Growing Blue Sky Homestead

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March 23, 2025 - Our first sheep shearing

As we approached six weeks before Blossom's due date, it was essential to shear the ladies to ensure their well-being assess their body conditions. Blossom, in particular, needed to be sheared ahead of giving birth to prevent her from lying in the snow during or after lambing, which could put her lambs at risk for hypothermia. Poppy was in dire need of a haircut, as the fleece obscured her true body condition by making her look 3 feet wide, and sweet Rosie was sheared simply because the season called for it. With the shearing complete, we could rest easier, knowing the ewes all in excellent health and Blossom was prepared for the upcoming challenges of motherhood.

Now that we are the proud owners of three big and beautiful fleeces, Christina has embarked on the journey of learning how to clean and process them for wet felting. Her goal is to create warm blankets for our lambs, ensuring they stay comfortable during chilly nights. This endeavor is not only practical but also ignites her creativity as she explores the potential for crafting other fun, homemade items. With each step in the process, from washing and drying the fleeces, to picking, carding and felting, Christina is discovering the joy of transforming raw wool into something useful and beautiful. It’s an exciting adventure that blends her love for animals with her passion for learning old and simple ways of crafting, and we can’t wait to see the delightful results of her hard work.

March 31, 2025 - Setting up the new milking stanchion for Hazel

While we are waiting for the supplies to arrive to build the drum carder with which we will continue to process the sheep wool, Christina utilized the time to build a milking stanchion for Hazel and started training her to it. Today, she brought the milking stanchion to the cow pen and set up a milking area that can be separated from the general cow pen when it's not time to milk, so that it won't be climbed on, used as a scratching post, or pose a risk for injury when being played on.

Hazel loves her treats and, after the initial hesitation, was easily encouraged to step up onto the milking stanchion. It was important to make it a positive experience (for everyone involved) and we'll continue to take daily, small steps towards Hazel eventually calmly standing in the stanchion to be milked. Thankfully, we still have a little time until her due date, which we will spend getting her used to and comfortable with the new routine.