Sheep Gal

Wild and Windy

The farm's survived the wild and snowy night. By mid morning today we had patches of blue sky and everyone came outside to stand in the sun. But warmth - not so much. That didn't stop me from taking a break mid chores to show the sheep how to make snow angels They were absolutely mystified, especially Sol, the llama - who doesn't approve of any changes in routine.

For a brutally windy night, the snow accumulation here wasn't nearly as much as we had expected - maybe a foot. It's hard to say, since we have so much drifting. We had stocked all the barns last night with extra hay and water, anticipating that it might be hard to get to the farm today. But it wasn't bad. Once the driveway was cleared, it was smooth sailing down to the barns. They hade been plowed out by the time we got there.

I'm heading back down now for evening chores. Will  button up the buildings for the night and toss some corn to the sheep for calories.

Hope you're weathering this bout of winter in safety and warmth.

 

New Year's Wishes

 

Thank you for visiting our farm this year.

Wishing you happiness, health and peace in 2014.

Sheep & Snowfall

Saturday's storm brought twelve inches of snow to our farm. The sheep dined al fresco Sunday morning. They needed a little coaxing to leave the barn, but once outside they seemed to enjoy ranging around the paddock. I distributed hay flakes everywhere, to spread the sheep out and make them walk.

As you can see, I'm late in getting sheep coats on this group. It's on the agenda for the week after Christmas, along with a slew of projects that are back-burnered for the moment because there's just too much to do before the holidays. I love this time of year, but am looking forward to getting back to business as usual.

Simple activities, like morning chores with sheep, are a respite from the hustle and rush.It forced me to take a moment to appreciate the beauty of this year's first big snow.  I hope you, too, are finding moments of calm here and there within this hectic time of year.

Thanksgiving

Sending my truest wishes for happiness, health and warmth on Thanksgiving day. 

With my deepest gratitude for your fellowship,

Barb

 

photo courtesy Ben Barnhart

 

GIVEAWAY - Adventures In Yarn Farming Celebration

Entries for this GIVEAWAY are now closed. Congratulations to our Givewaway winner, Sara, who posted on November 12 at 8:25 a.m. - she is the lucky winner of a Sheep Shares CSA 2014 Yarn Sampler (natural) membership. Thank you to everyone who posted - and for all your kind words on the launch of my new book.

I can't believe it's almost that time. The official publication date for my new book, Adventures in Yarn Farming is next week - is November 12th! On that date, my book will be available everywhere.

I'm celebrating the official publication this month by offering a chance for one lucky person to win a membership to Sheep Shares CSA 2014.

Would you like that? Do you know someone who would?

Please leave a comment here on this post - tell me what you enjoy most about working with wool. I'll randomly draw a winner on November 30th - and that lucky someone will be enrolled as a Yarn Sampler Natural member for Sheep Shares CSA 2014. The winner will be announced here and via the email address you provide with your comment (please do not type your email addy in the body of your comment, just provide in the space where it asks for email so I can contact you.)

Please do share this post and celebrate PUB DATE with me. Thanks!

And in the meantime, here's a video trailer the good people at Roost Books made to give you a preview of my book:

 

Evening Chores

Just back to the farm after a weekend vending and book signing at the Fiber Festival of New England at the Eastern States Exposition. Thanks everyone who stopped by my booth to scoop up skeins of Cormo yarn and to be among the first to acquire a copy of Adventures in Yarn Farming. I'm really flattered to hear the positive, warm responses from those of you who had purchased copies at Rhinebeck two weeks ago - and have already finished reading it. Wow, and wow. You made my day.

Writing a book is like working in a bubble. It's wonderful, really,not only to be finally sharing my work but also to be receiving feedback. Thank you.

With the hour's time change, we're back to doing evening chores after dark. It's hat and mitten weather out there tonight. We'll be banging ice out of the water buckets come morning.

Stay tuned this week for an announcement about a blog give-away celebrating my book launch and a heads up about Sheep Shares Yarn Farm CSA 2014.

