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By Pam, on April 28th, 2009 Our breed registry, ACR, has a co-operative retail booth at the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival and we’ve signed up to contribute product. I’ve been washing assorted fleece for our “Flicking Kits.”
 drying natural colored locks Each kit includes 6 ounces of clean locks of many natural colors, a little dog comb and instructions on how to flick and spin the locks. This is such an easy way to make a randomly colored yarn and it’s fun, too! Great for overdyeing, too…
I’m also taking some of our new notecards and a few Hatchtown spindle kits along with the usual roving and yarn. I can’t wait to see all the goodies the other members are bringing! This will be the ACR’s first experience in an outside space and the smaller size (10 X10) tent. Nina and I are loaning the ACR our newly acquired EZ Up and Jim designed a really cool banner for us.
 The ACR has a new banner!
By Pam, on April 24th, 2009 So the past couple of days haven’t been the best weather-wise… grey, drizzily, raw and just generally pretty miserable. I think this qualifies as one of those 2 steps forward, 1 step back moments. While I’ve had to abandon the idea of playing outside, I’ve been a busy bee in the barn. I’ve been working on batching fleeces to go to the mill and I’m so-o-o-o excited!! Our CSA members are going to have some be-e-ea-u-tiful fiber to play with! The fleeces are even better than I’d originally thought now that I’m seeing them for a second time and really getting my hands into them!
In preparation for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, I’m on the prowl for a few fleeces with “the right stuff”…the ones I’ll take to the Fleece Show. I try to take a couple every year. We don’t show our sheep (prefer to keep them on the home turf…because of the quarentine thing I’ve talked about in previous post) so showing fleeces at least gets the fiber out into the fiber public’s eye. Because many of our fleeces are destined to go into roving and yarn for the CSA, I’ll be bringing the show fleeces back home with me. Keeping fingers (& toes!) crossed and I’ll post the results when I get back.
By Pam, on April 10th, 2009 I’ve been to an island! OK — not the warm, tropical kind. North Haven is just an hour and a bit out by ferry, and Becky & Bill live there year round. Of course its population grows by leaps and bounds in the summer but at this time of year it’s fairly quiet. Becky met me and as we drove from the ferry to the house, I drooled over the wide expanses of open land. North Haven used to be an agricultural island and sheep were kept in great numbers. At one time, North Haven lamb was prized in the markets in Boston. Today, there are only a handful of people keeping sheep and there’s a feral flock of mouflon that’s sighted from time to time. Sadly, most of the pasture land is privately owned by people who aren’t full time residents and it’s just mowed annually to keep it from closing in…aka keeping the views open. It’d be beneficial in so many ways to put that land into production…just dreaming.
I’d heard from Becky that the day before I arrived, three sets of twins had been born to her Coopworth ewes so I was very excited to see them and their Moms. She and Bill started their flock with Coopworths from us and then a year later they bought our Border Leicester ewe, Imogene, too.
 The view from Cider Hill Farm on North Haven Island. I think the girls may have remembered me just a little…at least they weren’t too concerned with me hanging around in the lambing shed and handling their babies. Imogene let me scratch her forehead and rub her back a bit…she always liked that. And the lambs — very sweet. The three sets of twins were made up of one natural colored & one white. I’m not sure whether that’s significant but it’s certainly interesting and very cute. Becky offered that it is in honor of our new administration.
When we weren’t playing with the sheep, we picked away at fleeces. All were beautiful and really very clean considering they’d not been covered for a good part of the year. She was a little worried about their condition but I’d be very happy to have any of the ones I saw! Last year she had some yarn made from her fleeces and sold it at a shop on the island. It disappeared…knitters know exceptionally nice yarn when they see it!! It sounds like this year there may be some roving available, too.
 This ancient apple tree couldn't be identified by the experts during a recent census. It produces apples that weigh about a pound each! Becky & Bill have been asked to name it.
 Becky's white Coopworth wether, Oatie, and his replacement ewe friends.
 Its always takes a few minutes for everyone to adjust on their first day out!
 Marion's lambs sticking by her while she picks at every little green thing she can find.
 This little one has found a warm spot to wait while mom snacks on hay. Back to reality and my own fleeces to sort through for the CSA. We have just a few roving shares left but there are still a number of yarn shares available.
By Pam, on January 22nd, 2009 There are still some fleeces that haven’t been sent off from fall shearing and they need to go! It’s been too cold to stay in the barn for any length of time and the fleeces are impossible to unroll so I’ve brought some into the studio to warm up. We did a very good job of skirting them at shearing so there isn’t too much to do — just a quick look through — before packing them up. I always get hung up on what exactly to do with them…to blend or not to, to make yarn or just roving. The problem is that I love it all!! We have some CSA members!
By Pam, on October 11th, 2008  Here's Nina milking one of her goats...they're just the sweetest girls an their milk is YUM! Our local craft guild had their annual open house today. I had to clean up and organize the yarn & rovings in the studio which is always a good thing and I had to bake -ugh! I’m not a baker…hate making cookies. But I made some pumpkin spice cookies that turned out pretty well. The recipe made way too many and now we’re going to have to eat them! I also made the shortbread that everyone raves about…me included. Its the best! Our friend and meat customer, Emelie Tolley stopped by and we chatted about shortbread, the various types, additions to & methods of construction. She’s writing a new book and shortbread will have a place in it. (Check out her books at amazon.com) Fresh local cider, fruit and kiwi berries (from our veggie CSA) rounded out the table. A fair number of people came by and some repeat customers, too. My very good friend Nina, fellow Coopworth shepherdess and cheesemaker extraordinaire came by, too, and kept me company. She brought some fantastic chevre that she makes from her LaMancha goat milk. Can’t get enough of it! This goat’s milk is the highest in butterfat and the chevre is soooo creamy — and the flavor! YUM! Now I can start packing for Rhinebeck.
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