Wednesday, September 28, 2011

Earning Their Keep

A few weeks ago I stopped into our local yarn store and was talking with the owner, who has been waiting to get her hands on yak fiber for her shop.  No yak fiber yet, but I did mention that we have bags of angora, just sitting around. 

And one thing let to another...

So for the last few weeks, Adam and I have been

taking the bunny fluff...


running it through the drum carder...


weighing out one ounce batts...


and boxing up "Bunny Clouds." 

Ten boxes are going to hit the shelves of "The Gentle Arts" in Honesdale tomorrow, and honestly, I don't know about him but I'm a little terrified.  I don't know if I'm more worried that they won't sell at all, or that they'll all sell out and then we'll have nothing new to stock.  Nova and Storm were just plucked, leaving only Nimbus left to do and then we'll have no more angora for another three months.  I'm having terrifying visions of us hovering over the cages, pleading with rabbits to grow hair faster. 

That is not a life I would like to live. 

So keep your fingers crossed for us, as the very first ever Skirted Fleece Farm product heads out for sale.





Also- Adam designed the new logo for the farm.  I think it's awesome!  

Thursday, September 22, 2011

Memo to Sheep

Dear Julie,
  I realize that you have traditionally been the dominant sheep in your little flock.  I realize that you think you are Queen of Everything and that all the other sheep are used to following you and listening to you and moving out of the way when you headbutt them.  I realize that you have based your somewhat limited life around this status and have grown to expect certain things.

However.  There are a few things you need to accept.

1.  You are a sheep.  On a farm that has yak.
2.  Yaks are bigger than sheep are.
3.  Yaks do not like to be headbutted in the rump.
4.  You have short stubby legs which are quite ineffective for making hasty escapes.
5.  40 acres is not enough space to escape from a wrathful yak with a bruised bum. 

Perhaps next time you could think some of these things through before deciding to "move" Gaia out of your way.  Just a thought.

-Much Love
the people laughing at you

Sunday, September 18, 2011

In Pictures

Eirene

Nimbus and Storm got a new hutch, twice as big as the old one.  Of course, in the true fashion of sisters, this means that they have divided the hutch into "your side" and "my side."




Pullo





Friday, September 2, 2011

Welcome to the Dark Side

Our power went out around 10 am on Sunday.  It was returned to us around 7:30 Thursday night.  That is, for those keeping score at home, just under four and a half days with no power.  Some of that was broken up by the fact that Adam and I still went to work, and some of that was broken up by the fact that when you have no electric, you go to bed when it gets dark out- which runs about 7:40 pm these days, if anyone's interested.

But to fill the other hours without tv, video games, cell phones, or the computer, you can:
curl up under quilts and read (or nap!)


play with the dog


look up knitting patterns (in real books!  Instead of on Ravelry!)

Knit in the sunshine


or by lamplight


after you convince your husband to wind some balls of yarn for you.

(winding yarn is not Adam's favorite past time)


You could find new and exciting uses for the garage overhang and some 550 cord

when the power goes out mid-laundry cycle.

Harvest some lavender


or play in the sunshine


All in all, it wasn't a terrible experience.  Not one that we would like to repeat at any point in the near future, but not awful.  We kept thinking how much harder the whole thing would have been had we been in the middle of a sweltering heat wave and trying to keep the animals cool or in the middle of a blizzard or cold snap and trying to keep the water troughs from becoming 50 gallon ice bergs without power to the electric heaters.  Honestly, the animals didn't have a clue that anything was different.  We ran two borrowed generators, one for the chest freezer in the garage and the other for the water pump and furnace so that we could water the animals and take quick, hot showers.  And flush the toilets, which becomes more important than you might imagine after Day 1 without power.   

The one good thing that came out of the whole experience (other than getting a lot of knitting done) was the fact that without other distractions, Adam and I got to spend a LOT of time together.  There was not much else to do other than talk to each other, no video games to play or Facebook to check.  We went to bed early together, got up early together, and spent a lot more time, in general, together.  We also got to spend some time with his family, as his sister had power, so those without were huddled around her table for hot meals. 

So, in short, it could have been a lot worse.

Thursday, September 1, 2011

Off the Grid

A quick post from a borrowed computer-

The animals and farm came through the storm ok, but we've been without power since Sunday.  A call to PPL reassured me that "most users in that area can expect to have power returned by Sunday, September 4 at 11pm." 

That was somewhat less reassuring than I'm sure they were going for.