tomato patch

Baby bunny, blocking for show ..

2009-04-14T19:16:00.004-04:00

Well MDS&W is 10 workdays (for me ) away. Im still sculpting on my project for the skein and garment competetion, and I have begun blocking out the ram I intend to show.

Blocking out sheep for the show ring can take MANY hours with the end goal to get the sheep to look as long and as straight as possible.

ALL of the belly wool is removed. neck wool and head wool is trimmed drastically. and all of the fiber on the rear end is clipped and squared off.

this ram here has been worked on at this point for about 2 hours.

I will add new pictures the next time I block him more. There is a problem with doing more today as we have had a day of rain. so I will likely work on him more on thursday and /or friday

The baby angora bunny, looks to be an agouti color , and so far is doing GREAT he/she is over 3 weeks old and now has begun nibbling hay as well as pelleted feed.

Well off I go to work more on my submission for MD. Hope to see you there !

baby bunny

2009-03-23T21:34:00.003-04:00

I have been trying to save a baby english angora rabbit. This is much harder than most would think. They are very small, and hard to get to eat from anything much other than an eyedropper.

In the past I often was finding myself trying to save .. "the battered and bruised one" the one that mom kicked out of the nest" or one that was allready listless and cool to the touch .. my success rate has been BAD.. the longest I ever had a baby survive was 14 days.

I have undertaken this huge trial yet again and today was day 5 .. his brother (for lack of knowing the actual sex of either ) died 2 days ago. He had been the weaker of the two and chilled when I got to him. Neither baby ever recieved any dams milk so no colostrum. I did have some ewe colostrum tho and added that for the first day to the KMR I am using to feed with I am careful not to over feed, and to stimulate it to urinate after each feeding

This little fella is so far hanging in there and tomorrow if the lighting is good I will photograph him to show you.

Another year ... more lambs and sculptures.

2009-03-21T19:59:00.003-04:00

We are getting some lambs ready to take to MDS&W to show in May .. they have been jacketed all year, and are now showing us some beautiful fleeces under these coats.

Weather is supposed to get below freezing tonight so the tender veggies are not yet going out.

Out of the lambs born this year, we had 13 lambs.. 4 ewe lambs and the rest Rams . One of those ram lambs will show at MD in may alongside the sculpture that I am currently working on . I cannot post it on the blog site because judges may be lurking and visiting sites. I know they cannot see my FB page so I can allow my FB friends to see my latest work.

That lamb there is called Cho , and she is 1 year old .. out hopes are that she will be bred to the "Dutchman" in the fall along with 3 other yearlings .

We had a Bunny class at the shop a weekend ago and had great fun. All students came away with bunnys and we spent the better part of the class laughing and having a great time.

The two new piggies are here.. one is black and white spotted the other is just pink and thats ok, if it ets much hotter they will soon be looking for a pool.

the only ewe lambs being kept this year is "Paris" we dont care if shes smart... we care if shes pretty

GETTING ready for SAFF!!

2008-10-12T19:01:00.002-04:00

Im packing up and making wonderful santa , witch and snowman felting kits . I have put them together with what I think is a TON of packaging to help make creating these critters a little easier. BUT as we all know, I will be unable to make everyone happy all of the time.. so Im aiming for making most of the ppl happy :)

I have new puppets, and am packing up things for my class, getting little touches to each persons kit . and typing up instructions . Hubbie and I went to make color copies of my instructions and at staples that would have cost me OVER 180$ THAT was much more than I anticipated , so I have decided to buy more color cartridges for my printer and go with that approach . not cheap by any means but it certianly dosent cost me $.50 per copy !!!

My mom and dad will be manning the booth, while Linda and I teach classes, and this year I WILL take pictures of the classes completed work !! We have added so much new stuff to our booth I really hope it is a good event.. christmas and the seasons Hay is riding on it.

We are going to dye our own yarn , proudly spun from my sheep to our items this year, and we are handpainting it tomorrow. We are getting down to the wire, with 2 weeks to go until we leave and still so very much to finish !!!
VERY stressfull!!.
anyway please let me know if you went to saff and what you did and MORE!!!
M

New creations and events

2008-04-02T17:21:00.004-04:00

We completed our lambing and kidding, 4 cashmere babies, one cashgora baby and 20 healthy lambs. sold half of the adult girls to great homes for lambs and fiber makers , and just finished what I will enter at MDS&W this spring. Im actually putting in 2 sculptures, but one is brand new. Here he is , I call him "baby bear"

the Dinosaur puppet was completed late last year and she will also go to MD to compete. I doubt that they will be as warmly appreciated as the bobcat was last year, but I think many of the visitors at MD will like them . after all the goal is to get them "seen"

Here is me hoping you all like them

Lambs kids and sculptures OH my !

2008-01-31T17:46:00.000-05:00

So far we have delivered 8 healthy bouncing lovely corriedale lambs .. all sexes but it seems to be swaying in favor of ewe lambs at the moment. I have completed a new sculpture to put in at MDS&W .. heres hoping the work is as appreciated this year as it was last year.

We have also had 4 beautiful cashmere kids. 2 boys and 2 girls .One of the boys is a black buck with a white belly band and is SO CUTE... sadly he will be for sale . Since we own his daddy and not enough room for a second billy.

