My New Horse ?

About a month ago my mother sold a gelding she had & then bought a grade paint mare. This mare was a bit sick & needed some tlc, so mom brought her home thinking that even if she couldn't be rode again she may be able to produce some nice foals. She had something like bronchitis for horses. She is feeling much better now & beenhad a test ride a couple weeks ago & did well. So yesterday we were back out to ride & grabbed her up.  From the first ride i felt she needed a bit change.  We used a straight snaffle that's a little heavier than the normal.  Her previous owners said they used a snaffle.  She acted very uncomfortable with the bit, which may have been the slightly extra weight; but was also fairly unresponsive to it.  So this time out i tried a lightweight Tom thumb bit.  I didn't get a picture of it,  but it's a little stronger bit than a snaffle but this was a different material than the other bit so was a little lighter in weight.  WHAT A DIFFERENCE! She was comfortable with it & completely responsive to my signals. I rode a bit in the saddle & then took her bareback.

I love to ride bareback! Just to ride around or trail ride, this is my choice! I grew up riding bareback for a couple of reasons. First, my mother always felt safer this way for if I fell off I wouldn't get caught in stirrups. True fact, i fell off . . . A lot.  LOL. Second, this made me a better rider, developing better balance & a feel for what my horse was telling me. Third, i didn't need help putting a saddle on.  Once I learned to properly bridle the horse,  i climbed on & went.

So here are a few pictures that i bribed my family to take for me.  Meet Star!

 I have no idea why she was named Star.  As you can see, she has no "star" markings. LOL. So I've decided it's SuperStar! Also not sure why she's parked out when she's standing in these pictures.  Maybe she thinks she's a Saddlebred? LOL.

 And once again, Fluffy Girl had to try the horse I was riding. LOL this has happened a few times.  I'm glad she's getting confident, but may have to hold tight to this horse.  LOL. 

Additions To The Farm

We've had a few additions to the farm this week & 1 sad/happy goodbye.

 Here's a new English Angora doe.  Since she's an English, i decided she needed a very English name.  So she is now Elizabeth, also known as Betty. Betty needs some tlc so will be sheared over the next couple days. She's more than ready & has several matts in her coat.  I'm going to give her a little time to settle in & then will breed her to Buck. 

 Here's Buck, enjoying some time in the play yard & eating grass. He's  French angora and is pretty sweet. 

 Orschlens reduced the price of their half grown frying pan specials to $2 this week.  For those who don't know a frying pan special is a group of heavy breed chickens from the hatchery that are unsexed, but generally roosters.  However sometimes you get lucky & can get pullets, which are young females. These were big enough that with the help of a knowledgeable employee I picked out 7 that I THINK are pullets. Only time will tell if I choose wisely.  There are 3 barred rocks, 2 buff orpingtons, 1 production red & 1 rhode island red.  My general chicken coop is full of girls that are getting past production age & they aren't actually a production bred chickens anyway.  So these girls will be responsible in the future for our egg needs. 

 I was also able to acquire a 3 month old doe that's a mixed large breed. When older she will hopefully give us some meat rabbits.  We traded a rabbit we had bought last year that was supposed to be a young full sized doe. Both as a pet for Fluffy Girl & for meat rabbits, Fluffy Girl named her Connie.  

Connie turned out to be Conner & was a mini rex. Note the mini! Not at all what we needed! So we were lucky to find somebody willing to trade this new baby girl for Conner. He went to a home to have girlfriends & we are happy for him.  :)

On a sad & happy note, Fluffy Girl decided she was ready for grandma to sell her pony Diego. Diego was her 3rd birthday present from grandma & grandpa and has been a great pony.  However, Fluffy Girl outgrew Diego & was found a nice horse in 2014. Grandma promised that Diego didn't have to find a new home until Fluffy Girl was ready. Fast forward to last weekend. Grandma put the word out with horsey friends & quickly found somebody that would be a great home! Diego now belongs to another little girl that's almost 3, to teach to love & ride.  His new family knows that if he doesn't work out or when he's outgrown he's able to come back to retire.

Fluffy Girl was very sad, but acted very mature about Diego needing somebody else to get love from!  I am very proud of her making such an adult decision and her behavior during it! 

That's all for now and I can't wait to see what else this long weekend brings. On that note, we at Stay Fluffed Farm want to thank any service members for what they are doing or have done for our country!  Thank you to the family members who have lost a loved one in service! You are the reason for this long weekend and know that we appreciate your services & sacrifices all year round, not just 1 or 2 days a year! We take exceptional notice to this year round as we live about 1 mile away from a veterans cemetery and on any given day can see or hear a veteran laid to his final rest.  Hearing the salutes and bugle hit my heart every time, as i think about what they've done and who they've left behind. So if you are active military, a veteran, or a family member, we thank you again! 

