Doctors and Lawyers

I made two gorgeous messenger totes at the last minute before Maryland Sheep and Wool.  I have a funny habit of doing that - I try to squeeze out one more daring myself to get it done before I pull out of the barnyard.  I had this beautiful office furniture upholstery fabric found for me by my personal shopper, Carol of Crayonbox Designs near Ithaca.  Sure enough, along comes my Doctor friend, the anaesthesiologist who loves my totes.  She keeps all the toys and gadgets she needs to get her through long surgeries in my bags.  What an honor that is!   She scooped up one of the last-minute-totes, number 5 Bundaflicka for her.  Later on, my long-time friend, fiber artist and quilter,

 Carolyn D'Agostino, marital attorney from Troy and owner of one of the very-first-Bundaflicka totes, came to visit and purchased the other one!  I was really thrilled to have my bags go to such classy professional ladies.

Goodies

I was very proud of my booth at Maryland Sheep and Wool this year.  It took four months of hard work to make everything in it and am proud to say it is the product of me and my farm - made in the USA "on-the-farm."  I consider my farm and my little farm business a blessing as I am always busy doing things that I love  and I don't miss my kids as much.   I am surrounded by my animals and the stunning beauty of the land.  Anything I can make

at home on the farm is not really considered work to me. 

Svenska Flickas

I had some visitors to my booth from Lancaster Pennsylvania.  They saw the Swedish flag on my farm sign and spoke a few words of Swedish to me for fun.  Turns out they are raising Gotland sheep - a Swedish sheep just becoming popular in this country.  I went over to visit their Gotlands and am very impressed.  I usually buy myself one present at each festival as a reward for my hard work.  This year it was a bag of Gotland yarn!  I gave Annie a skein to knit a pair of Swedish wool socks for Eric, and a couple of skeins to Kimmie Cornerstone to knit myself and herself a pair.  The yarn is strong and lustrous with the most incredible sheen.  The Svenska Flickas said they would gladly sell me a large percentage Gotland ram for $1,000.  They are very rare in this country.  My Bluefaced Leicesters are an excellent "foundation" breed to start a new flock with.  I've heard of a flock in New Jersey.  In the meantime I'll enjoy knitting with this incredibly beautiful Gotland yarn.

Team Work

I would never have been ready for Maryland Sheep and Wool if it were not for my support team.  I have so many people to thank for a wildly successful year.  Carol Crayonbox sent me rolls and rolls of gorgeous fabric to make my Bundaflicka Totes.  Sharon from school wrapped a ton of soap for me.  We set up at our campsite and wrapped the rest of it on Friday with Annie, Kim and Hannah.  The sun and breeze was delightful and gave me a chance to rest and recoup my energy for the weekend ahead.   Many hands make light work.  Hannah spun some little skeins of the new Mother Fiber roving to show the patrons how it will look as yarn.

Back on the Farm

The first mile is the hardest.  Kim and I left the farm on Thursday before noon and drove due South in gorgeous weather.  We parked in our favorite spot next to our building and emptied the van contents into our booth space.  I always have to resist the desire to kiss the ground when I get to Md. Sheep and Wool.  There is just*so*much*hard*work* involved in making product and getting ready.  Once I am there I am totally relaxed because I know the show will be fantastic.  It always is.   Annie and Hannah pulled in on Friday and helped us set up the booth.  We sat in the glorious sunshine in our grassy campsite and wrapped soap on Friday afternoon.   With vendors pulling in and unloading sheep, the fairgrounds started getting busy.   The temps dropped down to 40 at night, making our cargo van, not more than a big tin can, quite the refrigerator.  Luckily we had multiple sleeping bags and blankets to keep us warm.  I tried reading a book but my hand outside of the mummy bag couldn't hold it up any longer.  Yes, it was that cold...but it's okay, as the wool purchases were brisk.  Kim and Annie brought coffee pots and water steamers.  I always had a cup of coffee or tea prepared for me throughout the weekend.  When Saturday morning rolled around Mia appeared, having braved the famous Maryland Sheep and Wool traffic jams.  My team was complete and it was all systems go.

On Duty

While I'm away at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival, also known as Farm Aid, the Wild Irish Boy will be on duty taking care of numerous and needy creatures.  We are grateful for his service.  Bertha will keep him company.

Bags Are Us

Final preparations are being made for the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival this weekend.  We will have more Bundaflicka Knitting Totes than ever before, including two big, floppy wonderful messenger totes in beautiful Swedish colors.