 

Note: This lovely photo was taken by Ben Barnhart, the photographer who provided most of the photos for my book.

RAMBITIOUS!

Today is "big love" day at the farm - we're turning our boys in with their ladies. Moorit ram, Chai, can barely contain his excitement.

This post is brief because I have lots to do at the farm this morning. We have to deworm the flock, trim feet, and put jackets on all the sheep.

But before I go, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone who visited me at my booth and at the author's event at Rhinebeck. Thanks for celebrating the launch of my book, Adventures In Yarn Farming, with me.

OMG - just looked outside and can you believe it's SNOWING as I type  . . .

Flock on a Fall Day

A gorgeous but intensely busy Columbus Day weekend here at the farm. I'm up to my eyeballs in the dye studio, getting ready to ship our Sheep Shares fall shares and simultaneously dyeing skeins for the New York Sheep & Wool festival this coming weekend (yikes!). Lots of leaf peepers on our road this weekend, stopping to take pics of our sheep, llamas and donkeys. The llamas are especially photogenic.

And if that's not enough, poor Jellybean (Cormo ewe) is lame from an abcess in her ankle. Poor girl. It looks like a cut that became infected. Mike and I have been soaking her leg in a warm epsom salt bath, administering anitbiotics and aspirin. It's draining (sorry, I know that's gross, but that's what it needs to do - and welcome to my world) and she is starting to bear weight on her foot again, which means she's getting better. 

Aside from Jellybean's sore foot - a glorious weekend (as you can see from the snaps I took yesterday).

Cheers.

Fiber, Foliage & Friends - Scenes from the Day

Last Saturday a group of intrepid Sheep Shares CSA members braved the threat of showers and the back roads of western Franklin county to join us for a special afternoon. Fiber, Foliage & Friends is an annual tradition here for our Sheep Shares CSA members. The event is a celebration - with knitterly camaraderie, home-baked apple crisps and pumpkin snickerdoodles, sheep antics, donkey pats, yarn painting and some jaw-droppingly gorgeous finished projects knit from our spring share yarn - all against a glorious autumnal backdrop.

Thank you to everyone who joined us. For those of you who couldn't, here's a few snaps from the day (sorry I didn't take more, I had my hands full with prepping for the yarn painting). Enjoy.

 

 

 

 

My Book Launch - Coming Soon!

Yesterday I received an exciting email from my editor at Roost Books. The very first cartons of my book, Adventures in Yarn Farming, have arrived at the warehouse. Any day now, I will hold a copy of my own book in my own hands for the first time. This is a big moment for me because, as some of you know, this book has been a long time coming and because the subject material of this book - sheep, wool, fiber-craft, knitting, farming, rural New England life - is central to who I am, my daily work and ultimately what feeds my soul.

I couldn't be more excited to share this news with you - and to share my book with the rest of the world, very, very soon.

My book will debut at the New York State Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck on October 19 & 20. I'll be autographing copies at the Merritt Booksellers Authors Event in building B, on both Saturday (from 1 - 3) and Sunday (from 2 - 3). I will bring the gorgeous samples of the knitting patterns (from favorite designers Kate Gilbert, Christa Giles, Lisa Lloyd, Marnie MacLean and Melissa Morgan-Oakes) from the book for display. 

When I'm not at the authors event, you can find me in my booth, Foxfire Fiber & Designs, in building A, spaces 29-30 - my usual location. I'll have a colorful array of Cormo and Cormo blend yarns & fibers from my flock - and more copies of my book available.

To celebrate the launch, I'm offering the chance to win one 2014 membership to my farm's CSA Sheep Shares to those who visit me at Rhinebeck (at either the Merritts event or at my booth). Be sure to put your name in the drawing if you stop by.

Over the next two weeks I'll be sharing more glimpses of what my book holds in store. And I will offer a contest and prize drawing to celebrate this event with my blog readers, so stay tuned.

Will let you know when my very own first copy arrives. And in the meantime, you can learn more about Adventures in Yarn Farming here. My flock and I can't wait to share our farm's stories with you.