Serenity Farms

The Joyful Colors of Winter

2012-01-29T06:13:00.001-05:00

Just outside my front door, in my little garden space, this lovely variegated Euonymous gives me joy all seasons of the year - but just look at its pink tinged beauty in the snow!

In the front room of our little house I'm lucky to have three huge windows. Really, these are BIG windows, especially for such an old and small house! The space once served as a dining room and living room, with an archway in the middle, the fireplace at the far end and a door to the front yard on one side. We always eat at the kitchen table, so in the time that I've lived here it has never been a dining room. My desk and computer sit between two of these windows and from my seat there I can watch the sun rise and the moon set....

I'm usually there early morning or late night, and sometimes that rosy glow draws me outdoors for a better view of God's glory ~

The picket fence has seen better days!

A celery plant that I missed picking is poking its way through the snow.

And a variegated sage plant has some leaves holding on...

If I venture farther away from the house, I think the red berries on the ornamental crabapple tree are very pretty. So is the bright blue January sky....

That blob in the background is actually a beautiful rock, brought up from the field

Beautiful blue January sky and puffy white clouds

Moon setting in the west...

And of course, what could be more joyful than a snapping good fire to warm our hands and our hearts?

What colors are bringing you joy this winter?

Chocolate for Birthdays

2012-01-28T12:50:00.001-05:00

Chocolate colored sheep that is!

This is "Godiva", one of our young ewes named for her rich chocolate color. I'm sharing her picture in honor of my friend Joanne's birthday. We both had birthdays last week and she got to have Godiva Chocolate cheesecake for hers, so of course I had to mention Godiva the sheep to her...So here you go, my friend!

Godiva is not a Corriedale. She is a registered CVM sheep from my friend Bonnie at Sheepy Thyme Farm. She'll be two years old in March and should be expecting her first lamb - I can't wait! She's bred to Derek, a grey, who always gives us interesting colors and fine fleeces on his lambs. Godiva's father was moorit (red) and her mother was white so with all those colorful factors combined I'm hoping for something really special. Actually, I'm hoping for a moorit type color!

So there you go, chocolate and sheep...a very fine thing for a birthday post I think. Oh and speaking of lambs, we have one girl "making bag" (her udder is starting to fill with milk as her time for lambing gets close). According to my notes, she should be due around the 5th of February. It's our little "Bree" - one of the prettiest sheep on the farm. Here's a picture of her and one of her lambs from a few years ago ~

She nearly always passes on that white stripe on the face of her lambs.

Spinning, Sparkles and Snow

2012-01-14T04:37:00.004-05:00

I was going to write a blog post about some things we're working on around the farm, but then I was distracted by some spinning and knitting and the lovely snow.

How many inches fell where you are? We only have about 2.5 inches but its very pretty. It seems to have stopped for the day, but the wind is blowing things around out there.

Spinning....spinning batts....spinning challenges. I was poking around in the fiber stash the other day and came across some pretty batts I'd carded last year at a friends house. There wasn't alot, just a few ounces, but it was so pretty and so soft. Corriedale, of course, both natural and dyed along with angora and just a bit of "twinkle".

Then it just so happened that the lovely group at Ennea Collective mentioned a spinning challenge for 2012, and the first of those was spinning batts. Well, it was just meant to be that I finish spinning these up, don't you think? That's exactly what I did, and I loved every single minute of it. Clean, soft, well prepared fiber, watching the colors glow and change as they slid through my hands and onto the wheel. Sigh...delightful! Let me show you a little bit of what I did to spin ~

In the picture above, you are actually seeing two batts but each has been divided in half giving me four lengths of fiber to spin. In other words, sections one and three are from one batt and sections two and four are from another. I did this for two reasons. First to give me a more manageable amount of fiber to draft and spin and second so that I could blend the colors a bit more on the wheel. I think you can see pretty clearly in the photo that I had more of the dyed wool in one batt than I did the other! I spun one bobbin full in the sequence above - sections 1,2, 3 then 4. I spun a second bobbin in the order of 2, 3, 4 then 1. And then I plied them together. Is that clear as mud? LOL...do you even care ((grin)) Was I overthinking the process? Maybe, but I like the end results, pictured below ~

About 364 yards, 2-ply, both spun and plied on my Louet S-17, medium whorl. This might become mittens or a hat or a cowl, not sure yet. Or maybe the Windchaser Shawl by Lori Law, from the same issue of Ennea. I could spin some solid grey for the border. Hmmm...my yarn is a little heavier than fingering, more a sport weight, so I may not have enough. But wouldn't that be pretty?

This was such a happy project for me, thanks Ennea crew for suggesting spinning batts!

Here's another happy project, a knitting one. At my LYS, Sip 'n Knit, we're knitting socks. This is actually a pattern that I wrote up called Sip 'n Sock. It's simple, really, just a basic sock with a coffee cup motif. I wanted to do a shop sample out of a soft squishy yarn and we had been having those dreary grey days, so I grabbed two hanks of Cascade 128. How's this for a bright sock, LOL! I shouldn't lose these, should I? The red is some of my yarn, leftovers from making mittens. Looking at it now, I kind of wish I would have made the heel red as well. I need to hurry up and finish the second sock so I'll have those to wear around the house now that the temperature has dropped into the teens!

Finally, here's what's next on the spinning wheel, another "finish-up" project of just four ounces:

This was named "Ugly Duck" by its producer, but I don't think its ugly at all! Unique maybe ;) Anyway, I came across this the other day, too, fiber I received in a swap and thought I just need to finish spinning it as well. I'm pretty sure its going to remain a single. And I think I need to check that fiber stash more often!

I'm looking forward to spinning at Sip 'n Knit on Saturday. Any of you reading near Ithaca Michigan, feel free to join us! We'll be there from 10 am till about 2 pm.

Retro Recipes

2012-01-04T05:22:00.000-05:00

I'd love to pretend and have you all think that we only eat super healthy, all produced here on the farm, good for you meals. I would love it if you thought that ;) Probably even better if it were true. And while it is true most of the time, there are also those times when I just opt for fast food, deli food or comfort foods from my memories growing up.

These simple, satisfying recipes are throwbacks to my childhood. My Mom was an excellent cook....I mean to tell you, she was really good! She cooked at home. But in that odd, tilted way that life has because she was such a good cook and because we ate mostly at home we always thought tv-dinners and fast food were treats! And maybe that's okay - it would be a lot better if we all thought good home cooking was "the norm" and these others were "treats" to enjoy only occasionally, instead of the other way around!

Thursdays were Dad's payday and Mom's grocery shopping days. I remember the routine - go to town, pick up Dad's check and go grocery shopping. By the time there were five of us kids ages 10 and under, it got to be a rotational thing to be able to be the child who went to the store with Mom. Anyway, I'm wandering here....what I wanted to do was share two recipes with you that are from that era for me. You might laugh, but as kids one of our favorite tv-dinners was "Franks and Beans" LOL! It came in the little oven safe packet with two little hot-dogs in a rich brown baked bean mixture with a little piece of cornbread and (I think) chocolate pudding for desert. Whew, no color in that menu and probably not much nutrition either! But we loved it.

So here is a recipe that recreates that taste treat from long ago (okay, its probably from 30 or 40 years ago for me). Really, you've got to try this, it's so good! Unless of course, you are one of my healthy-choice friends who never eats processed meats and store bought beans - that's okay, just skip over this recipe then.

FRANKS AND BEANS

2 (16-oz) cans baked beans (use the most common baked bean you can find for this – in our area the brand name will usually start with a “C” or a “V” and is a kind of tomato-ey base)
1 large onion, chopped – about one cup
2/3 cup unsulphured molasses
2/3 cup catsup
8 frankfurters, cut diagonally into pieces (3 or 4 pieces per frank is good)

Butter the inside of your crockpot. Mix all of the ingredients together in the crock, making sure the franks are pushed down into the beans. Cook on low setting for 3 or 4 hours, or till mixture is heated through and nice and thick.

To be true to our tv-dinner memories, I make a nice moist and dense cornbread to serve with this. This is one of those lick-your-spoon comfort dishes to me. It can also be made in the oven – set at 300 to 325 degrees, combine the ingredients in a well greased casserole dish and bake for one hour and a half, to two hours.

Here is another one, only this comes more from my junior and senior high school Home Economics class. I loved Home-Ec class!!! I still remember the Home-Ec room with its sets of well supplied kitchens (our class room had four different, complete kitchens) As I mentioned earlier, my Mom was a great cook and people often say to me "you must have learned to cook from your mom" Not so. I was/am a very messy child. My Mom was extremely, obsessively neat and clean and orderly. I think I really distressed her! So no, I was not allowed to cook with her. Maybe I learned some things just from being in the same household? I don't know, but I do know that I loved those cooking lessons in Home-Ec. We didn't just learn to cook, we learned nutrion and menu-planning and grocery shopping.

Okay, I'm wandering down memory lane again, sorry! I really just meant to share this second recipe with you from Home-Ec class. It wasn't one of the healthy recipes we learned, it was a home made "fast food" of the day, one that was popular with kids. It seemed like everyone made this occasionally at that time. Now days, I know a lot of you don't eat canned tuna and if that is the case, this is another recipe you just want to skip over. But oh my, it makes my stomach rumble just to think about it ;)

TOAST and TUNA CASSEROLE

8 slices bread, toasted (rye bread is really, really good in this dish!)
1 (6 ½-oz can) tuna, drained
1 small onion, chopped
¼ cup mayonnaise
4 slices American cheese (I prefer to use a nice slice of real cheddar)
Canned peas, drained (use your personal preference here – I use about half the can, but you can use the whole thing if you like)
1 can (10 ¾ oz) cream of mushroom soup
¼ cup milk

Arrange 4 slices of the toast in an ungreased baking dish. Mix tuna, onion and mayo; spread over the toast. Top each slice toast with 1 slice of cheese; place remaining slices of toast on top.

Mix the rest of the ingredients together and pour over all. Sprinkle with pepper. Cook, uncovered, at 350 degrees until hot and bubbly, 25 to 30 minutes.

Even better than the tuna-melts we had as kids! The original recipe called for broccoli rather than peas, but to me peas just go hand in hand with tuna. I have even added chopped hard boiled eggs and that's good, too. What to eat as a side dish to this meal? Good ol' salty potato chips! LOL...hey, we are going unhealthy here, we might as well go all the way. And then wash it down with a big glass of super cold white milk (now that IS healthy!)

Okay, so now we have enjoyed our 1960's throwback foods, we will return to having a farm raised, free range chicken baked with garden produced garlic for supper tonight along with redskin potatoes from my brothers garden and frozen corn from the neighbors garden. Healthy and delicious and local or home raised.

But I still lick the spoon on those other two retro recipes ((grin)). Do you have a favorite?

Still Looking For Snow

2012-01-02T07:38:00.000-05:00

January 2011 Pasture, no snow

Happy 2012, Everyone! Do you know what I keep thinking about? That this year (this month actually), I will turn 53 years old. LOL, that's not as bad as it sounds because I kept thinking I already was 53 ((grin)) - I guess I "gained" a year!

It's January 2nd already and still no snow for us, unless you count the two times snow fell but we got less than an inch.

We've had a lot of rain and we're thankful for the moisture. But all of this wet and warm winter weather is truthfully hard on livestock. Its hard to keep the barns clean and dry, the lanes (pathways the sheep use to go back and forth to pasture) are rutted and muddy and difficult. I'm lucky that our sheep are able to chose whether they want to be in or out of the barn and you might be surprised to learn that they will stay outdoors on bitterly cold and snowy days, but tend to stay indoors when it's windy and rainy. I was seriously thinking about going ahead and shearing last month, and I kinda wish I would have gotten that done. The picture above was taken on January 4th, 2011. Here is one taken yesterday, January 1, 2012:

Pasture, January 2012

Notice anything similar? Right, no snow (that and the section of fence boards missing). Am I the only one who thought we had a lot more snow last year? Well, we did have but obviously not at the beginning of the year!

Over the weekend, weather men were predicting a terrible storm for us and we prepared accordingly. We were under a winter storm advisory. I spent the morning closing up barn windows, nailing them down (jobs we usually do around the first of November!) I had some small pieces of equipment in the big barn here that needed to go into "storage" at the Burnham barn, so I took care of that. I changed some water tanks from the large metal stock tanks that freeze easily to the heavy black ones that are easier to break ice out of. I bedded all of the animals with fresh straw - the chickens; the horse in his three-sided shed; the boy sheep in their lean-to and of course the ewes (expectant mamas and juevinile yearling girls) When I finished up night chores I locked the barn doors up tight and came to the house, listening to the wind howling in the top of the pine trees. In the house, I made sure that both Bill and I were freshly showered and all of the laundry was done up. I drew extra water and made sure the oil lamps were ready to go.

We got nothing. But boy, I felt good being all prepared! There is probably a lesson in that, somewhere.

Still, its a long way till spring and I'm sure we will still see snow. Just take a look at a few more pictures from 2011, taken in February ~

Very pretty and it sure cleans things up, doesn't it? But, can I tell you a secret? Other than the sloppy barnyards, I haven't minded not having to wade through snow that reaches my knees to get to the barn or try to keep the wheelchair ramp and driveway clear of ice and snow so that I can get Bill safely to the van when we need to get out.

Well, no matter where you are at...whether you have snow or winter rains or if it is warm where you are....no matter what, I pray that January 2012 is giving you the chance to look forward from the day and that it will be a good year, come what may!

A Belated Christmas Gift

2011-12-27T15:00:00.001-05:00

SNOW!

It's wet and it's heavy and it's melting nearly as fast as it's falling, but still - it's SNOW!

We Are The Shepherds...

2011-12-26T08:14:00.000-05:00

So here is the stable and there is the manger,
The new Saviour sleeps on his first earthly night
The wise men brought riches, but we brought a candle
It's all that we have but it gives a good light

We are the shepherds, we walked cross the mountains
We left our flocks when the new star appeared
Oh the beautiful singin' of heavenly choir
We had to come see him, we had to come here!

We beg you forgive us for such a small offering
But our sheep are all out there with wolves in the night
We bring you this candle - it's all we have with us
But with it the new Saviour has his first light.

We are the shepherds...
We thank Thee kind Joseph for bidding us enter
Please take our gift for the new babe of thine
'Tis only one candle, but it is our symbol
Of how we believe that his great life will shine

We are the shepherds...

Merry Christmas!

You know, I don't think there is a farmer across this whole country (and probably the world) that doesn't say the same thing on Christmas Eve if they have livestock to care for..."I fed the animals a little more and spent a few extra minutes in the barn (stable) with them tonight." I did.

I love the song I opened this post with (by Johnny Cash) - I have listened to it over and over for the past week or so. I wish I had a beautiful picture of my own flock laying peacefully out in their pasture, but I don't so you will just have to imagine it ;)

I hope it has been a peaceful Christmas for you and your family and if you know Jesus, then it should have been. If you don't know Him, if you chose to ignore Him and pretend that He isn't the reason there is a Christmas then I hope you did not have peace - I pray that you had a yearning so strong for something, for Him, that you need to seek until you find Him! Give God a chance in your life, why not?

I hear a lot of religious people shouting today about how the world is changing and trying to take God out of our day to day lives. I was thinking, though, when I was in the barn on Christmas Eve - how is that different from the night Jesus was born? Who paid attention? People on that night were running around, going from place to place to follow the dictates of their laws at the time and probably complaining or celebrating, depending on their circumstances. Joseph and Mary were probably looked down on, as they searched for a place to spend the night. Maybe someone in line behind Joseph at the hotel/inn thought "foolish man should have planned for his trip better and made reservations". An evil ruler wanted to destroy even the possibility of a threat to his power, the baby born that night. Did that bright light in the sky (the star) shine only to the shepherds or is it just that out there in the country, living close to the land, they were the only ones who took the time to look? And the Wise Men who traveled so far to bring gifts - do they represent the few level heads we might have still have in high places of this world, who sought peace in the most unlikely of places?

I don't know - I'm rambling, I guess ;) But its what I was thinking about on Christmas. It rushed by so fast, we hardly noticed it.

Is that what it was like on the night Jesus was born?

Five Years and More

2011-12-15T06:17:00.001-05:00

Excuse the fuzziness of this picture of a special little hand - it might be a misty-eyed Grandma's reflection of how fast time flies by. Today our youngest grandson turns five years old, and in just a few more days - on Christmas day in fact - our oldest grandson turns thirteen! Is it just me, or does it seem like the grandchildrens birthdays go by faster than the childrens did?

Happy Birthday, Little E!!! We'll celebrate this morning with a birthday breakfast and tonight with a preschool Christmas pagent. He has been belting out songs for weeks now, his favorite being "Go Tell It On The Mountain".

Five years old and jumping into life with both feet! Blessed days ~

Things Are Cooking Again!

2011-12-14T08:16:00.001-05:00

And no, I'm not talking about Christmas cooking - although there is plenty of that going around this time of year. What I'm talking about is the wood cookstove at the Round House!!! Take a look ~

On Monday this week, my Dad and one of our friends (Vern) came to visit and to work - the goal was to get both the wood heating stove and the wood cook stove working in the Round House. They accomplished both jobs and in very good order. We are soooo excited!!!

Can you say warm and toasty?

