Market Musing

It's the agony and the ecstacy. So much work to lug all that heavy soap, set everything up so it looks appealling, then be happy and friendly all day long. It was hot but a gentle breeze made it bearable. The two new Celestial Bags went pretty quick, plus the last remaining Jungle Bag - wow! - AND the owner of the Sushi Blues Restaurant asked if she could barter sushi dinners for a bag! Fabulous! I sold a couple of notecards, a bowl of shaving soap, quite a few bars of soap, and a few jars of hand creme. I was thrilled since most of the crowd had gone to the Bouckville Antiques Extravaganza. I met some new local people, plus a shepherd who used to do what I do and is now a jewelry maker and rented the space next to me. Her business used to be Sterling Center Farm and she raised Cotswolds and Romneys. We traded shepherd stories and I understood totally what she was talking about...having trouble catching them to work on them, hay woes, physical ailments, etc. Now she carries a few boxes of jewelry, light as feathers, into her booth. I was envious...but for now, I'm enjoying the attention I get for the few humble creations I come up with, heavy as they are. I was able to buy $30 worth of melons and veggies from Mr. Wagner across from me, $20 worth of beeswax from Mahlon the beekeeper, and $20 for Earth Friendly detergent to wash my wool in next week. I took the rest of my meager earnings to Tractor Supply in Hamilton. We bought Matt some clothes for his upcoming trip to visit his son, Sean, in San Francisco. I found him a ticket last night that was MUCH cheaper than I feared. Matt is very excited about the trip. I am very excited about his trip, too. Mary just called for a swim and heaven knows I NEED IT!! Ciao for now!

Off to the Market

The mist is burning off in the valley and I am off to the farmer's market. I wonder if the Colgate kids will be coming back yet. Their moms and dads are my best customers. I have plenty of product and will have more if I keep my nose to the grindstone the next three weeks...then the shows start and I will be okay if I work hard and keep my head on straight. Funny, I am the least apprehensive about school starting that I have ever been. If they've kept me for three years I guess they plan on keeping me on. Can't imagine why...fortunately I have a supervisor who understands me and supports me. I'll be glad to see my colleagues, as they are quirky and interesting and larger than life in many ways. Why am I writing about September when August is not yet over...but it's sliding away fast. Better keep sewing and swimming. Gotta mount up and get outta here...I hope Will cuts some hay for me today!!

Bags 'R Me

I'm doing a LOT of sewing right now. I found solar sun tapestry fabric in the tractor shed and had to whip up a couple of bags to take to the market tomorrow. I bought it in New Jersey years ago - the mythical fabric land of the northeast! They are small for me, but I'm hoping some students will like them. I'm working on a bag right now for a lady who returned the bag she purchased. She has been through chemotherapy recently and decided her bag was too heavy. Could I take out the snap frame, she asked. I took it out but the bag is still heavy due to the plush lining. I'm making the bag over again with a light but strong linen lining. I hope she likes it. She came looking for it last weekend but I begged off until tomorrow. Mary went swimming but I stayed home to work on this bag. With my luck she will go to the Bouckville Antiques Show tomorrow instead of the farmer's market, but I will have it there just in case.

Boot Camp 4

This Weatherization Boot Camp is particularly special because the first woman graduate is included in the class. I'm very proud of them all, especially the Head Man In Charge.

