December 17, 2010

Well, here I sit, one week before Christmas, and the tree still isn't up. That is why there is no picture - nothing to show. Yeah, I know, I am a terrible mother. In my defense, the tree is in the loft in the storage building, and the only way to get it down is to climb up the extension ladder and hand the cumbersome box down to someone while you teeter out over the edge of death. You ain't gettin' me anywhere higher than the third rung on that ladder, let alone in the loft. I felt really bad tonight when the 10 year old asked, again, when we were going to put the tree up and I snapped at him "If you don't quit pestering me I may just wrap you in a string of lights, stick a star on your forehead, and you can stand in front of the living room window yourself!" Yeah, I know, I am spiraling ever downward on the terrible mother path. For what it is worth, I did apologize.

I hope after the holidays to begin spinning some more yarn. We sold many skeins of our handspun at the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza, and a couple of personal friends purchased some treasures for their loved ones this week, so our yarn stock is running low. I am also planning to try my hand at dyeing sock yarn. I have seen some beautiful yarn on Etsy, and my ravenous desire to conquer all things crafts has begun tickling around in my head. I also plan not only to wash and process into roving, but to spin some of our own sheep fleeces this spring.

Since next week will be very busy, I doubt I will have time to post anything new. I hope you have a very Merry Christmas, and you are with the ones you love. Please remember to pray for our military personnel and their families, many of which are separated by half a world.

Merry Christmas!

Countdown to Christmas!

WHEW!!! I loved going to the fiber fest at Mt. Magazine this last weekend, but I am also glad it is over. Now I can concentrate on Christmas gifts in the three weeks I have left! I think the plans in my head are physically impossible to accomplish in that amount of time. Especially since I was counting on the kids being in school for two more full weeks, but my sweet daughter reminded me that she hasn't missed a day this semester, so her last day will be Monday, as in 6 days from now! ARRRGGGHHH!!!

I would post a pic or two of the fiber fest, but the camera got left on the cabinet at home. I will share that my favorite part of the weekend was seeing all of the neat items people had made. I recognized several patterns that I have been looking at to make (in all my spare time), and got some great new ideas. I also wound up with a simply gorgeous curly brown Wensleydale fleece from Lowder Farms to play, AHEM, I mean, work, with after the first of the year. Thanks Mom! Also got to see all of the fiber-y friends I have made since beginning this adventure, and made a few more!

I borrowed Kate's picture - isn't it pretty?

Well, Big Mama, the world's fattest sheep, is honing her David Copperfield skills once again. Yesterday I found her in the calf pasture, remember, it is net wire fenced. So I pondered, then fussed at her, and wrastled (that is a southern word) her back in through the gate. I checked closely, but all I could find was some wool stuck in the bottom of the fence which goes all the way to the ground AND has barbed wire running along under it. Surely not! After work this morning, I took off to feed, and she was back in the calf pasture! I think I figured it out, though. She is using all that mass to her advantage. The gate looked a little strange, and I think she shoved against it until the gate hangers swiveled which allowed her to squeeze out between the gate and the post. Well, I fixed her! Gate hangers are firmly back in place, and the chain latch is shortened.

Well, everyone, even the dog, is snoring. Early to bed, early to rise - so off I go!

~Lori

Getting Ready!

We are gearing up for the Arkansas Fiber Arts Extravaganza next weekend! You can check out the info on the fiber show at :

http://www.arfiberartsextravaganza.com/

The retreat is being held at Mount Magazine State Park in their beautiful lodge this year. There are lots of classes to take and people to meet. And don't forget to come see me in my booth if you attend! Registration starts at 4:00 on Friday, with vendors opening from 5-8. The fun begins again at 8:00 Saturday morning and lasts until 6:00 in the evening. Lots of folks come out of curiosity, and others to share time with people who have the same interests.

Here are just some of the things we have been hard at work on:

Hand Dyed Rovings

Hand Blended and Pulled Rovings

Natural Fleece
(I didn't work hard on this, Sweet Pea, the sheep did, though!)

And of course, the beautiful hand spun yarns!

Kate has also been working hard to create several skeins of handspun lace weight yarn, and she will have tiny lace spindles, as well as our gorgeous hand made batts. I am really excited to set up the booth and see it all out instead of stored away in boxes.

Farm News

It is going to be very difficult this spring to decide which fleece I can bear to part with. They are all so pretty and soft! It is hard to believe that just 6 months ago they were sheared. I think the cold weather that has finally arrived is helping the wool growth. We should have 27 fleeces in late March, which is when the shearer is supposed to be here. Hopefully within the next month after that, babies will be arriving.

I am also hoping for a few Boer goat babies early this spring, too. Rosie, our older nanny, looks like she could explode at any minute, but it is because she is part pig, not necessarily because she is expecting. I don't think we will have any Dorper sheep babies, as we did not have the Dorper ram very long before he escaped into the wool sheep pasture, and we found him a new home quickly. Hair sheep/wool sheep cross would be weird and hard to get rid of.

Speaking of escaping, the world's fattest sheep, named Big Mama for a reason, got out of a net wire fence twice last weekend. We could not figure it out! She is too heavy to jump, too fat to crawl under, so we sat on the front porch and watched after we put her up the second time. Low and behold she pulled what I thought was a David Copperfield and melt through the net wire! I thought we were going to be rich with our newly discovered "Magic Sheep", but when we got down to the spot, it turned out that we hadn't fastened the cross fence that creates their pasture to the longer pasture fence. She had learned she could lean against the long fence and squeeze between the two. Smart sheep, not so smart people. Oh well.

Hope everyone had a restful Thanksgiving!

~Lori