Reader and lambcam watcher Sandra asks, “Why is there a sheep in the kidding area?”

Daisy is my only Babydoll Southdown ewe and she is what they call an “easy keeper.” She can get fat even when she’s only eating hay. Even though she’s bred, I pastured her with the boys and lambs this winter because they were on an all hay diet and I didn’t want Daisy getting even fatter by feasting on grain all winter. Now that she’s getting close to lambing, I want to move Daisy in with the ewes and start her on some grain to give her the extra nutrition she needs for her last month of pregnancy, but putting her in with the ewes and their ample portions of grain would be too big a transition and would make her sick.

Daisy is in the kidding area so that I can control the amount of grain she gets for a week or so, and slowly ramp her up to get as much as the other girls. Hannah is furious that Daisy has invaded her space by Nanny McPhee and Mrs. Doubtfire don’t seem to care.

In other farm news, we had to giant round bales of hay delivered this morning by our friends the Hopkins.

We put one round bale in with the non-breeders and one in with the ewes.

Then, while everyone was busy eating, we fenced them into small paddocks with moveable fencing.

Keeping the flocks confined to small areas now will allow the new pasture to come in and establish roots before the greedy sheep and goats are turned out on it. We practiced rotational grazing in New York and on Martha’s Vineyard but we never gotten started so early before. Green grass in March is like a dream.

The main advantage round bales is that they are about 1/2 the price of square bales. (Each round bale equals 20 to 25 squares.) There is also a small time savings in that we won’t have to haul hay out to the flock twice a day. The disadvantages are that they are difficult to move and subject to the weather. We put the ewe’s bale in the large run-in attached the barn so it would stay dry, but that wasn’t an option for the non-breeders. They will still eat the hay after it’s been rained on, but it isn’t as appealing and loses nutritional value.

Hopefully we will be able to turn the flocks out on to pasture in two or three weeks. It’s going to be 70 degrees today and the green grass is coming on fast. Rain tomorrow and through Saturday, but we need it, and at least it’s going to stay warm.

Still no babies in the kidding pen. Stay tuned.

You have to go over to NotMartha and check out Megan’s latest post from her trip to Paris. It’s all about the candy stores and chocolate shops she visited and the photographs are beautiful! Trying to decide which one to swipe for this post was agonizing. I have to say, this post is exactly what I look for in a blog. Megan takes her readers along with her on a little adventure. I’ve learned a lot about this medium from NotMartha.

I’ve been craving this menu ever since my friend Roxanne linked to it on Ravelry. Maybe Sunday…

Loving this article about soldiers who knit.

I don’t know what my friend Jen does for a living, but she spends a lot of time online finding awesome things. Like Muuto Cat Dome, “a habitat for your pet cat and goldfish to interact with each other.” Isn’t that the greatest piece of copy ever? I don’t have a cat or a gold fish but that sentence makes me wish I had both. And a cat dome, obviously.

Biodegradable toothbrush at Anthropologie. And only $5.50. Brilliant!

Finally! Stylish online invitations. These are so lovely and so much better for the environment than the kind you mail.

Speaking of parties, these cupcake kits are fabulous. There are all kinds of themes, all of them lovely.

So charming. So, so charming.

Beautiful photo tutorial for making these Shortbread Buttons.

You might need the Dunk Mug to go with them.

This Cereal Box House tutorial is sweet.

Love this little embroidered Chicken Brooch.

I think I want to go here for my 40th birthday. (via Jennifer at Sachem Farmhouse)

These axes are just breathtakingly beautiful. There, I said it.

Your turn.

So, without further ado, may I present the TWO winners of our first photo contest:

Joan Fernbach’s hand-dyed, hand-spun Jojoland Autumn Shawl

and

Amanda Boch’s #20 Cable/Rib Cardigan by Gayle Bunn

Nice work, Joan and Amanda! And all of the rest of you. This was so much fun but I learned one very valuable lesson: our next contest will be divided in to categories. So hats will be competing with other hats and sweaters with sweaters.

In addition to our fondest admiration, Joan and Amanda have each won a $50 credit to use in the JMF online shop.

