First of all, finished socks! This is the second complete pair I have knit (I am currently working on the first socks of two other pair). The feet belong to our son, Nicholas, who is also the owner of the socks. I think he likes the socks, but is not too fond of Mom interrupting video game time (thus the cords draped across the floor under the feet) by insisting that I take a picture of his feet. They are Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Liberty colorway.
The weather here has been mostly gorgeous, although it is now a bit cooler. Nighttime temperatures now getting down at or near freezing. A good time of the year to spend time out with the sheep - it's not hot and sticky, no mosquitoes, no flies. And the sheep are much happier in the cooler weather. They are, after all, wearing wool coats! Here is our one Jacob ewe, Florence, modelling her wool coat for you.
And a final, parting shot of fall here on the farm. The sumac trees are a nuisance - no matter how often you hack away at them, try to kill them, they just keep spreading. But they are pretty in the fall. This is what we see when we visit our Shetland ewes in the front pasture.
I know, I know - it has been almost a MONTH since my last post. If any of you are still actually reading this, thank you for your patience! I do actually have some sort of an excuse. The week after the festival, I decided to take it easy - relax a bit after the weekend, get used to the new junior high schedule - good excuses for being totally lazy. The following Monday, I went over to the hospital for some routine tests, came home and was having a cup of coffee with Larry, when I started feeling ill. After about four hours of really not feeling good, we decided to go off to the emergency room (two visits to the same hospital in one day is WAY too many for me). I knew from experience what it was before we got there - a kidney stone - but this way I got the official word from the ER doc - only one - and they gave me some nice pain killers. But, by the time we got home, it was 11:00 pm or so. The next couple of days I laid about in agony. And to top it all off, by the time I had recovered from that, I got the cold that Larry and Nicholas had been suffering from, so I basically lost a week. Then Mom and Dad had family visiting from out west, so time was spent socializing with them - well, hopefully the stone has passed (I don't have any physical evidence of that), my cold is gone and the family has returned to Washington. Now I can concentrate on farm stuff again and maybe blog more often (but don't hold your breath between posts!). So, here we go --- Well, even though Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival was about a month ago, I still have these nice pictures to share with you (and no new pictures), so that's what you're going to get. First off, the basket of roving and yarn that we included in our farm display, which you all saw on the last post. This is some of the roving we offer for sale, in addition to some of the yarn I spun from various fleeces.
Next, the basket that we donated to the silent auction, a "Coopworth Sock Kit", which contained two ounces of medium brown Coopworth roving, two ounces of dark brown Coopworth roving and some knitting needles. Thank you to all of you who bid on this. I was afraid no one would want it and I would have to have my mom bid on it, just to avoid being embarrassed if it was still sitting there after the auction was over!
Next, a picture of my purchases for the weekend. I wanted much more, but tried to limit my spending. I got my annual apparel - this year one of the green t-shirts (the other choice was brown and I just do not look all that good in brown). Also, a sheep calender for 2009, a garden flag (I have been looking for a garden flag with a sheep on it for years - I've got one with a rooster - now I have a sheep!), some extra bobbins for my Babe Production wheel and some gorgeous sock yarn - Toe Jamz - I don't think they have a web site. The t-shirt, flag and calender are from Ewesful Gifts - I'm a regular customer.
A closer shot of the sock yarn - I got two skeins of the Packer colors - glad I bought those on Friday - when I went past their booth later in the weekend, they were sold out! The blue/green mix will become socks for me, most likely. The Packer socks will be gifts.
Well, it was a fun, fun weekend - as always. Only 11 months to wait now until next year. Again, it will be the weekend after Labor Day, so mark your calenders!
I will leave you with a final shot of the last monarch butterfly that I hatched on the kitchen counter. This pic was also taken a while ago, but I took it with the idea of posting it on the blog, so here you go - - -
The last one for this year, as fall is upon us. They are talking about patchy frost this weekend. Time to start thinking about which herbs to harvest and dry and which to try to bring into the house and make houseplants of them. I think the pot of mint I may put into the barn over the winter - it is a perennial and hardy, but since it is in a pot, the barn may offer it a bit more protection. The basil I will dry, as I just used up the last of last year's dried basil in the spaghetti sauce last night. Soon the lambs will go to market and the fall breeding groups will be put together. Yep, fall on the farm!
The weather here has been mostly gorgeous, although it is now a bit cooler. Nighttime temperatures now getting down at or near freezing. A good time of the year to spend time out with the sheep - it's not hot and sticky, no mosquitoes, no flies. And the sheep are much happier in the cooler weather. They are, after all, wearing wool coats! Here is our one Jacob ewe, Florence, modelling her wool coat for you.
And a final, parting shot of fall here on the farm. The sumac trees are a nuisance - no matter how often you hack away at them, try to kill them, they just keep spreading. But they are pretty in the fall. This is what we see when we visit our Shetland ewes in the front pasture.
