The Coffman Spinning C Fiber Farm

Fighting a cold, staying in and playing in my studio

2012-01-22T10:43:00.001-06:00

I am a school nurse so I am exposed to many germs daily. I take a big dose of Vitamin E and D during the cold and flu season....but...I came down with a bad cold a few days ago. I have been taking cold meds, staying home, getting lots of rest, trying to sleep but this terrible old cold hangs on. I have found comfort in playing in the wool upstairs in my studio. I am still carding and spinning Mini's wool. I am blending alpaca in with Mini's wool to make a butter soft fiber to spin.

But I can dream or wish:

Wish I could be in Nebraska playing outside with Lexi, my one and only granddaughter. She is so beautiful inside and outside. She is going to be having another birthday in just a couple of months.

Or I could be in Michigan with this playboy.

But I have this cold so I will card wool.

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Danny took a large mother-of-all from some spinning wheel parts and has made me an electric spinner. I am spinning some of John's wool blended with other courser wool to make yarn to weave into a rug. (I use every fiber of my sheep's wool). I will get you some pictures soon.

The Last Week of 2011

2011-12-29T23:05:00.000-06:00

The week between Christmas and New Year's Day is a time to reflect about the old year and what we would like to change in the New Year. It is a sad time for me every year, I can't really explain the hollow and lonesome feelings that I feel to the core of my being each year. I know I shouldn't feel that way, after all, didn't we just celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ? I think I feel a weakness of my human side. I relish in the delighful moments of love shared with special people and the saddness of the challenges, heartaches, losses and disappointments. And I get so wrapped up in the holiday hub-bub, the dinners, too much food, shopping and material things, and not enough time nor money to give to all that need either. Also the realization of how fast time passes. Wasn't it just yesterday that I was compiling my resolutions for 2011? What happened to all the self-improvements that I was determined to make? Time flies for me and when I read the Bible and read that a millennium is a day to the Lord, I want to see the bigger picture as God sees it. I want to stop fretting over the momentary things and invest my life in things that really matter...relationships, worship, and using the gifts that God has given me to return His love and glory to Him. Life is too short to trudge along in daily dread, I pray that God will give me the wisdom and the foresight to live each day for eternity with Him.
I said that I was not going to make new resolutions this year but I have changed my mind. I want to live each day, one day at a time, to its fullest, going full tilt, using every gift God has given to me to share and help others.

Thank you, Lord, for your care and guidance, day by day, your goodness and mercy have followed me and I am blessed.

Do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will bring worries of its own. Today's trouble is enough for today. Matthew 6:34

Evan's and Brandon's tiny feet this year of 2011

Enjoying the Day after Christmas with the Spinning C flock

2011-12-27T08:43:00.000-06:00

Written December 26, 2011. I felt the need to walk off a few of the calories consumed yesterday. The temp is in the low 40s and it is a bit cloudy with chances of rain...perfect walking weather. I turned the rams out so the whole flock could run together today. Did I tell you all that I now have 19 sheep? I miss my girls but I know they have a very good home and will be very happy. Just 3 months ago I had over a hundred sheep running these pastures and today just 19. The flock appears calm and happy and I have less to do now. I can concentrate on the fiber they produce. In fact, I plan to spin and watch football this evening and start a new pair of socks tomorrow and I also plan to play upstairs in my studio.

The Spinning C flock came to meet me and of course Mini is in the lead. I love to visit with them and put my fingers in their wool and dream about future fiber projects. Lady and Sadie are happy to see me too.

White Knight is getting older, I hope I get another year of lambs from him. I would really like to find a couple of pruebred Border Leicester ewes to breed him to next year so that I can have his beautiful fiber around for years to come.

Look at Teddy's coat...he is such a beautiful fiber pet. Sammy looks so small beside of Teddy. I have never spun Cheviot wool but I hear it is good to mix in with other wool...I will be able to tell you after shearing time this coming Spring. I enjoy Sammy, he circles me and has so many cute ways. His face is so cute! I am also looking for a couple of registered Cheviot ewes to mate with Sammy next year. If you know of someone please have them contact me.

Look at this girl, she is a BL/Shetland mule. She is a special pet and fiber supply.

Gerty is always in my pictures. This ewe is very special, she is a sweet pet and she also has the most beautiful wool. It has luster, a silky handle, and just elegant spun up. She has a twin sister, Birdie that has a darker shade of wool. They are out of Bonnie, a Oxford Ewe and White Knight. I would not mind having a whole flock of these ewes.

Don't let them fool you...they have hay at the barn but seem to be very content nipping at the short stuff .

Macy Sue thinks she has to go with me to take care of the sheep...she is so funny running around with the big white girls.

The three moorit shetland ewes that I kept. Isabel, Tizzy and Cinnamon. Tizzy and Cinnamon are up in years and Isabel is my very favorite ewe.

Sadie and Lady taking care of their flock. Since they don't have as many ewes, I see them being more protective of their flock.
If anyone with BL, BFL, or Cheviot ewes would contact me if you have any to sell, I am just wanting to buy a couple of really nice ewes in each of the breeds.

Christmas 2011

2011-12-26T15:51:00.001-06:00

My oldest son, Ryan, is a very talented, detailed oriented, knife maker, trapper, hunter, mechanic, and whatever else he sets his mind to. When he handed me a gift bag yesterday, I was so in hope that I was getting one of the beautiful knives that he makes. And I was not disappointed.

Pictures can not capture the beauty of my new knife.

Ryan and his family joined Danny and I for our Christmas dinner at noon yesterday and then we went over to my mother's for soup last night. Talk about feeling stuffed.

I tried to get some pictures. But with this bunch, it is difficult at times.

My mother, Lizzy, with her great grandson, Wyatt.

Wyatt, my grandson, and myself.

Wyatt with his mother, Mandy...we have a terrible time getting Wyatt to pose for pictures.

I finally get Wyatt to behave and sit for the picture and then mother decides to jump in .

Still trying to get a good picture...Wyatt!

We continue trying to get a good picture of Ryan's family...this is not easy...Wyatt!

Wyatt, Mandy, and Ryan

Flexing...look at those muscles

My Macy Sue with my little brother, Phil.

Trying to get a picture of Phil's family and this is what I get... Phil and Lacey lays a big kiss on Lynn.

Mother can't believe these onery kids.

I can't even get my mother to behave herself so I can get some family pictures.

We had a fun time, I feel very blessed to have such a wonderful family.
My daughters and their families couldn't be here for Christmas this year but I received pictures and talked to both on the phone.

One Day to Christmas in 2011

2011-12-23T21:03:00.002-06:00

Are you working on that last minute Christmas gift?

For years I would be up most of the night, finishing my wrapping on a just finished gift just before we walked out the door to go to a family Christmas gathering. But this year, I am trying to recover from an upper respiratory infection and concentrating on just being healthy for the holidays. I feel better than I did 2 weeks ago and definitely don't want to go backwards so I am resting, eating healthy, trying to avoid stress and taking the doctor's advise and having a hot mulled wine each evening before bed.

1/2 cup per serving of wine heating with 1 stick of cinnamon and a few cloves, put the lid on the pan and let the flavors mingle. Drink while warm just before bedtime...then relax and sleep a good 8 hours.

Listen to Soft and sweet Christmas music playing.

Hot tea and fresh baked pumkin cookies at tea time in the afternoon.

Worshiping God, studying the Bible, and reading the story of Jesus.

I want to be relaxed like John.

Sit quietly in the cool crisp air and Pet my sweet fiber pet, Isabel.

Watch Gerty eating hay

Admire the sweet and innocent Minnie

Watch old Mr. Gray pet his sheep.

Bible verse for today in my daily worship book.

I hope you can slow down and cherish this special season....or do you feel like Tizzy looks?

2011-12-21T09:08:00.003-06:00

A sweet friend sent this Christmas card to me in an email and I thought it was just beautiful, I hope you will enjoy it too!
I pray that you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

I promised to share a couple of recipes for cranberry salad....these actually came from Colleen, a neighbor and friend that so graciously shared these recipes at a church Christmas dinner. It is delicious...Colleen gave me permission to share these with you.

First Recipe email from Colleen Liebhart(wonderful story with this recipe)

The following is the old family recipe I told you about at church. I have a call in to a lady (Mary Carol's Aunt Kathy) to check on her similar recipe that I have had that was so good that is close to the recipe I used for the church dinner. I will send it later.

Family Heritage Cranberry Salad (aka: Mom's Cranberry Salad!)

3 small boxes lemon jello (I used 2 orange and 1 cranberry jello the last time I made it)

1/2 cup sugar

3 cups hot water - 2 cups cold water (5 total cups)

2 oranges, ground whole

1 pkg whole uncooked ground cranberries (3 cups approx)

2 cups finely chopped celery

1 cup chopped pecans

Dissolve Jello and sugar in hot water and let cool. Add cold water and then add the rest of the ingredients. Add chopped and ground ingredients

Note: As the cranberries are picked earlier and I think possibly less red than they were in the 60's..I think the cranberry flavor does not come through as well. This salad seems to get less "red" as the years progressed as to why I would consider a different jello flavor. I prefer the other jello flavors but all is good. Other jello flavors may not require the extra sugar. For example raspberry seems to be much sweeter than lemon. I have used cran/raspberry jello as well as at least one of the boxes. This recipe does not contain cinnamon but it could be added. I use a food processor but the old grinder does a better job and more like my mom's. Mom would grind the orange and cranberry ahead of time and refrigerate a day or two ahead.

I called my sister today and had a visit about the cranberry salad. Thanks for making me think more about this recipe today. She says this recipe is from the 50's and maybe the 40's. It was and still is an important dish at the family holiday table that my sister still provides. When I made it one Thanksgiving with the food processor and changed the jello flavors...I lost the responsibility to make the salad! I still make the Red Velvet Cake with the orginal frosting at every Christmas Dinner even though I take a short cut on the cake..but never change the orginal butter, flour and granulated sugar frosting!

Colleen's 2nd email to me...Cranberry Salad number 2

Here is a delicious recipe from Mary Carol's family which was originally received from Ester Turner in case your husband would know who that might be. I like this one a bit better than my mothers and I think the difference is the pineapple. I forgot to mention that the first salad would fit into a 9x 13 glass dish. The following recipe is much smaller in quantity. I don't usually go overboard when sharing recipes, but this has been a current interest for me at this time but I am a person that enjoys reading cookbooks like others read books.