Hannah and her twin brother Martin were my first goats and my first bottle babies. As kids, they followed me on hikes around the farm, trailing along behind the dog and my then-husband. We treated them more like dogs than livestock, and probably spoiled them a bit.

I think Hannah is just lovely. In fact, I think she looks like Julia Roberts, although I totally get that most people don’t see it. Her fleece isn’t so lovely, though. And she is a little bit…entitled. I didn’t breed her until she was three and I had some concerns that she wouldn’t be a good mama. Her mama rejected her after all.

More wrong I could not have been! Hannah’s first kid was a single, named Mint, and Hannah was a fantastic mama.

This is one of my favorite pictures of all time, ever. Hannah and Mint, just an hour after he was born.

Last year, Hannah had twins, Jasmine and Jester.

I used to think I was Hannah’s biggest fan, until my friend Linda brought her friend Grace over to the farm last year. Grace and Hannah immediately struck up a friendship. Grace became a frequent visitor to the farm but really, she was there to see Hannah. I know they were both heartbroken when we moved to Virginia.

Hannah will almost certainly have another set of twins this year.

And she will dote on them as she always does. But for me, these babies will be extra special because Jack, another goat that I raised from one day old with a bottle, will be the Daddy.

Jack is the opposite end of the bottle baby spectrum from Hannah. He’s calm and gentle and just lovely to be around. It’ll be interesting to find out what the temperament of the kids these two produce will be.

Stay tuned. Hannah’s udder is getting full. Babies soon.

In a nutshell, Yarn Storming gathers unwanted stash yarn from knitters all over the world and sends it out to knitters in need. The need can be due to financial circumstances or even just the need for a little happiness.

The thing about me is, I’m good at having ideas but I don’t have a lot of time to take anything else on. So I was thrilled when my dear friend Nancy offered to take on Yarn Storming. Nancy and her son Matt have taken in donations and gotten that yarn right back out to people who need it 100 times! Can I just repeat that? 100 people and organizations have received great big boxes of yarn.

If you’re ever in need of a good cry, check out the Thank You posts that Stormees post in our Ravelry group. These packages mean so much more than yarn to these people. And you made all of this possible.

My heart nearly bursts when I think about all the generosity you all have shown. But now I have to ask you for a little bit more. First, and most importantly, we need nominations! Nancy’s spare room is over-flowing with yarn just waiting to go out to someone who will use it, but we need to know who needs it. You can nominate anyone who you thinks would benefit from Storming by sending a PM to MattsMom through Ravelry or emailing Nancy at npope99 AT gmail DOT com. Organizations that do charity knitting can nominate themselves.

One more thing. I hate to think what the Nancy and her family have spent personally on shipping for this project. And she has never once complained about it. But what do you say we all take one a small part of the burden for them? If you can spare $5 or $10 to help a very worthy cause, please donate to yarnstorming99@gmail.com via Paypal. You can pay with a credit card, even if you don’t have a Paypal account.

Finally, if you have some yarn in your stash that you know you’re never going to use, you can send it to:

Yarn Storming
2091 Sydney Drive
North Merrick, NY 11566

Nancy and Matt will get it out to someone who needs it right away.

The nanny goats are settled into their stall in the barn awaiting the arrival of kids. If you’ve been watching the lambcam and wondering who the goat with so much to say is, it’s Hannah. I adore Hannah, but I might be the only one who does. She and her twin Martin were my first goats and my first bottle babies. Hannah is a spoiled brat and very entitled. She can’t believe she is being forced to share a stall with Mrs. Doubtfire and Nanny McPhee and she lets me know it every time I come in the barn.

[Thankfully, FoF Nancy figured out what was causing the echo on the lambcam; refresh your browser and the echo should disappear!]

The lambcam is in the white box mounted on the wall pointed down at the goats.

Miss Linda, Dimples and Jasmine were evicted from the kidding stall to make room for the nannies. It was time for them to get outside, but I do worry about Linda. She isn’t very competitive at the trough and the ewes tend to push her around a bit. I’m keeping a close eye on her to make sure she’s getting enough to eat and I’ll move her back in if she starts to lose weight. I’m also giving her a very strong pain reliever every morning to help with her arthritis.

