Tie Dyed

My school held an anti-bullying assembly last week.  The principal wanted all the tee-shirts decorated in some fashion.  We happened to have a box of Jacquard fabric dyes in the art closet.  It was meant to be.  Fawn and I got to work preparing buckets of dyes and the kids had a ball.  Other staff members joined in and teachers brought their students in to dye their shirts.  It was a lot of work as the shirts had to be heat set in the dryer, washed, then dryed again.  We had a ball and made a good showing at the school wide No Bullies assembly.

Cooper

One of Tanner's puppies was returned to the farm.  He is Cooper.  No doubt that Thor is his daddy.  Cooper is ten months old but acts like a ten week old puppy.  He is lovable and largely untrained.  His story is a sad one, but a happy new life began when his current owner did the right thing and brought him back to me on the farm where he will live happily ever after.

Stylin'

Sometimes a busy teacher just has to put her feet up.  With my new Sock Lady Spins hand knit socks I can put my feet up in style.  I've collected quite a few pairs of Lynne's beauties.  These mid-weight socks are perfect to wear to work with my clogs, or with my barn boots.  They wear like iron and last forever, making me think I should put them in my will.  Lynne has quite a following.  As long as the grizzly bears keep her inside I know she will keep turning out these gorgeous socks.

Rosy Glow

Thankful for my winter Saturdays.  It's gorgeous out there, with the pink glow of dawn illuminating the sky behind the piney ridge.  The waning gibbous moon was hanging in the opposite sky and the fresh blanket of snow was powder under my feet.  May first means the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival and the start of the Hamilton Farmer's Market season.  There will be no lingering on the farm in jammies and cuddling with doggies on the sofa.  I will be so "out there."  I'm worried about getting it all ready, wool/yarn, etc. but there's no use complaining.  Everyone knows that the maniacal Maggie will kick in get it done.  The real Maggie would rather knit on the sofa, or sit in the hay mow and keep my sheep company.   Still hoping to hang a hammock up there.   One of these years I'm going to pull back a couple of clicks, but not yet.  I'm still  in love with my sheep and dedicated to using only natural fibers raised on my farm, with only hand spun yarn at my booth, no matter how that sly Kimmie Cornerstone tries to slip machine spun skeins in the basket.   I'm wishing my "work room" would be finished, so I would have a decent place to do my thing,  but it's going very slowly.  Matt is overwhelmed at work, writing weatherization teaching curriculum, and has been sick for a week.  I flashed back to when I was sitting in the haunted hay mow at a sewing machine in the middle of the giant room.  I had a bare light bulb lamp standing next to the machine for light, with a wall of blackness all around me.  It was very spooky and I kept my eyes on the needle.  As long as the machine was running I wasn't looking over my shoulder.   I had landed here in August and Rhinebeck was in October.  The bags had to get done.   Matt was working in New Jersey and  I was living in the little trailer and the dogs were fast asleep inside it.   Was that really me?  Yikes.  Those were tough times.   Matt did get my washer/dryer unit installed, making it much easier to wash clothes and leaving the milk room washer dedicated to wool.  The wool washer is still flooding the milk room despite new plumbing going to the outside, requiring sweeping out of the water because the floor drain has been clogged for years,  probably due to a pipe collapse.  There's always something.  I have a collection of beautiful fabrics and hope to make a nice collection of Bundaflicka totes for Maryland.   I took a sewing machine to a new repair guy in Norwich.  Let's hope he's good.  Without a good working machine I'm like a cowboy without a horse.  

Wild Weather

Drove home in heavy warmish rain yesterday.  Forked down hay from the mow with a wild wind beating the sides of the barn and whistling through the slats.  Very dramatic and I love it.  There is no snow on the farm now, and it seems so weird.  Mud season is back, but not for long with a cold front moving in.  We need snow on the farm.  Snow is the "poor man's fertilizer."  It blankets the ground and helps to melt all the black gold dropped by the sheep over the past spring, summer and fall.  Oh, if only I had managed to get the barn emptied and spread on the fields this fall.  Another thing on the list of things that didn't get done.  Maybe next year.  Around here folks spread whey on their fields from the Chobani yogurt factory down the road.  Whey is a by-product of cheese and yogurt making.  Think I'll give that a try.  Still have to get the poop out of the barn.  The sheep are fat and happy on the hay that I fork down the holes in great big folds off the round bales.  Only have enough to last to the end of March, then I'll have to find some around here.  Better get it in gear and hit the road - day two of tie-dyeing.  What a festival that was yesterday, and what a wonderful mess.  Fawn and I were hopping around like rabbits all day.  We're having a anti-bullying assembly on Friday and the principal wanted our tee-shirts decorated somehow.  We definitely took care of that request in a big way, with other teachers bringing their classes' shirts in to "please dye these," and staff/students stopping in to join the fun.  Smells like team spirit to me.