We will also have lovely, funky blocks of  olive oil felting soap milled from the scraps of many different varieties of goat milk soap, and tons of Shepherd's Friend Hand Creme to soothe and protect those hard working farmer hands.

Those of you who cannot travel to the Howard County Fairgrounds in West Friendship, Maryland, can get in touch and this bundaflicka will get the goods to you via good old US Mail.

Friday Night

In from the barn to wind down a bit after a busy day.  So good to look up the hill and see the flock grazing on green grass when just a short month ago the hillside was streaked with snow.   Still no goat babies.  Got another mom-to-be clipped, wormed and vaccinated.  I'm getting some lovely mohair off these ladies which I will dye this summer.  Drying wet fiber is so much easier when the sun and wind helps out.  I'm thrilled that my Fancy, of the Fancy and Matilda Nubian goat duo, is pregnant.  She has quite the udder on her already.  I'll have to get my milking stand ready.  I'm planning on making the milk room a milking parlor.  I'm stroking Fancy's udder and legs to get her used to being handled.  I'm hoping to raise enough milk to be milk independent here on the farm.  I want to make some goat milk lotion to compliment my heavy duty Shepherd's Friend Hand Creme.  We'll see how it goes.  I adore my beautiful, sensuous, but gutsy Nubian girls.  Many thanks to Peggy Van Vorce of West Creek Family Farm for the fabulous goats.  Will sew a bit before bedy-bye.  Still tired from hopping around all day with the paper making.  I feel good on six hours sleep if I can get it.  Night time is my most productive time, after the sheep are bedded down and the barn is quiet.  The White Boys are barking their warning into the darkness for the predators to stay away, and the inside dogs are holding down the sofas.  I make my popcorn and lemon/ginger tea and run my sewing machine.  When life gives you a heavy load, sew totes to sort it all out.

Hand Made Paper 101

Fawn and I set up four stations in the classroom - one for blending pulp, one for pouring the pulp in the deckle, one for sponging off the wet pulp and one for ironing.  The kids loved it - even the kids who come in and see something strange then say I won't do it then tried it.  We made a big mess and we were pretty well knackered at the end of the day.  There is a sign on my classroom door for the custodian that says don't clean this room. We don't want to give anyone a heart attack.  The hand made papers are really cool.  My art professor friend Carol Crayonbox, with 30 years of experience teaching art, gave me some large "koosh" sheets for soaking up excess water which came in very handy.  The paper making process is labor intensive, but has so much potential within the creative process.  We used only papers from our own scrap box along with cilantro, boxwood leaves, ground up pot-pourri, feathers, ferns, and sparkles.  The papers required much ironing to keep them from curling.  No hydraulic flateners here.  Just kid power.

Uh-Oh

Clipped a goatie girl in the maternity pen last night.  Beautiful mohair that should have come off a month ago. Story of my life.  This skinny little girl is so pregnant and puffy I can't believe she didn't give birth last night.  Got back inside around 9:15 intending to get right to work.  Didn't sit down at the machine until ten.  By the time Jay Leno came on I had two partially finished bags hanging from the rafters with cute Diane Edwards buttons on.  I was so tired I and the dogs were so sound asleep I decided to take a chance and not do a barn check.  Woke up to see sheep dotting the horizon through the window.  Somebody forgot to close the gate!  This would be the ultimate bucolic wild farm scene if I did not have to bomb out the door to work.  Luckily spouse is heading out to a weatherization meeting in Albany and doesn't have to leave until later.  He'll get Izzy out there and bring them in before he leaves.  Izzy only has one direction.  He can't collect the flock, but he can drive it.   I like Fridays in school.  Everyone is happy about it being Friday.  Today we have a breakfast buffet in honor of a teacher aide who is retiring.  Fawn and I are set up to make hand made paper.  What a big production that is.  Three tables full of trays, deckles, sponges, dyes, botanicals, irons, etc.  We'll see how it goes.  I would like to do papermaking as my observation and we are making a test run to see if it will work.  Good to plan something unique and exciting for the principal to watch, but one should use discretion with my student population.  No baby goats this morning.  I'm thankful for that as it is below freezing and that baby would have been shivering.  I have sweaters ready for them.  Very excited...I adore my goat babies, and mohair is to dye for. 