They checked all of the stove pipe and the chimney outside - everything was in great shape even though it hadn't been used in years. You can see from the photos that the cookstove especially is in need of a very good clean up, but then I am anxious to give it a try. I'm hoping my friend Angie might offer some suggestions ;)

While they were here they also did some repair work on the cabin door, and looked at the best way to build a functional ramp on the building so that Bill (and others with disabilities) will be able to get in to this wonderful and historical place. It will be wheelchair accessible! This is such an exciting prospect for all of us.

Just wanted to check in with this latest news. I'll leave you with more from around the Round House....Enjoy!

Iron bedstead (above) and wide plank floors. More of those plank floors sitting beneath an antique spinning wheel and the current porch entrance (below). You can see where the door needed repair, something that has now been done.

I'm so excited about the possibility of future Wool Workshops and Spinning-in-the-Round-House days as well as lots of other fun things. I'm especially looking forward to the first time that Bill is able to make it back to this special place that he has been caretaker of for so long.

I'll end this post with a final picture from outside the building, showing the huge oak tree that sits next to it on the northeast side. On the south and west it is sheltered by pine trees.

What do you think? Will you be able to come for a visit some time? We sure hope so - the fire is on and the coffee will be perking!

Home Is Usually The Best Place

2011-12-05T08:13:00.006-05:00

I was supposed to go away on Saturday, a long day trip to visit another Corriedale breeder and I was really excited, really looking forward to a day of sheep and sheep talk! But the need to care for family and farm right here at home prevented me from making the trip. As it turned out, that was probably best as the weather was "iffy" all day alternating between a kind of freezing drizzle to downright rain. I can make the trip another day, maybe in the spring.

Staying home, I got a lot of work done around the house! The back room really needed a scrub down and it got one - walls, door (all those little fingerprints and scuff marks) and most of all the floor. This is where we come into the house from the barn and it gets all the traffic. Rugs were washed, old boots and shoes sorted through (do I really need to keep three different pairs of old sneakers to wear to the barn and garden? Especially when two of the three have holes in them? Out they go!) And then I did an on-my-hands-and-knees-with-a-brush scrub of the floor. Probably no one else but me notices, but it's still a good feeling. Then I wiped down the washer and dryer inside and out. Hmmm, I think this room needs a fresh coat of paint before spring!

The picture at the opening of this post is of a homespun, handknit shawl I finished recently. It's residing on the back of my favorite chair near the window and the fireplace. Saturday would have been a good day for a fire in the fireplace, but we're having some work done on both our chimney and the fireplace itself so that isn't quite ready. We hope it will be done before Christmas. It was gloomy all weekend, and I was very content to be at home after all! The light was so low all day, even with a lamp on, that the picture of the shawl turned out to be very dim and "gauzy" but I like how it looks anyway ;)

I continue to turn out mittens like a mad-woman and am having a blast doing it!

Today I'm going to have to give in and work in the mud and rain to move some sheep. I sure hope the ground freezes up and it dries out a bit before we finally do get that snow.

Even washing machines need a scrub down every now and then - here is mine, sparkly clean!

At the end of the day, it was a good feeling to have some undercover but necessary work done and have some gasoline saved. Bill and I really enjoyed the thick and creamy homemade Potato Soup I had on the stove (potato soup loaded with cheese and onions and carrots and spicy sausage, yummy!). Still, I really would have liked to have seen those sheep ;)

I Did Say Yarn For Mittens...

2011-11-30T13:08:00.002-05:00

I titled my last post "yarn for mittens" and then I only showed you the yarn! Well, here's more of the story...

Yesterday my daughter and I planned to move some sheep - weanling ewe lambs that we aren't breeding this fall to a different pasture where they will spend the winter. Two younger ewes and one older ewe need to go in with the ram (I didn't want them lambing so early next year, so have held off putting them in to be bred). The weather did not cooperate ~

Rain, wind and ice is no kind of weather to be working the livestock and moving them from one location to another. Especially when you need to be working around a breeding ram - even though we have good tempered rams, sometimes you have to be quick on your feet!

This is Derek, a ram. Nothing moves in the pasture near his girls that he misses! See the apples on the ground? The sheep love them ;)

So, we put that plan on hold and hunkered down in the swirling storm. I could have been cleaning house or something, but decided to work on mittens and sorting stash yarn and fibers instead (okay, I did cook and do dishes and numerous loads of laundry) We didn't get the quantity of snow that our neighbors to the south did (Renee at Tail Spin Farm is only 20 miles south of us and she says they have about 8 inches!!!), probably only an inch here but it was very slippery. And cold! Cold enough that wool mittens are the best thing around and much needed.

The first pair finished are already being put to good use as you can see! Two little farm boys have put in their requests, and I'm also working on a pair of black ones for a big brother and a pair of lavender-pink for a bright eyed little girl. I love knitting childrens mittens, they take no time at all.

Hmmm....I'm thinking some matching wool caps and socks might be in order, too. You know, it's nearly impossible to find tall, warm, wool socks for children unless you make them yourself. Something to fit inside chore boots and look like Grandpa's hunting socks....

Come to think of it, I could use some new chore mittens myself. And Grandpa needs new socks, too. Let that winter weather blow all it wants to, there is knitting to be done!!! I guess we'll have to move the sheep another day ~ and we'll have wool socks and hats and mittens to do the job warmly ;)

Note: All of the mittens shown in this post were produced completely here at Serenity Farms from wool grown by our Corriedale sheep, then spun, dyed and knit by the shepherd (that would be me). There is a special satisfaction in that, I must admit!

Yarn for mittens

2011-11-28T06:48:00.004-05:00

A result of some of the yarn dyeing I did last week, posing for a picture on the Round House steps. Spruce, Plum, Red and of course the white is natural.

I had fun having the dye pots out again, after long neglect! Nothing fancy or involved, just single colors on white and overdyed on brown. The wool is all from our Corriedale sheep, as you've probably guessed ;)

And best of all, knitting with these yarns has already begun!

It's Always Something

2011-11-23T07:45:00.001-05:00

First I wanted to say hello and Welcome to all of you who are new visitors to the farm (well, to the blog anyway!) who found us through Maple Valley Farms - it's great to have you here and I hope you can stay for a cup of coffee or tea and a visit with the sheep and the family ;) But I don't want to forget old friends and followers, too. Grab your mug out of the cupboard and let's catch up on farm news! You're going to have to follow me around the kitchen and to the barn, though. Life has been incredibly busy the past few weeks and shows no signs of slowing down. In my dreams, I write incredibly lovely and poetic and informative blog posts about sheep and spinning and knitting and cooking here at Serenity Farms. I share some of my daily visits with God and how He leads me through the day. Yes, in my dreams....

Well, while its true I have my daily visits and He leads me - more often than not He is the parent and I am the toddler who continually veers off path, grabbing at every bright and shiny penny that comes along to distract me ;( Sigh...does God ever tire of saying "No, no Cary, don't touch that - it's hot...It will burn you.... Don't run, you're going to fall down and hurt yourself...Come back over here and sit down for a minute"

Does that sound familiar to anyone else? I'm sure it does. And just when I think I have my days all planned out nice and neat, someone else's schedule changes and I'm at the mercy of it. I think I have things settled in the house and something happens that alters the course of the day. This morning I am feeling like that ship going up and down, and up and down, and up and down on the waves.

Dear God, I need that cup of coffee with You this morning...

Encouragement and endurance

2011-11-16T14:58:00.001-05:00

The sunlight streaming across our yard as I prepared to leave for my friends farm

God says, in His Word (Hebrews 12:1-3 NLV) "Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles and let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us. Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith, who for the joy set before Him endured the cross, scorning its shame, and sat down at the right hand of the throne of God. Consider Him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart"

I heard these words at church last week and it was like hearing them for the first time - they replayed in my head over and over again. And one of the things that I kept thinking of is that sometimes we need encouragement and confirmation from others when we are trying to "run the race". It has particularly been on my heart recently for other farm wives, mothers, grandmothers, daughters who sometimes face discouragement and opposition - especially those of us with small farms or farmsteads. I've been praying about it a lot!

Yesterday, I was able to spend some wonderful fellowship time with just such a farm woman. And even though we are fairly new friends, it seems like we have known each other forever in the things that we believe and love and care about. I came away so refreshed and encouraged, I will treasure this memory for many days to come and hope we will have many more!

Thank you, my friend, for the joy of good food; gracious and energetic children; special farm animals and just the gift of our time spent together! Yes, definitely you have to come this way next time ;) Oh and tell the girls that next time I am your way, I am bringing my pitchfork (lol...I have my own personal pitchfork, a long ago engagement present from my dear husband!)

A recently finished shawl, handspun from our Corriedale wool, warm as a friends hug!

Out Of Touch

2011-10-28T11:30:00.000-04:00

Bree and Collette, sisters, born one year apart

It's time for my computer to gets its annual check-up ;) So I will likely be out of touch for a few days till it gets back, but when I'm back on line there will be some sheep stories to share (thanks to those who have asked for them!) as well as a new soup recipe I'm sure.

We had a true, heavy killing frost last night - it coated everything with these lovely ice crystals! A strong signal of change and promise of winter months ahead. But truth be told, I prefer fall and winter!

A look across the ditch from our back yard

See you when we're back up and running ~

Soup, Sheep and Celebrities

2011-10-24T07:34:00.001-04:00

Thanks for all the positive comments on last weeks soup! I can't wait to share this second recipe with you - it was yummy, too, in an entirely different way. Here are a few of the key ingredients ~

I had intended to make a Pasta-Sausage stew type concoction, but after working outside a lot for the past few days both Bill and I were feeling a little cold, stuffy and achey. I didn't want something heavy and I was craving some super foods....enter kale, freshly dug garlic and bright healthy peppers to make a very quick, savory soup. This was literally ready to eat in thirty minutes, and about ten of that was preparing the vegetables.

SAUSAGE & KALE SOUP
A recipe adapted and tweaked from one I found in an older Better Homes & Garden magazine

8 ounces fully-cooked smoked sausage, sliced (I used a delicious German sausage from a local shop that is very dense and garlicky)

1 medium onion, chopped

Minced garlic (the recipe called for 1 Tbsp. I used the entire bulb of a small, freshly dug garlic from my neighbors garden. This is a warm and spicy garlic!)

4 to 6 cups chicken broth

3 medium potatoes, peeled and cut into chunks

About 8 cups fresh kale, stems removed and leaves chopped (this would be about 12 ounces)

Heat a pot over medium high heat (I added about a tablespoon of butter to cook the sausage in) Add sausage and saute for 5 minutes or till lightly browned. Stir in onion and garlic, saute another 3 minutes or till softened. Add broth and bring to a boil.

Stir in potatoes and kale. Simmer, partially covered, for 10-12 minutes or till potatoes are tender. Serve.

My tweaks ~ Well, as I mentioned above I used a lot more garlic than the recipe called for. Like I said, I was feeling a little like I was catching a cold ;) I added some diced red pepper along with the onions and garlic (and this was a small dice) At the end, I added a squeeze of fresh lemon juice to brighten it up (just cut a lemon in half and squeezed the juice in) and when I dished it up, I did a small grating of Parmesan cheese over it. Bill ate his soup with crackers, I ate mine with the crust of a rustic white bread I had made earlier in the week.

I didn't grow the kale, it came from a dear older lady who always has small treats like this at her booth at Farmers Market. She grows lots of fun varieties of things. The leaves were still small and tender, I didn't even have to remove the stems! We have had a few hard frosts (see the picture below), enough to help sweeten the kale. This soup was exactly what we needed and we made pigs of ourselves cleaning it all up. I hope Edna has some more kale at Farmers Market this week....

We have had about three heavy frosts now

I just included the shot above to show some of the heavy frost we have had and a few of the sheep out in it. The rams have been working pretty hard, hopefully getting ewes bred for lambs early next spring. I would like to start writing a bit more about the sheep side of things here at the farm, what we do and how we make decisions about them. Is that something you would like to read?

And finally, a word about celebrities - local celebrities that I happen to know! You have heard me speak of Angie and family at Maple Valley Off-Grid Farm right here in Michigan. They are living off-grid and sharing their love of the Lord, the land and their family. Well, they are going to be on the Anderson Cooper show!!! Yes, really ;) The show will air on Tuesday, October 25 on CBS. Locally it is on at 4 pm. If you have a chance to check it out, or look at their blog, be sure to do so. I hope they are well represented - they are really neat people.

A New Favorite Farm Soup

2011-10-21T06:47:00.000-04:00

Recently, my friend Kimberly (who has a terrific blog, by the way) proposed/challenged trying a new soup each week for a month. Well, I'd been planning to try making a winter squash type soup for some time so I decided this was just the "kick-in-pants" I needed to get started!

Vegetable peelings

Recipes for some type of squash soup are everywhere this time of year and most of them are very, very similar. If you do an online search and then read reviews of some of them, you'll often find comments about the soup being too bland and some suggest the use of potato adds to the bland-ness. Well, I think you probably need the potato to add to the thickness but what I did was to substitute a couple of carrots for some of the potato. I’m not sure how much difference it made, but it all tasted great! Then because squash speaks to me of needing autumn flavors, I just added the same set of spices that I put in my home made Tomato Soup. I read one recipe that used curry powder as the seasoning and I’ll bet that would be good, too. Something else I want to add to this next time is red pepper – either just sautéed along with the main vegetables or roasted and then added to it. For some reason, I was thinking adding sage to the seasoning would be great. You’ll notice that I added fresh pressed cider as part of the liquid and so that got me to thinking that you could include an apple or two to the sauté.

Really fresh pressed cider! My grandsons pressing apples they picked with Aunt Mo and Uncle Chris - they had a blast!

This recipe offers itself up to so many possibilites! I think you could add all different kinds of liquid to help flavor it. I did the apple cider but you could try some orange juice. And instead of maple syrup for flavoring, how about a nice rum? just a splash....

Anyway, this came out a huge success and my husband now has a new favorite soup! I have plenty more Butternut Squash and lots of other vegetables to throw in the mix, so I know it will be in our bowls many more times this winter. Here it is, our version of a classic ;)

SERENITY FARMS SQUASH SOUP
My own adaptation after studying several different blogs and recipes, using what I had on hand and seasonings we are partial to

1 whole garlic bulb, roasted

1 medium butternut sqush, peeled, seeded and cut into chunks*

1 large potato, peeled and diced (I used a freshly dug and scrubbed Kennebec potato from my brother’s garden. I’ll bet a Yukon Gold would be nice, too, or even a sweet potato)

2 large carrots, (also freshly dug and scrubbed from my brother’s garden!) cut into chunks

1 large yellow onion, chopped (you guessed it, this came from my brother’s garden, too)

1 stalk celery, including the leaves (this was from my garden)

3 Tbsp butter

3 cups water (I added half a cup cider to ours, so a total of 3 1/2 cups liquid…I happened to have on hand some that was freshly pressed by my brother-in-law and my grandsons. Yummy)

1 14-1/2 oz. Can chicken broth (I used the low sodium kind) I think you could substitute vegetable broth

1 ½ tsp kosher salt, ¼ tsp fresh ground pepper

½ tsp cinnamon
¼ tsp each ground allspice, ground nutmeg, ground cloves

½ cup cream, half and half or evaporated milk

Maple syrup

Crumbled feta cheese (hey, Kimberly has a great tutorial on her blog for making a Farmers Cheese that would be delicious here!)

* If you find it a hassle to peel the squash, I don’t know why it wouldn’t be just as easy to go ahead and roast your squash (or do it in the microwave, if that is how you prepare it), scoop it out of the skin and add the cooked squash to the already sautéed vegetables. In fact, now I am thinking that maybe roasting all of the vegetables and then making them into the soup would add a whole other depth of flavor to the finished product. And oh my, what about adding parsnips to the mix?!?

If you don’t already know how to roast garlic, here is the simple way I do it. Don’t peel or separate the cloves, but do take off the papery outer skin and cut just the top off the garlic bulb. Drizzle with olive oil and wrap it up in heavy duty foil. Bake at 425 degrees for 30 minutes or till softened. Have this in the oven while you are preparing the rest of the vegetables for the soup, and let it cool a bit before you have to handle it.

In a large soup pan, Dutch oven or something similar sauté the squash, potato, carrots, onion and celery in the butter until crisp-tender. Add the water, broth, salt and pepper and spices to the vegetables then squeeze the softened garlic into the mixture. Bring it all to a boil then reduce the heat; cover and simmer for 20 to 30 minutes or till vegetables are tender. Cool slightly.

Using an immersion blender or a food processor, blend into a thick and creamy soup (be careful, the soup is hot!). At this point, return to the pot and add the cream or milk and maple syrup and allow to heat through. I think I only used two or three tablespoons of syrup for this amount of soup, just enough to sweeten and add that earthly flavor (we like the darker maple syrup). If you don’t want to add cream and maple syrup, don’t. The soup was fine before I added those, but then these two things just took it to the next level - over the top, at least in my opinion.

Ladle your soup into bowls or mugs and top with some crumbled feta cheese (again, a matter of preference. If you don’t like feta cheese, don’t add it!)

Oh, and I didn’t puree the soup until it was entirely thin – it certainly wasn’t runny or anything, and we definitely didn’t feel like we were eating baby food (a complaint I read about a lot of recipes) On the contrary, my husband and I just looked at each other in delight and kept eating. In fact, we finished off most of the pot for supper then each had another soup mug full before bed! This is destined to become a regular at our table.