Cranberry Salad from Mary Liebhart/Ester Turner New Boston

1 orange (not rind)

1 quart cranberries

1 cup sugar

Grind orange and cranberries and mix in sugar and let stand overnight.

1 small pkg of orange jello dissolved in 1 cup hot water

1 cup chopped celery

1/2 cup nuts

1 small can pineapple, drained

Mix jello and let stand but not set. Mix celery, nuts, pineapple, and cranberry mixture into jello

Refrigerate

This is the recipe that I prepared for the past Sunday which is also a good and easier version when you don't have time to grind the fruit. Note: My salad was a bit soft and I used a partial large can and either got too much pineapple and juice or too much orange juice. You might evaluate this and measure the pineapple juice that drained and the amount of orange juice drained to watch the proportions. I don't know if you really need the extra sugar with the raspberry jello. Enjoy the recipes!

This is the 3rd recipe (Colleen brought this salad to the church dinner and it was delicious.)

Cranberry Salad

2 - 3 oz pkgs raspberry jello

2 Tbsp sugar

1 cup boiling water

15 1/2oz crushed pineapple, do not drain

16 oz can whole cranberry sauce

rind of one orange, grated fine

1/4 cup chopped pecans

Dissolve jello and sugar in boiling water. Add pineapple, cranberry sauce, and orange rind. After grating rind, squeeze a handful of juice from the orange into the mixture. Add pecans and refrigerate.

I hope you enjoy these wonderful cranberry salads from a talented and interesting friend, Colleen. ENJOY!

I sold 27 ewes yesterday to a new good home. I have written on my blog a couple of times that I needed to downsize my flock and I have been in prayer about this. God blessed me with the flock but I am only the shepard. I have always prayed for God to guide me and direct me in all my comings and goings with this flock and fiber. Over the years I have been developing a breeding program to produce wonderful fiber for spinning and felting. I feel like I have had much success over the years but my flock was getting too large and I just could not spend time with my honey and my family, go to work, take care of sheep and cows, process the wool and sell it and have time to work with all the fiber in my studio.

So God sent a nice family that just purchased a farm in this area and they want to have a large flock of sheep and maybe get into the fiber business too. I have already started praying for them and I have been talking to God and I pray that my ewes will bless them over and over again.

I kept 14 of my pet ewes so I will still have fiber: Mini, Gerty, Birdy and her baby , Baby Bonnie, Tizzy, Isabel, Big Bertha, Liam, Sam, White Knight, Teddy, John and and a couple of the older girls that won't be reproducing anymore.
When Jason and Nolle get ready to share their fiber, I will share information with all my sweet fiber customers.

EIGHT DAYS TILL CHRISTMAS

2011-12-17T19:01:00.000-06:00

Proverbs 3:5-6 Trust in the LORD with all thine heart; and lean not unto thine own understanding. In all thy ways acknowledge him, and he shall direct thy paths.

Decorating for Christmas

2011-12-11T21:22:00.002-06:00

After church and the church dinner I came home today and rearranged our dining room so that I could put up our Christmas tree. I had almost decided that I would not put up a tree this year since our children and grandchildren will not be here this Christmas but I realized that Christmas is a very special holiday for me. It is a time to celebrate the birth of our Jesus Christ, Lord and Saviour. No, a tree is not what Christmas is all about but I enjoy the beautiful white angel that sits on the top of our tree, the nativity set that is under the tree and the beautiful blinking soft lights that I sit and watch in a candlelite room while listening to Silent Night and sipping on a cup of hot tea and nibbling on a freshly baked warm snickerdoodle cookie

I wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I pray that you will be blessed with the joy and peace and love of the season.

I take my Jim Shore Angels out of the cabinets where they are have been displayed behind glass all year since last Christmas.

Soft lights, soft music, hot sweet tea and warm cookies.

One year Danny and I were Christmas shopping and I saw the Prayer and Promises figurines and I started crying. They touched my heart, I have always known our little Amy Anne is an angel. Danny then gave me one of the figurines each year for a couple of years.
These figurines also come out from behind glass to sit on the tables at Christmas each year.

I like to put some of my Christmas village figurines in some of my blue fruit jars with a little snow...

I heard from some of you...wanting to know what kimono pattern...I made a few hats for my daughters as in the previous blog.

Merry Christmas!

Knitting and Felting Hats from Spinning C Fiber

2011-11-27T21:10:00.000-06:00

I was browsing the web looking for a Kimono Wrap pattern and found my new pattern on http://www.glenfiddichwool.com/ I also found a cute cloche hat pattern.
I emailed Glenfiddich and received an email from Barbara in no time. I had my pattern in less than a week.
I then got into my handspun yarn stash, knitted and felted 3 hats in one week.
This hat will go to my youngest daughter, Lisa.

This hat is Angie's. She just got a new gray coat and her husband purchased mittens from a lady that works with him that makes mittens from felted sweaters and lines them with fleece and they were gray too. The lady sells her mittens and the money goes to a charity.
I used gray and black yarn to knit this hat.

This hat was knit from the yarn of my moorit shetland ewe, Tizzy.

My son in law, Wayne gave me the beautiful perfume bottle and my mother gave me the cup and saucer. I receive such pleasure looking at both.

Lisa's hat. I knitted 2 strands of worsted weight yarns from two different sheep. One strand was from Dotty, a Border Liecester/shetland cross ewe and the other from a corriedale cross ewe.

I can knit this hat in one evening and wash and felt it the next evening. I think this is a very cute and warm cloche hat.

Time to get the hats packed up into boxes to go to Nebraska and Michigan.

Out Playing with the Sheep before Winter Sits In

2011-11-13T20:01:00.000-06:00

Liam, my registered Bluefaced Leicester, letting me know that he loves his pen of girls. He has several ewes to breed.

Last weekend we sorted the ewes that we kept and put them in with the rams. We will be very busy lambing in 5 months if our three boys have anything to do with things.

Gerty, one of my favorite ewes. She is out of Bonnie, an Oxford and White Knight, a Border Liecester. Her wool is a dream. I also kept her Spring lamb, Bonnie Baby. I will breed her back to Liam because I really like Bonnie Baby's wool...we will see what next Spring brings.

My boy, Teddy!

White Knight and a few of his girls...and Big John.

Munching down on the hay.

My new Cheviot Ram, Sammy. He is not a year old but I gave him a group of shetland ewes and some of my smaller ladies.

Sammy, the lady does not look happy.

Isn't Sammy cute? He is a very well mannered guy that circles me all of the time.

This is also a little ewe lamb that I kept this year. She is a love bug. Her name is Lovey.

Getting Busy in the Studio

2011-10-30T22:20:00.000-05:00

Life has slowed down some...lambs are growing and many are being sold soon. I am also selling a few of my ewes so that I can get my life slowed down and I can enjoy working with the wool fiber again. I started cleaning upstairs this last week and actually cut out a sheep coat...yes, I am going to put coats on a few of my sheep this winter before we start feeding hay.

This is some of my finds from this summer. The mittens and gloves are very old and I hope to make a pattern so I can make a new pair out of my own wool.

I have tried to establish different work areas in my studio. I am blessed with so many toys.

Mice under construction!

I enjoy knitting with beads. This is my collection of beads for knitting. Eye candy!

I have come across a few knitting containers this summer after Angie made me the beautiful one that she gave me for a gift.

This is my painting and stamping table.
I made a sheep coat for one of the sheep today...10-20 more to go...we will see.
I also plan to make a new sign for the front of the house...The Spinning C Fiber Farm...with a sheep on it and taking cues from the barns in Iowa, I think I will make the background like a big quilt block...probably one that is spinning....

I now have a new Cheviot Ram...Sammy is a cute guy and his girls will be the shetland girls. I will get some pictures soon.

We have chances for rain on Wednesday and the temps dropping. Hopefully we will get a good soaking rain.

Blessed with a Wonderful Family

2011-10-30T21:52:00.001-05:00

Evan and Brandon are busy boys but Nana finally got them caught long enough to get a couple of squeezes.

Brandon, Mr. Excitement! He is going to be 2 years old in November. He has the sweetest expressions. He seems to like having his picture taken. I wish my camera could capture he sweet gestures.

Evan is growing and cutting teeth. He is chattering, loves to give eskimo kisses. I love his big cheesy smiles and my heart melts when he laughs out loud.

Life has been flying by since last March when we started lambing. We feel like we have been going a 100 miles an hour. Well, last week end...with the grandchildren here, things didn't slow down much. How could it with a pre teen granddaughter and 2 grandsons?

I feel so blessed...4 beautiful grandchildren, 3 children and my wonderful son and daughter in laws. Danny and I give praise to God daily for our many blessings.

The girls and families arrived on Wed and Thurs and stayed until Sunday morning and all made it home safe and sound. I plan to rest up this week and after work start cleaning on my upstairs studio and get out the old spinning wheel and spin some wool, maybe start a new pair of socks.

Lazy Spinning C Day

2011-09-11T20:31:00.000-05:00

The temp got up to 84 today, sun shining warm and an easy breeze and I am enjoying walking the pastures and seeing the cows and sheep in the Spinning C pastures. I found several cows in the west pond and the sheep laying in the shade under the trees at the south end of the hay pasture.

Cows getting in the pond.

Socks and lambs don't want to waste eating time to lay in the shade.

Teddy and lamb in the shade, watching me to see if I was going to call the flock in for some grain.

Leicester/Shetland Ewe with her twins. The lambs have really been growing. They are almost as big as their mother.

Dolly's girl and lambs...just keeping track of the lady with the camera.

Danny is rebuilding old Johnnie. He drove this tractor when he was a little boy.

Pears are getting ripe. We have eaten a few and they are so sweet!

Most of the sheep are lying under the trees in the shade for a mild late summer afternoon. 101 sheep are in this pasture at this time.

