In New York you can go an exhibition at a museum during market hours, given competent market help which I am fortunate to have, or go to a play after you fold your tent for the day. The sheep don't care what you do there as long as you bring back enough money to feed them.

The temperature outside was just below freezing and I was dressed for it. But going up Park Avenue South to the Club located on Gramercy Park I did wonder if the doorman would let me in; I was, by all appearances, a street person who slept on subway grates to stay warm, with two pair of pants under my old and ragged Carhart insulated overalls and a two-sizes too big barn coat over my 3 shirts.   Plus I had my clunky waterproof Muck books on, the ones I slog around the barnyard in, and I didn't have to turn and jump over the puddles as the fashionably but ill shod New Yorkers did walking along the slushy avenue, I splashed straight ahead, I was someone who walked on water.

At the red lights, to myself and to the imaginary doorman, I rehearsed in a droll and innocent manner, "I say old boy, is there a show of etchings here?" like I were William Powell playing the suave and tuxedoed Nick Charles in The Thin Man to whom no door is closed. 

It worked.  "Downstairs and to the right," I was told. "Will the artists be here?" I asked in passing.  The man in at the door shrugged, "On a day like today..."  We smiled knowingly, even though we knew different things.  I was in.  Now where was Myrna Loy?

(to be continued)

Roland Barthes, Roland Barthes

"[Barthes] realizes that his greatest achievement is not what he is, nor even what he has done, but rather how he has done it. So his self- portrait is not primarily a recollection of events or earlier works. It is, rightly, a delineation of the method rather than the man. And so persuasive or provocative are its assertions and associations that it is impossible to read this portrait of a style passively."

San Francisco Review of Books, Jacob Stockinger

§

The word doxa picked up a new meaning between the 3rd and 1st centuries BC when the "Seventy" (evdomikonta) Hebrew scholars in Alexandria translated the Hebrew Scriptures into Greek. In this translation of the Scriptures, called the Septuagint, the scholars rendered the Hebrew word for "glory" (כבוד, kavod) as doxa.

...

Pierre Bourdieu, in his Outline of a Theory of Practice, used the term doxa to denote what is taken for granted in any particular society. The doxa, in his view, is the experience by which “the natural and social world appears as self-evident”. It encompasses what falls within the limits of the thinkable and the sayable (“the universe of possible discourse”), that which “goes without saying because it comes without saying”.

Doxa, Wikipedia

We pulled the 4 Corriedale, 3 Shropshire, 2 Oxford, 1 Tunis and 1 Ile de France rams from this group of purebred Saxon Merino ewes on Friday, 40 days or about 2 estrus cycles after they had gone with the ewes. There was much sexual activity for the first 2 weeks they were together; that tapered off with time to almost nothing now, meaning that most of the ewes got bred sooner rather than later.  This is called syndicate mating: many rams on many ewes.

In 5 months less 40 days we'll know who's who by looking at the lambs at lambing: tall lambs that have a black nose will have been sired by the Corriedale rams, black faced Lambs will have been sired by either the Shropshire or the Oxford rams, red headed lambs will have been sired by the Tunis ram and stocky lambs will have been sired by the Ile de France ram. This is terminal sire breeding; the lambs will be crossbred and be very healthy; they will exhibit heterosis or hybrid vigor and get to market weight quickly.

We had another breeding group that was comprised of the best-of-the-best purebred Saxon Merino ewes but older than the elite purebred Saxon Merino rams we joined them to, again to maximise heterosis, as the staggering of ages prevented excessive line breeding.

Our yarn begins with the Saxon Merino sheep we raise in New York.   Saxon Merino sheep produce the finest merino wool in the world and the most historic. 

2 month old Saxon Merino Lambs

Before our ewes lamb in late March we shear them to custom spin their wool into yarn at the Green Mountain Spinnery in Vermont.  Our wool is spun currently into five unique weights of yarn.

Worsted, 2 oz (50 g), 140 yd, 5 stitches per inch on US 8 

Bulky, 4 oz (100 g), 140 yd, 3.5 stitches per inch on US 10 

Sport 2 ply, 2 oz (50 g), 175 yd, 6.5 stitiches per inch on US 5 

Fingering 2 ply, 2 oz (50 g), 225 yd, 7.5 stitches per inch on US 3 

Lace, 2 oz (50 g), 350 yd, 8 stitches per inch on US 2

All weights are available undyed or dyed black; Heather Yarn is available in a Worsted weight only.

Because Green Mountain will spin as little as 35 pounds of a given weight we have them spin new yarn weights for us frequently; to stay current with the new yarns we stock follow us on Twitter or read the Farm Newsletter.

Almost every week we hand-dye yarn on the farm in colors using natural and modern dyes; the colors are many: tried-and-true, experimental, repeatable, one-of-a-kind, muted or loud, but always special and in limited editions.

Looking at the paintings of old and modern masters helps us select color relationships to dye the yarn.  Impressionism was in part possible because of the advances in modern color technology and the wider, brighter range of color choices that synthesis offered.

 Olympia, Édouard Manet 1863

The Bather Pierre-Auguste Renoir, 1888

We found inspiration in Renoir's later works to dye our lace weight yarn with modern dyes in the pastel hues he was fond of.  And we have found inspiration in the color schemes of Rembrandt, Caravagio, Hals, Reubens and other old master painters who painted primarily with natural colors.

