I don't know if I've mentioned it or not in my prior posts, but I am a board member this year for the Hoosier Hills Fiber Festival 2008. This will be its 4th annual gathering at Johnson County Fairgrounds in Franklin, Indiana on June 6th and 7th.
Now I've never been a board member for anything before, but I can tell you this much it is a lot of hard work planning a festival. My baby is getting the booklet and handouts completed as well as floor layouts printed up so that everyone has something to hold onto so as not to forget us for next year.
On top of all that, I have my own brood of sheep, alpacas, Angora goats, dogs, and spouse to care fore as well. My lambs think I'm the mom finder and do their best to bleat as loud as they can so that when they need a drink and can't find mom, I will come rushing out of the house to their aid in their "mom" search. After 8 weeks of this, I'm getting pretty calloused to it though. I try not to hear them in spite of their high-pitched calls for help. Only if one persists for an extended period of time do I go check to see if there is something really wrong other than they don't want to move from a particular spot and want their mom to come to them.
I am proud to say that this year, I have some really nice lambs I will be selling at Hoosier Hills...or should I say that my darling hubby will manning the pen. I will have all the information he needs along with paperwork so that he can tell interested buyers what mix the lamb is or so he can call me on the cell and have me come out and talk to potential buyers. I have 50/50 Shetland/Finns, 50/25/25 Finn/Babydoll/Shetlands, & 37.5/37.5/25 Finn/Babydoll/Shetland blends. I have posted a photo of one of the 50/50 ewes I will be selling. Her 1/2 sister from last year blessed me with a beautiful black ewe this year. All their fibers are awesome and I can't wait for the couple of lambs I'm keeping to have fleece long enough to shear. By festival time I may also have some Border/Bluefaced Leicester lambs, but they haven't arrived yet. I will have an Angora kid buck for sale and maybe a doe. I haven't made up my mind. But the doe and the buck are twins from this year and they are soooo cute!!!!
I missed church this morning because yesterday we sheared 10 alpacas. There was a crew of 5 of us and we started about 10:30 and went until near 7 p.m. I am sooo sore that I couldn't get out of bed this morning until almost 10. It took me an hour to get loosened up so that I could move. I still ache and hope I feel better tomorrow. I don't like being stiff and sore! lol!!! If you read this blog and would like to see the lambs before the festival, feel free to drop me a line. kate of WindSong