I am going to decrease my flock. If anyone is interested in replacement ewes, give me a call or email me. Most are 1/2 Leicester or BFL. I also will be selling some shetland ewes.
We had a very good lambing year. We did not lose a lamb at birthing this last spring. I plan to travel more next summer and as I get older...I will be slowing down. I plan to keep 10-15 ewes and John and Teddy. I will also keep White Knight and Liam.
My phone number is 660-689-3073 or email me at rocnbarc@cvalley.net

Visits to Michigan and Nebraska to see the grandchildren

2011-08-28T21:29:00.000-05:00

Our youngest grandson, Evan is growing fast. We made 3 trips to Michigan and 1 trip to Nebraska this summer to visit our daughters and our grandchildren.

bath time!

Brandon is a go getter. He keeps everyone laughing.

Lexi is growing up too. She is now a teenager and a great big sister!

Evan smiling while Papa holds him.

While we were out traveling, Wyatt was competing at the Missouri Show Me Games. He won a gold and a silver in dicus throwing and shot put throwing. He also works at the Trenton Aquatic Center as a life guard and staff during the summer.

We had a fun time seeing the grandchildren. We plan to sell down our flock of sheep and travel even more next summer.

Football season opener with South Shelby Friday night

2011-08-28T21:00:00.001-05:00

We love to watch our grandson, Wyatt, play football. Football is a rough sport and it requires much training and days of conditioning and hours in the weight room. Wyatt works very hard and loves the sport. Here he is number 58 in the black and gold uniform.

. He hurt his hip in the very begining of the game but he continued to play injured for most of the first half. We all knew he was hurting and was limping but we also knew that he wanted to play. It hurt to watch him standing on the sideline.

We can see the pain on his face during a timeout

I always enjoy the band and the ceremony at the opening of the game.

Warming up.

Wyatt went to the doctor Saturday morning and will go back on Monday to his regular doctor. We are praying that his hip will heal quickly and that he can get back to playing football soon.

Wish I was there

2011-08-20T23:45:00.000-05:00

Angie went to the Michigan Fiber Festival today. I wish I could have been there...Ang and Evan sent pictures and kept me updated on their purchases.

Angie was very impressed with this needle felted painting. I have a feeling that Angie will be getting out her felting needles again...heaven knows we have lots of fiber to felt.

I am sorry that I don't know who the vender was but doesn't this picture make you want to be there....fingers itching to touch all the equipment and fiber?

This is Carol's from Columbia Mo. I have a small and large triangle loom and this makes me want to start some new projects. I just finished knitting a triangle shawl for Angie from our wool.

Ang said this basket had been knitted with very large yarn.

Rug hooking anyone?

Evan is resting...but he now knows that he does not like to be in crowded buildings. Ang did not get to go into the booths because the stroller was too large and Evan became afraid when in the crowd. Next year, Ang and I will go to the Mi Fiber Festival together and we will take turns taking care of Evan.

I do not know the fiber artist's name but Ang visited with her and she has written a book and is working on another one and this rabbit will be in it. Angie was very impressed.

Ang called me and asked me if I knew what a Lucet was....no, not off the top of my head...well, I got you one! Then she sent this picture and I watched a few youtube videos on making cords with a lucet....she also got me the book....whoppeee....Christmas fiber toys!

And she got me a basket for Christmas too. I saw these baskets at Edel Iowa last year and have been kicking myself for not buying one....Angie purchased one for both her and me.

Evan was ready to leave and a storm was blowing in so Ang had to leave after just a few hours.
I couldn't be there this year but thanks to Angie, I got a small taste of her experience.

I am hoping to go to the Wisconsin Fiber show in Sept...if all works out.

Mother Nature is Messing with me again!

2011-06-28T14:38:00.000-05:00

I want to apologize for my poor posting since lambing and calving season. I was working at the school, lambing out the ewes, calving, treating one of my cows for mastitis and Ang had Evan...life has been so hectic for us.
We also made a trip to Michigan for a week. I started washing wool again after we got home. I purchased a pattern and the beads to make a very pretty scarf while in Michigan. I plan to spin some very soft and thin yarn to dye for this scarf....I also plan to get more fleeces ready to sell.

Last Friday night about 3 am, I was woke up by Sadie and Lady barking, I jumped up and ran to the door and heard a lamb baaing and it was being taken across the road and into the hay field by a predator, coyote probably. I was so upset, got in the pickup, hoping to catch the thief and kill it but could never see it in the very tall grasses. This lamb was taken from a pen just across the driveway right in front of our house. I make the sheep stay in the barn during the night and won't let them out into the big field. I am so upset! I love nature and animals but I will repeat myself...the government owns millions of acres of land...if you want to see these mean critters...go to the parks that should have big tall fences to keep them in. I have not got a good night sleep since this incident. I have the guns loaded, my son came over and set some snares to help me catch the thief. I feel so voilated.
Then night before last, Mother Nature hit again. I woke up to rain, wind, and hail hitting the house and then I heard a roar like a train, I woke Danny up, and turned on the weather radio..we could see the trees laying way over in the wind and temp dropped to 62 degrees. We knew when it got daylight that we would find damage.

Tree in the NW corner of the yard blew over, falling across part of the garden and got most of my tomato plants.

tore off shingles on our roof

laid over the sweet corn

We had so many friends, family and neighbor's home in a very wide area that had damage from this same storm. We have heard that our neighbors in Winigan had lots of damage. My family that lives at Purdin told me that Purdin looked like a war zone. We have been praying for all the victims of storms, floods, and fires and feel very blessed that we did not loose more. What a year!

Working Day on the Spinning C

2011-06-24T23:19:00.001-05:00

Danny and I get up early in the morning, right after the sun peeps over the eastern horizon. So many things to do on the farm.
The first up puts on a pot of coffee. We are trying to lose weight so we have eating cereal for breakfast...I don't like to eat a big breakfast anyway.
After breakfast it is time to let the sheep out in the South pasture, feed Sadie and Lady while I am at the barn. We trimmed 3 sheep shooves..My least favorite thing about sheep.
Danny has been waiting for the ground to dry so he can till the garden and his melon patch...finally the weather cooperated and he spent most of the day tilling and mowing.

Danny tilled the 3 LONG rows of green beans that are starting to bloom. I hope to be able to can at least a 100 quarts of green beans this summer. Our first 2 rows of sweet corn are tasselling.

I had skirted two fleeces last night and bagged it in nylon meash bags to wash. I let the two fleeces soak in cold soapy water all last night to remove most of the dirt from the wool so the first thing I did this morning was to spin the wool in the wash machine in the wool room in the barn.
I heated water to wash the wool, I try to have the water at 180 degrees and add Dawn detergent. I let the wool soak for about 20-30 minutes...I don't want the lanolin to settle back on the wool...then I spin out the hot soapy water. After the wash, I rinse in very hot clean water 1 or 2 times, until the water is clear.
It was almost dark when I finished taking the last of both fleeces out of the nylon bags and shake and tease the wool. We had a great surprise today so I took a break from washing wool to entertain our 16 year old grandson, Wyatt and his friend, Clay. After lunch they got the boat on the water and did a little fishing. I took a few pictures, today was so beautiful, the temp was mild and the sun shining.

The boys didn't get to spend much time fishing, Clay had to be back in Trenton to work at the Swimming Pool at 4. Wyatt works there too but today he had off.

My lillies are in full bloom. I love lillies.
Beets will be ready to pull on Monday...I will be canning pickled beets Monday...so I plan to work in my studio over the week end.
Just at dusk, I call the sheep back into the barn lots so that the big white dogs can do their job of protecting the flock from coyotes, I ring a big cow bell and the sheep come running into the lots and I walk out and shut the gates. I then walk around in the flock, checking for any abnormals. Last night I noticed one of the big white ewes had bottle jaw...I wormed her and gave her a shot of pencillin and she looks much better today. (Just when everything seems to be going well...oh well, just part of being a sheppard!)
I praise God for this wonderful day. I pray that you too have a wonderful weekend and have a peace come over you so that you can stop and admire all the beauty around you.

Home from Michigan, Reflections of our visit

2011-06-24T19:14:00.000-05:00

Michigan was filled with smiles, big cheesie smiles of Evan. What a joy for grandma and grandpa! We didn't get out much this trip, we were more interested in getting to know our new family member.

Evan

Papa holding the big guy.

Ang took us to 2 very nice greenhouses. Angie purchased a very big Angel Wing Begonia for me to bring home. We put it in the RV to get it home and it almost wouldn't fit through the doors.
Ang and I also purchased some plants to put in her flower boxes at the farm. A touch of home, beautiful flowers to welcome guest at the front door is always pleasing.

We spent many hours going through dishes and more dishes and then packing and washing more dishes in the farm house that Angie is getting ready to move her family.

I could not believe all the beautiful old family heirlooms throughout the house, I think they said that Evan will make the 7th generation to live on this farm. Isn't this cheese dish beautiful?

My son-in-law's old truck after it was refurbished. This truck belonged to his grandfather and he hauled the apples from the orchard...Danny and I both felt like we had stepped back in time.

Another picture at the greenhouse.
We plan to go back up this summer again, we want to see more of Michigan...then in August we will be going to Nebraska to see our Youngest daughter's family.

Getting Ready to Travel

2011-06-24T16:57:00.000-05:00

We brought home this RV from Michigan. The previous owner, a very special man....Evan's other grandfather who passed a few years ago, took very good care of it. It was sheltered in a large barn and all the carpet and furniture had been covered.
Danny is very proud of it. He talks about where we can go, buying a TV with a DVD player. He goes out every day and sometimes 2 or 3 times and sits in it and thinks about what he needs to do to get it ready for our maiden voyage.

This RV may be an older model but so are we and it has been taken care of and will meet all our needs...

School is Out and Grandchildren visit

2011-05-29T14:42:00.000-05:00

I finished up at school on Friday about 11:15 and soon after I arrived at home, Lisa and her children arrived.
I had no more than carried in my school things...had not even got them put away and the whirlwind of a wonderful visit with my grandchildren started.
Brandon and Lexi have changed so much since we last saw them. Brandon is on the go constantly and he can climb! Lexi has always kept us on our toes.

Brandon posing for Nana.

Brandon thinks Nana has a camera in front of her face all the time, he will do the same.

Miss Lexi when she first got here.

Lexi trying to get out of getting her picture taken again.
Their visit was so short. They got here Friday and left Sunday morning but mom has to go to work Tuesday morning and needs to rest up.

