Weaning Lambs

Here is the first group of lambs to be weaned. They are shetland/BFL crosses except for the weather in the left fore ground. He is out of our texel cross ewe bred back to our BFL. They have grown really fast and with all this rain the pastures are holding up really well. The fleeces on the weathers are so nice I will shear them this fall before they go to the butcher and have lambs wool to sell.

Needles, Wheel and Loom

So what have I been up to as far as my fiber interests. I have been weaving rugs for a special order and have finally got them done. They turned out really nice and I hope my customer likes them. I also wove a double throw which was fun and I learned something new. I used store bought yarn and some of my naturally dyed mill spun yarn.

I've been spinning some gray shetland and knitting a baby cardi and hat for a friends little girl who is due in August. As you can see it still needs buttons.

Sourdough

With all the rain we've been having I started sourdough for baking bread. In the picture above the rye flour is beginning to bubble meaning I've captured wild yeast. I started with 2 cups of rye flour and 2 cups of water to begin the process. Each day for a week I added 1 cup more of flour and water until the yeast had established itself and I had 3 quarts of starter.

This is the starter after 7 days, the yeast is bubbling and it smells kind of yeasty and fruity. If mold had formed it means it spoiled and no yeast was captured. With this sourdough starter I was able to make 4 loaves of sourdough bread using no commercial yeast.

As you can see, 4 loaves of delicious sourdough bread using a rye sourdough starter, whole wheat flour a little sea salt and whey from some earlier cheese for a liquid. This was easier than I thought and the bread rose quite nicely. It does take a longer time than conventional yeast to rise but the results are worth it.