If you give my version a try, would you let me know how you like it? Next up for my soup experiment is a Sausage and Pasta Stew, with lots of good things like tomatoes, peppers (I have a lot of peppers right now) and Italian sausage (made from our own lamb) I'll certainly let you know how it goes ;)

Not Just Our Yarns

2011-10-19T08:09:00.000-04:00

Even though there is nothing that compares to knitting with yarn I have spun myself, from wool grown here at the farm from our own sheep, sometimes we do knit with commercial wool yarn (and yes, even when it is purchased yarn it is nearly always wool) For example, this pair of purple Railroad Rib socks is made from Cascade 220 wool - a favorite (as is anything from the folks at Brown Sheep company)

Sometimes I am drawn to wildly colored yarn, like the Trekking brand I am using in this pair of socks in progress:

At least I think this is Trekking yarn. It was a gift and now I can't find the ball band that would tell me for sure ;( Anyway, the colorway is a perfect compliment to the bucketful of cherry tomatoes, don't you agree? The pattern is a great one, too, called Honey Badger. Not boring at all and works well with the colorful sock yarn.

Sock yarns are nice for other small projects, too.

My daughter is a fantastic knitter - her skills far surpass mine and I couldn't be more proud of her! She recently made the shawlette pictured above, it is one of Rosemary Hill's designs called Live Oak Shawlette, from one skein of Plymouth sock yarn. Here is a closeup of the edging:

And another one of the entire shawl, looking like it is going to take flight from the tree!

I don't always like these types of yarn for lace patterns, but this subtle blend of blues worked out really nice. She made it as a gift for someone special.

Not all of the wool yarn that I purchase is exactly commercial. I like to buy yarn from other farmers/shepherds, and one of my favorites is a Michigan family farm, my friends Lona and Mike at Shady Side Farm. The project below is from a few years ago, but I loved using their yarn. I got another skein after that (actually while on a farm tour of their place!) of natural white and also one of mixed blues and greens.

The pink and grey skeins are yarn from our sheep, the speckled skein is from Shady Side Farm, fellow Michigan farmers

So even if you don't raise sheep and spin your own yarns, there are tons of great choices available to knit and crochet with. Even though my sheep don't think I should ever use anything but the wool they provide me with!

I think Ted is sticking out his tongue at commercial yarn, LOL!

Hope you find time to enjoy some yarn of any kind today ;)

When Cold Winds Blow

2011-10-16T07:55:00.001-04:00

What a comfort it is to have warm, handspun wool socks to slip on our feet...

Hard working, handspun wool socks - and yes, that might just be manure on my pant leg! Why do you ask? LOL...

On our hands....

Fingerless mitts are so nice this time of year!

On our head.....

And over our shoulders to chase away the chill....

A warm, rustic shawl in progress

Are you wearing your wool today? The Corriedale sheep say "We are!"

Gradual Change

2011-10-11T13:18:00.001-04:00

Gradually we change, just like the autumn leaves

Thank you, everyone, who sent us your kindness and prayers either via the internet, phone or in person as we let go of one piece of our lives. We can never, ever tell you how much it meant to us! The sale is behind us now (and let me tell you, that was a very surreal experience - at least it was for me) and while we wait on paper work and transfers, etc. we gradually adjust and move on. Move forward, I hope!

The sheep, their pasture, third cutting hay and beyond that a beautiful red maple tree and blue October sky!

As we sat on the back porch, looking out at this lovely view that we still enjoy, I said to my husband "Why don't we just imagine that we are a newly married, newly retired, newly somthing couple just coming to this farm and the acreaage we have left and make plans for it according to how we are farming now? What would suit our program best?" Its rather an exciting thought!

When he moved here fresh from college many years ago, starting his career and raising horses and a family, he needed it to be one way. Nearly twenty years ago when he married me, retired from his business and began farming and driving horses full time, he needed it to be another way. Then when he became disabled, we sold all of the horses, I started staying home full time and we began raising sheep full time - well, now we need things to be changed again! We have been functioning basically as a horse farm that had sheep on it (before the horses, this barn had been a dairy...then a sheep....then a horse barn again! Some things go full circle, don't they?) Now we need to consolidate, rejuvinate and relocate things to make it more practical and more functional for what we are doing today. Smaller, but (hopefully) more efficient ;)

Sheep following me to pasture

Won't you follow along and see how we do? We'd love for you to join us!

Spinning Wheel For Sale

2011-10-07T11:21:00.002-04:00

I have decided to sell one of my spinning wheels, my lovely little Louet S-45 ~

It has been a terrific wheel, spins like a dream and is in excellent condition. I have a good price on it, including a few extras. You can read all about it right here. While you are there, why not take a look at some of the spinning fibers we have available this fall? The sample yarns shown below were spun from some of them - Pasture Land, Michigan Red Cedar (this would be wonderful to spin amidst autumns early colors!), Midnight Dances and Dawns Early Light. We also have combed Corriedale top, from our very best white sheep.

You can find out more about the fibers at The Wool Mitten blog, the same place the spinning wheel is listed, or if you have any questions don't hesitate to email me at serenityfarmswool@yahoo.com. If you are at all like me, the cool nights and Indian Summer days have me wanting to do nothing more than spin and knit!

Some of you have asked about this other blog, The Wool Mitten. I have used it for a while just as a place to list fibers until we are able to completely revamp our main website. This blog will remain our main farm blog though. Just so you know ;)

Today is the day ~

2011-09-29T08:03:00.003-04:00

The day when our farm is reduced in size by half. When corn fields, and bean fields and hay field are no longer ours. A day as a farmer you know might one day come. But you don’t really acknowledge it in your heart of hearts until it’s there staring you in the face.

We’ve known of this for a month or better now, been planning for it, but I couldn’t find the words to speak about it. Or when I thought I did, emotion got the better of me and I couldn’t. In some ways we’re lucky – more so than many. We aren’t losing the land to foreclosure or fire, flood or drought, hurricane or tornado. It’s our own decision and one we are so grateful to God for being able to make. We are giving in to old(er) age and health. And a need to be debt free and a bit more secure than we are right now. We’re lucky that at least for the time being we will still have the Burnham Barn and Round House and Woods and some acres around our daughters house. We’ll only be selling farm ground. Only farm ground?!?

Only what we see when we stand in our daughters yard and look north, what the sale bill calls “Parcel One” ~

Or when you stand in the yard and look south, at “Parcel Two” ~

When you come out of the woods looking to the east and the Burnham Barn and you see all of this ~

From the Burnham Barn looking west and then north again, with daughter Patty's piece at the far end of the lower photo beyond the hay field ~

Only farm ground. I think not. It feels more like a death, it’s that profound of a loss. You feel like you have failed the land somehow, like you haven’t been able to keep it safe and part of the family. You grieve. You really and truly grieve.

Other farmers especially know how you feel. Its been evidenced by the phone calls and visits we've been receiving especially over the past few days as the sale looms closer. “Just wanted to see how you are doing” “Is there anything I can do to help?” “Do you need anything, just let me know. I can be there if you need me to” “How ‘ya doing, Doc?” “Do you need me to drop off a pie?” (Yes, as farmers we always associate food with comfort and rightly so!) You can tell by the hugs and the handshakes you get in the grocery store, coffee house and barber shop. Farm friends, and farm family. If you have ever had an attachment to five acres or fifty or five hundred, you understand it.

It has fed our livestock and it has fed us, both physically and spiritually for a long time. Now its time that it do so in a bigger way. And we’re thankful for the opportunity.

Like all grief and loss, time will help ease the painful sting. We’ll keep our eyes focused on God and the direction He continues to lead us in. We’ll work harder and hopefully smarter and more efficiently with what we have left to farm…our wee house and barn and pastures on the west side of the Burnham property. We’ll still enjoy the Round House and Woods and our children and grandchildren and beyond, God willing!

But for today – at least for today, if you are reading this, will you remember us in prayer as we say goodbye to this dear friend? Especially for my husband, who knows every single square inch of that dirt, where every stone in the stone pile came from. Especially for him.

And if you're reading this and have a similar story to tell, I would love to hear it if you would like to share. Just drop us an email or leave a comment. I'm not sharing this because I want anyone to feel sorry for us, not at all. We are able to make this choice with a lot of thought, and planning and prayer. And though it may not have been our first choice, if we had been able to do it otherwise, it is still the right one for us at this time of our lives. So no, I don't share looking for sympathy but only to help ease the sadness and help us to look forward from here.

God Bless ~

Last Weeks Work

2011-09-26T07:46:00.006-04:00

It was busy, it was frantic, it was fun and it was productive! I can't say enough about our wonderful family and friends who joined in to help Bill and me with some fall farm projects...we really, really are blessed beyond measure. We got to visit, we got to eat and we got to work and see some pretty great results (I get excited about a clean barn. Wish I could say the same about a clean house!)

So, I'll just share some random photos from those lovely days. They probably won't mean much to anyone but me, but it is another look at what happens around the small farm - at least around our farm ;)

A lot of thought went into making these old box stall areas more functional for sheep. I couldn't be happier with the changes and I think it will be a lot easier to work with

The ducks were quite unsettled by all the activity and kept watch from a safe distance

Small trains, small tractors and small boys were everywhere! Our fourth (and future) generation of farmers ;)

Emptied compost piles....

New manure piles (with grandsons shown for scale)....

All add up to a fresh clean barn for winter!

Of course all good work begins with planning and strategies, right? And we had plenty of that going on...

Actually, I think this may have been football talk ;)

The "compost committee" (hmmm, might have been football talk as well! Go Steelers!)

My Dad and my Husband, working on making my barn work a lot easier!

Our thanks and love to everyone who helped out again....Dad, Michael, Devin, Mark, Nakia, Mason, Elliot, Eric, Wayne, Bryce, Austin, Laurie, Dakota and Jim. Alex is usually here to be part of the "fun" but he is busy with college life now. Also thanks to Randy for the use once more of the skid steer and Mary for the great barbecue meatballs that added to our lunch! We just couldn't do it without you guys!!!

Sunday afternoon found us finishing up the weekend in a special way that served as another reminder of all we have to be thankful for. Daughter Patty had asked Bill to be part of her 4-H group meeting, being held outdoors at the Burnham Farm near the Round House. They will be doing a special project this year about "barns" and Bill was going to talk about the history of those two special buildings...

Grandson Dylan and several neighborhood children are part of this 4-H group!

The great orator sharing history and memories

It was beautiful and somewhat poignant to sit in the shadow of a great oak tree, the silhouette of the Round House and the shelter of the giant but tired old Burnham barn. Our own farm days are changing and there is that sense of time rushing by, probably much faster than we want it to. But at the same time as that change there are moments like these and many others we were able to share over the weekend that remind of how much in life is unchangeable - at least in our hearts and memories.

Barn Raising? Barn Cleaning! And Breakfast...

2011-09-17T06:41:00.002-04:00

Most mornings for the past week, breakfast has been a succulent and delicious Brandywine tomato from the garden. Sometimes I might slop up the juices with a hearty chunk of homemade bread, toasted. Two nights of frost here in mid-Michigan have pretty much brought this to an end and Wednesday afternoon Elliot and I picked all of the tomatoes from the garden. Yesterday morning I was up at 4 am, canning!

This weekend will be a wonderful, busy and tiring time of barn work! Bill and I will have a houseful of grandkids, children, nephews, friends and even my Dad to help us get the barn ready for winter. I will be running back and forth between the barn and the kitchen ;)

I will be back here (hopefully) on Monday to share some of the work and good times. We hope you have a great weekend, too!

Late Summer Passing

2011-09-13T17:05:00.000-04:00

The summer, once it finally arrived, seems to be passing by so quickly! A lot going on in our daily lives, so I haven't posted much.

The giant phlox continues to amaze, blooming now into its third month!

I thought I would catch you up with some summer photos. Remember in my last post I showed you a wagon load of straw? Well, thanks to some fine help (ranging in age from 4 to 8 to 33 - grandsons, daughter and son-in-law!) we unloaded it all and got the wagon cleaned right up....

Next, the second cutting of hay. I wanted twice as much in the barn this year as I had last year (I think hay could be a bit scarce this winter). I was so relieved when this scene ~

My husband keeping watch on the progress

Turned into this scene ~

Before this scene rolled in!

I even got to do rake part of the field! Raking is turning the swath of cut hay over - flipping it almost - to let the fresh air and sunshine dry or cure the grasses so it doesn't mold and spoil in the bale. You do this after cutting but before baling. I love raking hay, its one of my favorite jobs, with plenty of barn swallows alongside for companionship, gobbling up bugs...

This tractor belongs to our friend, the hay farmer. You can see the sky getting darker back behind the Burnham barn!

Four year old Elliot is glad the hay is in the barn, too! We now have hay (both first and second cuttings) and straw filling both mows of the barn as well as this last load on the barn floor. You can see we go all the way to the beams and nearly to the lower roof line - woohoo!!! There may a third cutting of hay yet, but we won't keep any of that.

A 2011 lamb can't wait for me to spread this straw around!

Having the top of the barn full of hay and straw not only will feed the animals this winter but will provide much needed insulation to the lower part of the barn. This will be especially important this year because we are planning to lamb much earlier than usual - February, if the rams do their job! Brrrr....

Along with all of this, we have had a bit of a garden to keep up with and some other projects I want to share more about in another post. Now, suddenly it's September. My youngest grandson (above) started preschool (how? when? the time goes faster and faster....)

This week the barn swallows lined up in rows on the wires. And now they are gone....

They left early this year.

Straw Or Gold?

2011-07-26T08:18:00.000-04:00

Another favorite flower to share with you this morning, a hybrid lily. It's a cross between the glorious Oriental Lily and the sturdy, prolific Asiatic Lily. It's a real winner and I wish I had more of them in the garden, maybe next year. Yesterday we counted nine open flowers and six buds waiting to open on one stalk! The color and the perfume are divine.

It's much cooler this morning, thank you Lord! 78 degrees and a nice breeze compared to the mid-eighties and high humidity we have been waking up to. I opened the front door to the breeze and stepped outside to enjoy these ~

Lavender in full flower outside my front door. Ornamental grass rising up behind!

Some years I cut the lavender early, before it is fully open and dry it. Some years, like this one, I just let it grown and enjoy it every time I step outside. Me and the bees ;)

I'm really am glad it's cooler. My kids will be here shortly to help with this:

2011 Straw

I better go get another cup of coffee and a piece of toast!

Refreshing

2011-07-23T09:57:00.000-04:00

I wrote earlier this week that I have some beautiful things to look at while I spin/read/pray/drink coffee on the back porch in the mornings (or any time) and I said I would show you ;) Here is a small sample, hopefully without to many weeds peeking through!

I see this when I look to my left - a jumble of daylilies, Asiatic lilies, spiderwort, phlox, hosta and earlier in June a border of lavender. These plants have become so thick that weeds don't have a chance! Well, not much of one.

There was a time when I didn't care for these hot colors at all, but now I really enjoy them. Can you believe the hot pink/magenta of those phlox?

Now looking straight ahead off the porch, I can see sheep and ducks (most days deer and turkey, too) in the pasture where horses used to graze and beyond them the new hay field. What, you can't see sheep in this fog? LOL...it was a welcome relief to have it stay overcast for a while the other morning.

Between me and the barnyard is another flower bed, probably my favorite one. It's small, but boy does it pack a punch!

Top: a new daylily "Beautiful Edgings"; Coneflower (I think called "Desert Sky") and more Asiatic lilies (I love those hardworking flowers!) There is also more phlox, more lavender, some allium and Oriental lilies to come.

Then at the end of the day, this is what I have to show for my spinning on the porch - more Corriedale yarn from our flock, 2-ply, about 210 yards to add to the total spun for my future Currach Stole.
A good day.

Spinning, Touring, Fleece & Flowers

2011-07-18T05:31:00.000-04:00

If you are a fiber person, especially if you like to spin and are on the internet at all, you have probably already heard of the "Tour de Fleece" - basically people around the world join together to spin during the Tour de France bicycling event and challenge themselves to spin in various ways (and possibly even earn prizes). I don't go overboard in joining groups to do this because I don't have the time to spend on the computer. But I do like to spin along, its nice to have a goal, and this year I am playing along with two of my favorite Ravelry groups - Knitters Book of Wool and Ennea Collective. I am even contributing a prize!

I've been really good about staying on task this year! I decided that I wanted to commit to spinning every day of the "tour", at least ten minutes. I decided that I wanted to focus on spinning my own fibers from here at the farm (Corriedale) and that my goal was to spin yarn for a specific project - in this case Anne's lovely Currach Stole from the April 2011 edition of Ennea. I've had my eye on this pattern since its release because I thought it would be a lovely way to showcase the variety of Corriedale colors we have in our flock. I originally thought I would wash, hand comb and then spin Ainsley's multi color fleece:

Ainsley's fleece has pale grey, charcoal grey and smokey brown colors plus is very soft and fine

But a troublesome arm and shoulder did away with that idea and I decided instead to spin from rovings I already had in natural colors. A call from my friend Pat to see if I could get away for a night at the lakeside cottage gave me a perfect place to start the tour! Peaceful, pretty, quiet and with only four of us there (all spinners and knitters) I knew I would easily be on my way to success!