The three of them seem happy to be outside with the rest of the flock, although they are still very much a family unit. When one of them wanders away from the others, they call to one another the way a mama calls her babies. Remember, Jasmine and Dimples aren’t Linda’s babies; she just adopted them when they were all thrown in together.

Do you see what I see in this picture? Yup. That’s green grass coming up in my pasture! The flock has been grazing for a few days, but I assumed they were just picking at the brown, dead stuff from last year. That grass is as good as money to me, cause it means I will be able to cut way back on hay very soon. This is much earlier than we ever saw green grass in the Northeast; my love for Virginia increases every day. I might be able to get away with only buying one more big load of hay this season.

It was a lovely morning with the ewes. I’ll spend some time with the non-breeders [whethers, buck, and lambs] this afternoon and take some more pics. In the meantime, I have to get back to dyeing our Fall 09 Yarn CSA Shares.

The nannies are so wide! Judging from the size of their udders, I’m betting that Hannah will kid first, followed by Mrs. Doubfire and, finally, Nanny McPhee.

When they aren’t bred, the udders on ewes and nanny goats almost disappears, becoming completely flat, and their teats shrink down as well. Although she’s laying on her side, you can see that this nanny definitely has milk coming in.

The end of each teat is plugged with a waxy substance that prevent bacteria and gunk from getting into the udder. When the kid is born, we will make sure that the plug is stripped out so that the babies can nurse.

The ewes are all showing signs of bagging up as well. They aren’t nearly as far along as the nannies, and with good reason; they shouldn’t start lambing until April 15th.

All the ewes have loads of glorious fleece! On March 19th, Emily, our A-MAZ-ING shearer, is coming on March 19th to begin the shearing process. We have way too many animals to shear in one day without rushing and risking excess nicks and cuts. We’ll shear about half the flock in March the rest at our Shearing Day Celebration on April 24th.

The bad news from today is that there is a possibility that Miss Linda might be bred. We thought we had kept her well segregated from the buck but it looks like she may have gotten caught anyway. Of course, there is a chance that she’s experiencing false pregnancy- Linda lives to have babies, and she has produced a set of twins every year of her life since she was a year old. (We think she’s around 15-years-old.) I am hoping very hard that she isn’t bred, because Linda is just too old to feed one baby, let alone two.  If she is pregnant, we will bottle feed her kids from day one but leave them in with Linda to mother. But keep your fingers crossed that she’s not, please.

I’ve been trying to decide on a color to paint my beehives and I found it on Crush Party. Isn’t this blue just lovely?

I could go on and on and on about the great stuff I’ve found over there, but I’ll let you discover it yourself. Scrolling through the site is half the fun.

I’m a little hesitant to post a link to Tongue in Cheek Antiques, because the things I want are already always sold before I get there, and I don’t need the competition. But it wouldn’t be right to keep this much amazing to myself (BTW, this is another Crush Party find.) Corey Amaro lives in Paris and has spent the last 20 years scouring the Brocante (weekend antique markets) for  precious little objects. She sells many of these on here site, updated frequently, but because everything is one-of-a-kind, you pretty much have to be there when she updates. All prices include shipping to anywhere in the world, and most of the things are small and inexpensive-ish. I especially love the vintage tea towels and other linens, but they are sold at the speed of light. Spend some time poking around over there and you too will begin stalking her site at all hours of the night and day.

This article about the controversy over babies in bars in Brooklyn made me laugh. It’s so Brooklyn somehow.

I am always on the lookout for great new blogs and I was thrilled to read Sustainable Suburbanite. The photography is amazing- AMAZING- and the fact that Kim has been hiding her light under a bushel is just so humble and sweet. I read the entire blog in one sitting and I bet you’ll do the same.

These Paper Cut Rolls knock. me. out. (This one’s for you, Jenny my love.)

Did everyone already see the article about Ysolda Teague in The Times? Lovely article about a super-talented designer and, I think, very positive for knitting generally.