Blessed

Feeling very fortunate tonight that my Lilly is not only still with me, but is pushing through the others to get to the hay.  I brought apples out for her mother, who, incredibly, is still able to crunch on them. She's a withered old lady and apples make her light up like a Christmas tree.  Lilly also loves apples and got fat on them two years ago when my hundred year old apple orchard came to life and gave us a boxcar load of them.   Last night Lilly barely rubbed her lips on the apple she dearly loves.  Her eyes were glazed over and bits of foam were around her mouth.  I gave her 8 cc of LA200, a cc of Ivomec, and half a small bottle of Nutri Drench.  Tonight she is pushing through the others to get her apple snack, and is belly up to the hay rack, happily munching away.  As I watched her eat, overwhelmed with gratitude to the Great Shepherd in the sky, I was running numbers through my head.  Six years here, four years in Pennsylvania (may that God forsaken state that Matt Redmond brought me to live in sink into the bowels of the earth I hate it so much and drive through it as quickly as possible on my way to the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival), then two years into the four years in western New Jersey where Lilly was born on Easter Sunday, hence the name Lilly, to her mother, Harmony, purchased from Lisa of Summerhill Farm.  Lilly is twelve years old!  I am way too attached to her, as I am/was to my first sheep.  There is safety in numbers to be sure.  Sheep only live 8-10 years, they say, but I've been lucky with many.  Unlucky with some.  The important thing is that Lilly, with her special personality and oh, so affectionate nature, is still with me, and happy, tonight. 

Perking Up

Spent some time in the back of the barn emptying the big water trough I use as a hay feeder.  The goats like to use it for a bed, which beats down the hay.  I fork down fresh hay, which the sheep eat, then the goats get on it and beat more down.  Every couple of days I scoop it out to the bottom and start over.  The sheep anticipate this routine and wait for the all the little leaves and sticks which have been cooked by the sleeping goats.  I mound it in piles around the floor and they gather around them munching away.  Tonight I'll fill the trough again.  I was very worried about my precious Lilly last night.  She's terribly thin and I brought home some apples for her and her very aged mother, who is incredibly spry for her advanced age of 14, or more.   I noticed to my horror that Lilly was coughing a little, and only took a token nip at the apple, letting the stronger sheep push her away.   With being a bit down for the count myself I was getting through chores as quickly as I could to get back in the warmth.  It's important to spend time with my sheep to notice the little things.   I caught her with the leg crook and gave her a shot of LA200 with a good dose of NutriDrench.  I was almost afraid to go out there this morning, but had to check on her.  She was in the way back and made her characteristic dart forward when she saw me coming.  I saw her eating hay - always a good sign - and feel much better.  Will give her another shot tonight.  I bet it was pneumonia, which she had several years ago.  My barn is open and gets enough fresh air, but this severe cold is hard on everyone.  Little Duvall wouldn't take his bottle this morning and has a bit of scours.  Offered it to him a little while ago and he took a few sucks but stopped.  Something is going on with him.  I recently vaccinated and wormed him.  Something is going on.  He's a runty fall born twin to Robert.  I do like the little guy, and his brother is very handsome.  Back out to the barn.  I made a delicious pot of mushroom and beans over rice for a late lunch.  Heated up the apartment nicely.  Tried to run a wash in the milk room but the drain was frozen and it flooded.  Have to remember to check the drain first.  Am very much hoping my  new washer with a better drain will be operational tomorrow.  One can only hope.

Free Time (Not!)