We had so many laughs together. Both of the kids kept us entertained...
I am competely worn out and my old joints are hurting today but I would not have given up this wonderful visit for anything.
God has blessed us so much and I give him praise for all my wonderful children and grandchildren.
We will soon be leaving for Michigan to visit our baby Evan for the first time...ooooohhhh life is good!

Delivered last lamb last night....2011 lambing is over!

2011-05-10T11:46:00.000-05:00

China was the last ewe to lamb, she looked like she had 3 in her. I have been watching her for 3 weeks, thinking that she would lamb any day. Last night she was pawing the ground, up and down at sunset so I pulled up my bucket and sat with her out in the barn lot. I shut the other babies and ewes out of that lot. The sun went down, the coyotes howled, the birds chirped and the frogs in the nearby pond serenaded me. At about 11, I started to help China to get this giant ram lamb out. Both feet and the large nose were all

It was very hot yesterday...we went from a cool Spring right into Summer. The winds were blowing softly and the air cooled down as the sun set so I just relaxed and gave my thanks to God for all the miracles around me. God blessed us with 55 lambs and no deaths of lambs or ewes during the birthing season, this only happens with the Grace of God.

Lambs Everywhere

2011-05-01T22:10:00.001-05:00

Danny feeding Barney, our bottle lamb.

Barney jumping up on Danny!

China is so ready to have her babies!

Speckles and her baby taking a break together

Birdie and her little ewe lamb. The oldest lambs are growing so fast.

Barney with his substitute mother, Sadie.

Barney backed up like he was going to butt Lady but decided he was a lover, not a fighter.

The black lamb is our oldest and her wool is soft as silk.

Sach was too big for his Mom to have him without help. He is a nice big boy.

Miss Wide Track is an easy keeper and she had twins too.

We are down to 5 ewes to lamb and we have 49 babies so far. The clock is set for 2 AM and then again at 4AM. This old sheppard is growing weary but we can now see the light at the end of the tunnel. One ewe had twins in the night last night and I just helped my Queenie to have a ewe lamb.
I plan to shear the flock this fall before selling the lambs....we should have lots of nice wool to sell.
If you are interested in buying ewe lambs or pet wethers for fiber pets, email me at rocnbarc@cvalley.net

Trenton R-IX and Linn Co R-1 Schools Compete at the Brookfield Track Meet

2011-04-21T19:36:00.000-05:00

Linn Co. R-1 dismissed early today for the Easter Holiday. I have tomorrow off for Good Friday and Sunday is Easter. I left school and went straight to Brookfield where my grandson and students at Linn R-1 were competeing in track.

Some highlights of the Brookfield Track and Field Day from my camera lense.

Wyatt Coffman throwing shot put.

Wyatt putting everything into throwing 39ft and 2 inches and placing 8th out of 30 competitors from 27 schools, big and small.

As my grandson gets older, in fact next week he will celebrate his 16th birthday, he continues to grow. I think he will grow into a big guy. Wyatt is in 10th grade...how big of a guy will he be and how far will he being throwing the shotput by the time he is a Senior?

Wyatt also competed in the Thrower's co-ed Relay... I did not realize that he could pick them up and set them down so fast...his team won first place in this event.

Wyatt getting ready for the hand off...he has the bright green shoes.

Good hand off!

The winds were strong and cold but the competition went on.

Spring, Renewal of Spirit and counting my blessings

2011-04-13T22:31:00.000-05:00

Last night was almost sleepless for me, my body ached and the pain meds would not help. I again began to feel sorry for me. When I can not sleep, things seem to be worse for me. I slowly sink into a self pity that requires me to read the Bible and stop and count all my blessings.

The birth of new babies, baby lambs and calves, seeds growing and the new beginnings of Spring brings new hope and renews my spirit.

Nature is the perfect example of renewal. But did you know the Creator renews people, too? The Bible tells us that God sees within each of us vast potentials for new energy and accomplishments. God sees within you valuable and new potentials. “Just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life” (Romans 6:4). Aren't you happy that whenever you face a problem, you can bring it to Jesus. He will not only answer your prayer, but also bring out new resources within you!

God has blessed me with a wonderful husband and best friend, three wonderful children that are all married to persons that I would have chosen for them to share their lives and be my sons and daughter by marriage. God also blessed my life with wonderful grandchildren. All beautiful and so smart and such a joy for me! They have lefted so many happy spots in my heart. I am so blesed!

After a med induced sleep most of the day, I was determined that I needed to go where I feel so close to God. I grab my camera and head outside in the sunshine. Lizzy has one of her twins with her as she grazes the green grass.

I watched Gerty and baby Bonnie Blue stop and graze and when Bonnie gets too far away, Gerty gives a soft baa to call her back to her side. Isn't that like us humans? We want our children to have fun but we keep them near and want to protect them from the cruel world.

Isn't this baby precious? So innocent walking way out behind his mother.

I watched this ewe graze and her babies kept calling to her but she kept her head down and eating away until she was ready to go to them and let them suck. She knew that she had to eat in order to feed them. This ewe was a beautiful lamb, in fact her name was Pretty Girl but as you can see the life of a mother has changed her looks...shoooooooooooooo, I don't want her to know!

Isn't this baby beautiful?

The Lettuce that I planted in March is growing. Radishes, beets, and onions
are also up and growing.
Danny dicus the rest of the garden today and plans to plant some sweet corn tomorrow...a little early but we sometimes hit it right and have some early sweet corn...sometimes you have to try things and try to beat the odds. Sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't.

Peach, pear, cherry and apricot trees are blooming.

Sugar had a little girl this year. Blackberry had her little bull calf just yesterday. She has him hid right now.
I tell her to go get him or I will call DFS on her. She ignores me until she is ready to go get him.

Lisa called last night to give me a report of what's new with Brandon. Brandon says cool, apple, he is trying to snap his fingers but they won't click so he clucks his tongue. 17 months old and a joy!
Evan had his first doctor's visit today. He is a good baby that has day and night mixed up. He had lost a pound but mom has milk now so he will start gaining again. Another blessing!
Wyatt is going to be driving in a couple of weeks, this is so hard for me to believe. He is still the little boy that sit on the wooden harvest table stirring cookie dough. The little guy that stood by me as I sewed his Halloween clown costume.
Then there is Miss Lexi, 12 years old, pre teen years. She has left many happy memories in my heart. At about 3 years old she once put her window down to yell out to an older lady that had some hens, " Hey Lady, what ya want for that big fat hen?"
Papa and I see hens and we both start laughing and recalling this precious memory. Lexi always liked chicken strips so when she went shopping with me, I always bought her a couple to snack on. One day she was very tired, didn't want to leave the farm but begrudging she had went with me because she knew she would get chicken strips but when I gave the lady behind the counter my order, the lady told me she didn't have any ready but she was just cooking a new batch. Lexi, burst out...Oh No Lady! And began wailing. As soon as the strips were done, the lady brought them right out to my little strawberry blonde with the sweet angel kisses on her fair cheeks.
I am blessed and Spring is here...time to renew and have faith that God will give me new resouces and that I will continue to love life and count all the wonderful blessings that He has given me.

Watching Track and Field

2011-04-12T21:11:00.000-05:00

The weather was just right, the sun shining. Grandson competeing at a track meet about 26 miles away...Me and my camera had to be there.

Trenton R IX track competed against 3 other schools at Brookfield today. Wyatt Coffman throwing the disc and shot put.

Good release.

Two of my handsome boys, Wyatt and his dad, Ryan.

Wyatt throwing the shot put.

It is so fun watching your oldest grandson working hard, competing and having fun... He placed 4th.

Wyatt Coffman just 14 days before his 16th birthday.

Spring Lambs in the Pasture

2011-04-11T20:26:00.000-05:00

Birdie and her Ewe Lamb

Sometimes you just have to get away from it all.

Bonnie Blue

Nap time

Twins, Ewe lamb has tag

Lady watching her babies

Maggy is really growing.

We are just about half way done lambing. 19 ewes left. We have 30 new babies so far.

Introducing Evan

2011-04-08T09:32:00.001-05:00

Evan came into this world this morning by C-section. Mom and Evan are doing great.

Isn't he beautiful...We give thanks and praise to our Heavenly Father.

Fun on the Spinning C in the sunshine

2011-03-30T20:27:00.000-05:00

Can you believe this hair cut? I was so beautiful with my long wool.

Speckles, a twin to Teddy and daughter of Bonnie.

This is little Lucy, a shetland ewe. She is watching as John is making over Danny.

Sissy is cleaning John's nose.

Maggie following mom, Sugar Top, and enjoying the warm sunshine.

Maggie is really growing fast. She is not going to be a people sheep.

Here they come single file. Pretty Girl...Not...that looks like she is having triplets anytime now. The babies have dropped.

BFL / Corriedale ewe. Snuggles

Silly John can't get close enough to Danny. He actually gives hugs and loves to be with his humans. He makes us laugh!

Danny was getting a little nervous worrying if John was going to nip his ear but he didn't...he just likes the hat!

Teddy watching John play with Danny...he can't hardly stand it.

Both of the boys walked with Danny and really enjoys his company.

We had fun in the sun and the silly boys did too!

Sunshine, a new lamb, and counting our blessings

2011-03-30T20:03:00.000-05:00

Monday night as I was getting the sheep in, I noticed Birdie, Gerty's twin, lying in the hay off by herself. When I went out to investigate, it was easy to see that she was in labor. I moved her into the barn in a large pen to have her lamb. The air was chilly and predictions of snow and rain mix prompted this decision. (I don't like to be out in the cold either.)

I ended up needing to help pull the large lamb. (Was I ever happy that I had been able to get her in a jug?) Birdie was following in her mother's footsteps, having large babies and needing help. Birdie is the daughter of Bonnie, a large Oxford ewe that I got from the Almond's flock. Bonnie had a beautiful silky fleece and she has passed that good fleece trait on to all of her off-Spring. She has been the foundation for our breeding program of spinning fiber sheep.

This is Liam's first off-spring. He was young last fall but I gave him a small group of ewes that were related to White Knight.