Productive Weekend

It was such a beautiful day on Saturday. There were the usual plentiful household chores that needed done so I decided to work outside.  LOL. I did actually get some laundry done.  Including the comforters & hung them on the line to fresh dry! My favorite! I also finished up some yarn that was spun & let it dry outside as well.  The left is the polwarth that i bought as a dyed roving. The right is some very special shetland for a personal project. The fleece is the only shearing I was able to get from a ewe named Beauty. I bought her as a bred ewe & she didn't stick.  Before i could breed her back last summer she fell sick from a bad infection. I nursed her for 3 days before she passed. She was my friendliest ewe with a great personality.  So with no lambs & only 1 fleece.  There's a part of it.

Then i did a little scissor shearing on Lynn who decided to act like a terror who had never been touched.  LOL. 

 Before, well barely started anyway. 

 after with a Dolly photo bomb. 

All three of these girls also needed a hoof trim.

 these are my trimmers. Thanks Mom for the great present!

 Here's Dolly sitting for her pedicure.

 Here's a good picture of Dolly's foot with 1 side trimmed & the other not. Sheep & goats need their feet trimmed on s regular basis similar to horses & people. Done properly this doesn't hurt them at all.  Generally speaking trimmings are done around 4 months. However many people keep a rock pile for their sheep or goats to walk on keeping their hooves worn down naturally.  As I don't have the fencing finished, I trim. 

 This is my thanks from Loretta for keeping her feet healthy.  She kicked just as I went to cut. I stabbed my own thumb. It bled way more than I thought it should & I ended up having to pause my trimming to clean & bandage it. 

Sunday brought another beautiful day.  I helped a friend with dog trimming they needed done. I came home and worked on Dolly's fleece shearing. 

 Here's a partial done picture. 

 I also worked on as cotswold cross fleece that was sheared in 2014. I've done a bit with this fleece & it gives a nice spin with some of the signature shine that cotswold has.  I've got it all skirted & seperated into locks. Now I will work on getting it all washed. I plan on offering some dyed & spun for sale. But I'm going to do 1 skein for myself to take to the Blue Party at Hillcreek Fiber Studeo in June & dye with a natural Saxon blue.  

Long time since . . .

Wow I can't believe it's been over a week since I last posted. It's been a busy spring Aarons here! We did several farm things but I didn't get many of any pictures of most of it.

Last Saturday for our anniversary Camo Dad bought Nascar tickets for us! I was the one most excited. LOL. We watched Nascar growing up on rainy Sundays when we couldn't do outside farm stuff. I've always wanted to go in person so it was a wonderful surprise & gift!

It was a great race! 

 We had to more the lawn again.  I'm not that person who cares about how my yard looks honestly. I would almost rather fence it in & let the sheep out. LOL. So the farm girl in me hates to see all that nice grass go to waste.  My solution, rake it up for the critters.

I did manage to get some locally sourced fleeces skirted so I'm hoping to post those on the sale page soon! Here's a taste.

Here's a picture of that pretty roving I was working on last time.  All finished!  Now, what to make with it for Fluffy Girl?

Finally an updated picture of the 3 chicks hatched out by my cochin. 

Chicks!

Remember the sign of spring picture showing my little broody cochin?

This is what i found tonight.  About a week or so ago the black pochin decided to brood with my little buff.

This is what was underneath my buff. The little guy must have gotten out of the box so she decided to be the floor mother.  

I didn't get a picture but there's another under the black pochin dying off! I wonder how many we'll have? 

So it's been a busy week & not busy at the same time, believe it or not. It rained pretty well everyday so when it wasn't raining it was to wet to get anything done outside.  

 I decided before the rains started to give up the roo'ing on Loretta.  I did some more research & decided she wasn't loose enough.  So i started scissor shearing her.  Here's a mostly done picture. She feels much better now! Unfortunately, due to the rain I haven't been able to do anymore shearing of any kind.  Before you shear you want your sheep absolutely dry so you don't end up with a musty fleece. 

Here's a couple shots of Kenny.  He's just so nice & nice looking. 

I spent Saturday with a friend at the Missouri Spin-In, held in Chilicothe.  I took a picture of my loot! I bought some bamboo & firestar to mix into some batts. We also took a class on continuous strand weaving where we made a cotton washcloth, also pictured.  I enjoyed it & i think I'm going to ask for a small loom for my birthday or Christmas. It was a struggle but i managed NOT to buy any more fiber! 

However I did get a start on spinning the fiber above that I purchased last year at the spin-in.  LOL. Yes, even raising my own sometimes you see a new breed & color that you just have to get!  This is a neat green & pink that I thought would make a pretty something for Fluffy Girl eventually.  It's wool from a Polworth sheep that I bought from T&H fiber works. 

  Before I could start that I finished up this skein of shetland that I had started. It's from a ewe that I lost last year & she was my favorite at the time. Her name was Beauty & I decided to use at least some of her fleece for a special project.  I'll tell you more another time.