Tuesday, July 27, 2010

Turkish delights

Yes, these little beauties are just as enchanting as Edmund's downfall in C.S. Lewis' The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe. Calorie-free, though - and you get yarn!

It is often slow at the clinic since it is a mostly ambulatory practice, which means spindle time. As you can see, I decided to ply the purple sparkly single on itself, thinking it would make a nice pop of color in one of these hats (scroll down). The design is Laura's, and she's promised to teach it to me during her convalescence from knee surgery. I did make a rookie mistake in choosing Paisley to spin the white single and Tamarin to ply with, because Tamarin is significantly lighter (.7 ounce vs. 1.1 ounce). But it worked out okay, and now I know.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch. This afternoon Rick took his assistant out and wethered Bodhran (finally). Since Bodhran is nearly four months old, Rick surgically castrated him as he would a dog, only under local anesthesia for less risk. Unfortunately, Bodhran took the procedure hard, bloating in the process for which Rick had to needle-stick him to relieve the pressure. When I got home this evening he was laying under the box fan Rick considerately rigged up for him, chewing his cud. Hopefully he'll heal up quickly and be ready to join his brother Banjo soon!

That's it for now from . . .

5 comments:

Crosswinds Farm said...

Feel better Bodhran!

Laura said...

Oh! his fleece... Hope he gets over it soon.

Michelle said...

Yeah, his fleece is pretty trashed. But once he heals and can wear a coat, Jeannie will clean him up good and cover that jet-black fleece!

Sharon said...

Laura is the queen of hats, but you probably already knew that. Take advantage of this opportunity! I've found myself equally taken with spindles as of late. They are so portable.

thecrazysheeplady said...

This is going to sound awful and cruel and I'm sure folks are going to think I'm horrible. The last ram lamb that I had castrated the "kind(er)" way had trouble as well. My vet (who grew up raising sheep) said I wasn't doing them any favors trying to lay them down... Since then he's done everyone (8, including the two older rams) standing up. They flinch for about one second (seriously) and then it's over. They usually, but not always, lay down for part of the day looking sore (but they are going to do that regardless) and by evening are out grazing like nothing happened.