Haha ~ I was also easily sidetracked ;) I loaded up all of my pretty natural color rovings and my wheel, then at the last minute threw in a small amount of dyed Corriedale top that had been sitting around just because I wanted to turn it into something and get it out of my spinning basket. Add to that a jeweled tone of Coopworth/Silk roving called "Leopard Frog" from Carol's Hidden Valley Woolen Mill (Carol is our hostess at the cabin) and I was off and spinning the two fibers together! Spinning Day 1 and 2 of the Tour resulted in the yarn you see pictured at the opening of this post. Here is another "in progress" photo ~

When all was said and done, I have about 220 yards of 2-ply Corriedale-Coopworth-Silk yarn, spun and plyed on my Louet S-45 wheel.

We returned home on the fourth of July, the third day of the TDF, and I returned to my planned spinning, the natural colored Corriedale. I had weighed out one ounce bumps of each, and found that I could spin half an ounce in the ten to fifteen minutes per day I was challanging myself to. Then in the evenings I could ply and keep myself quite consistent. I am spinning this yarn on the Louet S-17, aiming for a yarn that is something like a Cascade 220. I'm pretty close, although Corriedale does "pouf" when washed!

Anyway, enough talking - how about another finished yarn photo? Here are the first skeins, pictured with their rovings...From left to right, the white includes wool from Charlotte, Autry, Amanda and other white sheep in our flock. The silvery grey is from some of the "Verlee Corriedales" - Violet, Bree and Eve; the smokey charcoal grey is mostly Carson and his sister Carley while the rich brown is Colette and her daughter Elizabeth. Anne's pattern was made with three different colors of wool, but I wanted to use these four. This is going to be a warm and snuggly wrap! I'm having to sit on my hands to keep from picking up the needles and pattern and start knitting, when I know I need to keep spinning - although I have nearly convinced myself that I should do a small swatch to be sure the yarn is a good match, LOL!

I've been spinning mostly in the early mornings, sitting on the back porch while the air is still cool. This is also the perfect time for some morning prayers and devotions! I am surrounded by the farm - all I have to do is look around me and see scenes like this from the flower beds ~

I can look to my left and see this bed of daylilies, Asiatic lilies, purple spiderwort and fading lavender. The Oriental lilies and tall phlox will open soon!

Maybe tomorrow I can show you some more of the flowers in bloom, but for now I'll end this post. The spinning wheel is calling me!

Farm Fresh

2011-07-10T08:11:00.001-04:00

Taken in June, snippets from around the garden and farm ~

The berries are now finished and the broccoli is huge. Arugula and lettuce underplanted and now consumed ;) The chives and basil are a constant source of goodness and so are the eggs. The green ones, by the way, are duck eggs!

You didn't think I was going to show you a picture from the part of the garden where the weeds are threatening to overtake the potatoes did you? LOL....

The other thing we are enjoying fresh from our farm is lamb (grilling a lot lately) and the first of our recently butchered chickens.

Now, when did July arrive?!?

Making Hay, Part 3

2011-06-25T09:45:00.002-04:00

Be sure to read Making Hay Part 1 and Part 2!

We had some special overnight guests during the haying session ~

Our special Percheron horse guests!

It was good to have horses in the front pasture again. After a good, cool nights rest the horses were ready for the new day to begin. I was even able to help brush them down before harnessing ~ what a treat!

The next set of pictures was taken in the afternoon at the Burnham Farm side of our property, to the east of where our house is. I tried to get a picture of the horses with the Round House in the background but never did. The barn does a pretty good job of filling in though ~

This picture was taken from our daughters yard, it's next to one of the hay fields

I was kind of sad when the horses went home, I miss having them sometimes. I know that Bill does and he spent a lot of time outside watching these four work while they were here. I hope they come again!

The final hay field at the Burnham Farm. This is made into square bales, over 1,000 bales from this small field alone!

On the last day, after all of the hay was baled, it started to rain. Some of the wagons were still in the field but only got slightly damp. Ours came into the barn fifteen minutes after the rain started, so we threw the top bales off to the side, spaced apart so air could get to them.

It's beautiful hay, our thanks to the farmer who makes it for us now! On Fathers Day our son-in-law, our boy Alex and our eight year old grandson unloaded the wagon and stacked the bales in the west mow, ready for winter feeding. I couldn't help but think how blessed we are. We don't take that for granted, believe me! I keep thinking about friends I know of who didn't have luck getting their hay up this spring - we have been there ourselves before and will be again sometime I'm sure. It is the way of farming.

I first started writing these hay posts in early June. I finally started getting them posted on the first day of summer, LOL! It's been raining for the past four days, but I'm glad to say that the sun is out in full force this morning and with the moisture in the ground and this good sunshine we look forward to the hay fields growing in preparation for a second cutting of hay.

Taking A Day Trip

2011-06-21T18:34:00.000-04:00

To nearby Maple Valley Farms for a Farmgirl Frolic!

Cottage window charm at Maple Valley Farms Cottage

With the hay finished here on this side of the farm, the farmer who partners with us made the wise decision to wait on cutting the other farm because it rained for two days. I hesitated when Angie made the invitation, but my dear husband thought I should go ~ and I'm so glad that I did! A small group of us made our way to a flea market and then shared good food and fellowship at The Cottage. It was so good to see Homemaker Ang after the long winter (if you have never visited before, be sure to check out her amazing family farm blog at the link above!)

These were my flea market finds/purchases - a set of wooden platters with the flower detail you see above (a set of four for $2 and the vendor threw in a second set for no extra charge - I didn't even have to ask, LOL!) plus a lovely new Martha Washington geranium and several scented geraniums as well.

A very good day. Thank you Angie ;)

Making Hay, Part 2

2011-06-21T12:08:00.001-04:00

This next picture (below) was taken in May, looking north from the house across the sheep pasture. The sheep pasture is the one with the yellow dandelions blooming. Can you see the bright green beyond the fence on the left of the photo? That is a new seeding field of alfalfa. To the right, in front of the woods, is an older meadow that is cut just once in the spring. After that it becomes pasture for the sheep. It is a sheep smorgasbord of grass mixes, timothy, alfalfa, June clover and Birdsfoot trefoil. Sheep love it and so do deer and wild turkeys ~

Cutting the hay started the first full week of June with this field. Conditions were perfect - dry, bright sunshine and a warm breeze with low humidity. The hay was cut, raked, cured and baled by Wednesday evening. Most of the big round bales were even moved off the field before the rains began that night!

Four Percheron horses pulling a large motor on a cart in front of the round baler

This picture gives you a better idea of the order of things. The teamster, Chester, sits next to the motor and drives the horses. Here the round baler is kicking out a finished bale

In days past, my husband might have raked the hay with young horses he was training. It is fairly easy work yet gets the horses tired enough to learn to walk quietly and appreciate the chance to stand still and rest at the end of the rows. He can't work horses any more, so this hay was turned with a tractor and rake before our friends came with the horses and outfit you see pictured above to finish with the baling.

An old horse drawn hay rake, this one used for parts but no longer needed and parked along the woods edge

That took care of the hay fields on this side of the woods. In Part 3, I'll show you baling from the Burnham Farm fields.

Making Hay, Part 1

2011-06-21T10:07:00.000-04:00

If you're involved in raising livestock in any way, then you know that of course you have to feed them. And if you live where there is winter weather, then part of the year that will mean feeding hay (grasses cut, cured and put up for animal feed).

You either purchase your hay or you produce it yourself. Sometimes that includes not just raising the crop on your farm but also having the equipment and manpower needed to cut the hay; rake the hay (turn it over and let the sunshine cure it till dry); make the hay into bales to store through the winter (either big round bales or small square bales); wagons to haul the hay and then a barn or shed to store it until needed. Equipment can be tractors and machines, like in the picture below (that's quite an array of mechanical horsepower parked in our front yard!) ~

or the original horsepower (draft animals) and implements ~

Four Percheron horses at the hitching post, getting ready for noon break

Sometimes you have a combination of both! That was the case for the 2011 hay season at our farm, and what a joy this was.

Here at Serenity Farms the majority of our farm is pasture land for seasonal grazing and hay ground, with some acreage rented out for row crops (usually corn and soybeans, sometimes wheat or spelts) As a farm raising livestock, haying time is pretty intense! And it doesn't end with just getting the hay put up in the barn, there are also decisions like "how much" to put up. You want to be sure you have enough to last through the winter months and just like everything else on the farm that is related to weather, how early winter comes and how long it lasts until you can get animals back out on spring pasture will effect that decision. I am pretty obsessive about how much hay we have in the barn for winter - I always want to much! This year, we cut it pretty close - here is what the hay mow looked like when we first started turning the sheep out on grass ~

The spelt straw (golden yellow on the left of the photo is in good order) but the hay (bright green to the right) was cutting it pretty close - only about 25 bales left at the start of grass season! Whew, I was stressing a bit ;)

Hay has been a part of my life as long as I can remember, and even the parts that I can't ((grin)). I grew up in a haying family, and even when Mom and Dad didn't have a farm my grandparents and uncles did, and Dad worked with them. I married into a haying family - my husband had this farm already set up for hay production when I came along ;) We don't have our own equipment anymore for various reasons (health and circumstance) but we do have the hay ground and now it's put up "on shares" - where a farmer who does have the equipment makes all of the hay and we get our portion as part of the rent of the land.

Trust me, this does not take the stress of hay season away completely, LOL!

I'd like to share a few photos with you of the first cutting hay making (there will be a second cutting, and hopefully even a third) and I hope you enjoy them, and maybe understand and appreciate that this isn't just a group of serene, pastoral farm photos but a glimpse of the toil and sweat and hard, hard work in some of the most extreme weather that farmers go through to produce a good crop. The other key ingredient is the weather, and God is in charge of that. Some years we get it made just right, some years not. We have had our share of both, and are grateful that this year it was perfect.

I'll do this in three parts, mostly with pictures and not so many words, so it will be easier for you to view. This is Part 1.

Farm Kids

2011-06-17T21:31:00.002-04:00

Kids ~ Grandkids ~ Farm Kids!

Yes this skinny girl is my child, mother to these two boys! I was that skinny once, too, a long time ago ;)

Wonder...

Boots with shorts is perfectly acceptable farm fashion

I love this last picture so much, it almost makes my heart hurt....8 years old and 4 years old, brothers though not exactly friends at this stage, headed out on an adventure with Grandma (me). I just want to capture this image and hold it in my heart forever!

Farm Flowers

2011-06-17T18:18:00.000-04:00

Photos taken from around the farm and fields over the past few weeks ~

From woods edge (below) and a hybrid Iris (above) ~

From herb and flower beds ~

An old rose, full of bloom and fragrance (above) ~

And from the Burnham Farm, the old fashioned Mock Orange bush and our daughters flower bed ~

What has been your favorite blossom this spring?

Fluffy Sheep Clouds

2011-05-31T22:33:00.001-04:00

Tomorrow, these two handsome guys (Ted Collins on the left, Derek on the right) will lose those fluffy wool sweaters they are wearing when they are shorn in the morning. Just in time, I would say, both by looking at how shaggy they are starting to get and also because our temperatures rocketed to 92 degrees with high humidity today!

We sheared the ewes in March, before lambing, but left the rams with their wool as they live outside of the big barn with only a 3-sided shelter. Plenty for a sheep in full fleece, but a little cold and wet for a "naked" sheep ;) We no longer coat our rams. Over the years they have managed to destoy any brand of coat we put on them, and tangle themselves and each other before they do. I know that other shepherds get by just fine coating the rams, but we don't and I have given up trying to change it. Life is just easier for me (and I guess them) this way! Before they go back out to pasture they will get wormed, vaccinated and hopefully hoof trimming if they need it. I say hopefully because neither of these guys care to have this done.

We had a heavy rain move through tonight. Luckily, my daughter had been here to help me get the rams shut in the barn so they would be dry when Dave, our shearer, gets here in the morning. Unlike so many other showers lately that only seem to bring more oppressive heat when finished, this was more of a "normal" spring rain that brought a cool, breezy relief when it passed out of the area. I just came in from outdoors and could have easily been convinced to stay out! It is cool and no bugs or humidity. The earth smells so fresh and mingled with that rain washed fragrance is the smell of lily of the valley and iris.

If it had not been already getting dark, I would have tried to get a picture of a cloud that hurried by in the northern sky. It looked for all the world like a sheep head! I stood and watched in amazement while it blew over the pasture and woods. I came in thinking of the words to "How Great Thou Are".

Sleeping will be a lot better tonight than it was last night. And tomorrow night it will be a lot better for the rams ;)

We Really Do Have Lambs...

2011-05-03T09:04:00.005-04:00

I thought you might be waiting for proof (grin)~

These are, from top to bottom, Carley's lambs Hayley (black ewe) and Holden (white ram); Amanda's twin ewes, Hannah and Heather; Sarah's ewe Helen (remember baby Helen, born back in February?) and then Dawn's wildly colored ewe lamb Hilda (named after a shepherd mentor and friend). These are just a few of the flock that I was able to snap pictures of this past week. Here are two more:

LOL...don't adjust your monitor, Serenity Farms has not switched breeds! The ewe pictured above is Izzie. She is an Icelandic-Hampshire cross ewe. She came to us as a yearling and is a very efficient sheep. Her sire was a stunning registerd polled moorit Icelandic ram from Orchard Hill Fleece Farm, her dam was a registered Hampshire ewe. Izzie's first lamb last year from our Corriedale ram looked like any other speckle face, commercial cross sheep. This year's lambs, also from our Corriedale ram, threw back to the Icelandic genetics in a big way. These guys are fine boned, fast growing, with wavy fleece that appears to be dark moorit on one and black on the other. One of them (the one I think is moorit) has very small tear drop shaped patches under his eyes and a bit of shading around his muzzle. They are both wethered and their names are Hoot and Holler ;)

We are still waiting on a few young ewes to lamb, first timers, then we are done for the year. Overall, we are very pleased with the quality and vigor of the lambs from our new registered Corriedale ram "Ted Collins". I'll end this post with a picture of him back on an earlier, woolier, wintery day (he is the white fellow peering into the camera):

Looking For Spring Where We Can

2011-05-01T09:27:00.002-04:00

Even the chickens seem to be searching for signs ~

I often like to start a new month's blogging by looking back at the archives to see what I wrote about a year ago (or more). It looks like I managed to post at least twice in May the past few years, but didn't start until the middle of the month ;) So maybe I am ahead of myself this year? LOL...

One thing that is not ahead of itself for sure is our "spring" weather. Earlier this week I was outside trying to get some decent photos of our new wool rovings when I started to see some "peeks" of the change of weather. Daffodils, of course - they have been here for a few weeks and are all over the blog world right now:

And we enjoyed Easter, especially coloring eggs and dyeing yarns with grandchildren:

But around the yard things are changing, too!

Above, Mrs Moon Bethlehem Sage

Lilacs and lace (won't be long till the blooms appear!)

And isn't the rich glow of color from the Arborvitae "Goldy" inspiring?

I know it won't be long...or maybe it is already here, but hiding? What's going on in your yard?

With a serious and heavy heart, I can't help but think of those affected by the destruction of last weeks tornados. Several blog friends...it is almost unimaginable! Please keep folks in your prayers...

Dirt For The Chickens

2011-04-04T06:57:00.001-04:00

And more weather...Are you tired of hearing about weather here on the farm? LOL, it sure seems to be on my mind lately! On Saturday I snapped this shot of some dust-bathing chickens to share with you that we had lost some of our snow:

(This might look like an odd pile of feathers, but really it was just that they had all piled together in the few feet of open ground we had. This also happens to be right where I walk, push the wheelbarrow, carry hay - and twist my ankle in the "chicken waller". There are four hens and one rooster in this picture!)

Sunday, we had fog and then snow. And more snow. And more snow, all falling quickly. Sleet was pelted the window. Early this morning we had thunder, lightning and heavy rain.

I'm always grateful for rain (well, nearly always - not so much at haying time). But this is what I am dreaming of today ~

How about you?

April Foolishness

2011-04-01T07:57:00.005-04:00

I know it's lambing time and I will admit to being anxious to see more of the lambs from our new ram, but all I can think about is fiber!

We sheared a few weeks ago and while I was able to get through skirting most of the white Corriedale fleeces, the turn in the weather and other commitements have kept my hands out of the natural colors (greys, blacks, browns) I like to skirt outside in the natural light and it just hasn't been possible. But maybe today. I have reserved fleeces that need to make their way to their new homes and some fleeces that I am planning to keep for myself that I want to get my hands in and on.

Some of our raw fleeces (like Amanda's pictured above) go on to be billowing clouds of vanilla cream frosting like the combed top below, processed at Zeilingers Mill here in Michigan

Don't you just want to fall right in and roll around in all of that fibery goodness?

That is my April Foolishness ;) And if you are interested in some of your own (Serenity Farms wool, that is) please feel free to contact us at serenityfarmswool at yahoo dot com. We still have some raw fleeces available, as well as some of the combed top you see pictured above.

Real Spring Fever and Food

2011-03-31T08:17:00.004-04:00

I've really got it now ~ a longing for spring!

Yesterday, Alex and I went to visit my Dad and brothers. Just an hour and a half south of us. About twenty minutes into our journey we started to notice that we weren't seeing much snow on the ground. About half way through, there was none! The ground was clear and dry. At Dad's we drove into the neighbors field to watch them spreading manure with teams of horses. At the farm we walked out to the pasture without slipping and sliding or sinking into mud! Sigh....not so here at home

Although wait! You can begin to see some temptations of green near the fence posts above and the ice has started to melt and shatter ;) At least the sun has been shining and the ewes changed their minds about lambing these past few cold nights. I think they need to get outdoors for some real exercise, but the big barn door is still frozen in with a bank of solid-as-ice snow packed up against it.