Maryland Waits for No Woman

The last few days before Maryland Sheep and Wool are very busy.  With school and commuting, dinner and doggies, then sheep and chores, I can't start working on product until around ten at night.  At twelve I make myself go to bed but would prefer to stay up later.  Six am comes way too soon.  My booth will be stuffed with many wonderful quality hand made things, just the way I like it.   I'm happy that my daughter in law Annie has joined the Maggie's Farm team, along with Sharon from school who is busy wrapping soap all this week.  Many hands make the load lighter.  Mia will be coming too.  What a fabulous girl-time we will have at night when the festival patrons are gone home and we can party.  I'm waiting on my beeswax and lavender so I can make Shepherd's Friend Hand Creme all weekend.  I'm excited about seeing the festival friends I only see once or twice a year.  It's hugs and catching up all day long. 

Maryland is so beautiful this time of year.  Travelling there from our northern climate is like stepping into summer.  I hate leaving the farm, with goat babies due any minute, but I tell them all that Mommy is doing this for them.  I'm thrilled to report that my Nubian goat, Fancy, is pregnant!  I'm hoping her partner, Metilda, is pregnant, too.  Goat milk for soap and us!  Now to sew a while before beddy-bye.

Turning Out the Totes

Smoke is pouring out of my sewing machine.  A new crop of Bundaflicka Totes is hanging from the rafters.  I think I've done almost 25 in the last month or so.  Some are sold already but I'll have a decent showing at the upcoming Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.  The totes I bring home will go to the Hamilton Farmer's Market the week after.  I never get tired of sewing them.  I have a stack cut out which makes it easier to put one together at night when I come in from chores, like right now.  I have stacks of beautiful fabric thanks to my personal fabric shopper, Carol of Crayonbox Designs near Ithaca.  It's important to have a significant stash for when I need a certain color lining, etc.  I could change the three main designs I make, but they work so well, and customers love the easy access interiors with all the pockets.  I'm using sheep horn buttons Kim makes, or glass fired buttons by Diane Edwards of Sweet Annie Handspun, or my own polymer clay buttons.  This year's bags have all three.  Some of my totes have no buttons at all, like the Messenger style and the snap frame.  I think I'll sew a bit now.  It's cold enough at night to light the stove.  I love to sew with a little smoldering fire nearby.  Lemon ginger tea with honey helps, too.

Color and More Color

I love to paint with my students.  We have gallons of paint and I'm going to do my best to use it before the end of school.  I'm so lucky I get to paint with them.  I come home to these beautiful animals and play with their gifts, then go to school and play with my students.   We were gifted with a big piece of cardboard from one of the tech classes.  I asked one student to draw a big barnyard scene on it.  All the classes are working on cow portrait painting tutorials along with rooster paintings.  We'll display the animal portraits around the barnyard scene on the wall in the main hall.  Too much fun...

Surprise!

I saw the UPS truck going along my road from way up on top of the hill.  Needless to say I made my way down with the doggies lickedy split.  Two months of hard work harvesting my wool and mohair, then picking, washing, dyeing, stirring, simmering, washing again and drying, would pay off in three giant boxes of buttery soft Bluefaced Leicester fibery goodness.  The three big runs and one little mohair run are different than what I expected but very beautiful and that's okay.   I can't wait to spin a sample of them, if time allows before I leave for Maryland.  I'm also anxious to see the look on Kimmie Cornerstone's face when she sees this year's wooly produce.  I know these colors will be fantastic in Carol Crayonbox's designer knitted purses, too.  The black adult mohair is nicer than I hoped it would be.  The only dye I had left on the farm was blue - no time to have more shipped in and get it to the mill in time for Maryland.  This lovely denim color will be alot of fun to spin and fantastic for sock yarn.   Love the apple green, and the orangey-red is so iridescent and soft.  The goldish-chartreuse is dotted with fuschia angora rabbit.  All will be available at Maryland Sheep and Wool, just one short hour west of Baltimore, and on-line as soon as I can post it.

Phew!

