My First Post!

OK, I am finally giving in and becoming a "blogger". Not that I think there is anything wrong with blogging. In fact, I read several others' blogs and thoroughly enjoy it. But I have been putting this day off for fear that I will not be disciplined enough to post regularly. And if anyone should actually read my blog, I would not want them to walk away disappointed when they find nothing new to read.

First of all, let me introduce myself. My name is Lael and, along with my husband, Larry, and our wonderful son, Nicholas, live on the family farm in Johnson Creek, Wisconsin. The farm has been in the family since the 1950's. We raise sheep - Shetlands, Polypays, Coopworths and assorted other breeds and crossbreeds. We have some chickens and rabbits. And a black lab mix, Kipper and three cats, Watson, Fuzzball and Boo. We have over 100 sheep, which we raise for both meat and fiber and it is my job to stay home and take care of them on a day-to-day basis. You can see more of our farm at our website, www.maplewoodnorth.com.

Part of the reason that I have begun blogging now, is I have been participating in the Tour de Fleece. My goal for this year is to reduce my stash. And to try to spin a little bit every day (well, almost every day. Katherine, the organizer, assures me that we are allowed rest days, just as the cyclists are!). I started with this:

This is the result of a roving that I received in a fiber exchange, a soft blend of Cormo, silk, bamboo and mohair. My photography skills are limited, but it is a blend of purples, blues and greens and reminds me of Monet's "Waterlilies". I'm thinking it may grow up to be a scarf. I have ended up with about 330 yards of yarn, about 14-16 WPI.

My second stash-busting effort is a cloud of a mostly turquoise blend from Quail Hill Carding in "Caribbean Blue" which I picked up at last fall's Spin-In. I'm more than half way through it, but haven't decided yet what it might become.



Now I will try to post this. If it works, I will be back to blog another day. (I had some problems with the pictures - getting them to sit in the correct spots on this post - we'll see what it looks like after posting - please bear with me as I work out the kinks!) Hopefully, I will entertain you and inform you about life here on the farm, my spinning and knitting adventures and life in general. Thank you for reading!