Halloween Update!

Well, hours later, I almost have the website 'caught up' from our melt down last month--be sure to take a look! I will be adding more fiber this weekend AND our painted primitives--hand painted by me with of course supervision by the sheep--and lots of fun gift items!

You can also see more photos here -some already posted to the site, some to follow this weekend! The fiber pictured today can be found on our site and is the wonderful Mohair (Angora goat) fiber from our sweet Odey goatie!

Odey arrived here as an almost yearling, really on his last legs so to speak. He was very sick, we did not ever figure out exactly what it was but he was off his feet for the better part of the winter, hanging out with us in the house while we worked to save his little life. He got better and ended up with his front legs 'frozen' bent backwards, making it very difficult to get up and walk. We were afraid he would have to be put down--we gave him another night, moved him into the warm barn by the sheep all jacketed up with a heat lamp. In the morning, my little miracle goat was standing in the barn, STRAIGHT LEGGED looking at me as if to say, hey, where you been and WHY are you crying??? He really is a miracle and today is a happy go lucky fellow hanging out with the other goats and Chaquita llama.

SO, add some of Odey's fiber to your next project--it is silky, soft and so so shiny--must be his glimmer coming to you long distance! Happy fiber everyone, soon to be back washing wool/yarn again--we now have running water (cold) and hot water to follow very soon! Yippeeee! Never knew how much I would appreciate such a basic item in my life!!

Sheepy wildness!

Our website is 'fixed' so please keep an eye out for our new fiber and yarn-- we will still use our flickr account to update too but all pictures will start on the site again. Yey yey yey!!

I tell you, if we didn't have a 'surprise' every day here lately (and not always nice ones!), we would not know how to behave! The well guys were here connecting the lines back from the house to the well--we looked out and Bobbi & Andrew's group had snuck through a hole in the fence (?) and were galloping around kicking and jumping--in with the little group of oldsters and lambies! Eek!

So, off we went, Jim went out and set out their three bales of hay and all but one sheep went back 'home'. Lucy the Targhee decided she was going to stay and live with Max the llama's group instead. She just would NOT go home! Little does she know, I originally wanted her in that group--she has some specialness too, when she had her lamb the last time (she is now 3), she had a prolapse and a ligament tore in her tummy--she is fine but can't have lambs (why she is here) and her tummy is a bit crooked when you see her from the front/back. We adore her and her crooked tummy is cute, and doesn't seem to bother her in the least. She is probably one of our BIGGEST sheep too--I did not know Targhee sheep were that big, I am betting she is at least as big as a Shetland pony? Wowser! She is a very good girl.

We have water back TO the house, now Monday our plumber is coming out to hook us up--at least will have cold water back in the house that day, which means NO MORE outhouse visits in the cold AND wool washing/dyeing will be back full fledge--yey! Who could ask for more right?? Hot water by the end of the week and then, the rest can take as long as they want as far as I am concerned!!! Have a happy sheepy, fibery weekend!!

The sheep are doing a happy dance--Noodle and Libby, not so much!

Well, the sheep are happy because the house now has a new foundation, floors and basement windows! Hooray! The well people come out tomorrow to get the water back to the house, then we hope the plumber will get here very soon! Almost back to washing and dyeing wool INSIDE! We are all happy to be closer to business as usual for the sheep--can't be soon enough for me!

The weather is getting cooler and the dogs are all enjoying time in front of the warm corn burning fireplace in our living room. Makes it tough to keep thinking about working--they look so not worried and content don't they? And believe me, the best time to take pictures of a Border Collie is when they are asleep--that is about the only time they are still for more than a few minutes!

OH, and the website is FIXED and I have almost finished re-adding the fiber and yarn so be sure to take a look around. I will be posting brand new yarn and fiber this weekend and will send out emails so be sure to sign up for our 'sheepy fan club' on the website! Happy Thursday!

New fiber and PHOTOS!!

OOK, we are trying something new--the sheep are really getting frustrated because our IP server has not fixed/loaded up our image manager.... SO, we are set up on flicker so if you see new items on the website , you can pick up the photos here. Please just email us off the website if you would like to order something-- and thank you for your patience.

While we have been waiting for this to get settled, the sheep have been busy designing new fiber, dyeing roving/clouds and creating batts so we are still here and we hope the new place to see pictures will be a short lived step for ordering!

Might have our new basement floor poured tomorrow--barring any barrage of rain so keep your fingers crossed for us! Happy fiber and more updates to follow!

Our little Noodle dog is growing up....

I tried to sneak in and take this one while Noodle the Border Collie was sleeping in 'her' chair--but even though she is mostly deaf, she caught me with the camera. Oops! She was sleeping so soundly I thought sure I could pull it off! And I might point out that in the first picture, you can see how she made that 'her' chair--see the chewed padding on the one arm? She also picked a teeny (repaired I might add) hole in the seat to make it mucho larger. She has been picking on that chair since she was six weeks old--she even untied springs on the bottom--stinker! I planned to re-hab that chair anyway but I can't convince her she is naughty--I just get the look of the second picture like hey, I know what you mean--BUT, I am still smarter than you! Sometimes that is so true!