I think I will comfort myself with some comfort food ;) One of our farm favorites any time of year (even during hot weather because it is made in the crock pot) Featuring Serenity Farms lamb ;) Or your favorite lamb, pork or beef

~ CHALUPAS ~

3 lb. lamb roast (can be pork or beef)
1 lb. dry pinto beans, rinsed and sorted
2 or 3 cloves garlic, chopped
1 large onion, chopped
3 tsp. chili powder
1 tsp. cumin
1 can chopped green chilies
Salt

Combine all the ingredients in a large crock pot (I put the beans in first then layer the others on top) Cover with water and cook on high for 5 hours. (If you are around the house and notice that this has started to boil pretty hard, you can lower the heat sooner) Remove the meat from the bone, tear into small pieces. You can mash the bean mixture up a bit if you like at this point. Return the meat to the crock and cook about 2 more hours on low.

Serve this over tortillas and topped with your favorites - we like lettuce, tomato, cheese, black olives and freshly chopped onion. Sour cream and salsa are good additions, too. You can roll this up taco style as well, or even serve it over tortilla chips. I usually have a side of rice of some kind. This freezes well, so I usually make a large batch and put some away.

At least I can add salsa put up from the garden last year! And we are able to get locally raised dry beans, even organic, at the feed elevator. Gratiot County is known for growing beans ;)

And look, under the cap of ice...spring really is on its way to mid-Michigan!

For other recipes featuring Serenity Farms lamb, you might like to look here or here. Or seek a local supply for your own lamb for the table and support a farm family in your area. It is appreaciated more than you can imagine! Check online through Local Harvest if you aren't sure where to find farm raised food close by.

March On, 2011!

2011-03-27T19:53:00.002-04:00

In typical March fashion, the weather has given us some mighty big swings! We went from this ~

To this ~

And back to this ~

All in a matter of days. Along with that last storm came ice and lots of it, but worse than that the temperatures bottomed out again. Just in time for the ewes (who could have lambed in that week of warm weather) to decide to start lambing when the thermometer read 11 degrees.

But so far, things have gone fine. That photo above? Do you remember our bottle lamb Francie, daughter of Eve? This is her first lamb and he is a big boy. She has done a wonderful job. I had to pull him just a little - everything was in the right place, but his nose was hung up just a little bit. But even though she was tired, she went right to mothering him and doing her job. In the picture above he had just been born. Below, she is working hard at cleaning him up a bit

He is a beautiful silvered grey with black and tan points as well. Very handsome! More to share, but we will probably be busy with lambing for the next week or so. And skirting fleeces. And finishing a few projects. I hope I will get a chance to drop in with lamb (and fleece) photos once in a while!

SUNNY MARCH MORNING

2011-03-18T09:44:00.003-04:00

The morning is slipping away - it's already after 9. I was up at 6 and chores are done, dishes are done...now I need a shower. And I really should wake the guys up, I don't know why they are both sleeping this late but do you know what? The house is quiet, I don't have to get anything for anybody and so I am being irresponsible! I'm sipping coffee, basking in the sunlight streaming through the window and reading through a few blogs.

Our dial up connection continues to get slower and slower and slower. But I am wasting time this morning and so I just have some boring knitting (pictured above) to occupy my time while I wait or while I read ;) I don't like knitting with cotton. It hurts my hands and feels lifeless, compared to the wonders of wool. But when I needed to make something for warmer weather wear, I decided to try Brown Sheeps Cotton Fleece (a blend of 80% cotton and 20% merino wool) I was pretty sure that Brown Sheep wouldn't disappoint and it hasn't. Plus, the color cheers me up. It is called "Banana" - LOL - but it reminds me of fluffy baby chicks or ducks.

I hope my dusty keyboard doesn't show up in this photo ((grin))

Henry's Argyle Sweater

2011-03-04T16:46:00.007-05:00

Because I have been having fun playing around with the color option on my new camera, here is Henry with Nakia trying to hold the squirming boy still for a picture:

I love our old basement barn! And for something more colorful...Is he dapper (below) or what? That black shadow in the royal blue next to him? That's his twin sister, Holly:

These photos are for my Argyle-themed sister...she knows why ;D

Lambing is Early This Year

2011-02-18T17:49:00.012-05:00

Corriedale mama Sarah with baby Helen, looking stylish is her lamb sweater!

We used to lamb in January and early February here at Serenity Farms. I'm not really sure why, except that's what my folks always did ;) And truth be told, I didn't mind early morning barn checks. I never woke the girls up in the middle of the night to check for lambing...I made my last check after supper sometime and unless someone appeared to be getting ready to lamb, left them alone until morning. My mom always said that if you wake them up, they'll probably lamb!

Anyway, one day my husband asked me why we lambed that early? We aren't breeding for club lambs or early freezer lamb sales. LOL...he brought up a good point. So we began to breed for first of April. And I have to admit, its been nice. Last year, though, we finally had to sell our senior ram to a head up a new flock. It was time - we had to many ewes closely related to him. But my dad had the idea of putting him in with just a few females and get a few more lambs from the big guy. Another good idea and we did just that, putting Autry in with the five ewes he had always crossed the best with in the flock. Then he left and about 40 days later, we turned the new Corriedale ram in with all of the girls and figured that if Autry hadn't settled those five, the new ram would.

Well, along comes January and then it turns really cold in February. And I'm really glad we aren't lambing. Until last Monday, when I headed for the barn to do chores and heard a lamb baaa-ing!!! My first thought was a premature birth, but when I stepped in and found a beautiful full term lamb following her mama around - one of Autry's "girls" - I promptly remembered our grand plan. Oh my gosh...did I ever feel like a terrible shepherd!!! So, my daughter came to help me out and we moved those five ewes (plus new baby Helen) into the large, clean and dry area of the basement barn and, other than not having them shorn yet, everything is fine. Yesterday, a second set of lambs arrived - fabulous twins, a bright white ram and jet black ewe lamb!

They are all doing great, but I'm still glad that most of the flock isn't due till April...

FLEECE FOR SALE ~ SOLD ~
We will be shearing the entire flock mid-March, but I have one partial Corriedale lamb fleece from last years shearing that I guess I will sell. It is a beautiful, silver-blue, very fine crimp with an average 4.5 to 5-inch staple length from a lamb named Felicia. There are some dry tips that I think you can see in the photo below. A little over two pounds for $25 plus shipping (a discount, as our lamb fleeces are normally $15 per pound) Email me at serenityfarmswool@yahoo.com if you are interested

Did I mention that I'm still glad most of the flock isn't due till April? And I wonder what else I might have forgotten....

Windy, snowy and cold!

2011-01-15T17:54:00.007-05:00

It's such a blustery day here in mid-Michigan today! Although the sun was out earlier this afternoon, it snowed hard from about 4 am till 9 am and brought us a few new inches of fresh clean powder. Now the wind has picked up and the temperatures have dropped....brrrr! Makes me awfully glad for wool socks and wool sweaters to throw on against the chill of an old farm house!

I didn't even venture out to take a picture, but if I did it would have looked something like this ~

Or this ~

Funny thing, though, the sheep sleep outside in this weather even though they have free choice of being inside the barn or out. This morning they were big blobs of snow covered woolies, chewing their cuds and waiting for me to start chores.

Supper tonight is Swiss Steak made with beef that comes from the farmer who puts up our hay. Along with tomato soup canned right here in this kitchen and onions, peppers, carrots and corn put up from our garden or the garden of extended family. The peas are from a can though. I prefer canned peas and don't take time to preserve this particular vegetable ;) Was going to have mashed potatoes with it, but we changed our mind and wanted dumplings instead. They are simmering away on top of the mix right now.

Now if we only had some of that homemade apple crisp leftover for dessert!

Question...how do you make Swiss Steak? Or what do you think of when you hear Swiss Steak? My mom always made it with a tomato base (in this case, I used home canned tomato soup) along with onions, peas and carrots and usually over mashed potatoes. But I know others who have a mushroom-onion type sauce (though to my mind, this is more of a Salisbury Steak. I'd love to hear how you do it, or how you think of it!

New Year ~ Old Projects

2011-01-12T08:26:00.022-05:00

It has been kind of fun to look back over my January postings here at the Blog to see what projects, knitting and spinning, I have finished and which ones I have abandoned. It seems to be a theme with me to review those at the beginning of each year and I thought I might as well keep up the "tradition"

I am not a big project kind of person, for the most part. I don't make large elaborate sweaters, or shawls, or afghans - at least not often. I do like socks and mittens and cowls or neckwarmers. Hats sometimes, though I never seem to get hats just right and they are either to big or to small. I have come to realize, too, after my early knitting obsession with lace that I really don't care for small yarn and small needles ;) Need to really consider that one and if I come to peace with it, there may be some really lovely laceweight yarns for sale one of these days!

Anyway, back to some of the projects I have been working on recently.

Here is one of my very favorites, probably because it was a "sheep to mitt" project - a home raised sheep, handwashed fleece, combed into lovely top that I then spun and navajo-plyed and knit:

The pattern is Cuppa Joe Mitts by Anne Podlesak (Wooly Wonka Fibers) from the new online spinning knitting magazine Ennea Collective If you haven't checked out Ennea, do so right away! There have been two issues published so far and it is a very enjoyable and informative resource. They also have a Ravelry group here. Anne's blog is one of my favorites and I have followed it for a long time, so it was fun to knit one of her patterns. The yarn is 100% Corriedale lamb from one of Violet's lambs, Freddie.

Another project I worked on and finished were these mittens made from 100% CVM pencil roving from my friend Bonnie's Sheepy Thyme Farm. The pattern will be available in kit form from Bonnie soon, with the roving to knit them from. The pattern has directions for both the fingerless model shown and full mittens as well. I have been playing around with a matching neckwarmer pattern but haven't gotten that just right yet:

This pencil roving is so nice to work with, light and fluffy, and unlike others I have used it holds together nicely even if you have to frog or tink back. I would like to try overdyeing some to see how it comes out!

Something else I have really enjoyed this past year is the wool-a-long in the Knitters Book of Wool group over at Ravelry. Do you know about this book? Do you own it yet? If you don't, and you enjoy wool at any stage, then you need to get your hands on a copy. Written by Clara Parkes of Knitters Review fame, it is a treasure...and so is the Ravelry group with a fun and kind group of enablers - um, I mean knitters/spinners and others join together to try a different wool each month. I have not participated every month, but these are projects I have worked on:

The wool for January 2011 is Finnsheep wool and I am knitting these Honeycomb Finn Mittens with yarn I spun from rovings purchased at both Bella Vita Farms and Stillmeadow Finnsheep. Love the wool, love the yarn, love the pattern (I have made it before) I am nearly finished with the pair of mittens and I have enough white roving from Bella Vita to spin up some sock yarn and start the Windjammer Socks pattern on January 15th with some other Ravelers. Check out the group if you would like to join in, too!

Dorset wool was one of my surprise favorites from the wool-a-long, maybe because I am lucky enough to have a friend who raises old-fashioned Horned Dorset sheep. I bought some Dorset lambswool roving from Cindy at Ewe and I Farm in New Hampshire to make these Sweet Fern Mitts from the book. I spun and navajo plyed the yarn for a nice round yarn that shows the cables well.

I call them Sweet Gracie Mitts because Gracie is the name of the sheep that donated the wool ;)

One ongoing project from the book is my Comfy Corriedale Cardy. Although we have not (yet!) studied Corriedale, you all know it is my favorite wool so I chose it for this pattern. This is a great sweater so far and is quite mindless for the most part, so I pick it up and work on it occasionally. I had kind of hoped to have it finished by my birthday later this month but not sure that will happen. This photo is just a beginning shot. The wool is 100% chocolate brown Corriedale from Ainsley in her younger days (she is much more grey now)

These are not the only knitting and spinning projects I have started or completed but just a few I thought I would take time to share here. I will leave this post with some pictures of a delicious roving I treated myself to and have been spinning. It is called Cathedral and is a merino-yak blend from the earlier mentioned Wooly Wonka Fibers. It is a dream to spin and super soft, so I have to chose the project carefully, one that will show of the yarn and be next to my skin so I can savor it. Stay warm and hope you have enjoyed seeing just a few of my winter time projects! What are you working on?

The Gate, the Door, the Year

2010-12-31T23:43:00.007-05:00

~ THE GATE OF THE YEAR ~
by Minnie Louise Harkins

I said to the man who stood at the gate of the year
'Give me a light that I may tread safely into the unknown.'

And he replied,
'Go into the darkness and put your hand into the hand of God
That shall be to you better than light and safer than a known way!'

So I went forth and finding the Hand of God
Trod gladly into the night
He led me towards the hills
And the breaking of day in the lone east.

So heart be still!
What need our human life to know
If God hath comprehension?

In all the dizzy strife of things
Both high and low,
God hideth his intention."

With reflections of the year past and faith for the year forward....welcome 2011!

Our Little Tree

2010-12-25T08:09:00.011-05:00

It started with a trip up the hill, past the barn, towards the Round House and the Burnham Woods....

Two little boys and me, the oldest one seven years old, shy and serious, carrying his small saw proudly and carefully. The youngest, just turned four a few days before, chatting away and loving life. Me the grandma with the creaky bones ((grin)) Our mission was to harvest a little soft needle pine tree growing near the Round House as our Christmas Tree 2010. I haven't had a real tree in a good many years, but this year it just seemed right and this sparse little tree, growing up beneath the large trees needed to be thinned out and would be perfect. So away we went.

The oldest worked quickly and carefully, making sure his brother was not to close to the sharp saw:

Their Dad came along, tall and strong, to see if we needed any help but the job was done:

And so we decorated, the two little boys with Papa and I watching on. While we decorated we talked about why we have Christmas and who was born on that day. After the ornaments were all on the tree, we opened the Nativity set. Each one tries to unwrap the tissue that will find Baby Jesus. When we had each figure placed carefully we took a moment to enjoy:

The little brother asked "Grandma, is Jesus real?" And of course I said, "Yes, He is. Do you know where Jesus lives?" (thinking he would say in Heaven) but the wise little child said "He lives in our hearts. And if He doesn't, we get very cross" Oh, my! Such simple true words, from an innocent heart.

Papa noticed that all of the ornaments are at the bottom of the tree. I had thought to rearrange them after the boys left. But as I looked at those rows of ornaments that the little boys, four and seven, had placed on the tree's lowest branches where they could reach them, I thought about how it won't be long before they are tall and strong like their Daddy and will be able to reach the top branches.

I decided to leave the ornaments right where they are and I thought about how fast time goes by.

I thought about Baby Jesus who also grew to be a strong man but who was our Saviour right from the start, and how His heart was filled with love for each of us all along. And I prayed that He will always be real to our boys and alive in their hearts. This morning, while it was still dark with only the lights from the tree shining, Papa said "I like our little Christmas tree"

Merry Christmas to our friends and family, 2010

Lamplight

2010-12-13T13:12:00.009-05:00

Brrrr...it really is cold outside today! Almost like the "brain-freeze" you get when eating ice cream, the wind hits you in the face when you step out the door no matter how bundled in layers of wool and carhartt's and boots you might be.

I am thankful that we didn't lose power in this storm. I suppose we still could, the wind is gusting. I have water drawn in the house and hot coffee in the thermos and laundry and dishes are all done up. The other thing I have is plenty of oil in the oil lamps and extra candles on hand if we should need them. A few weeks ago we lost power unexpectedly right before dark fell. Luckily I had finished chores and supper, so Bill and I settled in for a time of him reading and me knitting. Reading only requires light from the oil lamp and spinning and knitting don't really require light at all. It was peaceful and refreshing and quiet.

Since then, I have been reminded of how much less we really need to exist than what we have (and those of you who know us, know we live pretty simply!) I have even been enjoying some evenings with oil lamp light just because of the mood it puts me in. I have spent several lovely evenings reading or spinning or knitting or even doing some housework by this light. I was dusting the mantel a few nights ago and the soft light on these old books (some of our favorites) seemed beautiful to me:

(Okay, my family and friends who know me can stop laughing now and pick yourselves up off the floor at the thought of me doing any kind of housework, let alone dusting!)

When the electric bill comes in the mail or the propane truck delivers fuel for the furnace and hot water heater and leaves a bill that takes nearly one-quarter of our current monthly income, I get even more serious about wondering how much more we can live without!!! Now of course, we need heat and water...but what do we need beyond the basics we already have?

I am grateful for all that we have...all of the needs that God supplies. But I have been spending considerable time in thought and prayer about how we could live more frugally and self-sufficiently. Even in our already simple life here at Serenity Farms, we are wasteful. And that could change. It will change, in both big and small ways, over the coming year. Maybe you would like to follow along here at our blog to watch our changes, struggles and joys?

I have been inspired by a new friend and her family for most of this past year. If you have never visited the Maple Valley Farm blog, you really should! You don't have to aspire to be a farmer, or to live more simply, or go off grid as this family has to enjoy their love of God, family and farm. In our time, Bill and I have come across lots of folks striving to change their lives in a similar way. Sadly, sometimes it is as much a marketing plan as it is a life plan. Matt and Angie are not that way at all. They are honest, hard-working, humble, gracious and real in what they are doing! Most likely their successes are due to their love and faith in God and belief in their family. I am so blessed to have been able to spend some time with them and if you are ever able to, please do so. You won't be disappointed I'm sure! Stop by their blog or facebook and say hello. Angie had a funny post about losing power that actually inspired me to write this post.