There are no such things as single colors, colors are always in relationship. The colors you've seen, those you've imagined, the colorful Impressionist painters you've gazed at on the walls of museums and the paintings hanging there by other masters—other sets of colors—these are relations; they relate to one another but most importantly they compose who you are and you express yourself by the colors you like to have around you, like your friends. ,

This photo which I like, which reminds me of a detail from a neo-old master painting (whatever that is), and others on the Seedy Sunday website are by Dan Johnson.

The short but illustrious history of Brighton and Hove Seedy Sunday began in 2001, when two members of Brighton and Hove Organic Gardening Group  (yes, BHOGG) went on holiday to Vancouver, Canada. There they happened upon a seed swap...

A seed swap is a sort of fair, where growers exchange seeds from plants they have grown themselves, meet kindred spirits, and reassure each other that preferring home-saved seeds to bought ones does not mean that they are just stingy or eccentric. The Brighton gardeners were so impressed that when they got back to England they persuaded a group of fellow growers to help organize a similar event. The result, the UK's first ever seed swap, took place in St George's Hall, in Kemptown in Brighton, in February 2002.—Lindy Sharp.

Seed swapping is a thorn in the side of big seed companies like Monsanto; they don't want growers giving away or trading  or  saving-to-plant (without paying for) the patented plant genetics they sell, or might sell.  Seed swapping can make big seed a little paranoid.

AGENT: "I need a list of your employees and how much you pay them."

RANCHER: "Well, there's my hired hand who's been with me for 3 years. I pay him $200 a week plus free room and board.

Then there's the mentally challenged guy. He works about 18 hours every day and does about 90% of all the work around here.  

He makes about $10 per week, pays his own room and board, and I buy him a bottle of bourbon every Saturday night so he can cope with life.

He also sleeps with my wife occasionally."

AGENT: "That's the guy I want to talk to, the mentally challenged one."

RANCHER: "That would be me."

Braising

Braising is a moist heat cooking method where lamb cuts are browned and cooked in a small amount of liquid. The liquid produces steam which helps tenderize the meat. Thus, this method of cooking is perfect for both small and large less tender cuts of lamb such as neck slices, shoulder cuts, riblets, breasts and shanks. A wide variety of lamb dishes may be braised.

To braise, heat a small amount of oil, fat or butter in a heavy frying pan and brown lamb on all sides. (The lamb may be first dusted with seasoned flour.) Pour off drippings and season as desired. Add a small amount of liquid such as water, vegetable juice or soup and vegetables. Cover pan tightly and cook at low temperature until tender. A sauce or gravy can be made from the cooking liquid.

Timetable for Braising Lamb

Broiling

Preheat broiler according to manufacturer’s instructions. Place well trimmed lamb on rack in broiling pan and broil approximately 3 to 6 inches from heat source. Turn lamb over halfway and broil on second side until desired degree of doneness. Broiling time will vary depending on thickness and type of lamb cut. Use tongs to turn chops and steaks. Don’t use a fork as it will pierce the meat and allow juices to escape.

Timetable for Broiling Lamb

Grilling

Because of its natural tenderness, lamb is ideal for grilling. Butterflied leg of lamb, lamb chops and steaks, kabobs and ground lamb patties are perfect for grilling. Other cuts include bone-in leg of lamb shoulder, rack and loin roasts, and ribs.

Boneless rolled roasts should be as round (cylindrical) as possible for even cooking. Steaks and chops should be at least 1-inch thick. Meat cubes for the skewer should be as uniform in size as possible.

Trim chops, steaks and roasts before cooking to eliminate smoke and fire flare-ups. Use tongs to turn lamb.

To grill, stack charcoal briquettes in a pyramid and preheat coals about 20-40 minutes; coals will be bright red and covered with gray ash. Because moderate temperatures are best for lamb, spread coals evenly apart.

Place chops, steaks, patties, kabobs and butterflied leg on a rack approximately 4 inches from coals. Cook to desired degree of doneness.

Chops, steaks and patties must be turned over halfway through cooking. Turn kabobs over several times and butterflied legs every 10 minutes during cooking. Grilling time will vary depending on the thickness and cut of lamb.

For rotisserie cooking, choose only compact, cylindrical lamb roasts for best results. Insert the rotisserie rod lengthwise through the center of the roast and test for balance by turning the rod in your hands. Make sure the meat is fastened securely to the rod so it won’t slip during cooking. Be sure to follow the manufacturer’s instructions for grilling with a rotisserie.

Timetable for Grilling Lamb

Roasting

Roasting is a dry heat cooking method where the lamb is cooked in an oven.

To prepare a lamb roast, simply place roast fat-side up on rack in open roasting pan, sprinkling with seasonings, as desired. Insert meat thermometer in the thickest muscle, being careful not to let the thermometer rest against a bone or in fat or the temperature reading will be inaccurate. Do not add water. Do not cover.

Roast to desired degree of doneness, following approximate time on timetable chart. Remove roasts from oven when thermometer registers about 10 degrees lower than the desired doneness. Allow to stand in a warm place for 10 to 15 minutes after removal from the oven to make slicing easier. During this period, the roast will continue to cook and internal temperatures will rise.

*Note: Larger roasts may take less roasting time per pound than smaller roasts.

Timetable for Roasting Lamb

Courtesy of the American Lamb Board http://americanlambboard.org/