chasing sheep

Here are some images from the end of the week and the weekend. We packed up and went up to the farm on Saturday for a big family gathering to celebrate family being home from out of state and also an upcoming wedding for a cousin. So my parent's house was overflowing with good food, little cousins and bridal shower paraphernalia.

A lot to squeeze in to an afternoon.

The sun was finally out so I pulled out my most recent finished quilt top and asked my sister to snap some photos. We ended up in the front yard under the big trees. I always get a kick out of my quilt pictures. Big quilt - little legs and feet. A quilt monster.

It's only Sunday morning and we're back in the city. I'm hoping if the weather stays mild to get a lot of yard work done today. With the birth of our little guy last November and me being really pregnant all fall we didn't get our leaves racked as usual, so the yard is really suffering. Luckily we have a small lot, so it usually takes a weekend of hard work from my husband and myself to get the place looking nice.

I have some flowers waiting to be put in the ground and a lot of seeds, so I'm excited.

Cheers everyone!

Jill

hello sheeps

Ashley and I made an impromptu visit to the farm yesterday afternoon - I swung by her place and picked her up on the way north. Once there we met up with our nieces, grandma and rest of the family.

My niece had on a yellow hoodie that my sister wore as a child. My mom tied the hood up and I had a flashback to my childhood. Suddenly, I was looking at my sister as a little girl instead of her daughter. My niece has her father's grin, however, so I couldn't imagine she was my sister for long. She has too much of her own personality. What a little trickster!

We played around with pots, pans and dye. I wanted to see if I could dye fiber to transition in color, instead of having random color placement, so I used some rectangular pans and placed the fiber in them "accordion-style" and then poured the dye on in strips. Turned out pretty neat. Hopefully it spins up like I want it to. I plan on using these for some more weaving projects.

Can't let the loom get dusty.

Oh yah, I'm going to finish my lace cowl today. I only have a few rows left. Then I can block it and see how it looks. I've never made a cowl before, or worn one.

Hope you all are having a fantastic Memorial Day.

shepherd's harvest

We've been busy preparing for Shepherd's Harvest this weekend. We'll be selling our beautiful fleeces from our covered CVM Romeldale sheep, as well as our combed top, the spring collection of our hand-dyed yarn and hand-dyed combed top and finally our line of Hetty Yarns in several weights and natural colors.

Please ask us about our 2013 breeding stock. 

We hope to see you there!

have you any wool?

the girls

I missed spring lambing at the farm this year, because of my crazy schedule at school. I missed the lambs jumping around the barn and racing up and down the barnyard. I was home this past weekend and we took a walk out into the pasture.

Sheep are strange animals, sometimes they'll ignore you like you're not even there (unless you're waving a bucket full of grain) and other times they'll come sprinting toward you like you're a long lost bosom friend that they haven't see in years.

Last weekend we got one of the sheep interested in following us out into the green pasture and the rest of the herd followed at a sharp trot. The bottle lambs were mostly interested in surrounding my mother and discovering if she had a bottle to feed them. Since she didn't they left her after a few inquisitive rises onto their hind legs to paw at her hands for the bright green grass.

Here some of last year's lambs are playing on one of my dad's manure piles. They like to play king of the hill and are very entertaining to watch. All of our sheep are coated from the earliest age, so their fleece is protected year round.

We still have some of this past springs skirted fleeces available for hand spinners as well as 2011 spring lambs for sale. Please inquire at tendrilandtwine@gmail.com.

spring lambs for sale

Crosby Hill Farm has been around for awhile, but we've only been in the business (or should I say lifestyle) of raising sheep for the past three years. These last two years my mom has been growing her flock, but this year we're ready to sell some of our stock of registered CVM romeldale sheep.

To the right of this post, in the handy selection panel, you'll find a link to all of the photos of the lambs that we have up for sale this season, a selection of ewe and ram lambs with a variety of natural colors to their fleeces. Also to the right, is a link to the National CVM Conservatory's website, of which Crosby Hill Farm is a member under the web address tendrilandtwine.com.


In this post I'm sharing a few of my favorite pictures of our lambs.

Those of you who follow this blog know that I'm Jillian. I try to post an entry every few weeks and I live in the city. It's my mother, Julie, and my dad, Wayne, who raise the sheep on the farm that I grew up on miles north of the city here in Minnesota. I try to get home as often as possible to visit my folks and also take some fresh produce in the form of eggs, fiber, veggies and meat back to the city.

Please feel free to contact us here at the blog's email address tendrilandtwine@gmail.com if you have questions about our breeding stock or fiber. More likely than not it will be my mother, Julie, who answers your inquiries.


There's nothing like a small flock of friendly lambs to change your perspective on life.

The world, through a sheep's eyes, can be a very enjoyable place . . . if its a sunny day and there's a large grass pasture in sight!