Finally Friday.  I don't think it hit me until I just sat down on the sofa to watch the news. Five work days.  Five rushing around making sure everyone is emptied, fed and watered. Five days of what the heck and I going to wear and is it clean. Five days of do I have enough gas or time to stop for more. Five commutes 50 miles back and forth - in great weather thank you Lord. Five days of running across the parking lot and calming myself as I walk in the door to make it look like I got there then minutes ago and was just chatting with people in the hall.  Five days of what to do with all these art classes ranging from six to eighteen year olds.  Five days of special ed paper work to do.  Five days of always smiling and never, ever revealing your true feelings about kids and co-workers.  Five days of worrying about babies being born under a cold window and mothers ignoring them.  Five days of wondering if a goat with long mohair got caught on a nail and panicked. Five days of what do I need as I'm leaving civilization and driving far out into the country where everything, except the tiny village general store, which is six miles out of my way, is a half hour away.  Okay, don't get me wrong.  I am so thankful for my job.  I love my co-workers who are the most genuinely nice, caring and totally down-to-earth people.   Sure there are things I hate, which I cannot let pass my lips or fingertips, but isn't every job that way?  If I didn't have my job there would be no paying off the carding mill today so I can get my wool shipped to me for Maryland Sheep and Wool.  They took more than half my pay, but that's my fault for not getting it washed, dyed and dried sooner.  It will be slim picken for the next two weeks, and I have to figure out how I'm going to get to Maryland with all my loot - on a wing and a prayer maybe?  If it wasn't for my job I wouldn't have four lovely green and delicious bales of hay in the back of my blazer for the sheep and goats.  I'm not buying any more of that lousy hay from the dairy farmer.  My feeders are crammed with sticks that are no good for anything but bedding and my sheep are getting way too thin.  I confess I let them out to graze yesterday.  There is a little grass and I decided to let them have some before they get too weak.  Thankfully I'm not lambing.  Took the doggies up to the top of the hill - our spa treatment - and back down.  Don't know what I'm making for dinner.  Spouse always expects something.  He's bringing me Starbucks for a payday treat.  Going out to dinner is an impossible dream during hay-buying time.  Don't even think about it.  Maybe if I do well at Maryland Sheep and Wool I'll treat us to Frank's in New Berlin.  The news makes me sick.  Chechnians? What the heck is wrong with those kids who came here, got visas, got scholarships.  My father and his family came here from Sweden where they were poor as church mice, got jobs as domestics and carpenters, and wouldn't even speak Swedish except for whispering in the kitchen.  They were so proud to be Americans.  When my father became an NYPD cop they had arrived.  They had a US civil servant in the family.  That's enough of a rant.  No babies in the barn.  The ladies are liking their special treatment in the maternity pen.  I'm afraid they will hold on to those kids until the night before I leave for Maryland.  Was hoping to get them born and settled before I leave spouse in charge.  He will have his hands full as it is.

Random Thoughts

No matter how serious my problems seem at times, at least my legs haven't been blown off.  My farm would be in big trouble if I had no legs.  There would be no going to Maryland Sheep and Wool in two short weeks.  No walks up the lovely hill that is my farm with the dogs to play in the pond, like we did a few minutes ago.  It goes on and on.  Tonight I'm thankful for many things.  Just a few, in no particular order, are listed below:

1.  Two students I worked with the first half of the year before I became full time art teacher have finally been awarded their GED diplomas.  They stuck with it after several failing scores.  Now the world is their stage and I applaud them.  They both came to my art room to hug me and tell me the good news.  That means the world to me. 

2.  There is green grass coming up all over the hill.  I can't wait to let the whole flock out to enjoy it.  No more marginal hay purchased at a local farm that is saving it's "good hay" for the cows.  There is nothing, I mean nothing, (besides fresh green grass) like my own hay, grown on my own land.  The sheep like it best.   When the sheep are happy, I am happy.

3.  I am thankful for good health.  I feel pretty good.  The broken leg, broken foot and sprained ankle all like to say hello now and then, but I can still climb the big hill with the doggies pulling me along, and climb the hay mow ladders every night.  BP is down, weight is not.  If only my belly was as tight as my behind, but, hey, we can't have everything.

4.  School is going well.  There are "incidents" every day but it's been a while since I have come home absolutely devastated by events at school.  May it stay that way.

5.  My bio-kids are healthy and happy.  The are all successful professionals and enjoying their work.  All three are public servants and giving back in many ways.  None of them are being paid what they deserve, but such is life. 

6.  I am thankful for my friends.  I have so much help getting ready for Maryland Sheep and Wool - the big show that took me five years of applying to get into - that I know it will be a fantastic year.  I just received a big box of gorgeous designer hand knitted, felted and embellished hand bags from Carol Crayonbox.  I will take them to Maryland to decorate my booth.  Each one is made from hand spun yarn, much of it from my flock, and has incredibly intricate insides.   My friend Sharon at school is wrapping a ton of soap for me, which frees me up to sew bags and make hand creme.  Their help means so much.