I can’t remember which of you precious people sent me this link, but I am so glad you did. Close up shots of illustrations from a 1955 version of Mary Had a Little Lamb. Just wonderful.

I don’t need a barcode but these vanity barcode make me want one. Wonder if they could do a sheep?

As a child I loved tiny things, the smaller the better. So Little People, a tiny street art project, nearly killed me. The artist hand makes these itty bitty scenes and leaves them all over London on the streets to “fend for themselves”. The scale is just amazing to me.

I love this project so much that I really wanted to support the artist so I bought his book.

I want to move into Terrain. It’s just the most fabulous shop, full of so many fabulous things. Like this book. And this honey. And these glasses.

I would like to live in shirtdresses like this one this summer.

Carrot Cake Whoopie Pie recipe.

Love these coaster from Sesame Letterpress.

Stacked book wallpaper at Anthropologie.

A Friend of the Farm (FoF) recently honored me by telling me she wants to have her wedding at Juniper Moon Farm. I was so taken with the idea that I’ve been obsessively looking at wedding sites ever since. Here are some cool ideas that I love:

Leave it to Martha to think of putting lollipops in champagne. Beautiful and yummy.

Beautiful barn wedding at Once Wed. I love that they embraced the rain.

Lauren and Zack’s Wedding at Our Labor of Love is just perfect.

Another beautiful farm wedding, this one on Cape Cod. The photography, the decorations, it’s a just perfect.

There are a million ideas I will be stealing from this backyard wedding (also from Once Wed.)

Sorry for the mammoth post, but I needed to clear out my PSYWL folder. If you aren’t exhausted, feel free to share your favorite things in the comments.

I have a feeling the flock is looking forward to it too.

This is Colorado’s fed-up look.

Alabama has grown so much over the winter that I’m almost afraid of what a green Spring in Virginia’s resplendent pastures is going to do to him.

Delaware and Dakota, our twin ewe lambs will be yearlings soon. I’d like to get some size on them before it’s time to breed them in the fall.

The ewes are still about a month out from lambing, but they are definitely showing. Several of them are already getting the slightest indication of bagging up. I’ll be able to get a better handle on how they look Friday when we worm the nannies and ewes and give them their yearly CD&T booster shots. The vaccination will prevent tetnus and over-eating disease in the moms and their babies. We are also switching the moms-to-be to a grain ration with a coccidiosis stat in it. Although coccidia are present in the adults all the time, they don’t pose a threat to animals after they are about a year old. By cutting back on the coccidia load in the adults, we can help minimize the risk to the coming babies. [Is that crazy-boring? I never know how much y'all actually want to know.]

The three nanny goats- Hannah, Mrs. Doubtfire and Nanny McPhee (pictured above) are on deck. We are technically in the kidding zone now, although I don’t expect to see any babies earlier than this weekend at the soonest. Years of kidding and lambing have taught me that the babies will come when they come, and no amount of wishing will make them come any sooner.

As you can see, McPhee is just about out of patience with this whole pregnancy thing.

My sweet Sabine is definitely ready for Lucy to outgrow her terrible teens. Lucy wants to play all the time, non-stop. Sabine is of the opinion that she works all night long protecting her flock and that at least part of the day is for napping.

Our beautiful, sweet puppy is no longer a puppy. She is turning into a beautiful dog, full of energy and curiosity. She is also occasionally a little devil, chasing the sheep and acting like a total jerk. I’ve been through these terrible teens with all our dogs to some extent and it take a world of patience and training to get them through it and back on the road to being productive Livestock Guardian Dogs. Actually, Cini never gave me a moments trouble, but the rest more than made up for his naturally sweet nature.

In other news, Fall 09 shares are flying out the door at an unprecedented rate. The system that Erin and Paige came up with is improving with use and it is so exciting for me to hear from you when you get you share of the harvest. All the Spinner’s Shares have now shipped, and the undyed shares will be the next to go. I’ve got a lot of dyeing to do in the next few days so we can get the dyed shares on the road as well.

