Our Speed Racer--or Crash?

Here's 'the man'! Our wonderful Frank (Jim's Dad) gifted this gorgeous little Saturn to Ross--and you can see how happy he is with his first ever car! Thank you Frank!

It is such a cute car but with as tall as Ross is, we had some concerns that he would have to sit with his head out of the sun roof to drive--turns out it is not the case--he just sits in the back seat--hahaha! What a happy day! He is still a little nervous about the car so it is spending plenty of time being admired in the driveway--he has had it out to town once and to the neighbor's picnic Monday. We are pretty sure that won't last long! OH, and he hides the keys--the sheep have been begging to take it for a spin--bwaaahahahahaha! Jim says at least then they will leave the Gator alone??! :0)

Working toward a big update on the site today and this week so keep an eye out! Lots of dyed fiber, roving and our new 'clouds'--also will keep you posted as we get FedEx all set to go.... Happy fiber days!

Owchiwawa!

Well, our recent trips to the post office have been an adventure--SO, we are now setting up for a pick up from Federal Express- we will be shipping with them as long as the rates are less expensive for you! Otherwise, we will stay with the USPS but for now, the new rates and size restrictions are daunting! Ugh! SO, please know we are working on better options for you!

The shawl in the picture was my first using one of my new favorite fibers-- superwash Merino/Viscose mill ends, another effort to 'recycle' fiber that would otherwise have not been used. It is soft soft and just lovely, the edging on the shawl is part of a skein of handspun corn fiber from www.fieldsoffiber.com - a great place in our neighboring Iowa that offers some beautiful, unique spinning fiber created with corn! It is wonderful yarn and I am working on spinning some of my own that will be available on the site soon....

The sheep are happily getting round--the grass is good and we are almost to the time of our first hay cutting of the year. The sheep are very happy about that--a full barn of hay for the winter is always good!

We are working on getting back on schedule here after the loss of Jim's mom so continue to appreciate your patience with us. The drawings are coming up too--FOUR winners this month so don't miss out--the drop spindles are beautiful and there will be some special Crazy Quilt batts to go with them! Have a wonderful weekend, planning Sunday/Monday for only wool sorting so new fleeces to post soon! Be sure to add yourself to our sheepy fan club to receive notices of updates, etc! Happy weekend to you all!

Moving forward....

Here are two of my favorite people! Ross the graduate--yey! and my wonderful hubby Jim--and a rare (don't expect to see many more) one of me!

Ross' graduation night was just a hoot, and one of the proudest moments of this mom's life! Ross is planning to start with a college course this fall and we can hardly wait to see what he chooses!

Thank you for all your kind words and thoughts for Claire, we miss her but she is at peace now and it was a long road to that peace for her.

Today is a beautiful WI day so planning to get boxes packed for mailing tomorrow and lots of fleeces sorted to get on the site this week--we are going to try a new 'system' for selling the fleeces so stop back, once I have my thoughts together on it, I will be posting info here! Happy fiber days!

Our Claire....

By now most of you have heard of my husband's wonderful mom Claire and her battle with Pancreatic Cancer. Today our angel Claire left us, peacefully, surrounded by her family.

My words are escaping me tonight, many tears will be shed as her friends and family hear the news of her passing. She traveled the path of her illness with grace, dignity, strength and courage--and all the while comforting US when we wanted to comfort HER.

She will be desperately missed by all who knew her, I only hope some of her wisdom has rubbed off on me as those of us left behind find a way to learn to live with out her. Travel safe my Claire, I love you always.

Congratulations ROSS!

Today is such a special day, had to re-run the boobie picture of our wonderful son Ross! He is a blessing and we are proud to be attending his high school graduation later this evening!!!! We are SO proud of him!