7.  I am thankful for my farm.  I am so far away from the city and the dangers therein.  The land is very beautiful and I draw strength from it.  My animals are amazing and enrich my life in so many ways I can't describe.  I am a very lucky girl. 

It's out to chores, like I do every night after our walk up the hill, after dinner and the evening news.   I'll come back inside and sew on a Bundaflicka tote.  They are simple, no-nonsense and strong, kind of like me.  When life gives you a heavy load, sew totes to carry it around in.

Busy

Miss a day in my diary and there's too much to report.  Went back to work yesterday and worried about goats giving birth all day.  I have a few months of sick days saved up but I have that "ethic" thing going.  We are having vehicle challenges and I had to take Matt's ancient Saturn which cannot be driven over 40 mph without terrible clanking noises.  His commute to Syracuse is twice the length of mine on busier roads so he took my ancient Blazer.  When I got three or four angry drivers behind me I just pulled over and let them pass.  I had to rush out of school at 3 to get to Hamilton Village office to hand in my farmer's market application before the absolute latest time of 4 pm.  At 40 mph it took me a while to get there.  Then there were the stops for lye, olive oil and cat food.  Another 17 miles home to the farm and I rush in to find the goat mommies lying about, chewing their cud.  No babies.  Last night I thought for sure there was one coming.  I got the doggies out for our spa walk up the big hill and around the pond.  Sometimes I mill around for a while after I get home from school, getting nothing done, trying to get my head on straight.  I have heavy people and kid contact all day, so different from my GED job downstairs.  Now, in the art room which is right smack in the middle of the upstairs wing, we have staff and kids wandering in all day long.  No such thing as retreating behind my desk to spin a little on  the hidden wheel.  It really did settle me when the going got rough.  I have so much to do to get ready for Maryland it makes my head spin.  Best thing to do is just get busy and do it.  A little grass is coming up, but with this cold, wet, spring - which is normal for this area but last year spoiled us - the green stuff is not exactly bursting out of the ground.  I hate this hay but Matt likes the guy and is willing to go and get it for us.  I'll have to pull all the sticks out of the hay feeders.  The grass can't grow fast enough for me and my sheep.  Patchouli soap on deck for today, between baby-watching trips out to the barn.  That will make me feel much, much better.  Love the stuff.  20 totes hanging ready for tags.  I have such little time to sew that it is a delight, not a chore, for me.  I stay in the chair in front of the machine until my back and body says no more, you have to lie down.  I got such a good night sleep last night it was beautiful, until the dogs woke me up before six.  If I don't take them out Cooper starts to eat the wall around the door.  Pulled on boots and jacket and ran up to the pond in the mist with them.  It was delightful.  Will be happy when I have sheep grazing all around me on those walks.

Miracles

After all these years raising sheep and goats I am still in awe of the miracle of birth.  Stayed home from school today - first time since Rhinebeck last October - to wait on goat babies.  Hard for me to call them kids as that sounds too much like my students, who are not nearly as cute and cuddly as the babies here on the farm.  I have two older does about to deliver, one with not much of an udder.  Fingers crossed that one of the moms with a good udder and a lot of colostrum gives birth first so I can share the wealth.  They are a bit wild as I don't bother with them very much - only at shearing time when they get their vaccinations and worming.  I have them separated in a maternity pen now where they are being spoiled rotten, with egg layer mash and black oil sunflower seeds, along with lovely, fragrant grass hay purchased for a ridiculous price at the local feed and pet store.   When I dragged it into the barn this morning everybody went nuts.  The rest of the flock is eating sticks from a local dairy farm.  If only I had ten more round bales I would have been home free, but I've said that so many times I'm tired of hearing it.  Several years ago I came home from work to find a pretty little newborn doe kid cold and dead, just outside the door of the east end.  Mom had gone outside to have some privacy and dropped the baby in an icy rain.  Trying to avoid that happening again.  We clip a mom in the maternity pen every night.  Takes about an hour for me to do it with my Fiskar sewing scissors, after dinner and chores.  Matt holds the horns for me and is good for one goat.  After a long commute and an exciting day of weatherization training and writing curriculum, he is ready for a cigarette (not in the barn) and bed.  I have two big mohair fleeces from the last two nights and am looking forward to a few more.  I love the stuff.  Black yearling mohair is about my favorite fiber in the world.  Kid is too soft and short.  Yearling is curly and long.  Adult mohair can be too scratchy to wear but it makes great socks and rugs.  Nothing takes the dye bath like mohair.  On deck for today between trips out to the barn - cleaning up this ridiculous kitchen so I can make Almond and Patchouli soap.  At long last my beloved patchouli has arrived.  The stuff is magical.  I'll keep some out of the soap to put in creme.  I've already had an inquiry from someone in Washington about bringing patchouli creme to Maryland Sheep and Wool.  I won't put it out for sale, but will keep it under the table for the few of us who appreciate the precious oil.  Incredibly, many people don't know what patchouli is.  When I did put it out on the table, I must have have explained it forty times that day.  I'll keep the empty bottle to put dabs behind my ears over the summer.  Nothing keeps the bugs away like patchouli, AND it is every bit as antiseptic and antifungal as lavender.  I have 19 Bundaflicka totes hanging and more cut out.  I will have a box car load of soap if I get it all cut up and set out to cure today.  Trouble is, the drying rack is full of fiber art paraphanalia.  I need a dedicated soap drying room with wall to wall racks.  I need, I need, I need....In the meantime better go check the barn for babies.

