21 October

Video: First Look At The Romney Wool (IN THE WIND)

by Jon Katz

We started one of our favorite rituals this morning, skirting the wool – cleaning it – in preparation for being converted into yarn and roving. That will take the knitting mill about six months. It was awfully windy this morning, there was some wind noise on the video, but it’s quite audible.

This is our first look at the newly-shorn Romney wool, the Gang Of Four. We had a rapt audience – Chloe, the dogs, the donkeys, the barn cats. Maria is excited about this wool, come and see. After the video, I have to roll up my sleeves and join in, we need to get it done before it gets cold, that is rough on the fingers.

Come and see.

21 October

The Willa Cather Woman

by Jon Katz
The Willa Cather Women
The Willa Cather Women

Willa Cather was, in my mind, one of the great novelists of the 20th century, I have always loved her writing about life for people, especially women, on the Great Plains. I sometimes take photos of Maria working so hard on our farm, and while our life is so much easier than the people who built their homes and lives and farms on the Great Plains, it is physical and difficult sometimes.

I am healthy and deeply involved the chores and maintenance of our farm and animals, but I also turned 69 this year, and I cannot do all of the things I did when I first came to the country and bought a farm. My legs are not as strong or sure, even as my mind seems to grow stronger and surer.

Maria does a lot of hard work here, and sometimes, especially when I see her hauling manure or hay in the wind or moving rocks and dirt around, I think of Willa Cather and the amazing women she portrayed in her novels.

I think to myself, I have a Willa Cather woman here with me, and I am grateful for that. This morning, she grabbed some shovels and was hauling manure away from the barn and out into the pasture, the wind was blowing her hair, the Willa Cather women were always out in the barn, digging and hauling and running their farms.

Maria is an artist, not a pioneer, but she often walks the farm in her skirts and sweaters (often her wedding dress), often barefoot in the mud and cold,and she evokes this for me, and so do what I call the “Willa Cather” photos.  She is unpretentious, with a great appetite for work. She is a strong woman, she is unfazed by hard or dirty work.

21 October

Lame Dog, On Duty

by Jon Katz
Lame Dog, On Duty
Lame Dog, On Duty

Red was limping in his right front leg yesterday, I think he twisted it while running – the pastures are full of groundhog and other holes, so he was on restricted duty this morning. But he still wanted to work, and could work, so I had him sit between the sheep and donkey feeders to keep order. He gave me some baleful look, wanting to be more active, but I told him he was taking it easy today, and in his gracious way, he went along with me. He didn’t look that happy though.

Like most border collies, he would have been happy to hobble around while running if I let him.

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