Thought this would be a 'good' time to share my favorite story he wrote for an assignment in school, I believe it must have been 3-4th grade? No date on it so just a guess! Here goes:

Lumberjacks

My name is Ross. I like to be a lumberjack. It's four o'clock it's time to get up and eat breakfast. Next we are going out to chop down some trees. We load the logs onto sleds pulled by oxen back to camp. After that we srive them down the river to the mill at the mouth of the river. In the mill where the logs come in saws cut them in to pieces. After we are done with that we go eat lunch. Today we had roast beef and chicken soup. Last week was cold but this week it is colder. I have three partners; Hambone, Dan and Derek. We work on loading the slays and pile stacking. After winter I went home to my family and my pets. During the summer, I go fishing with my son. I have a job on a farm. I do chores like milking, plowing, cleaning stalls and feeding. Last summer the crops weren't good cause we had little rain. This summer we hope to have better luck this year. I plow corn fields adn pea fields every Thursday. I like to go horse back riding to the lake. When I get there I go swimming for one hour. -By Ross

Funny how so much of that applies today? Ironic and beyond cute! I am sure he will appreciate me sharing that with everyone too! :0) He plans to attend college for video game development/creation and stay here working in our family business for now.... I hope for a very long time! Happy day Ross, you are the best and we are so so proud of you!

Questions and babies!!! :0)

Hello all! Had the happiest mother's day--a great little sheep named Athena had healthy happy TWINS! She is one of Ross' Cotswold sheep who arrived here to retire--pregnant. Ugh!
She is a wonderful mama and has a boy and a girl. The little boy has a slight issue with his lower jaw but it is not affecting him much at all. They are all healthy, happy and jumping around like jumping beans today! Yey! Ross is working on names for the two so will keep you posted. We still have Fancy and Chanel (Athena's friends) that we believe to be pregnant and if they are (and not faking it), they should have their babies this week. Keep your fingers crossed for our girls!!!

I see on the comment part of the blog that you have questions about our raffle-- and all of the money raised through the raffle is being donated (every cent) to support Team Nancy/Claire-which is made up of my two younger sisters, who are walking the Loooooonnng Avon walk the first weekend of June in Chicago. If you visit our website, we have an entire page that gives all the info, links and such all in one place! The sheep still think they can go, we will have to be veeery careful to not leave our keys unsupervised closer to that time! ha! Have a happy day--raining today, will be a happy pasture and hayfield for sure!

Happy Mother's Day!

Happy mother's day to all of you, who are wonderful, wise and even if you do not have your own children, touch people's in a special way--living a good life! Will be sharing more thoughts on my own wonderful mom's this evening--heading for a day of fun with my mom shortly!

If you met our little Pippy in the last post, this group of sheep is her family--owned and loved by our friends Carl & Becky not far from our farm. They are Jacobs and each year we are lucky to sell their fleeces for them! I will be adding some beautiful colored wool tonight so please stop back--lilac is a 'common' theme in the color of the flock and how fun is THAT?

Also pictured is the latest 'victim' of my scissors! Can a cute cotton shirt with raised polka dots and swirly silk scarves turn into yarn? You bet! Watch for more updates, almost ready to ply this yarn up....

As you visit with your friends and families today, please hug everyone you love every chance you get! I am off to smooch up my wonderful mom!!! :0)

Welcome Pipsqueak!

Oh my, isn't she just CUTE? This is our little Pipsqueak (aka Pippy). She was a twin and the mama decided she didn't want her so our friend raised her to come here and keep Sunny company! Wheee!

She is a Jacob sheep and will turn into a lovely Lilac shading if her current color is any indication.... She has taken an immediate shine to Ross and thinks he should be spending his entire day sitting under their tree, mainly to have her snuggled up! :0)

Kelly is glad to have her here, she was getting tired of Sunny's rudeness--he is a baby and babies need to play--Kelly is tool old to run all day! SO, even though Sunny is glad for the younger company, he is jealous too--does not want her near me. What a silly. I don't remember having a lamb so jealous of another lamb? Goofy sheep!

It is gorgeous outside today so am planning a big day of sorting fleeces--for those of you waiting on your orders AND the website--keep an eye out! Hug everyone you love every chance you get....

Shipping and Emails....