Busy

Back to work this morning.  Definitely a reality check.  No more scrambled eggs at ten o'clock, no facebook (not allowed in school-fine with me) no spontaneous walks up the hill, no critters, no sewing machine, no playing with soap, no spinning wheel.  Well, I did have a wheel in school, but I brought it home over the break. I am very fortunate to have my job, but I love being home on the farm. Who could blame me?  Our seed planting in toilet paper roll cups went very well.  The big kids who came in at the same time as the little kids joined in, decorating their seed cups too.  I was very happy with the way the lesson went.  I discovered there is an enormous amount of valuable information on the back of the packet, like temperature zones, etc.  We had fun talking about things like what cat nip does to cats, and how you can eat nasturtium flowers.  The roll I was on working with product has come to a halt, with work today, climbing the hill after work with the dogs who were locked inside all day, making/serving dinner, then chores, then sofa time to write in my diary.   I did get a lot done with the few days I had after Easter.  Will wait for the weekend to do more.

I have a lot of soap to cut up and put out to cure, which always presents a spacial problem.  Somehow we make it all work out. 

Walking

Decided to take the doggies on an early morning walk to the backside of my land.  I usually go straight up the hill, good to get my heart pounding, good to wear out the dogs so they leave me alone when I want to work, and good to take in such lovely views.   Everything is brown and gray but there are little tips of green grass here and there.  The stream coming down from the ridge is flowing from the snow melt.   The land is mushy and marshy there, duck party land, but it rises up to hard rocky soil with big shale outcroppings perfect for goats to romp and play on.  re is a cistern constructed by the former dairy farmers that is always filled with clear spring water.  Mushy land is not good for goats and sheep as we always have to be concerned about the deadly meningeal worm carried by snails in wet areas.  Rocky land is perfect for goats as it keeps their hooves trimmed and they love to eat the small shrubby bushes growing in that type of soil.  I intend to fence in the back land for goats and keep the sheep separate on the hillside.  There is also a lovely, large hawthorne grove that will shelter the goats in hot weather.  I love my land - I don't have a lot of it compared to other farms around here, but compared to the tiny lot I had in New Jersey, I am truly land rich, and it has so much beauty and character.  It is so varied and has so many ups and downs,  nooks and crannies that are artsy and interesting.  I found a tall tree with hundreds of tiny pine cones on the ground underneath it.  Fascinating to me as I didn't know a tree other than pines makes cones!  I'll make lots of holiday wreaths with my art students next fall.  Have to find my field guide... I took a good look at the back of the barn.  It needs so much work, and will take the rest of my life time to get it in shape, but it is a worthy effort.   On deck for today - Lemongrass Soap.  I made a big batch of Rosemary last night, separating some for Unscented Honey Oatmeal for a special customer in New Jersey who won't use anything else.  I have two really beautiful nubby tweed messenger totes finished,  and two more on the machine.  I'm beginning to think I will be okay in Maryland.  I will have too much wool, too much soap, an adequate amount of Shepherd's Friend Hand Creme (which costs a fortune to make, like the soap) and, hopefully, a hefty basket of hand spun yarn if my friend Kimmie Cornerstone is running that Louet up there in Canada.  The knitting bags will be outstanding, provided my animals, my teaching job, and my health cooperate.  God willing and the creek don't rise...