3/4 BFLand 1/4 Oxford ewe lamb born Monday night about 11 PM. Trying to stand up for the first time and Mom hasn't got her all cleaned up yet. I don't jump in and do a bunch of cleaning on a lamb. Mother licks them and they are bonding at the same time. Since the wind had got up and the temp was down to 32, I hooked up the heat lamp. The lamb was sucking by midnight and I walked out into a light snow. Time to go to bed so I can do checks on the other ewes in 3 hrs.

Same ewe lamb today, less than 48 hrs later. I let Mom and lamb out to enjoy the beautiful sunshine this afternoon.

Was she a happy camper or what?

This lamb takes everything in and has fun doing it...I have the feeling she is going to be a fun sheep to have around.

Lady and lamb are just getting to know each other.

The little girl is walking with Uncle Teddy, a wether of Bonnie's and followed by her mother, Birdie

Danny and I just sit in the sun and enjoyed the moment and gave thanks for all our blessings and prayed for Angie & Wayne, and Evan. Angie's doctor started induction of labor this morning at about 8 am so we know we will have baby Evan soon.
One day a baby is born wet and helpless and in a very short time they are jumping around everywhere and leading you along by the strong ties of the heart...
I almost forgot to tell you what I have named our new little girl...I named her after her grandmother Bonnie that died a couple of years ago after giving birth to Birdie and Gerdy. The little ewe's name shall be Bonnie Blue.

Lambing season has began!

2011-03-23T21:44:00.000-05:00

Lambing started yesterday as we were loading some calves to sell. Sugar Top, a black corriedale/shetland cross, came in from the pasture, went into the barn and politely had her lamb. I found her when I was moving gates around. The little ewe lamb is black with a white spot on top of her head just like her mother. Mother and baby are doing great.

Miss Maggy Knight...after black as a mag pie...daughter of Sugar Top and White Knight.

Already trying to eat a piece of straw. She is sucking like a champ!

She already needs a coat! White Knight usually throws white lambs but Sugar Top's twin sister had black lambs from him last year.

When we first started raising sheep, I got into the Oxfords, Columbians, Corriedales, polypays and then the shetlands. I watched the the larger breed lambs stuggle to get going, it took hours/ days but when we had baby shetlands, they were so hearty, up going strong after 30 minutes and by day 2, they were all over the barn and could squeeze through a crack. We talked about how we appreciated the heartiness traits of the shetlands and decided that we would breed all to a shetland ram. Sugar Top is one of the ewes resulting from this crossing. She has never had any trouble lambing and always has a healthy and active lamb. Her wool is soft and has 3 1/2 stable. She is a very independent and hearty ewe, good mother, and easy keeper. Now we are breeding her to a BFL the last 2 years and last year she had a ram lamb so we had to sell him but this year we have Maggie...can you imagine her color with stable lengths of 5-6 inches like our other girls? We are starting to see our breeding program goals being met...easy keeping sheep that are hearty, easy lambers, with lambs that are up and going in less than a day, good mothers, and beautiful wool that spins and weaves easily.

All the ewes are in the barn of a night and tonight the winds are blowing and the temp is dropping with chances of snow...they will probably have to stay in the barn until it warms up again. I am doing barn checks every 4 hours of the night and Danny is checking them every 3 hours during the day. We have several with tight bags, springing, and sides look like lambs have dropped. New fresh straw covers the floor of all the lambing jugs, feeding pans and water buckets are ready to go. I have alfafa to feed to the new mothers. I just need some jumping juice for myself for the next month! And Angie's baby boy is due in 8 days. We are so blessed and I will praise God for everything.
Just 39 more Ewes to lamb!
Did I mention that we are also calving?

Two New Quilts from my Mother

2011-03-23T17:45:00.000-05:00

I went over to take my mother a piece of the coconut cake that I made Sunday...and take care of some small chores she needed done. She had been telling me to pick out one of her handmade quilts and I had been putting it off... You see, my mother has many handmade quilts and she has them on her spare bedroom bed...9 are laid on the bed which is then covered by the bedspread, a set of Raggedy Ann dolls and many other dolls that she has collected over time. What I am telling you, it was going to be a major job just to get to the quilts and to remake the bed after I picked one out and got it out.

We took off all the dolls and folded back the bedspread, then I would pull one quilt back and say, Oh, I really like this one, and then the next one, "Gee, Mom, I really like this one too. I had seen them all as she had finished them over the years but never stacked one on top of another like this. We continued to go down to the bottom one and still I had not made up my mind so we folded this back and I went through them all again backwards this time. Well, we did this a few more times and finally I got it between 2 quilts and mother told me to just take them both...I think she was getting tired.

I love this color and mother put many hours in doing the blocks. This was my first pick.

Mother came home from work and hand pieced this flower garden quilt after my father died. She had been a stay at home mother and housewife up till my dad died. She was 48 years old and she didn't know how to drive. My Dad had a heart attack at the age of 50 and he had been in and out of the hospital his last 5 years. Money was tight for many years. So she started to work just a week or two after we taught her to drive and got her a car to drive. She enjoyed working and coming home in the evening she quilted to pass the time. She took my leftover scraps after I made the girl's dresses. This quilt had memories for me, a sad memory of a very deep loss in my life and a mother that had to make some very brave moves to continue living without the man that had been her husband for over 30 years.
She is now 81 years old and still a very independent woman...

She walked me to the door with my cherished quilts, and told me that she was going to go eat a piece of that coconut cake.

Super Moon Over North East Missouri

2011-03-23T17:16:00.000-05:00

Our clouds stayed cloudy the night of the super moon. I snoozed in my recliner and when I woke up, I grabbed my camera and took off outside. I could see the moon through the clouds.
I am not superstitious but I do plant my garden by the moon. I am just very interested in all things that God has made.

Time to go back to bed...I will take a look at the pictures later.

Still Cleaning out the Studio...wool fiber for sale

2011-03-15T22:39:00.001-05:00

I am still cleaning out my studio...this is a shetland fleece, dual coat. I made some great socks from Cinnamon's fleece last year, they have wore great. This is not a real fine wool.

SOLD

This is the shetland fiber as I load the combs.

This is a small fleece, has a nice long stable. As you can see, it is a mixture of light to med brown. It is washed but does have some vm. $13.50 plus shipping from area code 63557.

I will also part with this dyed fiber from a BFL/Shetland. I call this Sunny Tropical Beaches. It does have some VM, It has a long staple.

SOLD

Loading the combs to blend the colors for the sky....I was going to use this in my tapestry weaving.

This is the results of the loaded combs. I think there is 6 or 7 different dyed colors in this batch. About 1 pound. It is washed and has some vm that falls out easily when combing or carding. $18 plus shipping.

Another bag of wool that I have laid back to spin...but too much to do and not enough time to do everything I planned right now. So I am going to clear things out. This is from a ewe that has White Knight as her day and Lizzy, a shetland for her mother. Lizzy is black and she is a character. When I band her babies tails, she chews the band off and her kids are runny around with long tails...her babies are always sweet hearts but she is loud and bossy. This has been washed and dried but I have not removed all the vm yet...so it does have some vm. About 2 lbs washed wool. $24 plus shipping.

This is China's fleece...just washed, not picked. She is a BFL/Shetland ewe too.

SOLD

A staple. It is a nice crimpy wool...it does have some vm so I will sell it for $26 plus shipping.

If you would like any of my clean up the studio wool...email me or leave a comment.

rocnbarc@cvalley.net

Shearing is Done

2011-03-14T07:34:00.000-05:00

Sorry that I have not posted lately. It has been hectic here on the farm. We sheared on Saturday. Also getting ready to start lambing this week.

As I get time to skirt fleeces and get some pictures, I will be posting some fleeces that I will be selling. I will first take care of my regular customers. Leave me a comment or email me if you are interested in a fleece.

The Sires of the Spinning C Fiber Farm

2011-03-09T13:58:00.002-06:00

HMFF White Knight , Improved Border Leicester
White Knight is our primary sire of the Spinning C Flock. He is a big gentle ram that wins everyones hearts. I enjoy spinning his silky fleece.
" Clean and lustrous! Finer and more uniform than most Border Leicester, without sacrificing staple length. Soft enough for sweaters, strong enough for socks. An excellent choice to blend with fine adult mohair. Staple length can be 6-10 inches with approx. 4-5 crimps per inch." We purchased him from Kathy of the Herbal Maid Fiber Farm in Rosebud Mo.

We then keep his daughters and they are bred to Liam, a registered BFL, that has the tiny string of pearls fleece.

We girls must stick together...and fiber is the best glue.

I would also like to add that the US government needs a budget overhaul by good old girls!

Why is the Senate and House of Reps not cutting their own benefits and wages? Don't hear those words do you?
If you are cutting your budget, don't you cut out the miscellaneous first? And the necessities last!
If I don't have the money to help my neighbor, I don't go borrow money that I can't pay back to help them...no, I roll up my sleeves and do what I can with what I have to help and keep my nose out of their business.

A Catch Up Weekend

2011-03-06T21:43:00.000-06:00

I played catch up this week end. So many things to get done in such a short time. First on our list was to restock our pantry. Gas prices are going up, so we know everything else will too. We can't just get in the car or truck and drive a few blocks to a grocery store from the farm. It is a 25 minute drive one way to the grocery store and a little over 2 gallon of gas. So we decided to buy more things in the bulk and eliminate the town trips when we can. We stocked up on flour, sugar, rice, macaroni, cheeses, meats, and fresh fruits. A pick up load. Nice to know we have the extra but I burned the late night oil, repackaging, using my seal a meal to split up the meat packages and put in the freezer, putting the dry goods in sealed containers. We are praying for a good garden this year. Last year, I did not get one can of vegetables put up.

We also hit the farm supply store to buy some new lambing heat lamps, nipples, and fender washers...and they were having a SALE! We found sweat pants, 4 shirts for me, and a couple of hooded sweat shirts for $1 apiece. They also had 600 count sheet sets for $25, orginally $79. I am into sleeping on a very comfortable bed. Yes, we got all this at a farm supply store.....now, I want to show you what a do with the washers. Make your own diz.

plain old fender washers, about $3.98 a lb. at farm store.

I applied the inks to the washers on front and on back.

