Maria Wulf Full Moon Fiber Art

Rest Well Suzy

Suzy last year

Suzy died this afternoon.

When I went out to feed the animals Suzy was laying on her side near the fence.  I thought she was already dead, but then her eye fluttered open and I could feel she was breathing.

She couldn’t get up.  She was laying at an awkward angle on some rocks, so I moved her as best I could to get her more comfortable.

I told Jon and he called Mike.  We weren’t sure at that point if he would need to help her along but he said he would bring his gun.

Before Mike got to the farm Jon and I went to say goodby to Suzy.  She had gotten up after I helped her and was sitting on the hill, the other sheep grazing around her.  I  was surprised to see a  raven standing on the ground next to her.   Such a big bird, its shiny black feathers glistened as we got closer and it flew away.

We needed to separate the Suzy from the rest of the sheep.  Either she was going into the pole barn or the rest of the animals were.   For some reason when I closed one of the gates to the pole barn the sheep came running.  Suzy slowly got  up and followed them.

We let the rest of the sheep out and Suzy stayed inside the barn.  As if she knew.

I had no doubt it was the right time for Suzy.  If she fell in the night or when I wasn’t around,  as she did today, she never would have gotten up without my help.  Her suffering and death would be unnecessarily long.

Suzy was 13 years old.   Thirteen years is a good long life for a sheep.  And she was a great sheep. I named her after Suzy Fatzinger,  the first friend I had who also raised animals for their fleeces.  And for the love of having them.  Just like me.

Suzy was one of my first sheep along with Socks and Tess.  Her death makes me think of how much I have learned about keeping sheep in the twelve years since I got her. I didn’t know anything about sheep before that.

Since then I experienced  sheep mating, pregnant sheep, sheep giving birth, lambs growing up, sheep getting sick and getting well or dying.  And knowing when it’s time to put an old ewe or wether down.

I didn’t cry until after Mike had taken Suzy away in his truck.  He’ll put her body in a nearby field for the coyotes.

Even though I still have eight sheep, all of them healthy and six of them young, I feel like it’s the end of something now that Suzy is gone.

It doesn’t make sense, and I can’t really explain it. I think it has something to do with her having lived 12 of her 13 years with me.   And that I’ve grown so much in how I think about and behave around sheep and animals in general. That I am much more knowledgeable about them, practically and emotionally.   And Suzy was there for all of that learning.  Her life and death has marked that time for me.

I cut a handful of Suzy’s wool before Mike took her away. I wish I could have shorn her whole fleece.  But it’s not practical,  it was getting dark and Mike had other things to do. Anyway, I couldn’t imagine shearing her once she was dead.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe I just don’t have the heart for it.

Suzy with the big round eyes, and soft, always clean wool, I miss you already.

Suzy with Robin and Kim this afternoon

Bedlam Farm Book Sale… Sold Out

The four books we are selling today

Jon and I have four more books that we are selling as part of our Bedlam Farm Book Sale.

Each of these books are once read and in excellent condition.  They are $10 each + $5 shipping.

If you are interested in any of them, just email me at [email protected].  Let me know which book you’d like and if you’d like to use a check, PayPal or Venmo to pay for it.

The shipping is so inexpensive because I can send them out as media mail, which also means it may take a little longer to get to you.

Below is a list of the book we are selling. Click on the title for a link to a summary of each book.

Novel

Jesmyn Ward  “Let Us DescendSold

Short Stories

Clare Keegan “So Late In The DaySold

Non Fiction

Stanley Coren “The Pawprints of HistorySold
Stacy Schiff  “The Revolutionary Samuel Adams”  Sold

Blue Bailing Twine With Bits Of Broken Bottles

Blue twine with broken bits of bottles

I found the broken bottle necks on the farm.  They come up from the ground when it rains with the other shards of glass.  They were too pretty to throw away, so I had them in the houses on the window sill.

But as I was tying two more pieces of twine onto the gate post, I thought they would be the perfect addition.  I had three and over the past couple of days, I tied them all to the gate post.

The third piece of broken bottle.

I believe I’ve fed the final bale of last years hay to the donkeys and sheep.  So from now on, no more orange twine.  The rest will be blue twine from this years hay.

You can see how my Blue Bailing Twine has evolved from the first two strands until now on my Pinterest.  Just click here.

The Dancing Carrot, I’m Beginning To Enjoy Cooking Easy Meals

I always pick out the most interestingly shaped carrots from Carrot box at Long Days Farm. I let the carrot above dance with the other veggies before cutting her up for pea soup.

I don’t really like to cook, but I have come to enjoy making soup.

We used to have a couple of places in town that made good soup, but when they stopped due to Covid, I realized if I wanted good soup, I was going to have to make it.

So now, usually on Sundays, I make a big  pot of soup.  Jon and I eat some and I freeze some.   I try to make sure there is always soup in the freezer.

My soup menu includes Borscht, Lentil soup, Pea soup, Chicken soup, and Butternut Squash in season.  My recipes are simple and basic.  As long as I can chop it up and throw it in a pot, I’ll make it.

This time of year, I can still get carrots, beets and onions from Edwin and Debbie who own Long Days Farm, at the Farmers Market.  And the Co-op always has bulk lentil and peas.

It took me longer than it should have to realize that the base for all my soups are basically the same, onions, carrots, celery. Although the last time I made pea soup I didn’t have celery and it still tasted good. I did notice that the more onions I use, the more tasty the soup.

Then, last week, I saw a recipe for Curry Rice on the bulletin board at the Co-op.

Like soup, all I had to do was add a bunch of ingredients together and dump them in a pot to cook.  And the recipe made enough that I could store two more meals in a jar.  All I had to do was add water and cook.