Farm Stuff

Just came back in from morning chores at 11 am. Granted, I started morning chores around 10, as I am on vacation and enjoying being "naughty." Naughty, to me, is staying in my jammies and sewing bags, wrapping soap and spinning wool - all with the intention of selling. Loren, my hired man, was supposed to come early this morning and stack bales. He came yesterday and was pretty crippled with back pain. He looked so miserable and I found him sitting on a bale in the hay mow. I sent him home with pay and told him to rest up. He promised to come back today, but no Loren. Matt came home from work yesterday sick and went flat out on the sofa, not able to do his only nighttime chore, feed the White Boys. He said it's because he doesn't eat enough fruit and vegetables. This somehow implicates me in his illness. I bought $50 worth of both at the farmer's market last week and I don't think he ate any of it. My cabbage soup is not appealling to him, although it has the most nutrition of anything I make. Oh, well...I think I should hire a woman to help me around here. Matt reminded me to give Baby Thunder a shot for foot rot today. He was too sick to help me last night, but is still worried about the poor little sheep. Thunder, my Coopworth wether and my VERY FIRST SHEEP has one foot that is chronically stinky. Most shepherds would have culled him long ago. He HATES shots and is very watchful of us coming after him. I found him lying in the hay mow this morning so I climbed back down and got shots ready - one antibiotic and one B complex to perk him up a bit since he might not have been grazing properly with this bad foot. Now sheep can see almost all the way around as their eyes are on the sides of their heads to know when predators are sneaking up on them. I acted like I was going to walk past him toward some bales then leaped on him, using my weight to hold him down. Now I am fairly heavy, and Baby Thunder is rather old, but he still put up a pretty good fight and nearly threw me off. He did manage to kick the syringes and foot clippers out of my hand and send them flying into loose hay. I had to keep my weight on him and reach around and fish for the needles. I'm thinking I better get the LA200 into him first in case he throws me off. Bingo, got that done. I start the B vitamin but the needle is small and it takes a while. Sweat is pouring off me and Baby Thunder is not amused. Finally I rolled off him and he ran away. Back inside and I am sitting to write this note and get myself a cold drink. It's heating up out there, and, now that everyone has food and water I am going to point the fan at myself and sew. Market tomorrow and I will have six new bags for the patrons to look over. I hope that rich lady from Connecticut comes back through...

Still Nice

The good weather is expected to continue through the weekend. I'm hopeful the market is busy, but the huge Bouckville Antique Extravaganza that's going on this weekend might cut down on my traffic. We should still get the regulars but the tourists - we'll see. Mary and I got in a good swim last night after waiting in the screen hut for a sudden rainstorm to pass over. Luckily we had the Beefeaters and some good conversation to keep us occupied. She wouldn't mind swimming while being pelted with rain but for me it just didn't have the same thrill. I like blazing sun on my face while the rest of me is submerged in the cold spring water. The colors in the sky and the cloud formations from the storm were breathtaking. Puffs of black, white and pink were superimposed over brilliant blue. Mary brought us some new rafts from the dollar store and it took all our hot air to get them operational. We swam for a good hour or so and I was lucky to have Zella on my back for a while. The sun was setting when we crawled out of the pond and made our way back to our farms. We had been there for three hours! It's amazing how much more enjoyable something is when you have someone to share it with. I've had access to this pond for three years but haven't enjoyed it this much until Mary came along. She says she's been searching out the ponds in Brookfield for years and this is the best one. I think my braid is felted together from swimming in the pond day after day. No problem, I'll peel it loose and wash it today, just to say I did. Isn't vacation wonderful? More sewing in store for me today. I'll do some nasty chore just to keep my feet on the ground. Tomorrow is a work day.

Halcyon Days

The weather is gorgeous again today. It's fantastic hay weather. Finally we have a stretch of sunny, warm days after a summer of dreary wetness. Will, my dairy farmer neighbor, is busy getting some second cut done on Jan's fields. My elevator motor is broken but Loren is coming over to stack bales and will see if a motor he owns will fit. Wouldn't it be a minor miracle if he could get that elevator to work again. Matt is consumed with weatherization teaching, meetings with NY State people, and planning a trip to see Sean in CA. I met Mary and the dogs to swim last evening and it was sooooo wonderful. When I arrived at the pond I found sheep eating the ragweed and milkweed next to the shore. Some were having a drink. It was the ultimate bucolic setting. Mary came with the dogs and our party began. Bucket, Zella and Clyde relish the water like I've only seen with my Bodie...but Bodie was driven to work the ball back and forth. Mary's dogs swim round and round loving the feel of it. Zella approached me and climbed on my raft! It was a big thrill, as the three Border Collies are very attached to Mary and are always watching her to anticipate her directions. It takes time to build a relationship with these intelligent dogs and earn their respect. Holly and Izzy watched from the shore. They are very reticent around the high-powered, talented BC team. What canine wouldn't be? The cold spring waters refrigerated my body and I was cool for the rest of the night. After dinner and chores I wrapped Unscented Honey Oatmeal Soap in some cute psychodelic fabric I found in the tractor shed. It feels great to get another box of soap ready to put out. Every bar pays for a bale of hay. Two bars pays for an hour of Loren's labor...it goes on and on.