Jesus said "I am the Light of the world"...John 8:12

Now we aren't planning to go as far off grid as the Maple Valley Farm family has, lol! But I really would like a working windmill (the old fashioned ones, not those airplane propeller looking modern ones!) to supply water. That part is probably a dream, but it does seem like this old farm could supply a lot of wood for a wood burning fireplace, and maybe even make use of the wood cook stove at the Round House? What about utilizing the gravity fed cistern and connected water lines at the barn? Hmmm...lots of ideas! Do you and your family have any ways you are changing or hoping to change to be more self-sufficient? I'd love to hear them!

It's Finally Here

2010-12-13T08:38:00.007-05:00

The snow I wished for arrived over the weekend!

We didn't get walloped with the blizzards that hit all around us, but we got a few inches of the white stuff followed by howling winds and bitter wind chill temperatures. Still, the sun is shining this morning and the snow is fresh and bright. The house is warm and the coffee is hot ;)

Yesterday, in the midst of the storm hitting, I had help from the kids and grandkids putting the finishing touches on the winter barn preparations. LOL...Bill said we were about a week late getting it done, but we had to plan around work and school schedules. So with the teenager, the daughter and son-in-law and both little grandsons we got sheep moved (rams seperated from the breeding ewes and ewe lambs brought down to the big barn to join the ewe flock for winter); changed a few sheep coats that needed to be sized up; set up hay feeders for the winter months and put the windows in the barn to keep cold winds out. Oh, and Charlotte's foot is all healed up so she rejoined the flock after the ram was pulled out. The two rams are in tight quarters for a time so they can't injure or kill one another while they learn to deal with the fact that they are bachelors again for another year. Their winter living quarters are all ready for them, and I will run them outside in a few days.

The only thing left to do now is catch up some of the free ranging chickens and put them in their winter living quarters to keep them from pooping all over the sheep feeders and hiding their eggs where they will freeze before I can gather them.

After all the work outside, we came in and enjoyed a fine winter meal of roast pork and red skinned potatoes (thanks, Uncle Mike!) cooked up with onions and garlic, baked winter squash (oh my, this was as good as desert!), lima beans and then blueberry crisp for the actual dessert. What a joy and a priviledge to have family to share the work and the blessings! Bill and I truly are blessed.

I hope you all are tucked in snug and warm this December morning! I have water buckets to thaw out, but even in that I can be thankful. Thankful that I have water at hand...

Queen Charlotte the sheep

2010-12-05T13:11:00.008-05:00

Charlotte, queen of our Corriedale flock, turned ten years old this week. She is our lead sheep in the flock, boss of the pack, and her bloodlines are in a good bit of our ewes. She has a finer than usual fleece, but thats okay with us! I took this picture in the barn, where she is having some R&R time. I noticed her limping the other day and when I checked her feet, found the outer pad on her left front was broken right off! Charlotte has shiny black hooves that are tough as nails and usually give her no problems but on the rough frozen ground she was having difficulty walking and is needing a little "coddling". She is not to happy about being away from the flock but she is in a pen where she can see them and some extra helpings of her favorite treats (think sheep cookies) help her accept the situation! In the photo below, she seems to be asking for more ;)

In an earlier post, I promised pictures of the Light Brahma chickens. I think they are even more beautiful than the Golden Lace Wyandottes. It doesn't really show here, but the black in their tail feathers shine green in the sunlight!

Isn't the rooster gorgeous? You might wonder why we would want to have so many roosters at Serenity Farms...we don't. We have a wonderful "senior" rooster, a Black Orpington that we are perfectly happy with. My laying hens were getting older and I wanted to replentish the flock with some younger girls so purchased the Golden Lace and Light Brahmas. Paid extra to get females...three of each breed. And got two hens and one rooster in each set! I understand that mistakes in sexing poultry can be made, but that seems like pretty high odds to me. So here we are with three distinct mini flocks. Anyway...

Oh and Amy asked about the ducks eggs, so I thought I would share this picture from a nest I found hidden last week. Along with being smart, the ducks seem really good at hiding their nest.

I hope you are enjoying seeing photos of some of our animals around the farm as much I am enjoying showing them to you!

The East and The West

2010-12-05T12:55:00.008-05:00

Just a few days ago, I was able to capture these shots of the sun rising in the east over the pasture fields while looking to the west, over the big barn, the moon was setting. It was a beautiful testiment to God's majesty!

We remain basically "snowless" here in Michigan while all around us other northern states are up to their ears in the white stuff! These clouds produced a few flurries, but nothing lasting:

I know I'm different, but the lyrics of "I'm dreaming of a white Christmas" keep running through my head!

Turkey or trimmings?

2010-11-26T11:59:00.005-05:00

Sometimes there is more in the roaster than Thanksgiving dinner....

(Note: No food is ever cooked in this roaster for safety sake. It is dedicated to dyeing)

Serenity Farms Critters

2010-11-05T14:25:00.009-04:00

I haven't posted many sheep photos this year, have I? Here are a few:

That third photo is of our new registered CVM/Romeldale ram lamb, Graham (the moorit with the blazed face) and his buddy, this years special bottle lamb Gordon (the white Corriedale) They are quite the pair! (Gordon would like to say hello to his special friend, Eva and her grandma)

And how about some other critters from around the farm? We have new chickens (Golden Lace Wyandottes, two hens and a rooster) These were the ugliest chicks but are beautiful as adults...

and we have ducks (Indian Runners). These ducks are constant entertainment, very smart (smarter than chickens, I think) plus are already giving us lovely bluish green eggs that are wonderful for cooking!:

Finally, our ever faithful mouse patrol, Christy the calico cat! She certainly has that fall color thing going, doesn't she?

We also have some new Light Brahma chickens and they are gorgeous and very, very personable. I need to get some pictures of them, too. Maybe when grandson Dylan comes for a visit. They are his chickens ;) I would definately recommend the breed to anyone thinking of trying chickens...at least I say so now. We will see how they are at laying time, how they do through the winter. We have been so pleased with the Wyandottes in the past.

Faith

2010-09-30T07:20:00.005-04:00

"Though the rain may fall and the wind be blowing,
And old and chill is the wintry blast;
Though the cloudy sky is still cloudier growing,
And the dead leaves tell that the summer has passed;

My face I hold to the stormy heaven,
My heart is as calm as the summer sea,
Glad to receive what my God has given,
Whate'er it be.

When I feel the cold, I can say, 'He sends it,'
And His winds blow blessing, I surely know;
For I've never a want but that He attends it;
And my heart beats warm, though the winds may blow"...Author Unknown

God and I

2010-09-04T07:52:00.004-04:00

(A quiet place in my room, with early morning sunlight..)

Getting ready to face a busy day and busy weekend...all in a good way, though, with family and friends gathering for a work day here at Serenity Farms. Good food and fun will be consumed and enjoyed. There is a welcome relief of cool fall air in the bright morning sunlight and as I gather myself for the day, I feel the call of God to my heart for some quiet time over a cup of coffee. Then a reminder from my morning devotional...

"Has thou ever pictured thyself the one remaining creature in the earth, the one remaining creature in all the starry worlds?....In such a universe thine every thought would be "God and I! God and I!" And yet He is as near to thee as that--as near as if in the boundless spaces there throbbed no heart but His and thine. Practice that solitude, O my soul.....Practice the stillness of thine own heart! Practice the solemn refrain "God and I! God and I!" Let none interpose between thee and thy wrestling angel! Thou shalt be both condemned and pardoned when thou shalt meet Jesus alone!" --George Matheson

And so my soul takes time to fill and refresh with God this morning and I am ready for the day. How about you?

I read this devotional online here - a wonderful resource!

(Green pastures at the farm, quiet woods and waiting cornfields....)

Prettiest Place...

2010-08-26T22:11:00.008-04:00

This post is for any of my new friends from the farm tour who might be checking in to the blog. I talked about the Round House and the sheep and and my husband and his horses....some of these photos have appeared before here at the blog, but I thought it would be nice if you were able to just look real easily on your first visit ;)

The first photo is the Round House with just a glimpse of the big Burnham barn in the background. In the next picture you see my husband, taken a few years ago, driving out of the woods and into the lane with a team of Percheron draft horse mares (and notice the wagon loaded with fence building supplies near by!) You see what I see when I step out the back door at our house in the spring time...ewes and lambs on green grass! And then another photo of the Round House and Burnham barn in winter.

What do you think? Aren't these places beautiful to look at? They are a certainly a blessing and a joy for us to live...We hope you can all visit us in person one day soon! I hope to post some photos from our trip to West Michigan here in the next day or two. I had a wonderful time and enjoyed meeting each and everyone along the way...now we all need to get some sleep ;)

Brother

2010-06-30T16:42:00.011-04:00

Last Friday, with the greatest of joy, I attended a Relay For Life event. To celebrate the survival of a very special person that I have known most of my life and all of his...one of my "little" brothers (I am lucky enough to have three). That is him, of course, being silly for the camera ;)

I never think of him as being a younger sibling, he really is more like an older brother to me...the one you turn to and rely on and ask advice of. That is what my brother Darin is for me. We were cohorts as children, and I don't remember ever fighting, although I'll bet my folks would remember differently ;D

This picture is of him with his wife, truly his partner for many many years now. They have two wonderful boys, young men. All were there in full support (as they have been each step of the way)

The emotions you feel at one of these events are so huge they are hard to explain. Different for me, as a sibling, then they are for each other person there I'm sure. Like I said, very hard to explain and still with me nearly a week later. I will never forget it, and I shouldn't. I took other photos with some of the other family and friends but they didn't turn out (I wish they would have...maybe my hands and heart were shaking to much)

Congratulations, brother of mine. We love you so much...

His first horse ~

2010-06-30T16:19:00.007-04:00

Thanks to a collaborative effort between his Mama and his Alaska Aunt, we once again have a saddle horse here at Serenity Farms.

Getting Familiar ~

First Lessons ~

Still grinning, and looking with amazement at the tracks he and his horse made in the sand ~

Isn't that smile, from a shy little boy with a big heart, worth it all?

What an inspired idea his Mama had! Here's to all the life lessons and joys that can only be learned from time with your horse ~

A Short Study of Wool

2010-06-19T07:53:00.011-04:00

CVM wool, as a matter of fact, along with other wool junkies at The Knitters Book of Wool group over on Ravelry. By the way, if you don't already own The Knitters Book of Wool by Clara Parkes, run right out now and purchase it for your fiber/knitting library...it is fantastic!

CVM (or California Variegated Mutant) wool was an easy one for me, as I have several Corriedale/CVM cross sheep in my flock, including one of our rams, Derek:

Handsome Derek, with his cool hair-do, was officially chosen as the June mascot for the group...a title he carries with honor ;)

Anyway, I knew I could use Derek's wool for my project and I am very familiar with it but I wanted to do more and realized that I had never worked with 100% CVM or Romeldale from the raw stage to yarn. A call to my friend Bonnie at Sheepy Thyme Farm confirmed that she did have some raw fleece available (as well as several new lambs on the ground) so a "field trip" was arranged! Now, two trips later ~ LOL ~ not only do I have some raw fleece, but I also have planned some new additions to the sheep flock! How does this happen? Well, its almost as easy to collect sheep as it is to collect wool and yarn, especially when they are so lovely.

Here are some of the fleeces I came home with:

That gorgeous moorit, above on the right is from a lovely new ram. And below are a few of the ones I have already washed sample locks of (on the left are unwashed locks and on the right, washed:

Below is some of Derek's fleece to sample:

I am having so much fun and trying to take good notes...look for more here in the next week or so as I comb and spin the samples ~ oh my!

Is it Spring or Summer?

2010-06-19T07:35:00.008-04:00

Some recent images from our gardens ~

(An old green bench, a recent find at a yard sale for only $5 dollars!)
How are your gardens growing these days?

In Honor ~ Memorial Day

2010-05-31T07:51:00.009-04:00

With thoughts and prayers and thanksgiving to all who have served and are serving our country, and to their families this Memorial Day and every day.

Do any of you remember this recitation? When I was a girl growing up it played on the country music stations. It still gives me goosebumps when I hear it. I thought of all the people who may not have heard it, and thought I would share the words here. I understand it has been recorded in more recent times as well.

DECK OF CARDS (SPOKEN):

During the North African Campaign, a bunch of soldier boys had been on a long hike.
They arrived in a little town called Casino and the next morning being Sunday, several of the boys went to church. A sergeant commanded the boys in church.

After the Chaplain read the prayer, the text was taken up next. Those of the boys that had a prayer book took them out. One boy had only a deck of cards, and he spread them out. The sergeant saw the cards and said, "Soldier, put away those cards." After the service was over, the soldier was taken prisoner and brought before the Provost Marshall.

The Marshall said, "Sergeant, why have you brought this man here?" "For playing cards in church, Sir," was the response. The Marshall asked the soldier, "And what have you to say for yourself, son?" "Much, Sir," replied the soldier.
The Marshall stated, "I hope so, for if not I will punish you more than any man was ever punished."

The soldier said, "Sir, I have been on the march for about six months. I have neither bible nor a prayer book, but I hope to satisfy you, sir, with the purity of my intentions." And with that, the boy started his story ...

"You see, sir, when I look at the Ace, it reminds me that there is but one God.

And the deuce reminds me that the bible is divided into two parts: the Old and the New Testaments.

When I see the trey, I think of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.

And when I see the four, I think of the four evangelists who preached the Gospel: there was Matthew, Mark, Luke and John.

And when I see the five, it reminds me of the five wise virgins who trimmed their lamps; there were ten of them: five were wise and were saved, five were foolish and were shut out.

When I see the six, it reminds me that in six days God made this heaven and earth.

And when I see the seven, it reminds me that on the seventh day, God rested from his great work.

When I see the eight, I think of the eight righteous persons that
God saved when he destroyed the earth: there was Noah, his wife, their sons and their wives.

And when I see the nine, I think of the lepers our saviour cleansed, and that nine of the ten didn't even thank him.

When I see the ten, I think of the ten commandments that God handed down to Moses on a tablet of stone.

When I see the King, it reminds me that there is but one King of Heaven, God Almighty.

And when I see the Queen, I think of the blessed Virgin Mary who is the Queen of Heaven.

And the Jack or Knave is the Devil.

When I count the number of spots in a deck of cards, I find 365, the number of days in a year. There are 52 cards, the number of weeks in a year. There are four suits, the number of weeks in a month. There are twelve picture cards, the number of months in a year. There are thirteen tricks, the number of weeks in a quarter.

So you see, Sir, my deck of cards serves me as a bible, an almanac and a prayer book."

Time To Wake Up!

2010-05-19T23:46:00.011-04:00

From what feels like a long winters nap, or at least a slow awakening to spring!

I came out of the barn the other day and looked up the hill to see the rooster (with our neighbors flag behind him), still crowing at ten in the morning! I happened to have the camera with me (taking pictures of lambs) and couldn't resist this shot. It seemed like it was a nudge to me to shake off winter and wake myself up!

"Cause me to hear Your loving-kindness in the morning, for on You do I lean and in You do I trust. Cause me to know the way wherein I should walk, for I lift up my inner self to You..." Psalms 143:8 (Amplified Bible)

Flowers and grass are growing, trees are budding ~

We are done lambing, finishing with thirty five live lambs. Some glamorous whites and wild colors:

We lost two, one at the beginning and one at the end of lambing season. I only had to assist with one birth (with timely help from friend Mary). We have one bottle lamb this year, an endearing little fellow (now wethered) named Gordon that you will see here one of these days. Two sets of triplets, the first set triplet boys from Amanda and the second set, three little ewes from Ava, sired by Autry! The plan is to keep all three of them. Didn't have to help with either of those births!

Yes, it is time to wake up, there is lots to do....always lots to do. But maybe it would be okay to have just one more snooze in the sunshine before getting started...

(Ava's triplets, sleeping in the sun...one is a grey badgerface, one a solid black and one white! Way to go Ava!!!)

Updating Progress and FO's

2010-02-23T14:00:00.009-05:00

Thanks everyone for the encouraging comments in my last post of projects! I thought it would be a good idea to show you some finished things and progress notes, just to keep the ball rolling you know!

First the finished February Two Needle Baby Sweater from Knitters Almanac:

I'm happy with it - it was especially fun knitting something with my own handspun, and the Lenten Rose was a beautiful fiber. Then I found this "Rose Quartz" color of Lambs Pride superwash...wouldn't it be a lovely complement to the sweater, to make a pair of the baby leggings out of this? Hmmm....

Then, a FO from a project that began some time ago - this is my take on Jane Thornley's Feather and Fan Organic Wrap. I only had a few rows to work on it, and ignored some other things to get it off the needles. Sigh...it just makes me happy to look at!