So now, thanks toBliss who posted the recipe from the Cambridge C0-Op Cookbook on the bulletin board,  I’ve added a delicious rice dish to my easy-to-make healthy homemade meals.

I’ve shared the recipe because it’s too good to keep to myself.

Fruited Rice Curry Mix  Recipe from the Cambridge Co-Op Cookbook

4C uncooked rice (I used brown rice)
1C chopped dried fruit (I used mango)
1C chopped almonds
1/2C golden raisins
1/4C dried onions (I used scallions)
2T +2t curry power
2T veggie broth or bouillon

Combine ingredients.

Put 1 3/4 C of mix, 2T butter, 2 1/2C of boiling water. Simmer for about 40 minutes.  Makes 4C of cooked rice.
(I cooked up some veggie based sausage and added it to the cooked rice.)

Suzy, In Her Own Time

 

Suzy this morning

We were getting into the car to go into town when I saw  the sheep and Fanny and Lulu lined up next to the barn, looking out towards the back pasture.

It was unusual to see them all giving something that kind of attention.  So Jon and I went to barnyard to make sure everything was alright.

They were looking at Suzy, who was laying down on the top of the hill in the back pasture.  It’s unusual enough for a sheep to graze by herself, but to be laying down alone usually means sometime is wrong.

I went to Suzy and crouched down next to her. She turned her head and looked at me with one big round eye.  I silently checked in with her.  Is it time I asked?

Suzy is 13 years old, which is old for a sheep.  She’s been having a hard time walking  for months.  I’ve been feeding her and Socks, who is the same age, grain all winter because I know they need the extra nourishment.

I know Suzy is failing, and seeing her by herself on the top of the hill, was an indication that she may be dying.

I nudged her with my foot then pulled up on wool on her back.  She got up and started to walk back to the barnyard as I trailed behind her.

Jon and I watched as Merricat walked up to Suzy.   At first I thought she was going to butt Suzy, but she just lowered her head to Suzy’s face.   They stayed like that for a while, it seemed to me they were communicating with each other. After a bit, Merricat moved away.

When we left Suzy was laying down in the barnyard, looking serenely out over the farm, the other sheep grazing around her.

I wouldn’t have been surprised if I came back that afternoon and she had died.  Jon and I talked about if it was time to put her down.  But I got the feeling that Suzy will die on her own, that she’s doing it in her own time in her own way.

Suzy has been my most healthy sheep.  She was the only sheep we had who delivered her lamb by herself with no trouble.  And her lamb, Liam, was just as healthy and strong and lived a long time for a wether.  Until the past couple of years Suzy’s wool has always grown lushly.  It’s soft and easy to skirt.  As if the things that stick in the other sheep wool just never stuck to hers.

When I came back yesterday afternoon Suzy was laying down once again.   I went to her to see how she was and she got up and walked away from me.

I didn’t need any other sign to leave her be.  Her message was clear to me.

This morning Suzy followed Socks into the barn for her grain.  Then she stopped at the salt lick on her way out.  She’s still stiff in there legs and takes an awful long time to urinate, but she’s eating and walking and as of this morning she was back hanging around with the rest of the sheep.

Maybe she’s holding on to get one more taste of spring grass.  I like that idea.  Along with the thought of her dying on the hill looking out over the farm.

When she’s ready, of course.

A Few “Ode To The Moon and Sun” Potholders For Sale

My Ode to the Moon And Sun Potholders For sale here

I only have three of them available, but if you’d like one of my Ode to the Moon and Sun Potholders, you can buy them in my Etsy Shop.  Just click here.

They are $25 each +$5 shipping for one or more.

I wasn’t sure why this fabric spoke to me a couple of weeks ago when I pulled it off my shelf.  I’ve had it a while.  But then Sally wrote to me and asked if she could have three of them.  Where she lives she will be able to see the upcoming solar eclipse in April.  She sees the potholders as an ode to the eclipse and wants to give them to friends who will be viewing it with her.

It made me wonder if subconsciously, I wasn’t inspired to make these potholders by the eclipse too.

I’ve already sold 13 of them (that magic number 13) and they are pretty popular.  I do have more fabric so I may make a few more before April 8th.

Piles In The Woods

 

Bed Springs springing up from leaf litter

A part of me knew the ticks would be out in the woods today (and they were).  But it was damp and rainy and felt cold to me.  So Fate and Zinnia and I walked over the Gulley Bridge (the water has receded so I didn’t even get my boots wet) over the tumbled rocks in the stone wall and into the woods. 

First we walked along the stream but something caught my eye in the old pile of garbage left by the people who lived on the farm before us.

There are piles of rocks in the woods, put there by the farmers who cleared the trees for grazing sheep  and built the stone walls.  High piles of small rocks they couldn’t use, or never got to.  There are piles of scat, markings left by coyote and bobcats.  There are piles of branches from fallen trees.  And piles of empty hickory and hazel nut shells left by squirrels and chipmunks on broken stumps, rocks, and in holes in trees.

The garbage pile is mostly metal and glass.

moss growing in a broken bottle wrapped in last years grass

 

But today I found a shoe.  A white shoe, growing bright green moss and trying for years to become  a part of the earth. 

 

And near that pile of human garbage, I found a pile of animal garbage in an old Woodpeckers hole in a tree.   The empty hickory nut shells looked like little clay bowls to me.

Elegant Cats

Cats are such elegant creatures.

They look good just being cats.  Are graceful doing the most mundane things that cats do.

It seems to me, that no matter what a cat is doing the curves and shapes of their bodies are beautiful and more often sensual than not.

Their tails are wild things and even the pads on their feet and needle sharp claws are a wonder.

Full Moon Fiber Art