More Musings

Okay, so they didn't pick up my garbage. They rolled right by without slowing down. I called the office and the nice lady told me it was probably because I didn't have the dumpster turned in the right direction. WHAT?? Apparently, when they left it in the middle of the driveway, I didn't roll it into the correct position for lining up with their truck. She said if it is in the wrong position they "guys" have to get out and pull it into the right position with a chain. But we couldn't drive in so I moved it out of the way! And what about the Sisters? I explained I shared the driveway with two nuns who didn't appreciate their way being blocked. So now my dumpster is full on a hot summer day with a check hanging off it. I still don't understand how to position it, and if I can move it on the rollers, why can't two big strong men? Yada, yada, yada. She said she would call them to come back but they didn't. They better not charge me for today! So what else to do but sew tote bags? When the world gives you a heavy load...sew tote to carry it in! I know, that's getting old. I made two adorable little Solar Totes out of the zodiac tapestry fabric I found in the tractor shed. They have to be small or else I cut into the suns next to the one I am focusing on. I sewed for a few hours, between critter activities, then went outside to get some soap fabric from the shed. I heard some plantiff goat calls and discovered that some of the boys have broken out of their pen. They want their girlfriends back. I brought my fabric in and found a bucket with some rabbit pellets in it. I succeeded in getting Manny back in the pen, but Barack Obama and the other older buck were not as easy to persuade. Holly and Izzy were not helping. It's too hot to deal with this running around now so I will wait until Matt gets home. Oh, Joy, will that be pleasant! Back to my blissfull sewing and soap wrapping and movie channels. I've started watching the Current channel since Laura Ling and her journalist friend were rescued from Korea. I never tuned in to their network until they put it on the news. Pretty good, lots of "current" topics, and lots of "green" stuff.

Garbage Day

It's Wednesday...garbage day! There is only one garbage pick up service here in Brookfield - Holden's Haulers. Brookfield is considered a far-flung remote area where people go to ride their horses on the state-maintained trails, or to hunt. When I first called the BOCES school where I now work, sitting on the sofa in my makeshift living room up in the hay mow, the operator said Brookfield? You live in Brookfield? When I was a kid, she said, we could always go skiing in Brookfield when nowhere else had snow. That proved to be a prophetic statement! Anyway, I rented a dumpster from Holden's when I first moved here. Their dumpsters are ubiquitous in Brookfield and environs. Some are spanky new, shiny and red. I was really peeved when they dropped off a nasty, gnarly looking old dumpster. When I complained I was told, that's it, that's what you got and that's what you keep and you can paint it if you want. When you are the only garbage hauler around you can give all the attitude you want. Some people burn their garbage. Yes, you can still burn garbage in New York State. Living most of my life in New Jersey, the thought of burning my garbage and letting all those particulates into the air is horrifying. I've been programmed to let the industrialists kill us - murder, but no suicide. I appreciate my dumpster, and the service Holden provides. Soapmaking generates many containers, and animals go through feed sacks, etc., and generate all kinds of nasty things, and then there's the plastics. What did we do without plastic? I'm old enough to remember when there were only paper bags, and my school lunches were wrapped in wax paper. I had a window to the introduction of plastics into our lives. My first husband's father was a project scientist for Union Carbide in New Jersey. I remember when he was given the assignment of coming up with a "plastic bag." He had strips of plastic nailed to the trees in his yard to test their longevity. At this time we had paper grocery bags in metal garbage cans. You frequently picked them up and the bottom fell out with all the nasty stuff sticking to the bottom. A rag or a hose was necessary to clean up the mess. Now we conveniently use the plastic can liner. I'm as guilty as anyone, and I berate myself constantly. I read the daily diary of Roz Savage rowing across the Pacific as she encounters large areas of plastic bogs floating in the ocean, choking turtles and whales. What to do? Sew up some grocery bags for a start. I use all those little white bags around the farm, but there are still too many crammed in my drawer. Holden's will be here soon so I better get going and hustle the garbage out. It's so funny to hear them coming and watch out the window as they back into the driveway. The guys get out, open the top of the dumpster, then peer inside. What are they looking at? Am I being examined or graded as to the quality or legitimacy of my garbage? I'm always nervous...please take it - please, oh, please take that nasty stuff away!! They look for a while and they hook up the lifting device. I'm saved for another week!!