You know that I could not just leave them plain! I took my inks for glass and metals and of course, added color. Is this a necessary step? Absolutely if you are a person that must have color on everything!

using the washer as a diz to unload the drum carder.

This is one of the smaller washers and look at the nice roving I am removing from the drum carder.

This is the rovings from one drum carder load.

I hope everyone that purchased wool from me receives their boxes this week end and are happy with their wool from the Spinning C.

Danny saw this set of combs on Ebay and he purchased them for me. They look lighter and not as long so maybe I can use them without my hands hurting. I am excited! I love any new fiber tool!

I also ordered this apron pattern. I wear aprons all the time in the summer when I wear my summer dresses. I think I will make a few of these.

We feel very blessed. God supplies all our needs.

I pray that God will give each and everyone discernment to make the correct choices that will honor God.

The Spinning C Is closed today

2011-02-27T13:58:00.000-06:00

I woke up with a temp, sore throat, and chest cold...chilling, coughing...sorry I won't be sorting out fiber to sale...I still have my list and will contact everyone when I get back up there when I am feeling better...Hopefully tomorrow afternoon.
Have a good day and I will be back real soon.

Beautiful New Knitting Caddy, A work of Art

2011-02-26T19:31:00.000-06:00

Look at the beautiful knitting caddy that Angie sent me for my birthday. She not only sent it but she made it! It is so beautiful and it is the perfect gift for an old knitter. She knows what makes me happy!
I am trying to convince Ang to sell these beautiful caddies.

This is the top of the box.

I stayed up late last night. I got out baskets of fiber...the closet, the bedroom, and under my work area...

I listed fiber for sale last week and I was swapped with emails wanting fiber. The fleeces that I had listed went very fast and I received many requests for fiber. I decided that I could part with some of the fiber that I had set back for my own persoanl stash but which fleeces can I let go?

I have not made a decision yet...Will I part with China's fleece? How about Isabel's? What about the partial fleeces that I have? A few spinners did not want a full fleece, just a pound or two, that's OK, I will just put the part that did not sell in my stash and spin it up later to make socks or a scarf or a new vest now I think I will ask the spinner's if they are interested.

I also washed another fleece last night that I had stored in the wool room in the barn. It is a BFL/shetland cross. A beautiful long wool.

I also found Molly's fleece. She is a polypay sheep. The last issue of the Spin Off Magazine had an article about polypay fleece. I personally love to work with polypay and the socks and scarves out of polypay are so warm and nice. I have not washed her fleece from last year yet but it is on my list.

On a Wild hair, Danny and I got out in the cold misty foggy weather and cut across the country on old hilly and curvy old blacktop roads to get to the Amish country store about 25 miles from here. Danny was reading the shopper this morning and saw that the store had a new batch of molasses ...he loves molasses on biscuits with butter.

The Amish store owners are building onto their store. It is going to be very nice when they are done. They have some very nice items for the kitchen on their shelves as well as selling foods in the bulk. We have been talking about buying in larger quanities so we will make less town trips with the cost of gas and food going up. I have to get some new air tight storage containers for sugar and flour and rice. We are also hoping to have a good garden this year to stock our shelves again. We have ordered garden seeds and part of our order is here. We love Tendertreat sweet corn and can not find it locally so Danny ordered 2 lbs for the garden...for the next 2 years. I am ready to start gardening and seeding the pastures!

Birthday 59

2011-02-25T13:57:00.000-06:00

I wish you could all be here to enjoy my coconut Birthday cake and a cup of tea or hot coffee.

Thank you for the many birthday wishes. It has been a delightful day. I had the stomach bug yesterday and woke up feeling much better today. (No school due to snow...but I am pretending they called off school for my BD!) We fed the sheep and cows hay. Gave love an attention to our big dogs.

I had a piece of BD cake with a cup of hot coffee for Breakfast...hey, I am 59 today!

Danny purchased a big coconut cake (my favorite) at Sam's on Wednesday when we went to Columbia for his doctor's visit.

We had another snow last night and no school today. I don't think we got as much as other nearby areas.

59 years ago, we had a heavy ice. I was born at home and Dr. Pain drove from Mendon to Purdin to deliver me at home. I weighed a little over 11 lbs 3 or 4 days after I was born. Dr. Pain didn't have his scale with him when I was born. So he weighed me when he came back. Mother didn't come into her milk for almost 2 weeks so Grandma Cooper stayed with us and she made me sweet Lipton Tea and I still drink hot strong sweet Lipton tea.

Pull up a chair, let me pour you something hot to drink and do you want a dip of ice cream with your cake?

I am so glad that I know my Lord and Saviour, I am blessed and life is good for me. I listen to the news and hear all the unrest, the violence in this world and the greedy demanding more. Times continue to change just like they have for over my 59 years.

Thank you again for making my day special!

Playing in My Studio...At the Spinning C Fiber Mercantile

2011-02-20T20:56:00.003-06:00

My Spindle collection

The temperatures have been in the 40s-50s, cloudy but mild with a little breeze blowing and I have been going strong all weekend cleaning, washing wool, choring, cleaning on the yard, cleaning up my hay mess, cleaning house, laundry, and I finally gave myself my a reward...I got to go up to my studio and play this afternoon. Doesn't that sound good? The only thing is....I have so much wool that I have washed and planned to get to...but have not and I can't work in a clutter! I have put back a few fleeces for myself to spin and felt....the spare bedroom is full...my studio has wool on all the shelves, in the closet...IT IS TIME TO CLEAN MY STUDIO! It will soon be time to shear and I will have 40 more fleeces to deal with.

SOLD

I have this clothes hamper running over with hot pink, iris, and some navy dyed wool probably a couple of pounds. This is BFL/Shetland. If anyone is interested...email me...I will sell this dyed wool for $20 plus shipping.

#4 fleece, I washed this fleece yesterday. It is a beautiful Corriedale/BFL fleece. It has some vm. I will sell it for $30 plus shipping. It is ready to card and spin or dye. Really a nice wool!

SOLD

The carder is out and ready to blend soy silk in with alpaca and a very soft Spinning C lamb fiber. I love to blend fibers! and did I tell you that I love color...muted, bright, pastel, primary, secondary...black and white...all of them!

This is three of the heavier yarn that I had spun. I am going to make another felted bag from a Noni pattern.

White Knight's Fleece for Sale BFL SOLD

5-6 inch locks of WK's fleece.

I had this fleece held back for myself. I have several fleeces in the milkroom of the barn and I need to get it cleaned out and get ready for this Springs clip. I will sell WK's fleece. I washed this fleece Saturday. It does have some yellowed wool in this basket and some vm, it is a beautiful fleece. It is a nice big fleece. I have not weighed it yet but would guess it to be over 3 lbs. I do not like to pay postage on dirt and oil so I washed it in very hot water over 180 degrees with dawn detergent and rinsed.

WK's wool has a luster.

More pictures of the polypay/BFL lamb's fleece

SOLD

Locks of the polypay/BFL lamb's fleece. Washed this weekend. Very soft and fine, lots of crimp.

The Spinning C Fiber Mercantile

2011-02-13T10:01:00.002-06:00

China BFL/Shetland

Spring is coming! You want to know how I know this??? I know it is February, the days are getting longer, we are preparing for lambing season, and fiber people have started calling and emailing me wanting to reserve a fleece when we shear in March.
The old customers are asking for fleeces from certain sheep and new customers are asking what our wool looks like, what breeds we have, and availability. I have these pictures that I took last fall so the wool is a little longer but it will give you some idea of what our wool looks like.
We will have several fleeces like the ewe above. Their mothers are registered shetlands and their Dad is White Knight, a white Bluefaced Leicester. BFL/Shetland

Snuggles
We also have several ewes like the one above. BFL/polypay...I really like this wool to make a nice warm wool sock.

More BFL/shetland crosses

BFL/Shetland

Queenie

Socks Corriedale/shetland

Gerty, my big girl, she is a sweety and I love her wool BFL/Oxford Cross

This is a close up of a BFL/shetland cross

Pictures taken this morning while feeding

BFL/Polypay cross

Feeding the Ewes

BFL/ Corriedale cross

BFL/Shetland

Birdie and Gerty, Twins BFL/Oxford Cross I like the wool so much from this cross that we are developing our breeding lines. They also are very sweet and gentle girls that love attention from ME!

email me if you have any questions

rocnbarc@cvalley.net

Quite Friday Night at Home Felting and watching videos

2011-02-11T22:12:00.000-06:00

Last weekend I started a new knitting bag. I wanted a carpet bag type knitting bag. The problem was I decided to add in the checker board pattern and the purse drew in this area. Not what I wanted to happen but I will use the bag no matter what.
I mixed up a denim color dye and dyed two skeins of my new heavier weight yarn from our sheep. The knitting went fast.

I knitted each petal separate and the center of the large red flower is crocheted separately too. I knitted on the trim every night this week.

This is the carpet bag after I put the handles on.

I watched Rita Buchanan's videos on my laptop while I stitched on the trim of the purse. I would recommend this set of dvds to everyone.

I down loaded this emag during the blizzard last week. I have not tried any of the socks yet.

I also downloaded this emag last week and I am very impressed. Video, interviews, nice pictures and all in beautiful color.

This week has been a trying week. I am very tired but working on the purse while watching Rita Buchanan on the lap top and listening to her and the lovely music has been very relaxing and educational.

I am thrilled with my new yarn from my flock. It grabbed the dyes quickly and felts easily. It knits up easily. I am thinking of sending more fleeces to be processed so I can sell yarn. I will also be selling fleeces.

Winter Planning for the Spinning C Flock

2011-02-08T23:16:00.000-06:00

I spend a lot of time taking pictures of our flock during the fall each year. I review the pictures again and again during the winter months to plan for the next breeding season. I am looking at size, characteristics of the sheep, their wool, and each sheep's health records to determine the future of our breeding program. Have you ever taken a picture and when you went back a couple of months later, you seen something different than when you first took the picture?

Birdie and Gerty are two of my choice ewes. Bonnie, a registered Oxford was their mother, sire is White Knight, a hybrid BFL ram from Herbal Maid Farms. both of these ewes are very large, gentle, long soft wool. We will see if they twin at lambing time. I will also be monitoring the wool fleece that they will give me this Spring. So far we favor this line. Can't wait to see the babies this Spring.