Now on to the progress of items not yet finished - my Moc Socks, that I made a foolish mistake on ;( Lost my rhythm and have yet to fix it and pick the socks back up:

Then there is my Bountiful Bohus sweater which is way, way far behind schedule. There is no way that I will be ready to cut the steek by class time this weekend! But I am plugging away on it:

The pattern is Bountiful Bohus by Chrissy Gardiner. You can actually find the pattern free online (something I wish I had known before I bought the book Big Girl Knits, where it is also published) Oh well, you can never have enough knitting books and there are some wonderful hints about making items to fit in the book... The yarn is our own millspun Corriedale, mostly from our dear ewe Ainsley, and I call it coffee bean brown ;) The colors for the yoke are handspun from our flock and I added some angora for that authentic "Bohus" look and feel. The class is being held at the Yarn Garden in Charlotte, my home town so I get a chance to visit family on the same day I go to class. I took the class to have some hand-holding for working and cutting a steek! Janeen, our instructor, is wonderful as is Lindsay, the shop owner. I missed last class and keeping my fingers crossed that I don't catch the grandsons colds and have to miss again.

Have been doing a bit of spinning, too, when I don't feel like knitting. My daughter helped change sheep coats this past week, too, and when I looked at my sheep calender I realized that we could begin lambing in just three weeks. Oh dear, time to call the shearer....

Beginning and Ending Knits

2010-01-15T00:29:00.019-05:00

Can you guess what this Socks From Stash surprise project is, peeking out from its bag? Read all the way to the end of this post to find out!

A new year brings new projects to begin and some old projects to complete or abandon. I haven't shared much knitting in the past few months, and as I am putting the finishing touches on some completed items and starting some things new, I thought it would be a good time to post about them.

First of all, one of my favorite finished projects - another pair of my Serene Hands Entrelec Mittens. These were a gift for my daughter. They also won first prize for mittens knit from commercial wool yarn at our Michigan Shepherds Weekend Warm and Wooly Mitten competition!

I really did not get a lot of knitting done over the summer months last year, but with some help from the same daughter mentioned above, I was finally able to finish a pair of socks for my friend and fellow shepherdess Cheryl. I spun a 3-ply yarn from her Jacob sheep roving and my daughter finished knitting these so I could get them to Cheryl in time to keep her feet warm for winter! A simple ribbed pattern, pictured below along with an heirloom squash:

We were working from an outline of her foot and they were a bit loose, so Cheryl shrunk them just a touch and now they are nice house socks. Beautiful roving to work with by the way - check out the Painted Rock Farm website!

After the sock work was completed, I joined a KAL on Ravelry and at our LYS, Sip 'n Knit to make the Heather Hoodie Vest (Ravelry link) from the Fall 2009 issue of Knitscene magazine. I chose to make my version from some stash millspun Corriedale yarn made with wool from our flock. I made some changes to customize my vest, like knitting in the round in one piece to the underarms and not adding the ribbed sleeve caps the original pattern called for, but for the most part I followed the wonderfully written pattern:

I finished my Wrap Me Up Shawl and it was lovely - a work of art! A few folks in my knitting circle were stunned that only days after completing it, I gave it away. It became a prayer shawl for a very special friend who lost her oldest child. My prayers and hugs went with it, and my continued prayer is that it has brought her at least a moment or two of comfort as she faces the new year ~

I don't have a picture of the finished object...it was to large to photograph well ;) I would definately make this pattern again - it was a joy to work on, never boring and a great stash busting project! This one was a mixture of commercial and handspun yarns.

Other small finished items were a pair of Malabrigo Leafprint mitts; a pair of Spiral Rib Mittens from handspun Corriedale plus a few basic knit items for charity - caps and scarves. In January at Sip 'n Knit we started a year long KAL following Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitters Almanac, calling it a "Year of Knitting EZ". I made a Fishtrap Aran swatch cowl from a buttery yellow Plymouth Galway wool stash yarn:

...and immediately cast on for a second version, also from stash yarn, with plans of making this second item into a full hat. Other Almanac projects currently on the needles are this Moccasin Sock in red (Cascade 220 from stash) and the Baby Sweater on Two Needles for February (handspun Corriedale blend):

The Moccasin Sock is going to do double duty to fulfill some knitting obligations of making projects from stash, especially socks, as my Christian Artisan friends and I begin a year of Socks From Stash sock club! My second project for this kal is for a new pair of Felt Clog slippers for me. Here is the stash yarn I chose (I already had the pattern, too...does that count as stash?):

More Cascade 220 in dark green and silvery grey. The small ball of white roving is in the photo for a reason, too...I am planning to needle felt some roving to the inside bottom of the slipper ~ something extra warm and cozy next to my feet!

Whew, those are just some of my knitting beginnings and ends...what are some of yours?

Welcome Twenty~Ten!

2010-01-05T14:43:00.017-05:00

I'm a few days late in wishing everyone a wonderful start to the new year. I'm excited...I'm looking forward to learning each day what God has planned for me in all my days going forward, as many more as He allows. I hear people say all the time what awful times we live in, and yes there is much about the world that is bad. But my God knows what lies ahead. And we know, through His precious Word, that no matter what happens to us and to this world, that He is with us and that we will one day be reuinted with Him. As the old song says "Everyday with Jesus, is sweeter than the day before!"

I don't have much else to say, so I thought I would share just a few photos of the year gone by, starting with the snows of January '09 and and continuing on, more or less, through the seasons ~

(These photos are, beginning at the top - January snow, one year ago; bags of feed for "Doc" Smith - no matter how long Bill has been retired, he is still Doc Smith to the community! We're thankful for abundance, our own corn and oats in the grain bank at the local feedmill. Next, bountiful spring grass and a good crop of lambs; the Round House in summer; friends and family - brother Michael and friend Mary at my folks place; zinnias in our garden; Papa Bill & Elliot, special buddies. I'm not sure what they were looking at!. All three boys digging thistles - Mason said the next day "I hate to tell you this, Grandma, but there are hundreds more baby thistles"! A favorite heirloom squash this fall and new favorite apple; an old rope & pulley hanging in the Burnham barn; the Burnham Barn looking cold in the snow and finally the two little brothers at the Nativity. Elliot held the porcelin baby Jesus in his hand and said "Grandma, Baby Jesus has no blanket!" Oh, how profound that innocent little statement was)

Thank you to everyone who visits my blog or our website or our farm. God Bless each of you this coming year. Please be sure to visit often and drop a note when you can...we treasure every one!

Still Life With Soup

2009-12-11T13:56:00.010-05:00

That is what I titled the photo above, featuring our delicious homemade tomato soup alongside a bobbin full of yarn and my favorite yellow soup bowl ;)

I was reminded by a reader that I promised some lamb recipes more than a week ago! I got so busy preparing for the winter storm and artic blast that was predicted (and that we did receive by the way) that I didn't spend much time at the computer. So today as I put some dried navy beans on to soak for one of those recipes, I thought I just better sit down and get to blog posting.

By the way, here is a link to the tomato soup recipe that will take you right to the original post (September 25, 2008), if you don't already have it. The first of our family favorites with lamb makes use of that soup ;) It is called:

~ BARBECUED STICKIES ~
I use this recipe for whatever meat I have handy that I want to barbecue in the oven. This might be ribs, chops, steaks. We have our lamb chops and steaks cut 1 inch thick, so they work really well here. One of the things I really like about this one is that the meat is browned in the oven, saving the mess of an additional pan for browning on top of the stove)

3-4 pounds lamb - ribs, chops or steaks, whatever you have
Garlic powder, salt, pepper
SAUCE:
1 pint homemade tomato soup (see recipe link above) or substitute 1 can (10-3/4 ounces condensed tomato soup, undiluted
1 onion, chopped
2 cloves minced garlic
1 cup water
1/2 cup honey (you can use light corn syrup or I have even used maple syrup, though the sauce was not quite as thick with the maple syrup - tasty though!)
1/2 cup ketchup
1/4 cider vinegar
2 tablespoons soy sauce
2 teaspoons chili powder or hot pepper flakes
1/2 teaspoons ground cinnamon

Sprinkle meat with garlic powder, salt and pepper. Place in a single layer in a large baking pan. Bake at 325 degrees for about 30 minutes; drain off the fat. Combine the sauce ingredients and pour over the meat. Bake about 50 minutes longer, turning to coat occasionally.

Now this next dish is a real comfort food, just right for these cold blustery nights, but it makes use of the slow cooker so is also nice for summer cooking when you don't want to turn on the oven. The county in Michigan where I live has been known as "bean country" for all of the beans produced, so having beans in the mixture along with our farm lamb makes it all-around Michigan Farm Food ;)

~ LAMB AND BEANS ~
2 cups dried navy beans, soaked overnight in water
About 3 pounds lamb shoulder chops
1 medium carrot, chopped
1 medium parsnip or turnip, chopped (if you don't have either of these, you can substitute a couple of peeled, diced potatoes)
1 large chopped onion
2 cloves garlic, chopped
1 stalk celery, chopped (include the leaves if you can)
1 bay leaf
Salt and Pepper to taste
1 16-ounce can chicken broth (or homemade chicken stock if you have it)
2 tablespoons butter
1/2 cup half and half (you can use milk)

Drain the liquid from the beans. In a slow cooker, combine the beans and lamb with the next 8 ingredients. Cook on high heat for about an hour, then turn your temperature to low and cook for about 6 hours or till the meat is done. When the lamb is tender, remove it and chop into chunky pieces, discarding the bones. Return the meat to the cooker and add the butter and half & half. Stir and allow to heat through. Ladle it up and enjoy! NOTE: If you notice that the liquid is cooking away, add additional stock or water if needed.

Well, there you have it - two favorite lamb recipes from our home. I hope you give them a try. I wish you could try them with Serenity Farms lamb, but if you can't, please try to find a farmer local to your area where you can purchase the meat. Ask to try just a package or two of sample cuts if they sell them that way. A good way to find a producer in your area is by going to Local Harvest - a website that helps locate and support family farms, CSA's, Farmers Markets, etc (a great resource!) Also, someone asked about the Lamb Ham I mentioned in the last post. All we did was have our processor smoke some of the roasts in the same fashion you would cure and smoke a ham when you have pork processed.

Brrrr...now I need to go pour myself another cup of hot coffee! I sure am thankful for wool socks today....

Food For Thought...

2009-11-30T13:38:00.009-05:00

And for the table!

November seems to be about two major things for me...a return to hearty fall and winter cooking and the tie-in that has to Thanksgiving. (Okay, it is also about some special birthdays in the month - but even those seem connected to food thoughts - LOL!)

I have been meaning to write about one of my favorite foods all summer. One of my favorite foods that also happens to be home grown right here on our farm, another part of the diversity of our life as farmers and shepherds. I'm talking about good ol' delicious, nutritious American (Michigan, Serenity Farms) lamb for the table!

Growing up with sheep, we never ate lamb or mutton. My mom refused to cook it, isn't that funny? Though now I know lots of shepherds who don't eat it, so maybe it isn't so unusual. My folks and brother at home still raise sheep and still don't eat the meat. I love it. I really, truly love it. Lamb is my favorite meat - well, a good slice of bacon or ham is right up there at the top of the list, too! But then again, a slice of Serenity Farms Lamb Ham (one of our special cuts, smoked and everything, is pictured below) holds its own against the pork any day!

Over the years I have had good lamb and bad. Some of it really, really bad. Often the worst I have tasted I have eaten at sheep producing events or really expensive restaurants, if you can believe it! Watery, thin, grey, unappetising fare or else so highly seasoned and dressed up that you couldn't taste the meat - ugh! Would you like to know my "secret" for good, edible lamb for the table? I treat it just like any other meat - I use it in my favorite recipes, substituting it for beef or pork in the list of ingredients. I am not a fan of the "lamb is best prepared rare or medium rare" way of thinking. One of the things I am not overly fond of with lamb is both its texture (kind of like veal or venison or liver) and its color ;) I like to put a good "brown" on the meat with a quick sear or fry in the pan or on the grill. And I like it cooked all the way through, falling away from the bone. Lamb that has been well raised and properly processed - doesn't come out dry, in my opinion.

Did you know that (according to The American Lamb Board, "lamb is a good source of protein, niacin, zinc, iron and Vitamin B-12? And that compared to other meats, lamb has very little fat marbling throughout. Most of the fat is limited to the outside edges of the meat, so it is easily trimmed away." And while some might add additional fat to their ground lamb, we do not. I like it lean and dry and full of nothing but what we raised here on our property.

That brings us to another part of the equation - the part where what goes into raising lamb for the table and how it is processed contribute to the quality of the flavor. How about if I write more about that tomorrow, and maybe share a few of my families favorite recipes with lamb? By the way, if you have ever eaten at my house and been served meat with the meal...it may very well have been lamb ((grin))

Our favorite way with lamb...chops over a charcoal grill! And of course, the first photo in this post shows a juicy lamb burger, cooked over charcoal with homemade rolls, a good honey mustard and lettuce and onions fresh from the garden. All things to be thankful for!

Black Corriedale Lamb Fleece and More

2009-11-13T14:45:00.009-05:00

For whatever reason my webhost won't let me load any updated pages today. Why does that always seem to happen on a day I have things for sale? Hmmm...anyway, that is why I am posting these few things to trusty Blogger ;)

Eli - Black Corriedale lamb fleece (photos below) ~

Fine crimp, good staple length (about 4 inches) and best of all, natural black! We purchased this lamb at six months of age and he had not been coated up to that point, so there is vm in this fleece. For that reason it is priced at $8 per pound (lamb fleeces usually sell for $15 per pound). About 2.5 pounds available and I will include 4 ounces of bay black alpaca with your purchase
~ S O L D ~

Also for sale is the book pictured above "The Natural Knitter...How to Choose, Use and Knit Natural Fibers" by Barbara Albright. Includes patterns and dyeing information - a beautiful book! Priced new at $32.50 - I've barely opened it so it is in very good condition ~ S O L D ~

Finally, I still have a beautiful moorit Icelandic fleece for sale from my friend Cherie's farm... Very clean and a rich color - a bit darker than the photo shows. The thel on this fleece is super, super soft and it is one that is easy to seperate from the tog if that is what you like to do, but equally beautiful processed together. This is a ram fleece, but he was shorn well ahead of breeding season so not much of that "rammy" smell! About 2.5 pounds for $25 plus shipping

We accept Paypal, check or money order. If you have any questions or to check availability, please email me at serenityfarmswool@yahoo.com. These items would normally be listed at our website, Serenity Farms. Thank you for checking them here at the blog ;)

I Couldn't Say It Any Better...

2009-10-27T14:12:00.003-04:00

If you read my blog at all, you have probably heard me mention fellow Michigan Shepherding Family (and all around nice folks) Mike and Lona at Shady Side Farm. I love Lona's blog - Farming In The Shade - for lots of reasons, but particularly for her realistic yet loving look at farm life - not just here in Michigan, but anywhere.

I invite you take a look at her last three entries (just click on the link above) - Tuesday, October 27 for fun and creativity; Monday, October 26 for truly dedicated farming and farmers and Friday, October 23 for a disturbing and all to real possibility for important (to everyone) programs facing the chopping block here in Michigan.

Thank you for your blog, Lona, and for making time in your busy schedule to post...

Picture of an October Past...

2009-10-21T13:37:00.006-04:00

Just a quick note to let my friends know that I am still around, here on the farm ;)

This picture is from a few Octobers-ago, the last fall that Bill was still able to drive horses. Fall is a more difficult time for him, emotionally. His favorite time of year and the time he spent so many, many hours on the lines behind a team. I am seldom at the kitchen sink, doing dishes, that I don't think of him driving up into the yard looking for a cup of coffee and calling me out to take a ride with him and share the progress of whoever he happened to be training at the time. He is an amazing man to me, who copes so well! Still, I catch a look on his face when he sits on the porch looking towards the brightly colored woods. We take walks and rides in the car, but it isn't the same you know...just a few days ago he was outside in his motorized wheelchair and I was working in the garden. He didn't know I was so close, and I heard him down at the fence, talking outloud to "Sam" - his horse equivalent of a partner, the grey mare who helped him start and train numerous young horses. I couldn't stop the tears in my eyes or the lump in my throat.

I'll be back soon with more regular posts...till then, enjoy every moment you can of our glorious Autumn days....

Where Did July Go?

2009-08-01T00:11:00.009-04:00

Not only did the days of this last month seem to fly by, they haven't felt much like summer weather (which is actually just fine with me!) - we did not have a single day in Michigan that was over 85 degrees and there has been no humidity. The sheep and I like this ;) So does the lettuce (pictured above) which continues to grow nicely in my garden without turning bitter or bolting!

I had lots of lovely blog posts planned, but summer is just such a busy time, don't you agree? And now, here it is August...

But since I would like to share with you how our summer is going, I thought I would just post a few pictures and try to do better with the updates this next month!

There has been FIBER ~

Corriedale roving with dyed silk noil

Spun yarn and knitted sample

And the SHEEP that provide the fiber ~

Ewes on pasture

The LAMBS have grown well! Some we will keep in the flock ~

Deborah and her ewe lamb

And some have found new homes ~

Ainsley's ram lamb, Forrest

Time with FIBERY FRIENDS ~

Fiber group here at the farm, including a drop spindle class with Donna from Spinning Daydreams (this photo is actually from June)

Spinning at Mary's farm, including our youngest member, little "E" sitting on her grandma's lap

Time with FAMILY and FRIENDS ~

Friend Mary and brother Michael at the folks' farm

Precious Grandbabies covered with chocolate from s'mores, playing hide and seek in the hay field...such wonderful summertime memories!

