Lewis Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Not even if I'm a nice Defra man? ... maybe not At least you got the lambskins back - had a nose at the website, looks I think the farms just go as industrial waste - same as most of the fleeces, and they have to pay to send them off ... isn't cost effective to process + sell them, such a waste thyou mean your clough I read about TB in alpaca in Country smallholding (I think). Of course if I had to choose it'd be chickens with unofficial alpaca cuddles Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Of course I could be last on call - then you could go off duty and cuddle the lot. Where there's a will . . . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 I saw Lesley's last lot of fleeces and they were lovely; very soft and cuddly Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 16, 2010 Author Share Posted August 16, 2010 These are the first two I did - the current ones look just like this at the moment..... This is what they look like after they've been tanned......... I also did the skin from the black ram lamb we had. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 16, 2010 Share Posted August 16, 2010 Ooooh lovely and snuggley. OK maybe a couple of sheep too. One step at a time though! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Daphne Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Gorgeous - you just want to hug it don't you! I still remember the fleece rug by the side of my bed as a child so my tootsies were warm when I got up - tho it was dyed bright orange in places Is it true that black fleeces are less sought after - thats something I remember being told as a child and so I've thought it ever since, rightly or wrongly. But we have a field of sheep up the road and about 50% of them are black, so it like that thing where people used to prefer brown eggs and white bread even though white eggs are no different and brown bread is generally better for you and now people think differently? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 Glad you got your fleeces Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Helly Welly Posted August 17, 2010 Share Posted August 17, 2010 DD had a small fleece in her buggy to keep her back warm, it now serves as a rug for her teddies. At this rate Lesley, you'll be able to cover your whole house in fleece!!! Does Jazz not wreck them?? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 17, 2010 Author Share Posted August 17, 2010 No, the dogs sniff them ocasionally but they leave them alone. I did the black one because I love black sheep - I wonder what that says about me? The skins we salted yesterday are fine today. You have to be careful not to miss any bit of the skin or it will start to rot.....or flies will lay eggs on it Apart from the skins we also have the fleeces from shearing - I need to get them packed up and sent off to be washed. I don't mind doing small amounts by hand but we have about 30 fleeces now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Christian Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 : The skins we salted yesterday are fine today. You have to be careful not to miss any bit of the skin or it will start to rot.....or flies will lay eggs on it *puts sandwich down* The fleece looks lovely! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 Oh dear, bad timing there Christian! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted August 18, 2010 Share Posted August 18, 2010 We love fleeces - my mum tanned a couple of ours herself, but didn't work so well and they went very hard and crispy after a couple of years. Mog had a shorn lambskin in her cot for ages and we have a fwuffy one on the sofa, ostensibly for her to nap on, but really for the cats to sit on. It'll probably get downgraded to a rug soon, but it comes up lovely after a wash In our room, following an embarassing mix up with the floor paint, we have lots of flokati rugs. Pain, because you can't wash them like skins, and they get tangled and horrid. Next time I think I'll splurge on a huge sheepsking rug. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 18, 2010 Author Share Posted August 18, 2010 Sorry Christian I think I'll splurge on a huge sheepsking rug. Take a look at the Organic Sheepskins site - they have some lovely rugs on there.......... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 We appear to have upset the farming community - we can't think of anything we've done but this appeared yesterday afternoon......... in the 11 acre field next door, right next to the kitchen garden which is by the house/lawn/trampoline/barbecue area There are no other properties on any other boundary. Another one was dumped next to it half an hour later - steaming and stinking They are both right next to a gap in the hedge where it is easy to see that this part of our land is domestic We always raise a hand whenever tractors are going past this gap and usually recieve a wave back. Carl thinks I'm being over sensitive.....but then, he can't smell it The house is just to the right of this photo.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 I know exactly what you mean - it's a bit close, isn't it? Hopefully the smell will calm down a bit. One of the downsides to living in the country I guess. Could Matthew and his big red tractor move it for you? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 No, it's not their field. We've never been able to find out who owns it, just who farms it. We don't know if there's some sort of feud going on between farmers I don't mind country smells and sounds..........but in 11 acres?.......odd that it's right next to us......and it smells just a bit more than normal country smells. We know that there was some ill-feeling that the owners sold to us - apparently, a lot of local people didn't even know it was up for sale as there wasn't a board. It was in Farmers' Weekly though......*shrug* Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Sounds a bit daft to dump it there It isn't even that near the entrance, is it? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sheilaz Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Knowing the exact location from your first pic, it seems really odd. Not necessarily deliberate, but really odd. However, it's worse than odd when you consider the size of the field and yet it's right near you. Unless they're offering it to you for your veg? Sorry, it's not funny at all. I hope the smell goes soon and that it turns out to be coincidence, not deliberate. Are you able to ask the person who farms it what's happening, or is it best not to go there? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Would the council/land registry be able to tell you who owns it? Although I guess it is probably going to be down to the people who farm it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted August 19, 2010 Author Share Posted August 19, 2010 We're just going to ignore it for a while. They did have some piles in the field on the other side of us and that was spread after a week or so. Once we found out that there was a bit of ill-feeling we withdrew and just got on with learning as much as we could. The local farmers who helped out and who we employed to do the fencing still wave as they go past but we're not part of the farming community and we're not sure who knows whom etc...... The villagers think we're farmers......and the farmers think we're playing at it Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted August 19, 2010 Share Posted August 19, 2010 Hopefully they'll spread it then. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted August 21, 2010 Share Posted August 21, 2010 I have dipped into this thread - lovely lesley - I will read a bit daily. hope you get rid of your smelly heaps soon. odd behaviour indeed Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batcatz Posted August 23, 2010 Share Posted August 23, 2010 Hi, Lesley. I'm enjoying this thread and your pictures. The fleece posts made me chuckle and reminded me of when I bought a lovely fleece from ebay to go by my bed and one of my cats kept attacking it. I didn't realise at the time that the sheep would have had to die to give me the fleece and felt terrible as i thought it was just a shaved off fleece, then I saw the skin. Blonde moment. haha. Now I think it's good that not one part of that sheep or lamb was wasted. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Valkyrie Posted August 30, 2010 Share Posted August 30, 2010 That's mean, I'll bet the tractor driver had a jolly good smirk. My best idea would be to ignore it and so they won't get any enjoyment from your discomfort. And secondly, sneak over and grab some for your own compost. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lesley Posted September 1, 2010 Author Share Posted September 1, 2010 I'm not sure we need more poo on this side of the fence It doesn't really smell anymore - and we are ignoring it........no-one around here knows it has really annoyed me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
