I started this project months ago having bought a download called "Weave a good Rug" from the internet... an inspiring video which I have watched several times and have made notes to help me remember the finer points...

I bought some 8/12 cotton warp in some pleasing colours and then tore some fabric.. gifted to me by a friend, into strips to see how they would match the original pattern and colour scheme on the material...  I used a strip of cardboard.. nothing complicated!

To my complete delight, this is the resulting rug...

Its colours are subtle, all the original pattern of flowers and leaves has been lost... to reveal the warp colours in their stripes, with the merged and muted colours in the fabric randomly, but somehow uniformly dispersed  over the whole piece.  
I tore the strips into 1.5" widths, and used a 12 dpi warp, weaving my own tape first and last to wrap and sew in neatly at either end.... its not hard.. have a go!!

We have had a whirlwind of a weekend.... 

With the weather so changeable we spent much of Sunday clipping mucky bums caused by so much lush grazing and spraying for fly as its been the sort of weather for a flystrike.. damp and humiid!  

Yesterday, Bank Holiday Monday, was our yearly village fair, when all the surrounding families gather for a chin wag, a mooch round the village stalls and a game of quoits on the green outside the Fox and Hounds.  I had fed all the lambs their breakfast quite early on, so that I could give them their lunch half an hour early... Nigel and I wanted to have a look round the fair... all the lambs was bouncing around in their usual boisterous manner....  we were having some friends round for a meal in the evening, I popped round the the reading room field to give our 4 poppets an early tea... it was just after 5.00

Berty, Bob, and Daisy-May came romping towards me, but Flossie stayed where she was......... she's never done that before... I fed the three clambering up my legs and then took the last half of a bottle over to her.......... she just looked up at me....... I stood her up and stroked her head....... her breathing was, well, staggered is the only word to use.. laboured... is'nt quite it... so I rushed home to get Nigel......... and to call the vet.... The vet said that if she hadn't improved by 7.00 (an hour and a half later) we should call back...

By the time we returned, 10 mins later she had a little froth at each side of her mouth........ Nigel went home to ring the vet back.... Michael turned up really quickly, he'd been at the fair in the afternoon and wasn't far away.... he listened to her chest...... then gave her an anti-inflammatory injection and a steroid... "see how she goes" he said and gave us a further 4 days of steroids... its probably pneumonia.. brought on by changes in the weather conditions.

Our guests arrived for dinner at 7.00... and at 8.10 I donned my wellies and went back to see how Flossie was doing........ not good... the froth had turned to a little stream of saliva and when I got to her she collapsed.. she wasn't afraid, being used to sitting with me in the field with her her head on my lap while she chewed her cud.... her breathing was so shallow and when she laid on her side I just cradled her little face until it stopped completely... The other lambs crowded round to see what was going on....... then when I stood up Daisy-May pawed at my knee to be picked up and cuddled...  

I came home, collected the keys to the pick-up and went round to collect her.. more for the sake of all the visitor who may have walked past and who may get the wrong end of the stick... a dead lamb in a field looks like neglect and it was far from that!!

Today I'm just sad... Nigel too......... He's just confessed to going for an early morning cuddle with Dudley and Vincent...A Ryeland sandwich we call it!!.....so its time to pull my socks up and do something to take away my misery........ Planning a warp faced rug is on the agenda... in my lovely coloured rug wools.......... 

There's been a takeover! 

In the garth behind the Reading Rooms, Holly, Willow and Freckle have ousted the lambs from the shelter of their trailer and have taken over residence.. the lambs have resorted to sitting under it to keep dry...  

After feeding all the lambs this morning, with everyone being a little damp, but fine, I spotted one lamb in the big field, which seemed remarkably muddy for some reason... I came home, reported it to Nigel and then opened the shop for the customers who were looking in at the windows..... and then the phone rang.. 

There was report of a lamb with it's head stuck in the fence so Nigel and I went back up to the field to see what was afoot!... There was a muddy patch were a lamb had been trampling round, and a very wooly square in the wire of the fence,  an explanation for what I'd seen earlier, but the lamb was with it's mum so no harm done... thanks to a kind employee of the caravan site which runs along side ........ Steve had come to see if everything was ok... he owns the field and had phoned me.....  we all walked accross to the gate where there is a division in the field, checking the flock again as we went and intreagued to see how the other side was growing........

We have plans on haymaking this half of the field so that we can provide our own winter feed this year,.. it should give us several hundred small bales, easy for me to handle as it'll be the one lugging them around.... All the hogs trotted along with us and wanted a fuss... Peewee is a bit odd with other people so kept fairly close to me, but Dixie would move from where she stood... 

