Celtic Crossroads

Hi Everyone:

It’s been amazing over the last 30 days! We now have 6 lambs: 5 ewe lambs and a ram lamb. Madge had pure white twins, Sugar and Spice. Sandy had Dot by C-section (Dot was too large for Sandy’s pelvis and then Sandy died the next day due to the trauma). Bonnet had colored twins, Wish and Mage . And last, but not least, Blesa, had the ram lamb aka Brutus. We still have a couple of ewes that still need to drop their lambs. The Vet I have is a wonder, and a mobile veteriniarian to boot. He’s helped me in ways with the sheep and alpacas that I never thought I’d ever need help, not to mention neutering my dog, spaying my cat, and giving them their shots each year. Not a people person, but a real animal person…the kind of person I’d want to take care of my animals.

May 4 is the first day of the Walla Walla Farmers Market and it will go until the last Sunday and October. This is the first year of having the market on both Saturdays and Sundays. This is the first year that I’m having a reserved space, so I’ll be at the same spot every time I’m there. I’m so excited and have been workign on creating new yarns and new items for sale. I have knit markers for small to large needles (most people sell the little ones, but no one is selling markers for the larger knitting needles), as well as Heirloom knitting frames (with hickory and other woods as well), old favorite and new toys, hats, scarves, blankies, baby items, and other things.

The hardest thing I have to do now is to shear my sheep and alpacas. Gas costs have increased all the costs associated with raising and shearing animals. It has helped me decide that if I want my Icelandic sheep sheared twice a year (spring and fall) and alpacas sheared once a year, then I must do it myself. I already have my Heininger shears with ovine and alpaca blades (I’ll probably need to buy a couple more so that I can just change out the blades when they get dull rather than stopping and sharpening one constantly), so I just need the time. As soon as lambing is over, I’ll start on the sheep, but the alpacas will be started next Saturday. The shearers have raised their prices per head significantly and as I have horned and polled sheep, the shearers charge more for the horned and the rams, and the polled ewes are less expensive to shear, but it’s still too expensive.

Hay costs have increased significantly from $140 a ton to $200+ a ton. That will continue to increase as less and less farmers are raising hay–they’re all raising corn for biofuel now. Everyone knows that corn is not an energy efficient way to make ethanol, but they still grow it anyway because it’s subsidized by the department of Agriculture. Sugar beets is a much more viable and energy efficient product for make biofuel, but not that many people are raising sugar beets because they’re not subsidized. I think the government needs to start really looking at what they subsidizing and start working to make the department of Agriculture more efficient in terms of viability and sustainability. With hay farmers turning to crops that are subsidizing them more than for hay, we can see a steady increase in hay prices over time. Rather frightening. But we have a plan: we’re looking for a larger piece of property, not just for the animals, but to start raising our own hay to feed them–hopefully, not too far from where we’re living now. We’ll just have to wait and see.

I’m putting alpaca pucky into my garden and mixing it up so that my garden will be ready for the new plants and seeds I have. Not only am I going to be growing more leaf crops for salads (spicy and mild mesclun, leaf lettuce, herbs, beet tops), but I’ll be growing beets myself to make sure the animals have additional feed other than hay in the winter. Beets store well too. I’ll be growing some corn (dent, sweet corn, popcorn, broom corn), as well as flowers and strawberries. And don’t forget the rhubarb and tomatoes. The rhurbarb is coming up earlier than since we first planted it, and I’m planting 4 types of tomatoes. I’m thinkinig of taking out the back rose garden to put in an herb/kitchen garden instead. It’s closer to the house and I think it would be perfect for the herbs I want to grow and maybe some snap and snow peas using the garage wall as a place to put the netting the peas can attach themselves to.

My daughters are going to turn 24 and 25 this year. The 25 yo is going to be going back to school to get her Masters degree so she can teach. My 24 yo will be changing jobs shortly as there’s some sexual harassment going on there and it makes her uncomfortable. I’m hoping she will find another job that pays as well and that she likes as well as she liked this job before the harassment started. Why do male co-workers in a male-oriented work environment have to start harassing the female co-workers? Can’t think they about anything without their little heads and libidos getting into the action? Can’t they keep work, work, instead of an opportunity to get their sexuality into the picture? You’d think this was the 1950’s instead of 2008. Men cannot use the excuse that women can’t do the work any longer> What it comes down to is this: WOMEN HAVE PROVEN THEN CAN DO THE WORK, but the men want to screw it up with sexual harassment because they don’t want the women to do the work even when they show they can do the work. What’s the matter with respect, fellas, especially when they can keep up with you. Try working with them, instead of making the work environment so disgusting and uncomfortable no woman wants to stay there for very long, even when everything else about the job works for them (except the harassment). WOMEN AND MEN NEED TO RESPECT EACH OTHER.

Women and men CAN be friends with the opposite gender, even when they’re married, without having an affair. Another instance of a belief that is not in standing with what is really going on out there. The myth that men and women cannot be friends because sex comes into it, is just that, a myth. If men repsect women enough, it can happen. If you start thinking about sex, then it’s time to say no to sex. Friendships are far more important than an affair, which will not only make you feel badly about yourself and the person you’re having the affair with, but will quite possibly break up the relationship you’re already involved in. I think many men and woman have too low of esteem to be able to have friendships and jealousy rears it’s ugly head. If you totally trust your partner adn your partner totally trusts you, you can be friends with other people. If you don’t trust each other, you’re never going to be able to have those types of friendships. Having friendships with people of the opposite gender can give you insight into things within yourself and your husband/boyfriend. But it is a myth that men and women cannot be friends.

The peach and apricot trees have already bloomed, but the apples are starting and the cherries should be coming right after them. My July bearing and everbearing raspberries are leafing out big time. Last weekend, I was getting out all the dead stalks so that it would be much easier to harvest the berries when they’re ready to go. Everbearing raspberries have nasty thorns and though I had gardening gloves on, my wrists on both arms look like I tried to commit suicide from all the scratches from those thorns. We planted to Asian pear trees last year and they’re doing well.

Lastly, I’m teaching at the local yarn shop, Knitochet. Felting, knitting, spinning, toy making and other things as they come up. I love teaching what I know…sharing that intricate knowledge that will help others find a bit of peace in their lives. Fiber arts brings with it a sense of prayer or meditation to it as you move along the pattern to make an afghan or a sweater coat. If it’s not an intricate pattern, you can go along almost mindlessly while you think of other things. If you have a more intricate pattern, it challenges your creativity to do something you haven’t done before. Fiber arts is very much like life: peaks and valleys, challenges and easy parts, and it’s a good analogy for my own life.

Take care, and I’ll talk with you soon!