Lambs For Sale

Wild Rose Farm Ewes In August

It's August and we've got ewe lambs & ram lambs for sale. All of the ewes have been separated off from the lambs and they've been grazing with Snow White ... see her in the upper right of the picture? Of course, they have been walking back & forth and she sees no need to follow them each time. Smart llama!
And why are they walking back & forth? We weaned the last 3 ewe lambs from their mothers the evening before this picture was taken. Those 3 ewes keep walking back to the gate to call for their lambs.  Occasionally, the rest of the flock follows them.  The 3 lambs are in the barn (penned up with the older lambs) and they keep bleating for their mothers. It takes about 2 days for them to settle down on both sides. Then it's peaceful & quiet again ...

Three Wild Rose Farm Ewes - Where Are Our Lambs?

Aside from working with the sheep, we were at the Hookstown Fair for several days. Here is the 1st Place wool hooked rug ... very nice entry again from this lady!

2017 Hookstown Fair - 1st Place Hooked Wool Rug 

Take a look at this massive heavy weight team from the Saturday morning draft horse pulling contest. They are from Florida and were on their way to somewhere north of here ... just "pull'in through" as they say!

2017 Hookstown Fair - Unhitching Heavy Weight Draft Horse Team From Florida

2017 Lawrence County Fair

1st Place Rambouillet Ewe Lamb Resting 

After The Show

We made a trip to the Lawrence County Fair to see the sheep show. The Rambouillet ewe lamb that was picked up in late July seemed to be an old hand at showing and was resting calmly after the show.  It looks like she took the Penguin Stanley Cup Hockey theme seriously, lol!
We wandered around the grounds and spotted the Mercer County Spinners & Weavers Guild set up and doing spinning and weaving demonstrations. Their natural dye workshop sample cards caught my eye & reminded me that it's time to collect goldenrod & walnuts ...

Mercer County Spinners & Weavers Guild 

Natural Dye Sample Display Cards

New Ram Joins The Flock

Suffolk & Dorset Rams Ready To Unload

We traveled to the annual PDA Performance Tested Ram & Buck Sale on Saturday and brought home a new Dorset ram. Our friend went with us and got a Suffolk ram for his flock. It's always amusing on the ride home as passing cars, with both kids & adults, stare, smile, & point at the sheep.

Bidding Underway On A Suffolk Ram 

The auction picture above shows an interesting aspect of the sale ... the man seated on the stage is accepting internet bids while the Amish men in the front row join their English counterparts in the live bidding from the floor.  Hair sheep (Dorpers at this sale) seem to be getting more popular as sheep shearers are getting harder to find and year to year wool prices are erratic.  Also, meat goat bucks now far outnumber the rams being tested & sold. In watching the bidders, most of the goats were sold to folks from Eastern PA.

Dorset Ram Settles In At Wild Rose Farm 

Off To A New Home!

Wild Rose Farm #557 - Loaded Up & Leaving! 

The first Wild Rose Farm Rambouillet ewe lamb sold this season headed off to a new home over the weekend.  She leaves comfortably ensconced in a large Rubbermaid tub tucked into the back of a Jeep!  There was barely enough time to remember to take a picture as she thinks about jumping out ... I'm sure that she enjoyed looking out the back window during her air conditioned ride home.

I Brake For Wool!

Auction Find - Drawer Box of Wool Tapestry/Needlepoint Yarn - "Before"

Many of our followers know that Wild Rose Farm has a little vintage or "up-cycling" wool goodies sideline.  It started several years back when folks were asking for wool fabric or blankets for felting or crafting. I occasionally found wool items at auctions or estate sales and offered them for resale. A sideline was born and now it seems that I see wool everywhere ... yes, I brake for wool!  One woman even gave me two Norwegian wool sweaters knowing that I will find a good home for them ...

Auction Find - Sorted By Dye Lot - "After"

 This big box of wool yarn came from an auction last weekend ... it was in a large closet full of acrylic yarn and scads of cotton crochet thread stashed in plastic tubs. Guess who won the bid & choice of boxes? :)  Seems that the Amish ladies at the sale were after the sewing & crochet thread ...
But there's more!  My travels over the last 2 months yielded these lovely finds:

Eastern Pennsylvania Stash of Wool Yarn & Corriedale Sliver!

Central Ohio Thrift Shop Collection of Wool Yarns!

I've even stumbled across some G.C. Murphy's wool yarn recently at a random yard sale. You just never know what's hiding in a nest of acrylic yarn. Granted, I've picked through stacks of yarn and found no wool, but here's a funny one ... a mothball scented chest full of acrylic yarn ... uh, what's up with that?!?

A Look At Our New 2-Ply Rambouillet Yarn!

Wild Rose Farm - 2-Ply Rambouillet Wool Yarn

Here's a glamour shot of our yarn finishing up the process at The Mill At Meadowlands. We have ~200 yard skeins of this 2-ply, but I don't have a total skein count or wpi on it at the moment ... details, details!  Rumor has it that it's soft & squishy too ... a lovely farm yarn.  You'll have to stay tuned for the details on this batch!

Yarn Processing Continued ...

The Mill at Meadowlands - Skein Winder

Wild Rose Farm 2-ply Rambouillet Yarn

Here's another picture of our Rambouillet 2-ply yarn in process at The Mill at Meadowlands. The skeins will be ~ 200 yards. The bobbins below will be wound off next and turned into skeins ...
It's interesting to see the process and Ruth makes sure to keep you posted every step of the way as we make decisions on the final product.  Or, as she likes to say, "what kind of yarn the wool wants to become", lol! :)