Ok, couldn't resist posting this picture--my Dad went fishing on Lake Michigan last week, had the best weather, the best time and doesn't this remind you of a picture from 'way back'? I was going to turn it to a sepia tone and see if it even looked more like one but forgot! My Dad is on the far left--he is the most wonderful man I have evern known and I could not have asked for a better Dad--ever. I adore him and am so grateful for the way he is 'there' for my cutie pie Mom as she navigates through chemo for her breast cancer. He has been strong, protective, caring, silly, sweet and a wonderful example for my own son and nephew on how to be a good man....he always knows just the right words to say to her--and us. I love you Daddy O!

Now, about shipping and emails, as you have probably heard/noticed, I am moving a little slower than our 'normal' with those two parts of our business. My hubby's mom Claire is battling her own cancer and our time is spent taking care of her and being sure her needs are met. Please bear with us as we work through this time with her, we adore her and are going to miss her so much--but are definitely here for all of you too. Just on a slower pace for a little while. Thank you for your patience. I often promise shipping dates and I am sure you see the date may be off a few days but I hope you can understand and if you have ANY questions please email!! It is always good to hear from you!

Planning another update of unwashed and washed fleeces this weekend so keep an eye out--hug your loved ones every day!

Ta-Da! New Raffle, Web Update and more!

OK! The May fiber raffle is up and on the move! There will be FOUR winners chosen this month so don't miss out! Each winner will receive two drop spindles and 8 ounces of Crazy Quilt fiber from the sheep to get you on your way to a new spinning adventure!

The spindles were generously donated by our friends Oneida and Jon of Ma & Pa's Spindles , Monroe--thank you SO much! They are handcrafted and beautifully finished... a joy to spin with!

I have also updated the website with some wonderful washed and dyed fiber so be sure to take a look around! I will be adding new fleeces this week so be sure to stop by often--also almost ready to launch the new line of yarn!

Uh, oh, mutiny in the pasture--have to go wrestle the keys to the new Gator mobile from the sheep! Who knows where they would end up tonight! ha!

Ok, time to 'schedule' the keys????

This SO cracks me up! Jim & Ross have been waiting YEARS to have a farm vehicle to mow, plow and just do chores with here on the farm--wa-la, they drove every model they could find and decided on a John Deere Gator--4x4 with lots of great 'extras' that will make our life on the farm way easier--specially for old me!

It just arrived last night so Jim is getting to know his new toy, unfortunately for Ross, Ross is at his dad's for the weekend and has to wait til NEXT WEEK to have his turn! Poor Ross!

This morning we went out to feed and this is what we found--our wonderful old barn kitty Rocket, waiting to get chores underway! He did NOT want to give up the driver's seat! Too too funny, and I guess Jim decided to let him drive? With a few instructions first--looks to me that Rocket is taking notes! My hubby is lost to me now--but way happy! :0)

I am going to be updating the site this weekend with new dyed fiber and hopefully more unwashed wool. Have lots of fibery/spinning plans so we'll see how fast I go! Keep an eye out and hope you are all having a wonderful weekend!

Congrats to our April Raffle winners!

Andrew is along for this ride, just for cute factor!! ha! Congratulations to our April raffle winners--the yarn raffle winner is Barbara T. of Elgin IL and the fiber raffle winner is Kati B. of Missouri! Wheee and your fun packages will be on the way this week so keep an eye out! (also the fun sheepy thank yous for the rest of you--you are all winners in our book!!).

Thank you to all of you who participated and watch for one last Avon raffle for May--we have some beautiful drop spindles donated by friends, and more fun fun fiber! We will most likely fire up the raffles again in the fall but will continue to offer 'tribute' items on the site year round.

Breast Cancer tribute items will have entire proceeds donated toward BC research--in my mom Nancy's name. In tribute to my wonderful mother in law, we will also donate the proceeds of the Pancreatic Cancer tribute items to the wonderful Hospice center that is providing the team of angels who are helping us travel the PC path with Claire.

Thank you again for all your wonderful words of encouragement and kind words, we appreciate them all! I will be adding the May raffle by this weekend along with lots of pretty dyed fiber, new fleeces and washed fiber too! Yeeeeeha! (from your fiber/yarn enabler!!) Hug up all your loved ones every day!