Mother Lode

I made an attempt to tidy up the apartment today - I swear I did!! The half finished bag left on the sewing machine was beckoning to me. I stayed up late to sew and spin, more spinning than sewing because of the ceiling fan situation (see a previous post) and got four bobbins empty. I have three giant skeins of two ply semi-worsted yarn wound off and tied, ready for washing. This is perfect Gansey yarn which I hope to knit this winter after the run of shows is over. Black BFL with little bits of red and yellow tweed angora and mohair will be a fantastic Gansey yarn. Now if only I was a better pattern reader! I can grow and spin the yarn, but knitting is something I have a long way to go with. Hats, mittens, scarves, no problem. This Gansey pattern says "Easy To Knit" but I come up with the wrong number of stitches. More about that later. It's still hot and I missed an invitation to swim with Mary and the BC crew. By the time I got the email she had gone to the pond and left due to my flock of goats grazing by the pond. Mary didn't want the Border Collie team to disturb them. I went up there looking for Mary and took pictures instead. The "high meadow" is so lovely. I came back down and stopped in the tractor shed to see what I could find in the freezer for Matt's dinner. I'm such a good wife I can't stand myself! I spied a big tub that looked kind of interesting...what a find. It's full of fabulous fabric, including a zodiac sun motif I forgot I had! I carried a big armful back to the barn apt. for cutting and sewing into bags. Just what I needed...another load of fabric to pile onto the kitchen table, which is already heavily laden. Maggie will be busy...

Good Enough to Eat

I finished another box of shaving soap last night. I cut up odds and ends of all my varieties of soaps and melt them down over several days. It's a lot of work, mashing and scraping off the sides of the big pot. Pouring is another matter - I have to put on long sleeves and leather gloves, then hold the pot while pouring the hot molten mass into a cardboard box. I shore up the sides to avoid sagging, then let it set overnight. One man told me a block lasted him two years. No containers to throw away, no chemicals, no flourocarbons released into the air - and all that shea butter, olive oil, honey, oatmeal and essential oils on your skin, leaving it soft and clean. I cut up the blocks then tie a brush on top and there you go. I am also putting the shaving soap in Suzanne Farrington's hand thrown mugs now. She trades with me for wool. Good deal all around.