Gerty....look at that wool...It has a very soft handle. She is a big baby.

We added Liam, Registered BFL, to our line this last fall. He is just a lamb but really growing this winter. Liam has beautiful wool, not quite as long as White Knight's wool but his wool is finer. I will probably send samples off of his wool to have it graded.

Liam's wool...first fleece

I took this picture in the fall. We keep the flock up closer to the barn lot during the winter. That makes it easier for the dogs to do their job of guarding the flock. Coyotes come closer during the winter months when their food supply gets slim. We have seen a few coyotes cross our pastures in the last few weeks. Also see their tracks in the snow.

I dyed a BFL fleece and have been running it through the drum cardeer. Notice the glimmer of the wool. This wool will be spun for weaving a scarf to wear with my black dress coat. Working with the fleeces also helps us develop our breeding program.

I love color...I think dyeing a rainbow of wool is the favorite part of working with wool fiber...what is your favorite task of wool preparation?

Digging Out

2011-02-02T14:35:00.000-06:00

Yesterday we hunkered down in the house after the snow started to blow. We watched the news and the weather channel on TV, listened to our weather radio, and looked out of the window occasionally to see if the predictions were correct. I got busy in the kitchen preparing a warm meal of chicken noodle soup, baked sugar cookies, and made 3 pots of hot tea to sip. I knitted on stuffed mittens and the pink and gray pair is just about done. I also downloaded a new emag about fiber, knitting and spinning that said it would take 20minutes which took over 2 hrs. It is really good and has videos that I can watch and interviews of other knitting and spinning ladies.

This morning after breakfast I decided I would go to the barn to feed the sheep and check them out. I had to go around the long way due to the drifted snow. In places the ground is bare and other places the drifts are hip deep on me.
Danny bundled up and bravely came down the bank in front of the house in the drift carrying his snow shovel.

The driveway is piled high out to the machine shed.

Danny and I dug out the drift behind the pickup, it was waist deep and now we have to get the driveway cleaned out. We can't even open the door to the machine shed to get to the big tractor out so we just came back into the house...

Mr Gray was complaining to me that the barn is not air tight and it snowed on the hay that I had moved inside. I have never seen snow on the inside of our old barn, it blew the snow through the little cracks. I have spent many snowy night and days in this old barn waiting on a cow or ewe to have her baby or taking care of a sick animal and I have never seen the snow come in like this...the winds were wicked last night.

They just called and school has been called off again tomorrow. That is Ok with me. The Highway department has not been down the road in front of the house yet and no traffic has gone up or down it except for an occasional tractor. They probably are still cleaning out the main highways. The temps will be below O in the morning.
We can dig out more tomorrow!

The Day After the Blizzard of February 1st of 2011

2011-02-02T11:12:00.000-06:00

I took this picture at 5:38 pm yesterday evening from my front door. The winds were howling and the snow was coming down sideways. We were so thankful to be in our cozy little farmhouse, safe and warm. Animals in the barn, well fed.

Another picture from my front door this morning. The sun is shining! Danny had shoveled the sidewalk earlier but the winds are still blowing (but not as hard as last night) and the snow has blown back into the walkway. I can not tell you how relieved we are, we didn't lose electricity, I don't think we got the 20 inches of snow they predicted but who can measure with all the drifting. We are very blessed. The sun is shining, we still have power, and everyone is OK.

This drift is over waist deep. Time to shovel out. We will continue to pray for others that are facing more problems than we did. This mass blizzard has effected so many people. We watched the TV and would see cars and people out in the blowing snow, the slick roads, and the ice. We wondered if they had to get to home to a loved one, did their job require them to be there, what was their story?

HAPPY GROUNDHOG DAY!!!! The groundhog did not see his shadow this morning! We will have an early Spring! I think I will get out the garden seed and draw a diagram of our planting plans. I am so ready for Spring! What will the rest of this month bring? How about March and April? We will start lambing over 40 ewes in the middle of March. Sure happy that I was not treking back and forth to the barn during this storm...

We pray that all our friends and family are safe, warm, and healthy and are weathering the storm without problems...we will continue to watch the broadcast of the happenings of the North and East...please stay safe!

Blizzard of February 1 2011

2011-02-01T14:49:00.001-06:00

Danny and I were up at 5 AM to be sure all the animals were cared for before the predicted blizzard arrives. Danny built a fire in his wood stove in the wood shop and packed in extra wood. Just as we were finishing, the snow began to blow. I stepped out the front door to take a picture at 10:04 am. Visibility is already reduced to less than an eighth of a mile. It almost looks like 5 pm when it starts to get dark during the winter. The flakes are small and it is 17 degrees with the wind blowing some.

I made Danny and I some sugar cookies and a pot of hot strong sweet tea to warm our cold bodies. We sat and listened to the weather radio and know that this is just the start to a very blustery day. I can't remember when or if I have ever heard the National Weather predict a blizzard for our area. We have had some heavy snows but they never referred to them as blizzard.

I have some unfinished knitting projects to finish. I had spun some 2 ply yarn from John's wool to make Lexi a pair of stuffed mittens. I started these last year...time to finish them. I just need to finish the finger tips and then knit the thumb and sew them up. I am using lamb's wool for the stuffing. These mittens are so simple and so warm to wear.

I couldn't wait any longer, I wound a couple of the newly dyed skeins to see how it will knit up. I am making myself a pair of stuffed mittens to match my new scarf. I am stuffing them with dyed red Sweet Betty Lou fiber. The new yarn that I just got back from the processor grabs the color and knits up nicely.

Color Me Fiber

2011-01-25T21:30:00.000-06:00

I have been coloring mock up of a project that I want to weave for months while waiting for the yarn to get back. I am off to a good start!

These skeins are hanging to dry, I should be able to start using them tomorrow afternoon.

Boxes of Wool Yarn and Rovings..Let the Fun begin.

2011-01-25T19:26:00.000-06:00

Danny called me at about noon to tell me that my wool roving and yarn had been delivered today. I was so excited so of course the afternoon went slower than ever. After shearing last Spring and washing a few fleeces, I sent a few boxes to Illinois Fiber Processing to have it spun into yarn and to get one fleece made into roving. I love to spin but I can not keep up with my weaving and knitting. I also devote lots of my day to taking care of the sheep and cows and dogs and cats here on the farm. I also spent a good share of my time washing wool...over 30 fleeces.
I am very happy with the yarns in two weights. The roving feels so silky, makes me want to spin and dye yarn tonight. In fact, I am soaking a few skeins to dye this evening. I want to see how it grabs the dye and I need some brown and rust yarn for a weaving I want to do.

This is the silky roving, I can not keep my hands out of it!

Is it Christmas? My Birthday? My girls' fleeces made some beautiful yarn! This is the batch of thinner weight.

This is a close up of the thicker yarn. Not as many skeins but this will make some warm mittens, hats, house socks.

Already got a few skeins soaking, getting ready to dye some browns and rust.
I love to dye wool yarn...I will be posting some of my colors in the next day or so!
I can't wait to knit up something to see how it felts.

Another cold snowy day on the Spinning C

2011-01-23T15:02:00.000-06:00

We had another snow last night. The winds howled and the snow was coming down sideways...burrrrr...on this windy ridge. I had trouble sleeping, was up and down to check on the temp and the snow. 13 degrees with the winds blowing at 5 am. It is a light snow but drifting.

I dreaded getting up and putting on the layers of clothes to feed but somebody has to do it! I took a few pictures while I was out there just so that you can help me experience the cold with the love of my animals.

Sadie is happy to see me! She is always standing on her hind legs at the fence waiting on me to come and play with her. She gives me big hugs.

Queenie comes running when she sees or hears me! My little ball of wool. Her wool is dragging in the snow. She comes running when I come out to play with her.
She is so short the others are using her as a table. Oh, well her wool will be hard to clean but Queenie is Queenie.

Steinie and Sadie playing in the snow...they love to play together.

John after sticking his nose in the snow.

I love the sweet faces and the large heavy fleeces!

Lady keeping watch as the sheep eats.

Liam, waiting on me to get the hay bunks filled.

Who is picking my pockets and pulling on my coat?

Snow difts at every door and gate and at the water.

This is the back side of the house and sheds. Danny and I walked out into the west pasture to check on the cows and how much hay they had left. They have enough for the next couple of days. When we know it is going to snow, we feed extra in the trees and out of the wind and close to the cattle waterers.
Back to the house to have homemade pancakes with warm maple syrup and a pot of hot coffee.
This is Sunday and today we will watch Dr. David Jerimiah and read our Bible. We will pray for our family, friends, neighbors and this world.
This afternoon, I will knit on Evan's baby gown while we watch football. Packers vs Bears and then the Steelers vs Jets.
May God bless you and fill you with His Love and Peace.

This week I should receive 2 big boxes of yarn and rovings that I sent to the Illinois fiber Processing last May...Come back for pictures and then I will start dyeing some. I am sending Marlyn a couple of skeins...can't wait to see what she knits up!

Burrr...It is cold on the Spinning C

2011-01-12T14:08:00.000-06:00

Picture taken upstairs at the East window looking out into the cattle pasture and over the garden. The frigid winds have stopped blowing or at least calmed and the snow has quit falling and the sun is out. The wind chill was below zero this morning while I was choring. Another day of feeding extra hay to the cows and sheep. Why is it, when the temps are the coldest, it takes longer to chore? After choring, a cup of hot coffee, a quit shower and change of clothes...I was ready to clean house. No school today due to the cold temps and the snow banks from the blowing...hubby was out fairly early to go coyote hunting with some neighbors...home alone. Yesterday I cleaned upstairs and today it is the downstairs.
I can relax and enjoy my wool and knitting when I know the rest of the house is tidy.

Sunshine filling the upstair studio. Just calling me to come and play!

Hand spun and dyed yarn winter scarf just about done...just need to finish putting on the fringe. The rows of this hand knitted scarf was cast on the the length of the scarf instead of the width. Using two and three strands to knit from my left overs, and I made this scarf wide. One of my purple yarns I spun in a silver and gold thread...I think it turned out pretty elegant for an old farm gal.

Ang sent me a pattern and some yarn to knit for baby Evan. I got started on this project yesterday.