So wonderful to be feeling better and back to normal.  I woke up at 4 to stoke the stove and knitted for a while.  I have a hat going for Hannah and am happy to be knitting again.  It is so wonderfully absorbing and restorative.  When the doggies kept sleeping I thought I would get some more shut eye myself and woke up at 8:30 - positively scandalous for me.  Off to the Louis Gale Feed Mill for my weekly haul and visited with Theresa, the office manager for a while.  It's still cold, but sunny and bright.  A woman ran off the snowy Beaver Creek Road and ended up on her side in a deep culvert.   Matt and another man pulled her up out of her car.  When I went by they were waiting for a tow.  Second time Matt pulled an old lady out of her turned over car in a year.  He's trying to fix my kitchen faucet right now, plugged up by debris when the pipes froze. If only I had thought of turning on my dye oven in the milk room before I went to work on the coldest day last week.   I'm doing dishes in the little bathroom sink again.  I shudder to think what I would have to pay a plumber, in addition to all the cleaning I would have to do before I could let any repair man in here.  With all the livestock and wool washing I do, water is a very valuable commodity around here.  I am blessed with springs and ponds all over my land, but getting it to work inside the barn where everybody needs it is problematic.  I am so far behind on my wool prep for Maryland Sheep and Wool I can hardly think about it.  It will be shearing time in a few weeks - you won't fine ME shearing in frigid cold, thank you very much - and I will hardly have touched last year's.  I better get my mojo back pretty quick or I will be in deep doo-doo, or even deeper doo-doo than I usually am.  NY State requires me to make at least $10,000 to be a farm.  New Jersey only requires $500.  Go figure!  I have to hustle to do it.  I have a turquoise Merino run ready to be sent to the carding mill to be made into a felting batt.  I have a vision of peacock feathers on turquoise....For now it's raking and tending to critters in the barn, which seriously cuts into creative time, but sheep is what it's all about.  My cattle panel hay feeders are falling apart and must be taken down.  They are more of a liability now than an asset and can seriously injure my animals. Loren was a no-show this morning.  Hope he didn't fall through the ice when he was fishing on Hunt's Pond.  I'll be splitting, toting and stacking firewood myself if he did.  Luckily my sprained ankle is healed enough to get my foot into my rubber boot.  Couldn't manage it until yesterday.  It's the little things...

Knitters

I don't often get to knit with people as I am very busy raising my own yarn.  I was delighted to see a sofa full of knitters at the Mid Winter Party we attended in Pompey last weekend.  Dale and Stephanie Sherman-Cross invited us to their annual feast with musicians and bonfire.  The city knitters reacted a bit strangely when I told them I had a sheep farm and they really couldn't imagine raising their own fiber bearing animals.  I would bet money their yarn was acrylic and they think fleece is something that comes from LL Bean and has a zipper.   That's okay - I'm well aware of how unusual and wonderful what I do is.  they were very nice people and we had a lovely evening.  The second woman on the left of the lower picture is the Madison County Medical Examiner.  If you meet with sudden death you will likely be examined by this lovely lady.
Perish the thought...

A Care Package

A surprise package arrived at the post office the other day.  Kimmie Cornerstone packed up this box of goodies for me.  It arrived just in time when cold viruses were doing their damage and the pipes were freezing.   The hand spun, hand knitted bunny wool hats will be forwarded to the kiddies in Maine, but the fabulous Multatelli coffee and chocolates will stay on the farm.

A Valentine

I love Valentine's Day and the heart motif.  We've been doing some lovely things in art class in honor of the day that's all about love.

Nice Surprises

I love watching my students paint and draw.  I try to inspire them with images and ideas, but once in a while one of them pops up with something so lovely, and totally unsolicited by me.   The young man who created this chalk drawing calls it "The Sweetheart Tree."  He is not my student, but he is sweet on a little girl in one of my classes.
 

Progress...

Matt is fixing the plumbing on my new work room.  I'll have a sink for soapmaking and a washing machine that I won't have to share with my grease fleeces.  Not that washing wool in the same machine as my clothes was a problem.  I never could see that my clothes were harmed in any way, or that I smelled like sheep when I went to work.  Not that anyone would notice, or mind, as they've accepted me the way I am (or I like to think) which is kind of "out there."

