Mud Ranch’s Real Dirt

Hubby and I had a long weekend…  We left here later than expected on Thursday morning because some mis-communication happened and Hubby let out a ewe lamb that was supposed to be leaving for Kenleigh Acres with us.  Once you let the sheep out of the barn, it can be very difficult to get them to come back in — they’re so suspicious.  Thankfully, I was able to drive the quad out in to the pasture with my white bucket of grain and clap my hands, calling in my high-pitch “sheep sheep!” voice and they came running.  I led them to the barn and they ran in to check the troughs for their treats.  It worked — whew!

We arrived at Kenleigh Acres 6 hours later and then had to drive to the Fairgrounds (Eugene, OR) where the Black Sheep Gathering was to be held.  We unloaded my ram lamb (”Hudson”) that I had brought to show and our little ewe lamb that was to be a trade to Shannon at Kenleigh Acres in their stall.  We hung around there, helping unpack things from other people’s vehicles and let Annie get her kinks out so she’d sleep well that night.

My friend Shannon, helping her son show his ram

The following day, Friday, we had our show.  After all the Shetlands (there were tons) we had our Jacob classes and I entered with our boy Hudson.  I had also planned on showing our ewe lamb, Queenie, but as I was getting Hudson out of the pen, she panicked and broke both her top horns — definitely not nice to show a bleeding ewe lamb (no worries, they heal fine and grow back —  it’s just not too pretty to look at.)

Thankfully Hudson was as cool as a cucumber and took everything in stride.  I placed all four of his feet and he didn’t even flinch when the judge came up to check him out.  I believe my friend Shannon has me talked in to keeping this one and put him on a few unrelated ewes this fall.  We’ll see how that goes but you really can’t beat his temperament and she says she likes his fleece, plus he has great structure.

After the show I had some time with Shannon while Hubby took Annie away for a nap to wander around the vendors booths.  We had a great time and there were so many awesome things there, I think I got visual overload.

One booth that was a favorite had some gorgeous dyed roving and yarn for sale.  I absolutely loved the colors and was inspired to really try my hand at dying — me being a color oriented person, this is right up my alley.

Just like a pretty catalogue with all the colors of t-shirts stacked on top of each other, these skeins of yarn grabbed my eyes with how gorgeously they coordinated.  I was attracted like a moth to a light bulb until I noticed the prices of the skeins then I wasn’t so tempted. 

The way the vendor had the yarns (colors) next to each other was an art in and of itself I thought.  They had them beautifully organized and I loved the muted tones.  Turns out that they were dyed naturally so of course, I really want to look into natural dyes now. 

This yarn was in a different booth and was beautiful as well.  The colors were more bright but so lovely themselves.  They were also a great price, one that I wouldn’t have minded paying for a skein.  That orange sunset one sure grabbed me though I don’t know what I would have done with it.  The teal is more practical for me, and easier to wear — nevertheless, I didn’t come home with any.

This was a felted vest that was extraordinary I thought.  It is made by Jacob fleece and was done by a young girl who’s family raises Jacobs in Washington state.  The attention to detail in those fish is outstanding and of course I had fun pointing out that there was a humuhumunukunukuapua’a at the top, toward the collar (it’s also known as a trigger fish, you can tell I once owned a salt water tank.)  The girl who made this vest donned it for the Spinner’s Lead and won a neat little prize as well.  What a beautiful job!

My friend Shannon and her son also were part of the Spinner’s Lead too.  Shannon felted a very elegant jacket and her son felted a very handsome scarf.  Shannon’s ewe she lead through the ring was the twin sister to the ewe who’s fleece she was wearing.

This happy little couple kept loving on each other during the show.  The sweater that the lady is wearing is made of her Shetland’s wool and was spun and dyed by her.  I thought it was spectacular and I believe her little friend did too.  They were so cute together, hugging, and the little ewe would sniff the lady’s ear then the lady would whisper something to her and the ewe would wag her tail!  It was quite something, they were obviously very bonded.

More later, I have a bunch of photos to show you and more stories of our weekend.