Last week our temperatures were single digit and we had several inches of snow. The area school kids enjoyed a week of sledding and playing in snow. This week our temperatures have neared 70 most days and a tremendous number of my friends and coworkers are battling either the flu or raging sinusitis.
I feel fortunate: I feel well and am gathering my trays, seeds and supplies to get my garden seeds started. When I have seeds sprouting, I truly feel spring is near. But still, I wish my friends felt better.
On the farm our numbers are growing. Our sow, Mary Lou, gave us new piglets. Several of our sheep have given us lambs and we're hatching out chicks almost every day. All of our farm family are thriving and so are we!
Friday, February 18, 2011
Wednesday, February 9, 2011
Snowy 2011
Today is our third snow day in a row and I'm loving it. My son is 12 and his friends are coming and going, leaving their footpuddles everywhere.
My laundry and housework have me busy, but my attention is on the huge batts I received back from Fantasy Fibers. I had sent them about 30 lbs of wool, mohair and alpaca from my farm back in September of 2010. I received it back from them a week or two ago, but just got around to opening it today. There is still plenty of VM in it, but it's 1000% better than when I sent it! My animals aren't coated, and when my son puts out hay for them he usually just tosses it down from the hay loft (onto their backs). Fortunately for me, I like to comb my wool and this gets out most of it. The fiber I sent off was some that I didn't have time to work myself; plus I wanted to see how "processed batts" looked! What I don't sell I will spin for my own uses. I'm hoping to learn to warp (and weave) my large AVL loom soon, and want to use lots of my handspun for weaving. I'm working on a lovely merino now that is spinning like it wants to be socks. We'll see once it's washed and whacked!
Things have been super-busy on our farm. I've thought of a thousand posts for my blog, but haven't taken the time to put them here. I want to blog my farmlife this year. I feel validated when I read about my own daily tasks and accomplishments. Odd, huh? It feels odd, but still comforts me.
We have a small litter of piglets out in the barn. They are 9 days old and very lively. We also have several lambs running around and several more due. Our chickens are beginning to lay a little more reliably, so we're gathering eggs to sell, as well as keeping a few to incubate. I'll keep my blog updated as new additions arrive!
Happy Snow Days to all!
My laundry and housework have me busy, but my attention is on the huge batts I received back from Fantasy Fibers. I had sent them about 30 lbs of wool, mohair and alpaca from my farm back in September of 2010. I received it back from them a week or two ago, but just got around to opening it today. There is still plenty of VM in it, but it's 1000% better than when I sent it! My animals aren't coated, and when my son puts out hay for them he usually just tosses it down from the hay loft (onto their backs). Fortunately for me, I like to comb my wool and this gets out most of it. The fiber I sent off was some that I didn't have time to work myself; plus I wanted to see how "processed batts" looked! What I don't sell I will spin for my own uses. I'm hoping to learn to warp (and weave) my large AVL loom soon, and want to use lots of my handspun for weaving. I'm working on a lovely merino now that is spinning like it wants to be socks. We'll see once it's washed and whacked!
Things have been super-busy on our farm. I've thought of a thousand posts for my blog, but haven't taken the time to put them here. I want to blog my farmlife this year. I feel validated when I read about my own daily tasks and accomplishments. Odd, huh? It feels odd, but still comforts me.
We have a small litter of piglets out in the barn. They are 9 days old and very lively. We also have several lambs running around and several more due. Our chickens are beginning to lay a little more reliably, so we're gathering eggs to sell, as well as keeping a few to incubate. I'll keep my blog updated as new additions arrive!
Happy Snow Days to all!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)