Valentine Graffiti

With Valentine's Day approaching I asked my students to paint their feelings about love on a giant piece of cardboard.  I love the way it turned out.  This Valentine graffiti will be mounted in the hallway of our wing as a testament to love.

Blowing Off Steam

What do weary weatherization workers do to de-stress?   They play African drums with musician friends at winter parties.  We gathered at Dale and Stephanie Sherman-Cross's home last weekend to feast, knit and play music.  It was great fun and just what we needed in this very cold month of January.

Paper Quilt

My art classes have been working on a collaborative project - a paper quilt.  It was a great success, with guest artists like counselors and teacher aides along with students who are not in my program stopping in to draw and color a block.

Still Cold

I don't know what else I expected when I opened the door to let the dogs out.  Yep, it's still real cold out there.  The birds knocked down my thermometer, but I think it's a little warmer than yesterday.  More like five below instead of fifteen.  Yikes, if anyone had told me I would be living in a place as cold as this I would have laughed in their faces.  The coldest I consciously remember it getting in New Jersey is 4 F, when Mia and AJ were babies.  I kept them home from Temple B'Nai Or Nursery School that day.  Now they are big and strong and skiiing in temps colder than that.  Their birthday is coming up soon.  Have to think of some special gifts.  I know - I'll knit them ear flapper hats like Luke's.  That ought to keep their blonde heads and chubby cheeks nice and warm.

AAAAATCHOOOO!

Illness on the part of a farmer is not a good thing.  So many lives depending on the health of the caregiver.  It's an awesome responsibility.   Now my Junk Yard Dog is down for the count.  When a heavy smoker gets a bad cold it's double trouble.  He was in worse shape than me last night so I left him on the sofa and went out to do chores.  Every foot step was heavy.  I did alright it just took me longer.  It's very, very cold here.  Minus 15 last night.  The upper hay mow is the coldest.  Funny to see the kitties romp and play on the big round bales while I fork down the hay.  Cold makes the sheep hungrier and they need more hay.  I comply with their appetitites.  Hay combusts inside them and helps keep them warm - more so than grain.  The water situation is the most difficult.  I know the sheep are eating snow because when I put the fresh water out they don't run over to it.  The goats need fresh water but I'm not seeing them drink much either.  They must be eating snow, too - unusual for goats - but it's too cold to snow much.  I would love to have a water tank with a floater but keeping it clean is almost impossible with chickens roosting on top of it and ducks jumping in it.   This arctic blast is supposed to subside tomorrow night.  We'll see.  We've survived worse.  Thank the stars I didn't shear my goats, and I'm not having lambs.  Goats - well, I'm not sure.  I did have a little buck escape from the back pen.  Pray nothing is happening soon.  It would surely freeze.  I sneak a handful of udder every chance I get to check for swelling.  School was okay this week.  I was blessed with a good project for the reduced classes due to Regents testing.  We're making a paper quilt with squares to be glued to a giant piece of cardboard.  The students draw curves with a protractor and draw lively colored designs.  Sharon, our Special Ed. Secretary and Captain of the Mother Ship, surprised us with a shopping bag FULL of beautiful rubber stamps and stamp pads.  We've been having a ball with them all week, dressing up our quilt squares.  There's something about rubber stamps that kids and grown ups love.  These stamps were designed for greeting cards and there are many cutesy messages and sayings.  I was going to call in sick today, a rarity for me, but the internet was down in Brookfield due to the cold, and I couldn't log on to sub-finder.  So I bundled up and fired up the little Saturn who whined and groaned for mercy in the bitter cold.  Glad I went in anyway as there was a question about the grades I put in.  It seems the grades I gave my new art students are much higher than the previous teacher.  Not surprised.  They are doing good things for me.   Luke received the orange ear flapper hat I knitted for him.  I found a partially started knitted hand bag and changed it into a hat with generous cheek flaps to keep his face warm.  He has a big Swedish head, just like his Omi.  It even turns corners at the top like mine.  What a cutie.