I called her name...." Dixie"... and she replied  as she knows her name.... I repeated it again and she kept on baaring but wouldn't come to me... so I made my way slowly to her.. wondering as I got close what the pile of wool was doing by her side... As I got to her I realised, to my horror, that it wasn't wool at all, but the tiny, still body of a perfectly cleaned premature lamb........ Dixie was trying to make it stand up, and wanted me to help her........ it was pittyful... I called Nigel over and we lead her to the barn where we could catch her and check she was alright. We were followed by all the reporbates who got really bouncy and excited for some reason.... I was accompanied all this time by a small eager Winkle who never leaves my side whenever I'm in the field..... 

We had no idea that she had been in lamb... none of the dates matched to her being with a tup for a birth at the end of May?... the only explanation is that Jonty isn't castrated properly, which could be a disaster as he has been living with all these hogs....... since last autumn... Oh boy.... 

Anyway we will keep an eye on Dixie as she has mik which should dry up in the next few days, and we need to make sure she stays healthy... The picture above was take last summer when she was still with her mum, Mitsie... who has unfortunately passed on some of her more appauling habbits!!... Dixie is a treasure and we love her.....  I'll take an up to date picture of her when the sun comes out again......... when we left her she was munching grass with the other and seemed much more content.... I'll keep you  posted.......... 

Max, by the way, is putting on weight and all his little bones have disapeared completely!

It is 7 days since we treated Max and started a regime of 3 bottle feeds a day.. and I am delighted to report that he is now skipping to me each time I visit the field. His condition has improved with his skin filling out slowly and his little bones gradually disappearing... I didn't want to get any hopes up... but keep crossing those fingers.......... !!

We had so many triplets this year.. 10 sets in all, but with one stillbirth for Petula and a mum smothering  a runt in the night (she didn't like him) we have 8 set left.  

As you'll already know, we have 2 as pets from separate ewes who were not coping just as they should, Flossie and Bobbie. They live in the village with Daisy May and the babysitters, they are thriving and wrestling in the same manor as the hamsters last year..... but I haven't introduced you to these two..

Their mum wasn't very well when they were born, refusing to eat much for over 24 hours. She clearly needed some assistance, so I started feeding one at birth... Winkle, in the foreground, had an eye infection early on too, hence the winking reference..... and her sister Dinkle was so scruffy looking that a hint of a Dingle reference seemed appropriate, she demanded feeding rather than being offered anything.. so I've been helping them both ever since.

I have bottle fed them twice a day, with Winkle quickly recognising her name....... useful now that they are in the 10 acre field as they have a lot of running to do, but they never fail to come to my call and chase from various ends of the field.  Winkle seems to already be weened and is never with her mother... and has latched on to the teenage reprobates from last year... Peewee and the others...... they know I like her and can see that she gets the same treatment as they had last year... and are remarkably accommodating. 

When we round them all up for whatever reason... dosing etc... Winkle spends her time at my heals... keeping close by....moving when I step but standing with her side touching my wellies if I'm still... She's another real sweetheart..... Think she's going to stay for the duration... another keeper!

My inaccuracy in breathtaking.. Poor Max had not had a clostridial infection... its Coccidiosis..  must be my hearing??? !!!

He is still pathetically thin, but the regime of half a bottle of milk, three times a day it getting him there... 

We have had a horribly wet few days and each time I go to the field I have expected the worst... yesterday he was on the top of the ridge with Mitsie and his brother, who have been surprisingly attentive...... never being far away. Mitsie has taken particular interest in what I've been doing, sometimes poking her face into his while I've been feeding him, so I think she understands what we are trying to achieve.  Max is sensible in his choice of rest, always choosing the most sheltered spot in the field. I gave him a boost of antibiotic too which today, 24 hours later, has had an uplifting effect... 

He tired to skip to me this morning.. with a little voice asking for his breakfast, and I didn't have to pick him up to feed him, he volunteered to drink and took all he needed....... We may be over the worst and the warmer day today may help his mood, he's a real fighter.... I'll be back to the field for his lunch in an hour....... keep all your fingers crossed for him please!

I've called him Max......... Don't know why really, just seems to suit him!

We had a call from the vet yesterday with the results from the sample of poo I'd taken in the morning..... to say that he had a clostridial infection and that we could pick up a drench for him from the surgery...... There are several types of Clostridial infection, some are instantly fatal, but this one is not.... All the lambs in the field had to be dosed as it is infectious, making it imperative that we are vigilant about cleaning bottles and teats properly ... so last night we rounded them all up and squirted 10ml down each lamb with a syringe... took a bit of adjusting the technique, but after 2 we got it sorted with none being wasted or being spat out..........