Still Summery

I'm loving this vacation thing. Not that I am every on vacation, but not having to run around like crazy and get out of here at quarter to eight is delightful. I stagger to the coffeepot and make my cappucino ala Annie, stagger over to the sofa and sit a while. While visiting Annie in San Jose last Christmas she showed me how I can put a whisk in the coffee cup and foam the milk, then pour in hot coffee and sprinkle a little cinnamon on top. It's heavenly and I'm hooked. All other coffee pales in comparison. Kimmie Cornerstone brought me some super strong Multatelli coffee from Canada, Thor's Hammer to be exact, and it's perfect for coffee served this way. I'm told cinnamon is good for keeping your blood sugar down, which works for me. It tastes so Swedish. I'm spinning like crazy, which suits me right now. I had SO many full bobbins that I had to empty before spinning anything new. I need to sort fleeces but now it's just soooo hot. I might have to buy a fan for the milk room. I prefer fans to AC, as I am not wracked with guilt over using it and fans can be targeted to specific areas instead of cooling all that needless space. I don't know how to tell Beastie Boy that Wooster jumped the fence to get to the girls. I tried to tell him we needed a higher panel on that one area, but he said NAAAHHHHH, he won't get over it. BFL's can be very athletic, and Wooster is a fine young three year old stud. Just what Matt wants to do after work, chase a ram around in the heat. My calculations tell me lambs on January 4. I better get my silk underwear ready.

Okay, It's Hot

We've had a blissfully cool summer - until now. It's 90 and very muggy. I don't feel right complaining about the heat because soon enough it will be blistering cold here in Upstate New York and we will have a different set of challenges. I carried extra water to the White Boys, Finn, Knut and Thor, and put a tub outside for the sheep who were lying in the shade of the silo. It seems so odd to see sheep panting. With dogs, it's a natural way to cope with heat, but sheep look very weird when panting. Maggie hates to pant, and, after the necessary critter chores were done and the trip to town for banking and post office was over, she parked herself at the spinning wheel under the ceiling fan which is also conveniently over the television and coffee table. There is a small space of a few square feet that is bearable. After wrapping soap half the morning, spinning was the only alternative close to the fan. I tried sewing but the machine is too far away from the breeze. A "severe" thunderstorm was forecast for late afternoon, and the radar confirmed the threat, but it missed us. Would have been a nice reprieve from the heat. Luke would have said, Let's go in the hay mow and watch the rain! It's so much fun. I lost one rabbit to the heat, I believe, even though I moved her to a clean cage in a cooler spot. She had been plucked but there was enough angora on her to do her in. I've pretty much decided to buy a double wide trailer to live in and use this apartment as a workshop. Realistically, Matt does not have the time to build anything significant, or do any major renovations to this barn. A trailer would come completed and I could just move in. I hate to ruin the landscape with a trailer but it would be practical and easy. This little apartment is piled high with fabric and soap accoutrement, and I don't have enough room to work and live at the same time. There is a trailer sales place in West Winfield. I think I'll drive over there tomorrow and check them out. I got my hot, molten soap scraps potion poured finally after four days of mashing and cooking. I'll need more shaving blocks for fall shows and now I've got them. I have to move back under the ceiling fan as I am melting....what a world, what a world, what a world!

Bo-Peep Bride

Libby Llop sent me these fantastic pictures of a shepherd bride in England. What an incredibly talented woman! I just hope her cute new husband is as devoted to her sheep as this lady is. Lincoln Longwools are fabulous sheep...a little on the coarse side, but you wouldn't know it from this lovely gown.

Coffee Table Chaos

Heat and humidity forecast for today. Sunday was gray and rainy, with rumbling thunder through the night. Loren came and we got the boys seperated from the girls. I only have Wooster, my purebred BFL ram, left as Othello was the dead sheep at the end of the barn. All that ruined Merino wool, and a heck of a job getting a 300 pound rotten corpse out of the mud and up to the dead pile. I don't have to tell you it understandably put Matt in one sour mood. Thank goodness Loren was here to help or my day would have been completely shot to hell. Loren unloaded the last hay wagon of first cut. The elevator is still broken. I need a new motor, probably $300 or more. The elevator is fantastic and was $14,000 when purchased by Chris Kupris years ago. It's rusting away on the outside but the inside metal is shiny red laquer. I suppose I should paint it but have no idea how to go about it. It would take weeks to sand the rust off while standing on a ladder. It just can't happen right now. I hope a new motor will make it last a few more years, or until I am no longer in farming. In the meantime I am wrapping soap big time, which I do not mind while watching a good movie. The soap is a blessing. I do enjoy watching people pour over all the boxes. A dentist bought ten bars for his employees on Saturday. I sit at the coffee table, laden with the detritus of my life, an accurate reflection of the chaos of my own making that I deal with every day, with all the doggies around me, kitties on my shoulder, and, with a good movie, all my farming woes disappear for a while.