Just as soon as the voting ends in our Photo Contest, I’ll be getting the naming convention nominees posted for your votes. Hopefully we’ll have a naming convention before we have something to name!

Finally, I want to give a big shout-out to Suzanne Tetreault for talking about Juniper Moon Farm during her Jeopardy appearance today. It was positively surreal to hear Alex Trebek mention our CSA. Thanks, Suzanne!

I loved looking at every single one of these entries. We have some amazingly talented knitters, crocheters and spinners amongst us! Seeing a hat or a sweater made from fiber that was once walking around my pasture tickles me to death.

Here’s how you vote: Feel free to make as many comments as you like about any/all of the projects, but the LAST thing is your comment should be “Voting for _____”.  You must chose one project to vote for. This will make my life mucho easier when it comes time to tally the votes. Please vote based on the project, not the quality of the photos- we aren’t professional photographers here, after all.Knitters, feel free to lobby your friends and family for votes!  Voting will remain open until Friday, March 5th.

The stakes: The winners will receive a $50 JMF gift certificate. I have a feeling there might be a little something for the runners-up as well…

Without further ado, here are the entries.

Finished Objects:

Knitter: Deb Boyken

Weight/Colorway: Worsted/Saffron

Pattern: Original pattern called ‘Hoodwinked ‘

Knitter: Maggie Estrin of Little Grey Cat Designs

Weight/Colorway: Bulky/Blueberry Pie

Pattern: Original pattern called “Bounty”

Knitter: Andrea Beesley

Weight/Colorway: Various (from the September Surprise Sale)

Pattern: Earflap Hat Pattern Generator by Lucia Liljegren with Tessellating Skulls Wallpaper Chart is by Erssie Major.

Knitter: Ayelet Kuper

Weight/Colorway: Sock/Leaf Peepers “Cedar”

Pattern: Milkweed Shawl by Laura Chau

Crocheter: Janet Metzger

Weight/Colorway: Various (From ‘Widows and Orphans’ sale)

Pattern: Original pattern called ‘Glacier Rose’

Knitter: Tania Nuñez

Weight/Colorway: Sock/Maia

Pattern: Original

Knitter: Sara Barron

Weight/Colorway: Worsted/Blueberry Pie in our Kid Mohair/Cormo blend

Pattern:Claudia

Knitter: MJ Moriarty

Weight/Colorway: Bulky/Blueberry Pie

Pattern: Elfin by Wooly Wormhead

Knitter: Kat

Weight/Colorway: Bulky/?

Pattern:Based on the EDI Cowl

Knitter: BMarion

Weight/Colorway: Sock/Breezy

Pattern:Stephen Colbert Socks by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne, from ’Mason-Dixon Knitting Outside The Lines’

Knitter: Amanda Bock

Weight/Colorway: Aran/Farmstead

Pattern:#20 Cable/Rib Cardigan by Gayle Bunn, Vogue Knitting, Holiday 2004 (modified version)

Knitter: Joan Fernbach

Weight/Colorway: handspun and dyed from our Cotswold roving

Pattern: Jojoland Autumn Shawl

Knitter: Betsy

Weight/Colorway: Worsted/Hand-dyed by the knitter with help from Shelby B Designs

Pattern:Chinese Lace Pullover by Angela Hahn

Knitter: Hilary Detmers

Weight/Colorway:Sock/ Leaf Peepers Spruce and Leaf Peepers Aspen

Pattern: Original pattern called ‘Sock Yarn Faroese Shawl’

Knitter: Anna

Weight/Colorway:Sock/Verdant

Pattern: ‘Vog on by Aleta Fera

Knitter: Anna

Weight/Colorway:Sock/Verdant

Pattern: Breeze by Jennifer L. Appleby

Handspun:

Spinner:Maggie Estrin of Little Grey Cat Designs

Name: Cumulus

Fiber: hand-picked/combed kid mohair locks corespun around a commercial mohair DK weight yarn, wrapped in a commerical laceweight mohair yarn

Since Maggie was our only spinner to enter I herby declare her the winner of the Spinner’s Contest. Congratulations. Maggie! I love that yarn so much it hurts me.