up the preparations this week and look forward to being part of this great New England festival! Hope to see you there!
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Ewes and lambs joined forces yesterday. No more health concerns and all are happy!
Griffin has a crush on Phoenix.
Griffin is the ram lamb of Memphis and he carries the same clown face Memphis’ daughter Charlotte has. So cute!
Here is Bea’s boy…still haven’t named him. He is awfully cute. Any ideas?
Meanwhile I am headed out shortly as show season kicks off tomorrow in CT at the Tolland Agricultural Center, Vernon Ct. I completed 40#s of custom dye work, part of the work shown here, along with another 20#s to start show season for Long Ridge Farm. It’s been a whirlwind month! Perhaps I’ll see you at the show. Have a great weekend.
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Della and Bea kept us busy over the weekend. Della went into labor on Friday and we helped her bring triplet ewe lambs into the world. Regrettably the last lamb was stillborn. We couldn’t have saved her. But just imagine one CVM ewe lamb and one Romeldale ewe lamb! Della gave it her all and delivered perfectly. Friday was a rainy cold day and it settled in on Friday night. The little gray ewe was shivery so I put sweater sleeves on them.
The gray ewe weighed in at 6#! Tiny. The white ewe at 10.5#s.The gray ewe was born first but had the biggest fight ahead. On Saturday morning I called the Doc as Della was unable to give any milk out of the right half. Try as we might she would not let down any milk. We felt she needed some extra attention. He came and confirmed our fears that, unbenounced to us, she had an old case of mastitis and her right half was completely scarred and after every effort he found the teat completely scarred over. I bought Della from a farm in Ohio who had bought her from another farm in Ohio who had bought her from a farm in Washington state. I was assured she had no issues but that wasn’t the case. This is the risk when purchasing adult sheep from other farms. I had given her an injection in the morning for the infection, the Doc gave a couple more to help her and we put her on an anti-inflammatory. She will continue with injections and anti-inflammatory for the remainder of the week.
The good news is her left half is still intact and giving enough milk for one and a half lambs. The white ewe is much more vigorous than the gray lamb and all of Saturday got the lions share of what Della had to give. We gave each lamb a tube of colostrum Friday night (meaning we run a flexible tube into their mouth and down into their belly and with a plastic syring push the milk down through the tube into the belly)which gives them that first milk from the mother plus assures they are getting enough nutrition but by Saturday poor Della was so weary from her trial she hardly cared if they nursed or not. Saturday night we fed the gray one a bottle, reluctant as she was, and the white ewe was getting enough from Della.
Sunday morning we did early barn check and the little gray ewe was very weak. It doesn’t take long in the first few days. So we decided she needed to get on milk replacer immediately and let the white ewe milk out Della. We gave the gray ewe a bottle every 3 hours on Sunday and by evening she was pretty happy again. As of this morning she sees us and sees bottle which equals happiness and comfort. At day three she just stands and takes it down lickety split. Here she is this morning after feeding.
We have an ongoing name theme here of cities and towns in the South. Memphis started the name game and it has been fun all these years. The gray ewe is now known as Phoenix, a gray bird who rose up from the ashes. The white ewe is Magnolia. Bright, light and full of spring!
Here they are this morning. Looking 100% better! Della has improved vastly. She will recover.
I hosted a Carding and Combing for Spinners workshop Saturday, amidst all of this, and at lunch time I decided to take a quick look on the barn cam and saw Bea licking a small lamb in the barn. At first I thought Phoenix must have gotten out (intellectually I knew that wasn’t the case!). The surprise was, although she was due, she had shown no signs of getting ready to lamb. Boom, one hour out of the barn and she did it! Welcome a little ram lamb, a single! He weighed in at a whopping 13.5#! Bea is a big ewe, striking really. She is also a daughter of the great old line of Todd, and the granddaughter of Dud, so this ram lamb could prove a winner.
Here they were this morning. Look at how big he is at two days old!
Meanwhile good old Memphis and her ram lamb are eager to meet the new arrivals. I decided on Griffin for his name. State by state, Griffin is in Georgia, Magnolia is in Arkansas and we all know Phoenix! So here is Griffin looking in at Bea and her lamb. Too cute! Come on out, I need a playmate.
I haven’t decided on Bea’s lambs name yet, he needs to grow just a bit more. If all goes well, Bea and lamb will join Memphis and lamb tomorrow. I suspect Della and babes will stay in the barn a bit longer til they are all strong enough.