I love to pick up Jan Brett's Snowy Treasury and look at the illustrations. What a nice children's book.

I pray that you are all warm and cozy today. Thank you for stopping by.

Happy New Year!

2011-01-01T22:29:00.002-06:00

The first day of 2011 came in with the winds howling and the temps dipping down to 9 degrees this morning and when you factor in the windchill I think it was -2. I rushed around to get the outside chores done this morning (this cold weather makes the animals want to eat more so they can stay warm) and then I tackled washing and ironing the laundry. I cleaned the kitchen and bedroom today. Saturday is my usual cleaning day but today I wanted to play with my crafting.
Christmas Day my mother said that she had found some of her old patterns and I saw a little church mouse pattern but there was no instructions and the pattern was very fragile and brown. For some reason, I wanted to make this little mouse...and of course I needed to tie in one of my blue fruit jars and buttons. This is my first mouse and I plan to make more but I will make changes and develop my pattern better. I thought this little plain guy came out really cute. I may need to make the next one some clothes.

May the Lord bless your family and home this new year.

Playing in the Wool

2010-12-29T09:18:00.000-06:00

After choring yesterday morning and admiring the wool fleeces on some of my sheep, I decided that I wanted to play in the wool.

I had dyed this roving earlier and split it up and rolled each strip into balls. I wanted a chunky yarn out of this ewe's wool for mittens and a scarf. Please note that I muted my colors for this batch.

I drum carded this lamb's wool and it feels like silk. I folded a piece of card stock and folded it around the tip to protect.

I continue to gently roll the wool around the card stock.

This is what my carded wool looks like before I stack each section.

I will put each card in a sack to protect until I am ready to spin it. This soft wool will be spun into a sports weight yarn and then I will dye after I have spun it...I want to keep the air in the wool to make spinning easier. When the wool is loosely packed on the cardboard or card stock, it spins like a dream. I prefer to spin before dyeing for this reason. Dyed rovings sometimes has to be pulled and fluffed more before spinning due to the dying process.

I found this dyed roving while I was going through my stash, I think this was intended to be socks.
I have plenty to do...more wool to card, spin, dye, and knit...oh what a terrible perdictment. What shall I do????

A white Christmas for the Spinning C

2010-12-27T14:20:00.000-06:00

Christmas Day we headed over to my 81 year old mother's. The roads were slick from the snow and ice that fell on Thursday. The skies were gray and the temps were in the the low 20s and teens.

Going down into the Yellow Creek low lands.

This is a picture of the land across from my mother's. It is covered with cedars and no upkeep for years.

After I fed the livestock this morning in the heavy fog. I ran in and got the camera so I could catch some of the pictures in the fog. This is a picture of the old M.

Some of the sheep went out to the waterer and to the pasture in the fog.

About noon the sun broke through and the sky turned the most beautiful blue and the trees are covered with the frost from the heavy fog that blanketed us since last night with the cold temps in the teens.

A picture taken in our front yard . It is a winter wonderland.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Years!

2010-12-24T16:12:00.001-06:00

I want to wish everyone a very Merry Christmas. I pray that your home is warm, your cabinets are full, your bodies are healthy and that love and joy fill your home.

Our old farmhouse is warm and cozy. I have been wrapping the last minute Christmas gifts for tomorrow. If you could come for a visit, we would make a batch of hot cocoa and top each cup with whip cream and we would sit and visit and sip on the hot cocoa and stir it with a peppermint stick and munch on all the goodies. We might even knit or spin or weave.
I am so blessed to know the Grace of God and have the faith that Jesus was born and died for a sinner like me. I feel so humble and blessed this time of year.
Thank you for sharing our simple lives on the farm. I appreciate your comments and I in turn enjoy visiting your blogs. I am also thankful for all the friendships that I now have resulting from this blog and many from others that love fiber.

New yarn swift and jumbo ball winder

2010-12-20T22:45:00.001-06:00

May you, and all those you love, be so blessed and fortunate to be surrounded by people who will help you get untangled from the things that are binding you.

And, may you always know the joy of giving and receiving gratitude.

I ordered a new jumbo yarn ball winder and it came in the post on Saturday.

Danny ordered me a large yarn swift for part of my Christmas present. It is a heavy duty one like they have in yarn shops. My old one was the type that laid on the table with dowells pointing up and it has lasted me many years but I have had a good swift on my wish list for a long time....Danny is such a good hubby.

some very bright wool yarn...Trying to decide what I shall might with it. The pictures behind are of my two oldest grandchildren several years ago.

Quiet reflections of Christmas

2010-12-20T20:39:00.001-06:00

We wish you all a very Merry Christmas!

We may even have a white Christmas...chances are slim for us in North Central Missoutri. We have chances for dizzle tonight but the temps are above freezing.

I decided since the girls and their families were here over thanksgiving holiday that I won't be using the good dishes this year at Christmas but maybe I should just get them out and wash and shine them up. I love the look of clean shining glass.

This is my new box that I got last week end while in the city. I thought it would go well with my colors in the DR and the wingback chairs...had to have it. I can now hide another in progress project.

My cozy little corner of the world. I purchased a new DVD of Jackie Evancho. I read and listen to Jackie...what a relaxing treat!
I have refused to let the season control me this year. I have learned to say...Sorry, No Thank You..

I believe Jesus is the reason for Christmas. But people all over the world have celebrated with many different traditions at Christmas and we do put up a Christmas tree and dig out the old ornaments but I don't worship Santa or the tree. I make and buy gifts to give to family and friends. I enjoy listening to Christmas music, sending and receiving Christmas cards, making the sweet treats, and just letting the Christmas season warm and renew my heart for another year. I think it is another excuse to give to others. A time to put those that need before my own wants. A time to gather with family and friends.

I love to eat a good meal at the formal dining table with the good dishes and then have a beautiful sweet desert with a cup of hot aromatic coffee.

I treated myself to Jan Brett's story book. I love to look at her beautiful illustrations. (handmade mittens, knitting, ) Nana will have a new story book to read to my grandchildren.
We pray that everyone all over the world has a warm bed to sleep in, food in their pantry, a warm secure home, good health, and family and friends to share their food and home. May we all have peace and joy this Christmas.
God Bless.

2010-12-14T09:05:00.004-06:00

I have received several request for the round dishcloth pattern. I use the pattern located at this site:
patternhttp://www.mielkesfarm.com/dishclth.htm.

Decorating Christmas Raffle Pumkin Bread Jars

2010-12-13T19:52:00.000-06:00

The Pumkin Bread jars that I showed you yesterday got dressed up for the School Christmas program and raffle tomorrow night.
I ran ribbon through two of my round knitted cotton dishcloths that I knit on while in the waiting room or while traveling and covered the top of the jars and then I added a note explaining to remove the jar covers and remove the ribbon for 2 cotton dishcloths to the back of the Christmas tags that I made.

This is the other side of the jars in the wire basket with a tag and the recipe for the Pumkin bread. This way the person who wins this raffle will know what ingredients are in the Pumkin bread.
Just turn this tag over and there is the recipe.

I enjoy using my inks and decorating my gift tags.

People bring in raffle items and purchase raffle tickets from the students and the proceeds helps the student to be able to go on a field trip in the Spring.
I hope that the person that wins my item likes it!

Thirteen Days till Christmas

2010-12-12T16:20:00.003-06:00

Merry Christmas everyone! I wish you could have been with me in my little cozy kitchen yesterday while I was baking. The temps were dropping and the wind was howling outside so it was a perfect day to be in the kitchen. We could have had a cup of hot tea or coffee and sampled the goodies as they came out of the oven...Danny was willing to help.
Danny's mother always baked him a German Chocolate cake from scratch for his birthday. I have continued the tradition since I married him in 1970. The recipe that I use is inside the box of Baker's German Sweet Chocolate Bar. It calls for 4 eggs in the cake and another 4 egg yolks in the icing. This is not a low cal, cheap cake for sure but it is so gooooood! It has almost a whole pound of butter, a whole package of coconut, cup of chopped pecans. I have been having trouble with my oven not being level and Danny pulled my electric range out this week and leveled it but the cake still was not level, oh well, it eats the same and Danny was happy with it. Just not as pretty as I like them to look.

I also baked up Pumkin Bread in these little loaf pans that I came across recently. I will wrap them in clear celo and attach a bow and give to the mailman and others on our list.

I made a very large batch of fudge. My recipe is very simple and always turns out good. I is never grainy.
1 pkg of milk chocolate chips
1 pkg of semi sweet chocolate chips
Melt in the microwave at 1 minute intervals and take out and stir until the chips are melted.
Stir in a can of sweetened condense milk and 1 container of marshmellow cream
stir and pour into a buttered pan, and let cool. Add nuts if you like
You are done. This always went over well with my children.

These are jars of pumkin bread that bakes in the wide mouth jars. Put the seals on them when you take them out of the oven and they will seal. Let cool and store any extras in the deep freeze. These jars are nice to have on hand in case you have company drop in on you. Just open the jar and slide out of the jar, slice and microwave about 30 sec and top with cream cheese frosting.
I will decorate these jars and put on tags and give as gifts. I found the wire basket at Walmart.
I have made this pumkin bread recipe many falls when I was using all the pumkins we grew in the garden and the black walnuts that we picked up and picked out the meats.

Little loaves of pumkin bread.
Hope you have endured the cold this week end.
Happy preparations for the Christmas!

Preparing for Christmas

2010-12-10T09:45:00.000-06:00

This weekend I plan to prepare for Christmas. I plan to fill the house with sweet warm fragrants with my baking and making Christmas candy. I will try to get some pictures and recipes up on the blog Sunday.

I am so excited!!! Jane from the wool processor in Illinois emailed me and they are starting to work on my wool. I can not wait to open that box of wool yarn and hopefully some pencil roving. I sent them 5 or 6 fleeces from my flock so I can see what they can do with the wool from my flock, the BFL/Shetland crosses and if all goes well, I plan to send them lots of Spinning C fiber next Spring. Several spinners have spoke for fleeces already but I know I will have several pounds of wool to ship to them.

Praying that everyone has a very happy weekend and that we all never forget the reason for the season.

2010-12-06T14:22:00.000-06:00