Is It Over?

Thankfully I had called Loren from the farmer's market to ask if he could help empty the hay wagons. When we got home and Matt started sending the bales up the elevator, the motor overheated and tripped the breaker. Loren arrived and climbed up the mountain of bales to cut away the many baling cords tangled in the motor. Much to our dismay, the motor wouldn't start again. No elevator. This meant that the wagon had to be pulled around to the other side of the barn and unloaded by hand. Each bale had to be carried in the barn and to the back. Fortunately the strings were nice and tight and the bales were very good quality first cut, which helped my mood about the whole predicament. As I started around the wagon with my first bale I sniffed something awful - death. Every farmer knows that smell. I looked around and saw a dead sheep behind the barn at a corner where I would not have noticed unless I went out the east end door. At first sight I thought it was Othello's best friend, the Merino wether that came with him. I ruminated about how I wanted him to be shorn last time Jim was here, but Jim said let his wool grow some more, etc. I don't enjoy cutting the wool off a dead animal, especially in the hot summertime when I would have to play FBI and put Vicks Vapo Rub under my nose. I later saw that sheep in the barn standing up and fine, eating his night-night bale, so it's someone else. I'll do a closer inspection in the morning. We continued to do our unloading with the lovely aroma wafting up into the barn. It took a couple of hours but we got the wagon done. Matt - keeper of the dead - and Loren will deal with the corpse tomorrow. The men pulled a tarp over the last wagon after retrieving it from the field and we called it a night. Loren had to leave and the two M's were spent. I still had to make dinner and do nighttime chores. I opened the milk room door to get to the rabbit feed and I was suddenly lifted off my feet and carried into the milk room. Denzel, in an effort to get into the feed room, put his head between my legs pushed through the door, taking me for a ride. Skinny, runty Denzel has grown over the summer and is very strong now. I tried to get off him but lost my balance and crashed to the concrete floor. Denzel hardly noticed I was riding him and started munching on cat food. A bit of alligator wrestling and he was out of the milk room and back in the barn. When I found Matt he was flat out on the sofa, full of barbecued pork spare ribs (my poor piggies!) and fresh cole slaw. He was moaning incoherently but I managed to hear something about wanting pie and ice cream served to him. I thought of the sheep corpse he will be dealing with in the morning (thank the stars I am not the one who has to do it) and the wagon load of hay outside and I brought him a giant piece of Very Berry Pie and ice cream. Good Night Moon and Good Night to the Old Lady Whispering Hush!

Market is Perking Up

Lots of tourists, neighbors and even BOCES friends came to the market today. Matt dropped me off and went home to unload hay wagons. I warned him that Will wouldn't be baling until the dew dried off the rows and I was right. It wasn't until noon that the wagons were loaded and ready to haul across to my farm. Matt was able to put in some serious sofa time (contrary to what he likes to tell people)before he came to pick me up. Once he came to get me with the truck at 2 he was frantic to get back and unload before any rain might come. Good idea. I did manage to duck into Whole Foods and get my soy milkshake and chat with Candace a bit. She also had a good market day. I sold a Mega-Tote I've been lugging around for a year. Can't believe it didn't go in Maryland. A first grade teacher saw it and it was love at first sight. She was thrilled. That's why I don't give up on bags. It's just a matter of time before the right person comes along. I didn't sell a single bit of fiber or photo cards, but creme and soap went steadily. Good reason to diversify your products. Once home I was pretty pooped. I have a big operation to set up and take down, and I forgot to bring something to drink. I rewarded myself for all the hard work and good sales by buying lots of cherries, blueberries and nectarines to snack on all week. I even bought some cabbages for more cole slaw. Can't get enough of it this year. Loren came to help stack bales. Good thing he could make it as he was able to climb up to free my elevator motor which had just started to burn up and had tripped the circuit breaker. It was tangled up in old baling twine. Things go a lot easier on me when Matt has a male companion to work with. I bought him lots of goodies at the Landmark Inn table, my booth neighbor's place. Sugar goes a long way in soothing the savage beast...