This morning Max is a little weaker and slightly pathetic, he must have a horrible tummy ache....... I gave him a bottle, he took half the usual quantity, at least it will keep him hydrated. Then he curled up against the fence and didn't follow Mitsie and the others back round into the other side of the field. 

He mewed at me when I went to stroke him, so I picked him up and took him round myself.  I called for Mitsie, thank goodness some sheep know their names... its so useful, and she responded without any fuss, coming straight up to me, but wondered why I was carrying her lamb? I put him down and he walked up the field with her and his brother. He's much better off surrounded by the flock rather than feeling abandoned and alone.

I generally call at the field twice a day, morning and evening, but today went back at lunchtime, and gave Max another bottle..... he took it very well, but didn't want much, so I made him take a good half, which is what he usually wants.... he fought a little which is a good sign that he hasn't given up.... he still has a runny bottom, and it's still green not black..... which is a good sign as black would signify the end.

I'll return later to give him his tea.. like any animal, we must keep his fluids up to stand any chance of getting over this!

These two little treasures belong to Mitsie.. they are very different in size, although the angle of this photo, taken yesterday, does accentuate it too much..

Mitsie has had a sore teat, so we started to top up this lamb twice a day with a bottle of milk and this has worked very well for the last month... 

... until last week, when he started to have diarrhea.  We dosed him for worms immediately, and then again just in case on Tuesday, waiting to see if he improved.... unfortunately he is still being affected by something...... so this morning I took him to the vet.

He was really good in the pickup, settling down in the footwell, with his face pointing in my direction so I could pat his head if he felt anxious, like his mum, he's become really tame and trusts me....... When I got out to have a word at reception, he got up, and climbed onto the seats, thankfully they are wipeable, as he spread "you know what" all over the place... I picked him out and took a poo sample and left them with it........ I'm waiting to see what they say... .

...I put him back with his family in the field, none the worse and cleaned the interior of the pickup.. it needed some attention anyway, but smells better now!!
Will keep you posted on the results..........

We have 8 pet lambs this year, 4 are still with their mums... Winkle and Dinkle are triplets that I've been bottling since birth, with Gerty one of Rosies lambs and Mitsie's smallest lad, who has not been thriving quite as they should.... there are teat issues!!!

But the 4 who live in the village are doing really well..... Flossie, Berty and Bob (above) are making good progress...... and they are very protective of this year's little poppet..... Daisy May... (she wasn't sure about the camera?) She'll be 5 weeks old on Saturday.

She was one of our last to be born, to Freckle (left in the trailer with Holly) who had cleaned and warmed her, then bashed the living daylights out of her...... so she went down my jumper to keep warm and safe... I was already looking after the other 3 in the barn, so one more wasn't going to make any difference, and it didn't take long for her be be accepted into the gang.......

She has turned into a wick little lamb, having had a few adventures with me that other lambs wouldn't have experienced, she's always first in the que, and she knows how to leap into my arms when I lean down to catch her for a feed or just a cuddle........ From that first day she learned that I was safe and would protect her, and after her feeds she quickly slipped into the habit of  dropping off to sleep in my arms, which she now does after every bottle....... she gets heavier as she relaxes and you can hear her gently snoring....... 

They have been reduced to 4 feeds a day and that will reduce again very soon now that Daisy's consumption of grass is getting greater. All 4 are free in the field 24-7, although they have the shelter of the trailer if they choose.... I introduced them to lamb feed too, holding a few tiny nuts in my hand to start Daisy off so there was no competition from the others, she understood immediately, but was so funny when she looked up at me and they all fell out from the sides of her mouth. 

I hope she grows strong just like Peewee last year..... who incidentally has never forgotten how to sit down on the grass by my side for a cuddle!!.... more about her later!

I haven't done any weaving for ages, with all the other pressures on our time over recent months, so at the weekend I decided to continue with my project to weave a rag rug, planned with a striped colour scheme in mind to suit the material I had acquired. 

I had written the proposed pattern down in my log book, and had threaded my first chain with relish... followed by the second and finally the third, realising that when I'd completed it, I had the first in the wrong direction...

So how to put this stupid mistake right....... of course to stop getting the whole thing in knots it also had to be turned over... like turning a piece of paper, making the left edge turn into the right...

I started by taking the farthest left warp thread, threading it into the next dent in the correct position on the right.. working systematically in sets of 6 threads at a time, draping them over the front beam in the right order, threading, then tying the batch out of the way over the top of the beater, above the threads which were still in same dents..... eventually working underneath so as to turn the whole thing over... it worked like a dream and you can see the result...

All the colours in the right order.. even the reinforced selvedge is correct!! 
I wondered why I had 16 threads in the middle stripe next to the same colour of 12... Ah well I won't do that again!!