I REFUSE...

...to speak one more word or post one more photograph about winter .

From this day forward, there will be no snow in the Bluff Country.

There is plenty going on, inside my house, that does not require me to set foot outside until the grass is growing and the flowers are blooming!

There are more socks to knit

(this is my second pair!)

And crazy, wild animals to attend to:

Baby chicks who are growing fast,

(in the comfort of my living room!)

They must be carefully monitored and protected during play time...

"Aww, shucks Mom, I wouldn't hurt 'em!"

I've started spinning my multi-tonal red roving:

Best of all,

my Beautiful Baby Girl

(and her wonderful Fiance!) will be home (as in MY home) tonight!!!
I'll be getting SOOOOO many hugs!

(notice the weather?)
Katie is stationed in Georgia and Carter's in San Diego.
They're bringing their weather with them!

DREAM says...

"I do believe that Mom's been dipping her toes in a river called "de-Nile"! 
Just don't forget to feed us when the worst of the heat of the day is over, Mom..."

I won't forget, Dreamer. 

I better stock up on insect repellent too!

 

In living COLOR...

In lieu of our dreary weather, my dreary health and the previous Black & White post, I thought today would be a good day to share my latest fiber adventure:

I have done very little dying with my Shetland fleece because I so love the natural colors.  But, I decided that it was time to brighten up things around here a little...

I put some 'Rit' dye and a little vinegar and hot water in the bottom of a couple of large jars, than added four ounces of white, Shetland roving.

I then sprinkled more dye on top of the roving and poured hot water to almost fill the jars.

I also did the same thing in the bottom of the roasting pan that I was using to heat the fiber as it was soaking up the dye.

Then I covered the roaster and let it simmer, overnight.

I gently shifted the roving around in the jars a few times, to make sure that all of the fiber was exposed to the dye but I was hoping for darker and lighter areas from not mixing the dye in the water first.

I also did a small bowl, using left over dye.  In this bowl, I put red dye & vinegar/water in the bottom, then added a small ball of roving.  I added more red dye on top and then added another, smaller ball of roving.  Over that I put the last of the red and a little bit of the purple dye and then added water, almost but not quite to the top of the fiber.  I covered the bowl with plastic wrap and heated it in the microwave.  I heated it in one or two minute intervals and then let it sit overnight.

The results the next day:

I LOVE the darker and lighter areas of color!

On the top of this photo you can see the smaller sample that I did in the microwave.  There are areas of uncolored roving in that batch. 

The yellow surprised me with all the different shades it developed!

I can't wait to spin these up and see how the yarn turns out!

I'm not sure if I'll do any mixing of the colors in the yarn or just go for the multi-tonal shades of each color.  But I can't wait to start spinning!

I realize that the purple looks quite different in these two photos.  The actual color is about half way in between the two colors.

DREAM says...

"Speaking as a sheep, I prefer the natural colors.  But, I do think that you should knit a sheep of many colors out of that roving, Mom".

OOOO!  I like that idea, Dreamer!

*don't forget to visit Farm Friend Friday and see what your favorite farm blogs are up to!*



Black & White and shades of grey...

Things aren't always what they seem.

Alice isn't black & white.

Or even shades of grey.

She's actually "Musket".

Which, in Shetland sheep, is the brown version of grey.  A sheep that is born brown but lightens to a pale, grey-ish brown, "oatmeal'" color. 

Alice's daughter, Destiny,  is "Shaela"  a dark, steely grey, almost black color but having a metalic tint that can look like "black frost"

Even an all white sheep appears to have shades of grey, in a black & white photograph;

from the play of light and shawdows on her fleece.

Just look at all the shades of grey on this "moorit"  (reddish brown) ewe. 

The reality is, non of these sheep really look like they do in these photos.

Nothing is just black & white. 

There are always shades of grey.

Last week I was very sick.  I ran a fever, had the chills, severe body aches, dizziness, weakness, an awful, burning vinegar smell in my nose and metalic taste in my mouth  and a horrible cough. 

I'm not sick anymore.

Well, not completely sick.

Maybe a little sick.

I'm still getting occassional dizzy spells that just about knock me off my feet.  It feels like the whole room shifts.  The feeling is so dramatic that it makes me nauseaus.  The icky smell & taste don't help much either...

