The Turtle parade

It’s that time of year again.  The painted turtle parade across the property has begun.  It’s egg-laying time, and the turtles who were hatched here seem to find themselves a little corner of the Ruit Farm on which to lay their eggs.  The area that we call the winter sheep paddock is very sandy and [...]

Read Full Post »

Happy Solstice

It’s finally here – the winter Solstice.  What a relief!  The shortest day was an icy and then a rainy one.  As usual, it’s all about the light for me.  I am not only enjoying the menorah, but I made another light cube.  Holiday decoration, it’s a very simple thing that is very satisfying. All [...]

Read Full Post »

Seasonal opportunity

The weather is finally behaving more like the calendar date.  Being a lovely cold and clear day yesterday allowed me to get a few end-of-season chores completed.  Early in the day our shearer Emily came to shear the two sheep that are butcher-bound this coming week.  And then I took the opportunity to go down [...]

Read Full Post »

Sheep breeding window is officially closed for the year!

That’s right, we popped big Reece into the back of the Subaru and took him home to Hatchtown Farm this afternoon.  Big sigh of relief!  Our 6 girls are ready to come home as soon as we can finish cleaning out the paddock here at the house.  So for a few more days they remain [...]

Read Full Post »

Waiting for the Nor’Easter

It’s a waiting game right now.  We are scheduled to have 3-6″ of wet snow come in tonight.  It’s even beginning to cloud up right now.  I am guessing that the pasture won’t look like this tomorrow! We have not seen the end of the breeding season yet and really do not want to take [...]

Read Full Post »

Autumn and breeding

Autumn is here, although without the usual color.  Some people are saying that it’s because we had so many high winds over the summer that the leaves began to detach and so started the dying process too early to get any really nice color.  Well, whether or not we have a colorful fall, breeding time [...]

Read Full Post »

End of one season

A week ago one of the days came that eventually arrive in the farming year, and when they do I am always surprised by the relief I feel.  Our roasting chickens went to the butcher last Friday with my husband, and mid-afternoon we had a visit from our favorite livestock haulers who took the pigs [...]

Read Full Post »

Vacation clean-up

A clear day was made for working in the paddocks!  I had a fibery field trip day yesterday with some of my spinning friends and it was a beautiful day as well.  But today we had scheduled to get the tractor into the paddocks and get some of the buildup of mud, poop and straw [...]

Read Full Post »

Peepers and vacation

The peepers really are here.  I know I noticed them earlier in the week, and as usual, they are giving me a big thrill.  It means a lot to hear them in the spring, as hopefully that indicates a warming trend!  Tonight and tomorrow night it’s supposed to go down below the 20F mark, so [...]

Read Full Post »

Update on oven-dyed yarn

The yarn that I dyed on Sunday is dry and as such, is much easier on the camera. Wet in the sink it made a definite reflection on the camera!  I am ready to do a test swatch on it tonight if I can stay awake long enough.  It’s been a really busy week at [...]

Read Full Post »