She has a date with the vet to be spayed this month and her deaf buddy Libby will be going with her--they are joined at the BC hip now so it was a great move to adopt Noodle too. They play ALL day and just wear each other out. Noodle's 'new' thing is to take me by the pant leg or bottom of my shirt and lead me to where she wants me to be. I came in the other day after feeding the sheep and she was waiting for me, all excited but sitting nicely like, I have to show you something way COOL! She took me by the shirt tail and showed me her 'surprise' and she was so proud of her work, I didn't have the heart to be mad! However, she had 'toilet paper rolled' the entire living room (furniture, floor, fireplace) with some of my most expensive BLACK SURI ALPACA fiber that had been drying near the fireplace, up out of her reach--or so I thought. She made quite a mess but it ended up only being a handful and I think she just placed it where she wanted it like an art project--no ripping or shredding. What a silly dog. She sure has been a blessing not only for lonely Libby, but us as well. It has been a tiring year at best and we have enjoyed her and she definitely keeps us on our toes--and smiling!

The house is set back down on the foundation now and we get a new basement floor Monday--keep your fingers crossed for a nice day--no more rain! Then the 'real' work can get under way-- plumbing, heating/AC, water heater, softener, WATER back in the house AND my washer hooked back up down there ASAP!

The guys also got our back porch (you may remember my Dad and our friend Dennis from IL came up about oh, 3 weeks before the basement collapsed and enclosed our porch for us) re-floored and Ross put the patio doors back up! Yey! NOW it looks like progress! I will post pictures this weekend--am plotting a finish for the floor--hooray for painting-another love of my life!!

SO, while we all wait for the new IP server to load up our image manager, I am working on new things for the site and getting info decided on for the new yarn and fiber clubs--keep stopping in and email if you need anything you don't see on the site yet! Happy weekend everyone!

Getting there!

Worky worky--no rest for the wicked right? ha! I am about half way through the updates/re-entering of our new products on the site today--however, during our recent web meltdown, the image manager on our cart was 'eaten' so I cannot post pictures yet. Ugh. Hoping that will change later today-some days if something isn't wrong in my world I don't know how to behave! :0) Thank you all for your patience we have lots of fiber and yarn to add and I hear a box is on its way from Shari too!

The rain has moved our new cement basement floor off til next week but our wonderful carpenter friend is here replacing a few broken floor joists and working on plumbing issues in the mean time. Our front yard is a pond again-lots of rain last night-wah!

And thank you for your good thoughts for our Bradshaw, sadly, we did have to put him to sleep to end his suffering. Our vet said he had a stroke and it was just his time but that doesn't make this any easier- I miss him to bits. At least we got to say goodbye and see you again someday....

Please send good Karma for my Bradshaw sheep....

Your wonderful karma did great things for Lela's Lucky (a few posts back Lucky was having terrible troubles--and now is doing great we are happy to report). We are having rainy fall weather here now that is not always great for a sheep--cold, rainy--yuk. This morning we found our sweet Bradshaw unable to get on his feet and not very responsive to me. We moved him into our 'nursery/hospital unit' where he will be warm and dry and gave him a good dose of sheepy pain killers and some freshly baled hay. He may have slipped in the mud? Been playing too rough as those boys are known to do? We won't know but for now, he is warm and I just checked on him to find him more interested in what was going on and lifting his head. His pain response is back in both hind legs so that IS a good sign. Hopefully he just has a sore muscle in his back and no damage to any more important places in his back. Bradshaw came to us several years ago through a huge sheep rescue effort in Pennsylvania. He had a rough life before he got to retire here with 12 of his buddies so we are hoping he will be ok--definitely good karma needed and you are all so good at that --thank you ahead of time!

Hoping the website will be back up entirely tonight or tomorrow so please keep stopping by--or email us at home at homesteadwoolandgiftfarm dot com if you need to order pronto! Thank you all again, I am off to go curl up in the hay with Bradshaw.....

Egads!

Please don't panic, our website is NOT suspended. Can't believe this is going on but we are tracking down the real reason and should be back on the web soon-- thank you AGAIN for your patience. This is getting old isn't it? Anyone know a deep hole I can jump into???? Bwaaaahahaha!

This week we should have our little house back on a foundation so keep your fingers crossed for us. We are sweating out one more humid day and then I am back outside sorting fleeces for the site. Watch for our own sheep to contribute along with more from our friend's flocks. Fun fun fun! Happy day! (Grrr)

New offerings at the farm!!

Welcome the new handspun art of a long time friend of the Homestead-Rachel! We are proud to be offering her special drop spindled handspun--most spun with fiber from Homestead sheep! Rachel is a person who in her young life has made five trips related to helping children in foreign countries and we like to 'pay it forward' so until Rachel gets her website or Etsy shop updated, you can contact her through our site for some gorgeous yarn. Earthsong is her first offering so be sure to take a peek!

We are waiting for the house mover guys to come back--we may have to have a house landing party next week! Hip hip hooray! We are getting closer to running AND hot water in the house!!! The sheep are waiting for the cooler fall weather to be here to stay and enjoying the extended time on good grass. Our second hay crop was a loft filler so we have at least half our winter hay stocked up--from the sheep's own field! We are looking for rain tomorrow so Tuesday will find me sorting fleeces for the website so keep a good eye out! Happy fiber Sunday!