Drip is Good But Not From My Nose

Except for the fact that my kids were the best they could be you can keep yesterday.  My $600 Chevy Blazer, now up to a $3,000 Chevy Blazer, is broken down in the shop with a ridiculously high bill.  I mean like a whole pay period bill.   Spouse has never met a Lost Cause Used Car he didn't like.   In order for spouse to get to work and me to school we had to leave the house at 6 am to drive to the boss's house in Utica, a half hour plus in the wrong direction, with a hefty load of ice and snow on the roads.   That fiasco required rising at 4 something to get farm and myself ready to leave.   Thankfully I had my brand new-to-me heavy wool trousers, purchased over the weekend at the fabulous Key in Cazenovia - the Episcopal Church sponsored thrift shop that has replaced the Bargain Box in Morristown which I love so dearly and never have a chance to go to.  It's only four hours away, so what's the big deal?  I love a pair of wool trousers - lined - in the intense cold.  Combined with turtleneck, Md. Sheep and Wool fleece vest, wool blazer and wool duffle coat, along with SockLadySpins hand knit socks, Kimmi Cornerstone knitted cap (everything is personal with me) I was ready to face the dark, cold and ice, then later, students and administration.  After driving almost two hours I reached school.  Scratchy throat is evolving into head cold.  I knew all those kids spewing mucous all over my room for a week would surely result in something ugly and it did.  I feel awful, but let's go back.  I worried all day about the farm, the electric - as we were pulling away I yelled the barn lights are on! but spouse wouldn't turn back - and the water.  Ran out of school to get to the PO, the gas station, and Dollar General to get the cheapest Friskies Mariner's Pate in the area.  My fears were well-founded.  Ten more miles and I'm at the farm.  After greeting doggies the first thing I do is build the fire.   As I turned on the faucet to make coffee I got a tiny drip.  Oh, NOOOOO - frozen pipes.  Dirty water came out.  What could that be?  Went out to the milk room where all the plumbing starts - frozen up like an ice cube.  I turned on my dye oven - the only heater I have out there and a good one.   Put what little unfrozen water I had in the tubs in the big dye pots and turn them on high to boil.  Anything to get heat in the room and start the pipes thawing.  Our water runs from the milk room through wrapped pecks tube through the barn into the apartment.  The kitties like to scratch off the insulation (!!) to make a cozy spot to perch.  Perhaps that was it.  All I could do was tell the sheep I would have some water for them soon - I hope.  There is some snow on the ground, and sheep do eat snow, but my sheep are used to water and plenty of it.  I retreated inside to lie down and keep a paper towel under my runny nose.   Matt came home, changed clothes and ate his hearty meal of yellow rice, beans, cheddar cheese, pears and spring greens washed down with hot cappucino.  Belly full he ventured out with tools and melting devices to get my water back.  I swallowed some Ibuprofen for my pounding head and went out to chores.   Will buy some cold pills on the way to work.  Grades are due, progress reports are due, I have to go to work.  Besides, I'm saving my days for sick sheep and snow.  I might have to give in if this cold gets worse, but, for now, it's into the breach!

Baby Shower

Another reason why I love the people I work with...  I've been to two baby showers in the last month - both for guys on our staff who had and are having babies.   I'm blessed with gifts ready to go in the form of soap and hand creme.  For TJ Potter I wanted to make something special.  TJ and I have been through many trials by fire, in Special Ed. GED, and, more recently, the four months with some very challenging middle school students in a self-contained classroom last spring.  I fondly refer to TJ as "my muscle," but he is more like a priest with the patience of a saint.  I set to work on a fabulous baby Bundaflicka tote Thursday night, only to find my favorite machine, my big old Singer, is not feeling well.  She is skipping stitches and behaving in an unruly manner.  Lots of oil and TLC, but still not working right.  What to do with the shower the next day.  I had hauled two machines into school for my studio art students.  I only had one old White in the corner of the apartment, piled high with boxes, bags and piles of "stuff."  After chores I unearthed the old White and fired her up.  Lucky for me she was able to sew through the many layers of chenille lining and tapestry chenille outer fabric to get the baby bag done.  With Matt calling across the apartment GO TO BED!! every five minutes, I stopped at 11 PM and got up at 5 to finish the tote.  Even so I had to do more in school.  Luckily I had the perfect button in my stash box - a lovely reddish pink heart for the expected baby girl.  I was very proud to place the beautiful bag on the gift table when we gathered for the shower.  TJ waited to open it last, then was able to put many of the gifts inside the tote to carry them home.