Yearly Archives 2013

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
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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
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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,
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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
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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
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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
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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
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Hay Scene

This was the scene in the hayfield on Sunday afternoon. Norm was mopping up the last windrows with the round baler. Zoe and Farley cavorted through the behomoth round bales and chewed on stubble. It’s been a tricky summer haywise. June’s monsoons flooded our fields like rice paddies. Haymaking has happened in the sporadic dry intervals amidst the off and on showery weather. We’ve yet to get all of first cut off the fields which means our second cut will be close to nil this year. Second cut is what we feed our sheep in winter. Lord knows where that
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