I marked the end of this month in my garden, pulling weeds, while all around me the air was filled with the heady fragrance of the Oriental lilies, various Garden Phlox, Roses and even some of the Daylilies that are fragrant. The moon was already glowing in the twilight sky and fireflies were in abundance, even landing on my arm and glowing brightly before flying off. I could hear Bill and Alex discussing something through the open kitchen window. I thought of this verse from the Psalms, Psalms 65:8 "Thou makest the outgoing of the morning and evening to rejoice" and I rejoiced along with God and this evening He had provided - in fact a whole month of these mornings and evenings!

Post with no Pictures

2009-06-30T12:12:00.003-04:00

I don't usually like to post to the blog with no photos to share, but I thought some of you might be wondering where I have been the past month (or maybe you haven't been, but I will tell you anyway - LOL!)

We have been computer-less for the past few weeks, and that has actually been okay (though a bit inconvenient) because we have been busy with my mom in the hospital; hay being made during some very hot days and rain; preparing for a fiber day here at the farm and trying to keep sheep up to date on worming and vaccinations. I'm happy to report that mom is home, the hay is in the barn with no rain on it, fiber day has come and gone (what a fun day - I will blog about that first thing when the computer is up and running again) and the temperatures this week are 30 degrees cooler than they were last week!!!

Hope to "see" you all soon ;D

Cupie Doll yarn and scarf

2009-05-31T15:00:00.008-04:00

Lots of stuff going on around the farm that I would love to post about, but until I find the time I at least want to share with you some spinning and knitting content (a girl has got to have some quiet spinning/knitting time, right?)

I have always admired the beautiful fibery creations from fellow Michigander CJ Kopec of CJ Kopec Creations. When I stumbled upon a Ravelry group dedicated to spinning something special that CJ creates each month, I had to give it a whirl ;) I bought on of the May offerings, Cupie Doll - a Corriedale fiber, how could I resist? LOL....

The fiber arrived and it was drop-dead gorgeous...one of those jaw-dropping fibers that spinners just dream about! I loved the color of the roving when I received it, just loved it and CJ’s preparation is flawless! However, as is often the case for me, once I started spinning it I didn’t like the yarn colors as much as I did while it was still in the batt (does anyone else find this? Love the roving, hate the resulting yarn or hate the roving but love the yarn once it is spun?). And I didn’t find this to be the softest Corriedale - I am pretty spoiled by my own flocks fiber, lol! So while my original plan was a laceweight, I found the resulting yarn to dull and to harsh for my planned project. Okay, I thought, I will spin a sportweight, 3-ply - Navajo plying to preserve the colors. Sigh, still didn’t like it and wouldn’t have gotten much yardage (I was thinking socks or mittens at this point) since I had only purchased 4 ounces.

My next thought was a thick and thin single. Ah-ha! Beautiful! Preserved the lovely colors CJ had created and had a much softer feel to the yarn. I spun the full amount and started knitting a swatch directly from the bobbin (something I often do with my singles yarns) Ugh…I had a scarf planned, but STILL didn’t like the looks! I left the spun yarn sitting on the bobbin next to my “knitting” chair and I don’t know why, but I happened to catch sight of some coppery colored thread I had purchased for plying with something else that lay in my spinning basket. My mind started working, I started plying and …at last, success! At least I am happy with it ;D

The details: Barely drafted the roving, spun on my old faithful Louet S17 on the larger whorl (5:1 I believe). Plied with metallic copper colored sewing thread. I held the thread directly in front of the orifice in my right hand and the fiber at anywhere from a 45 degree angle to a 90 degree angle in my left hand to get the effect I wanted. I ended up with a little more yardage than I first counted…there is closer to 400 yards.

I created a long, skinny scarf from my finished yarn using the pattern One Skein-A-Stole by Katja Jordan (a very fun pattern by the way!) The pattern has you cast on 55 sts for a stole, but I cast on just 15 stitches to create the skinny scarf I wanted. I would like to do something to the ends of the scarf to give it a more “finished” look, and I have a bit of yarn left. Don’t want fringe, but possibly beads? Wish I would have done that to start with ;) Also, if I make this pattern again, I believe I will knit a few stitches at the beginning and end of the row to give the edges a more “polished” look…they are a little raggedy looking with this thick and thin, boucle-like yarn.

I won't be able to participate in the June spin-a-long, but I certainly plan on more of CJ's fiber in my future...I can't recommend her product and her customer service enough!

Sheep and Pastures

2009-05-12T23:11:00.007-04:00

Our bottle lamb, Francie, is doing well and growing, though she is still smaller than the other lambs her age. She nibbles at grass and eats soft hay and drinks water just like the other sheep.

She still has her bottle of milk replacer, but the feedings are farther apart. It was very hard for me to let her begin sleeping in the big barn (that first night I kept waking up wondering if I should go and get her!) She has her own pen, adjoing the pen for the main flock. Whenever I go to the barn, she gets to come out and help me with chores and other jobs. Just a few days ago, she helped me move the ewes and their lambs to new pasture. Here she is, looking things over:

We have been blessed this spring with good rains and weather, the pastures are doing well and the sheep were anxious to get to fresh grass. This is Amanda and her twins (by the way, this is the only white lamb this year out of the thirty five we have!) hurrying to check it out:

Desi's more colorful ewe lamb, below, decides this looks interesting:

(Isn't she a pretty lamb? I know she looks like she belongs in a flock of Jacob sheep, LOL, but she is all Corriedale, sired by our new ram Eli)

It wasn't long before the entire flock joined in and was spread out across the field, enjoying a good meal:

Francie and I were pretty tired after all of our hard work that day, but we were satisfied with a job well done and a happy flock of sheep ;D

Spring Magnolias

2009-05-12T22:50:00.007-04:00

"God, give us eyes to see the beauty of spring,
And to behold Your majesty in every living thing.
And may we see in lacy leaves and every budding flower,
The hand that rules the universe with gentleness and power" ~ Helen Steiner Rice

(Photos of the magnolia tree in the back yard of our farm...such beauty and oh! the fragrance! It is heavenly)

Where Have I Been?

2009-04-27T10:00:00.012-04:00

Looking back at the last day that I posted to the blog, March 30...we started lambing the next day...and started out with a bang, with four ewes lambing throughout the day, each with a nice set of twins. This continued for the next two weeks, usually one or two ewes lambing each day...sometimes three or four ((grin)).

Its hard to get good photos of new lambs without spending the entire day in the barn (hey, come to think of it, I DO spend a good bit of the day in the barn, but I am usually working!) Here are just a couple of quick snaps I managed to get ~ not the best, but you can see some of our more colorful babies:

Our flock is not nearly as large as some of you have and our ewes do not generally need any assistance to lamb (we have selected and culled carefully for these characteristics!) but it is still a lot of work for me, and time. Ewe gives birth, lambs are fine and trying to nurse but in the flock mob and with other ewes sometimes giving birth at the same time it is important to get the new mama's into a little quiet area (lambing jugs) to just do their business and get those babies off to a good and quiet start! Dip the navels in iodine, strip the teats on the ewe to make sure milk is flowing and try not to stress mom to much at that critical bonding period. Give her a little fresh water and soft green hay (she's just done a big job and hasn't been able to fill herself up much for the past few months!) and then leave them alone. Tiring, but very rewarding.

As on any farm there were a few tragedies, but thankfully only a few. One of them was more a sadness than a tragedy. You have heard me talk of one of favorite old ewes, Eve, on this site many times. You have seen her fleece and her offspring. Well, this year Eve delivered us with yet another set of twin ewe lambs (Eve has never had a ram lamb for us, unlike our other matron, her flockmate Mary who has only given us ram lambs!) Anyway, sneaky Eve delivered her twins in a half hour window when I was not in the barn and on one of the coldest, windiest days we had in March. Although Eve was in good condition her lambs were very small...in fact one was only about three pounds though fully developed. Second baby was a little bigger, maybe six or seven pounds and very lively. I quickly brought the tiny lamb to the house, ran back to the barn to get Eve and number Two in a jug and much to Eve's displeasure milked some colostrum from her to take back to the house with me. Bill tube fed the tiny baby and we started warming her up. I won't go into all of the details, but baby number One did not survive despite our efforts. And for whatever reason after two days Eve's milk quit flowing and when that happened Eve decided she no longer needed to mother her lamb. There are lots of reasons why this might have happened, but here I was with a hungry little ewe lamb who was growing weak and it was still very, very cold. To the house she came.

Now, we are not much on bottle raising lambs and have folks waiting to take bottle babies from us if we should have one. So usually we would get the bottle baby going and deliver them to new homes. But I couldn't do that with this little girl....what will be Eve's last contribution to our flock. She is such an adorable little badgerface girl and with a will to survive. Mason, my grandson, has named her "Francie" after a story he had in kindergarten this year (it is an "F" year for lamb names for us). Here is Francie asleep on her pink blanket, and then asleep on my feet (yes, like most bottle lambs she is often under foot!)

She goes every where around the farm with me...to do chores, out to pasture, to hang clothes on the line. She even helps me sort fleeces (another job I have been working on during the past month):

Will it tug at your heartstrings as much as it does mine if I tell you that the fleece in the photo belongs to her mama, Eve? I was working on fleeces when I looked down and saw her curled up there. Do you think that she knew? I like to think that she did.

Along with keeping up with lambing, skirting fleeces and trying to keep up with orders, shipping, etc, there has been some spinning and some knitting...

One of the knitting projects was that I finished my long-suffering pair of Eclectic Aquarian Jaywalkers socks from the STR mediumweight yarn that my daughter bought me for my birthday a while back. I wasn't sure I was going to have quite enough yarn, so added the bright green Regia as a contrast. I love them ;D

The spinning is a special project for my friend Cheryl at Painted Rock Farm and is of her Jacob wool. I am spinning sock yarn to make her a pair of socks. I have actually started the socks, but won't show a picture as they are to be a surprise for her. I will say that the roving is truly lovely (and I am pretty sure she has more for sale...you should be able to click on the farm name to link to her website). Also in that photo is some washed Jacob from a fleece I purchased from her, equally lovely and with very little vm.

Of course there is lots more work and knitting and spinning going on, but for now I think I have given you enough of an update ;D Hope to post a bit more often, but spring is springing around the farm and there are still two more ewes to lamb and a few more fleeces to ship off and gardening and....and...well, you fill in the blanks!

Seeds For Thought...

2009-03-30T11:43:00.010-04:00

(Wow, first of all I want to say thank you to all of the get well wishes and sympathy notes after I wrote about my recent sickness! I had no idea so many people read my blog because not everyone comments, but I got a lot of notes (both here at the blog and via email) and I appreciate every single one of them…especially now that I actually am feeling better, LOL! Thank you, thank you!!!

Something I did a few days ago that I didn’t get the chance to write about before I got sick was to “walk” clover seed onto some of our pastures. My farmer type readers will know what I mean by this, but for those of you who don’t it is just what it sounds like….walking back and forth across pasture fields spreading seed by hand. In this case, we are adding a “new, improved” variety of clover to our pastures as it is supposed to be good, hardy, drought resistant once established and not so prone to cause bloat in the sheep. Some of our existing pastures are getting pretty old and need some new energy. We are a small farm, utilizing old-fashioned, more traditional methods for everything we can. Real low-tech but high quality and satisfying jobs for the most part. The tools used are old, but effective – an old time hand seeder and your own two feet! In the photo above is a picture of the Seeder, or Sower as they are sometimes called. I'll bet some of you have one of these in your barn, and lots of you have them and find there are holes in the canvas bag from mice chewing in to get some stray seed. Ours did and we had to borrow this one from our friend, Hilda. Below is a close up picture of the directions that are still very legible on the bottom:

For me, this seeding was something that I've watched my grandfather, my father and my husband do. It seemed like a very soothing and purposeful job to me, but there was always someone else who did it. Now that job falls to me and at first, everyone seemed worried that I wouldn’t be able to do it (grin).

First, Dad “Let me try to get up there (note ~ Dad lives 75 miles away) and get that seed on for you” Me: “I think I can do it, Dad, don’t worry about it” Then Husband “Why don’t you get Mark (son-in-law) to come and do this for you? That’s a lot of walking” Me: “I think I can do it, if you show me how. Let’s not bother Mark” Dad: “I think I can get up there this week to get that seed on for you” Me: “Really Dad, it’s okay, don’t worry about it. I’ll get Mark to help me” (remember, I said I wouldn’t bother Mark, but I don’t want my Dad to worry about me – he has enough things to do!) Husband: “Maybe Paul (our neighbor) would come and help you get that seed on if you ask him” Me: “ Really, honey, I want to do it, if you will show me what to do. I hate to bother someone else with our work” Husband: “What about Alex (our foster son) He can help you” Me: “Yes, he can. Alex and I can take turns, if you will show us how”

Can you see how the conversation went? LOL…in the end, when the weather conditions were just right, we gathered all the things needed for the job and Bill sets it all up for me. Things had to be adjusted to suit my length of stride, my height, and the size of the seed in the seeder (clover seed is TINY! I kept thinking of the scripture in Matthew about having faith the size of a mustard seed…) Then, I helped Bill into the van and we drove to the pasture field. My thinking was that if I had trouble or the seeder needed more adjustments, I would have him close by rather than having to walk all the way back up to the house. I knew he would be watching from the porch, anyway ;)

He went over the instructions with me one more time. These were the same instructions given me, via phone message, by my Dad which were basically this: "Remember to look straight ahead, across the field and walk towards that landmark….Every time your right leg goes forward, start another turn on the seeder… If you have to stop, be sure to close down the seeder so seed doesn’t continue to fall out on the ground when you aren’t moving (this is expensive seed, by the way)” I couln't help but think of how all of these instructions were wonderful directions for life...

I draw a deep breath, fix my eyes on the second fence post in from the corner across the pasture…and begin. Step, crank; step, crank….one, two; one, two…OOPS, there’s a dip in the ground, made by one of the big horses hooves and I twist my ankle and get a bit off stride – take my eyes off my distant “marking post”. Collect myself and get back to it…I’m doing it!!! Oops, don’t get so excited and forget to crank the handle of the seeder! Back in stride, this is going great! Darn, here’s the dividing fence, I have to slow down and step over but I do it and don’t have to shut down the seeder. Step, crank; step, crank….before I know it I am to the other side. I shut down the seeder to make my turn and to fix my eyes on a different “land mark” to head towards. Hey, this is good!

Bill was encouraging and proud of me, I could tell. It felt good, to do this. The more I walked, the more confident I got and soon I was nearly done. I was tired, but I kept going. Twenty five trips across that five acre pasture field were a lot of trips for this girl with the beginnings of an awful cold (by this time, Alex was already sick and missing school - that's why he couldn't help me. He wanted to, but I wouldn't let him) But I did it! My heart sang when Bill told me I had done a good job. Teamwork.

On my very last trip across, at the very end of the field, what do you suppose? I looked down and saw sticking up out of the mud - a Horseshoe!!! I reached down to pull it up, wondering which of our long ago draft horses had lost this shoe here in pasture and remembering that probably one of us or the daughter had walked the field looking for it. It seemed so symbolic to me...a lucky find, planting clover, a change in times and circumstances for us, yet working together. I had made it through my new "job" with love and support and encouragement and out of necessity. I ended my pasture walk with only a cupful of seed left in the Seeder...we had planned things out just right.

(I thought you would like to see the size of shoe some of these draft horses wear)

We will hang that horseshoe above the barn door as a reminder of so many things. I will always think of the sunny, cold spring day and be reminded of how God has blessed us in our life. I will think of "faith the size of clover seed..."

Matthew 17:20 "...I tell you the truth, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there' and it will move. Nothing will be impossible for you." (Some versions say, and I like this "But this kind does not go out except by prayer and fasting" It reminds us that we have our part to do, too)

We Interupt Our Regular Schedule...

2009-03-23T04:45:00.004-04:00

Just wanted to drop a note here at my blog to let my friends and fiber customers know that we have been out of commission here at Serenity Farms the past week or so. We finally got socked with whatever awful "bug" has been going around all winter and it hit hard and moves slowly ;( Praise God that Bill has been spared and I pray that continues to be the case.

I am managing to drag myself out of bed/off the couch to do what has to be done...which of course probably doesn't speed recovery, but that's how life is on the farm, right? I'm thankful Alex was home and well enough to do chores this weekend! My daughter will come and do chores for me, too, when I am sick but her household has been sick, too, and she still has to get up and go to work, so...

Sorting and sampling fleeces has ground to a halt but I will get back to it just as soon as I can! We should also start lambing this week...and there are pens to clean, and lambing "jugs" to get set up and I really need to change some of the girls (ewes) coats. Will we get to it? I don't know. This stuff is miserable! It feels like strep throat, bronchitis, sinus infection and ear infection all rolled into one...along with body aches and a pounding headache!!! This is the longest period I have been upright for a few days, so hopefully that is a sign I am on the mend. You know one of the worst things about being sick with a cold??? Can't taste the coffee!!! LOL...

Hope to be back soon ~ until then I will leave you with a fleece skirting photo, the last one I worked on I believe. Taken by my friend Mary of me and another friend, Hilda. I believe that is Elizabeth's fleece we are pouring over!

That's me with the ski band on my ears...and yes, I really do pick over the fleeces that closely!

If I haven't mentioned it here before, it needs to be said that we could not do what we do without the help and support of dear friends and family!