Kaba

Yesterday afternoon Octavia had a little calf.  Mom and baby are doing really well, although Octavia is a bit of a helicopter parent. Adam is about 99% sure it's a girl, although he hasn't been able to get close enough to confirm as the rest of the herd is being really protective.  

Meet Kaba

Thank you

Saturday's opening was better than we could have hoped- and we have to say a big thank you to everyone who came out to support us.  The response from the community was so supportive and overwhelming.  HUGE thank you to Camp Umpy's Bagels who sent us two platters of bagels to help feed our customers- and our volunteers.  Because of course, the day would not have been possible without the help of our family and friends who brought us cups of coffee and tea, cookies for fortitude, helpful advice and words of encouragement, took care of the dogs throughout the day and stood guard by the door to tell us "Another car is coming!"  Everyone took some fantastic pictures, so check out the Facebook page to see them all.

Now that we're open, we're excited for the next steps- restocking the shop (more sock yarn and lambs coming soon!) and starting to process for everyone who dropped wool off for us.

If you missed the opening but would like to stop by, the mill shop is open on Fridays from noon to 8pm and on Saturdays from 8am to 2pm.  If you want to drop off some wool, just shoot us an email or call and I'll make sure that I'm in the mill and ready for you.

Countdown

We're getting ready for the grand opening on Saturday- it's coming up fast!  I'm updating the website daily with pictures from the mill, so stop in at Mill News for sneak peeks of the shop.

Launching

The Skirted Fleece Mill website is now officially up and running! 

You can find updates on what we're making in the mill, our service price list and directions at

Skirted Fleece Mill

New Arrivals

So we've finally had some good happening around the farm.  For starters, our brochures for the open house were printed up and came in the mail, so we get to start distributing them around town.  The website should be up and running by the end of the week for everyone who wants directions for the open house and the price list for the mill services. 

We've been hard at work finishing a new batch of sock yarns:

I really really hope people like sock yarn, because we have about 60 skeins of it that I've been working on getting dyed up.  It's 100% Corriedale that we got from a small farm in New York and it's soft but sturdy.  I've knit my share of socks and it always bugged me to not know how much yarn I had left for the second sock or to have to drag out a scale to measure while I wound.  We're preventing that problem by selling the yarn packaged in two 200 yard skeins so that it's the perfect amount for each foot.  No guessing required!


The other (slightly cuter) new addition is Miss Maddie Ross.

 

Maddie came to us from Sweet Border Collie Rescue.  We had put in an application, assuming it would take a couple months to get a placement because Adam wanted a puppy and most rescues have older dogs.  But as luck would have it, Maddie and her siblings came to the rescue from a shelter at about the same time our application hit, and the rescue thought we would be a good home for her.  She's half Border Collie and half Blue Heeler cattle dog and all energy.  While no one could possibly replace Cisco, Maddie has helped to make the house feel less empty.  She's good company for Thora and has bonded like glue to Adam.  She follows him everywhere, helps out with the farm chores, and curls up in his lap for snuggles.

 

 

She's also a help in the mill...

 

 

I never have to worry about the fiber wandering off. 

 

 

Maddie is on top of it.





And now for something completely different

Adam and I both approach things the same way.  When the going gets tough, we think we can just put our heads down and bulldoze through it.  Sometimes this works, especially if it's both of us pushing forward together.  Sometimes it's just exhausting.  Last week was one of those.  But in an effort to move toward a more positive direction...


We are announcing the Grand Opening of the Skirted Fleece Mill and Mill Store!



The mill will open on March 23, from 10 am to 6pm.  Everyone is invited, so spread the word!  We'd love to see as many people as can make it.  We'll be giving tours of the mill and answering questions and I'm hoping to have some nifty door prizes to raffle off.  If the weather is cooperative we'll also be able to show off the yak herd and the sheep and bunnies. 



We have a lot to do, but we're really excited to be able to finally open for business and we can't wait to get started. 

Second Verse

Same as the first.  A little bit louder and a little bit worse.

So last week was...horrific.

On Tuesday we lost Cisco.

On Wednesday Maiden gave birth to a little ewe lamb.  All day that lamb was running about, yelling it's head off, seemed to be happy and healthy.

On Thursday morning the lamb was stone cold and not moving.  A friend and I spent the entire day trying to get warm milk and electrolytes into her and getting her warmed up and moving. By dinner time she was starting to stand and walk on her own.  Adam went to bed at 10 pm and when he got up for the 1 am feeding, she had died.

Saturday night a teenager wrecked her truck on a patch of black ice on the road in front of the neighbor's house and was thrown from the vehicle.  To the best of our knowledge, she is thankfully going to be ok.  But...

On Sunday afternoon, we lost one of our yaks, Eirene.  Adam thinks that the commotion from the fire trucks and ambulance spooked the herd and she got hurt when they bolted.  The only small blessing is that Dawa is now over 8 months old and pretty well weaned.  But that's about it.


I don't know if we maybe need to call in a young priest and an old priest, or perhaps walk widdershins around the farm burning sage or what, but this is ridiculous.  And exhausting.  Emotionally, physically, everything.  We're just kind of... eish.  Here's hoping this week goes better.