I'm really sick of being sick...

DREAM says...

"You better hurry up and get REALLY  BETTER, Mom!  Your Beautiful Baby Girl will be home next week and I know  how much you're looking forward to seeing her again."

You're absolutely right, Dreamer.  I don't want to be sick when Katie and Carter are here.  If I don't feel much better tomorrow,

I'll go to the doctor...

Really.

Monday Moments...

I just visited the blog of a newer member of  the "A Shepherd's Voice" family.  The blog is written by Tina Eudora and is titled:  "One Wild Swan"     I was deeply touched by a video that Tina shared on one of her blog posts.  Of course, I was first drawn to it because it was filmed in Italy (a VERY special memory for myself and La Mia Bella Bambina!),  This video so inspired me so ~ and made me smile ~ that I've decided to start a new "tradition" on my blog.  "Monday Moments" will be my attempt to start every week (Mondays) with a post that will bring a smile.  I hope that you like this video as much as I do...

DREAM says...

"Happy Monday!  Buon Giorno!  Ciao!, Carpe Diem!!"

"I think I'm going to LIKE this new tradition, Mom!"

Me too, Dreamer!

Me too...

And the Winners are....

Mom says we're  the winners because we have great friends like YOU!

Thank you for joining our family and following along with A Shepherd's Voice!

Since Mom did promise some prizes, here we go:

For her incredible  knowledge of all things Bluff Country,

Jean, from MN. has won herself one of the

limited edition

DREAM figurines!

Congratulations, Jean and thanks for being such a loyal follower!

Late last night, I googled a 'random number selector' and it drew the comment made by TheCrazySheepLady ~ of "Punkins Patch"

 

Send me your snail mail address Sara and I'll

get your "sheep on a cart" out to you!

As a special thank you to our 100th 'follower',

Patrice will be receiving her choice of shape and fragrance in a bar of homemade goat milk soap.  Welcome to "our family" ~ I'll need your info to get that in the mail to you, Patrice.

I do want to apologize for taking SO long to get this post up today!

I must have partied too hard yesterday!  I actually slept until NOON!

That is just not heard of around here.

And then, I woke up to

Thunder Snow!!!

The Piggles desperately trying to get into the chicken coop, while I was out feeding animals and gathering eggs when the snow let up!

DREAM says...

"Aren't you supposed to EAT those Piggles or something???"

DREAMER!!!



A Look Back continued...

I know.

I KNOW!

;-)

It's hard!

And to make it even MORE difficult, this particular game is going to be cumulative!

But, I hope that you think the prize

will be worth it.

I hope I'm not boring too many of you but I'm having a BLAST  going through my old photos!

I won't make all of them into questions...

just a few:

#1  What was the name of my beautiful Silkie hen who gave me the very first chicks hatched in the Bluff Country?

Here are a couple of much more current photos:

#2  Do you know who took them?

Lots of hard work goes into keeping this place running and the animals fed.

I enjoy documenting my efforts!

Making hay

(with a lawn rake and a wheel barrow!)

Gathering rocks for my "rock wall"

There are some painful  memories associated with that!

Sometimes I'm lucky and get some help!

Katie LOVES to help, when she is home:

#3  What kind of tree did Bella help me plant in the backyard?

When I'm REALLY lucky,

my Grandsons come out to help!

(actually, I'm just as happy when they just come to visit)

#4  What is this handsome young man's name?

#5

BONUS  POINTS!!!

10 bonus points if you can tell who is my favorite Grandson and why.

(there are two, possible correct answers to the bonus question)

Yup, I've got some wonderful memories from my life in the Bluff Country!

And I've made some amazing  friends.

#6  & #7

Can you name these two ladies?

I've had to say good-bye to a few...

That's always so SAD...

But, I'll never forget them.

#8  Do you remember this little cutie?

What's her name?

#9  Who's her mama?

We've endured some tough winters...

And rejoiced at the coming of Spring!

DREAM says...

"OOOO!  OOOO!!

I've got one!"

#10   What is my twin sister's name?

I will be selecting a random comment (via the "random number generator), later on tonight to award another prize to.

Stay tuned!