Positively Sublime

The weather is perfect again today. I slept on the sofa - one of my favorite vacation things to do - and woke up a bit stiff and creaky. No wonder, as Izzy (who slept underneath my pillow, and Holly, who slept between me and the back of the sofa, causing me to almost fall off all night long, kept me company. (Yes, I am the Queen of the run-on sentences.) I cleaned out my future work room, AKA cat room, yesterday and what a difference. I've wanted to do it for a long time but just never got around to it. I hauled all the big plastic tubs outside and went through my archives of fabric. I found many small pieces which I'll make into small bags, and a couple of nice big pieces for several bigger bags. August is a lean month for me and I can't buy fabric, just when sales are on and I need to make product. That's okay, as it makes me use up what I have. I swept and mopped the room with soap and clorox, my favorite cleaning agent. It kills MRSA and CMV, and neutralizes all traces of kitty stuff. The cats are horrified. I'm feeding them in the milk room, but they yowled outside the door of their former lair all night. This room will be fabulous once it's done. It's long and wide and there are doors on the north side and south side of the barn. Long range planning - I will make this room into another kitchen with a big red AGA (NY State is one state where having an AGA makes sense) and a black and white tile floor. I love the way Italians in New Jersey have two kitchens - one for show upstairs and a big utilitarian kitchen in the basement. Since NY State won't let me keep hay in the mow on top of me, I will make that my giant work room/bedroom. The person who can make all this possible has no intention of starting it any time soon, as he is totally consumed with his exciting new career. One can only live and hope...and fantasies are free, as I say so often these days. As for today, I'll take care of critters, sew, wrap soap and spin. Plenty of coffee in the house, some melon, chicken in the freezer, life is good.

Musings

The weather is just gorgeous - clear, sunny and not too hot - and looks like it might stay that way through Saturday night. I can't believe it. Farmers are cutting hay and actually might get some bales in. Mia called this morning to chat - a lovely way to start the day to hear my darling daughter's cheery little voice. She's my most ardent supporter and it just doesn't get any better than that!! I'm sewing like crazy - having so much fun I don't know what to do with myself, three bags done yesterday, and cutting up a lot of soap. I got the Unscented Honey Oatmeal on the rack last night and am working in the Black Cherry now. Several bags cut out but I have to do some chores out in the barn. I think we might actually have two sunny Saturdays in a row, if the rain forecast for this weekend holds off until Saturday night. Many tourists coming through Hamilton these days, and, in a couple of weeks, the Colgate kids come back with their moneyed parents. Loren Wildenstein, my big, beefy, handsome, hired man is coming on Sunday to help me get the boys seperated from the flock. I only have Othello (PB Merino) and Wooster (PB BFL) with the sheep but there are a few angora goat boys who have to come out. Janet Ambrose eats her goats but I can't do that. I'm not a big meat eater as it is, and the thought of any kind of exotic meat is, well, unsettling...and I see their little faces looking at me... I can't keep them all over the winter this year and I'm cutting down on the flock. Many are getting very old for sheep and will live out their years here as long as I can keep them comfortable. Fewer lambs every year will help. I have many shepherd friends who are still big producers and I will always be knee deep in wool. Speaking of wool, if I don't get to sorting, washing and dyeing I will be in big trouble when shows start - and they are starting soon. Better get to it.

It's A Tough Job...

He always was a Babe Magnet! My son, Eric, (Hannah and Luke's father) has been recruiting the San Francisco 49er's football team to support the Boy Scouts in the Bay Area. Here he is with his new friends.