I completed a new puppet, a filly, that is currently being shown off at my local feed store.

We had a GREAT year at the NC state fair . We took all KINDS of top honors including NC born and bred ewe and NC born and bred reserve !!!

im including a photo of the ewe that took all the great ribbons .

MOMS can change the world, AND the acceptable imports.

2007-11-14T19:02:00.001-05:00

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=595here is a link to all the lucious imported poisions in fish .. you know, fish we are supposed to eat more of for the benefits? here is a list of the products that china continues to send us... who needs Al Queda... we will harm ourselves by the products we buy . Not to mention what we will allow our kids to ingest... lead... GHB when does it end?When do we stand up and STOP buying the things we dont read the labels of !!!We shop at Wally world because its cheap not because its safe... well how bout if you stood up for your children, for our future, for our rights as consumers to demand a safe product by not buying one that IS NOT safe.put your money where your future is !!! rewad the label , buy us only fish ... and shop around for US made toys this holiday season lets say to china ... they cannot convert us to communism by increasing our national debt.if you need more information or impetus then herehttp://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/28/safety_woes_widen_for_chinas_goods/

MOMS can change the world, AND the acceptable imports.

2007-11-14T18:16:00.000-05:00

http://www.growfish.com.au/content.asp?contentid=595

here is a link to all the lucious imported poisions in fish .. you know, fish we are supposed to eat more of for the benefits?
here is a list of the products that china continues to send us... who needs Al Queda... we will harm ourselves by the products we buy . Not to mention what we will allow our kids to ingest... lead... GHB when does it end?
When do we stand up and STOP buying the things we dont read the labels of !!!
We shop at Wally world because its cheap not because its safe... well how bout if you stood up for your children, for our future, for our rights as consumers to demand a safe product by not buying one that IS NOT safe.
put your money where your future is !!! rewad the label , buy us only fish ... and shop around for US made toys this holiday season lets say to china ... they cannot convert us to communism by increasing our national debt.
if you need more information or impetus then here
http://www.boston.com/news/world/asia/articles/2007/06/28/safety_woes_widen_for_chinas_goods/

SAFF felting and FUN

2007-10-29T11:30:00.000-04:00

I dont know about anyone else but I had an absoloute ball teaching a class at saff this year. I hope if any of my students log onto my blog they can shoot me photos of their creations to post here ,If noone does then I will just have to take cameras into next years classes .

I will be teaching a Christmas ornament class in my town of Richlands THIS saturday. Class begins at 10 am. imagine my suprise when I was told at saff I had a class this sat that I had comepletely forgotten about I told the inquiring person ... class begins at 10 am ...then I went and asked Linda... "do I have a class this saturday?"

In any case, goats are in my sheep yard and seriously need haircuts, I slept this morning until 11 am ... oh my, and have to fix those things husbands may not always pay close attention to.

to look at the photos of puppets etc , they are here they may just be older posts .
so look through... ask questions whatever you want and Ill try to answer !
thanks !

handpainting sock yarn

2007-09-17T20:41:00.000-04:00

My grandmothers gentleman friend passed away this week and she is understandibly sad. She is a "lady" to her bones , and a very frilly one at that, so here I go painting some yarn I had spun for socks, yarn from my sheep,

... for some reason the photo is not as bright as the yarn really came out but you get the general idea... I think I will spin up some more corriedale and card some long peices of angora bunny wool in, for the cuffs... make them super duper frilly and soft.

I will post how they turn out and here is hoping the picture comes out better then than now.

now while the yarn dries in my dehydrator lol Im off to work on more needlefelting for Saff.

another new puppet

2007-06-21T18:55:00.000-04:00

a mini schnauzer. Hadnt mads many "k-9" puppets so here is my version.

Besides the one I mailed off .. We will see how it goes. I hope everyone likes this .

Latest puppet

2007-06-09T14:28:00.000-04:00

I will be sending this puppet to the Oprah Winfrey show on Monday. I had heard her commenting on her cocker spaniel having a hard time with bouts of kidney troubles.

Its a dual edged Idea, this one. While Im an animal lover and really enjoy my sculpting, I cannot think of another venue that would "possibly" offer me the chance to have my work seen.

I cannot imagine Ms. Winfrey having any difficulty with an entrepreneur taking a risk.

so here is one of mine. Now I can only hope it makes it past the mail room.

more on nais and traditional farming

2007-06-06T13:48:00.000-04:00

recently discovered a blog that goes into how the AG bureaucrats plan to force nais upon us like it or not, http://www.thecompletepatient.com/journal/2007/1/23/the-secret-plan-to-make-nais-mandatory.html
there were also several other outstanding articles on raw milk and more.
and someone has asked, do farmers blog?
I think the answer is yes, if they have the time. Nowadays they may be getting more time since urban expansion and sprawl are cutting deeply into the ag community. old farms that used to be corn are now new developments. Im thinking the only solution to this issue will end up being families who get 50-100 acres, and homestead, or create an environment where they can eat what they grow etc. but with the NAIS they wont be shipping animals or dairy off their land...

is palm oil worth it ?

2007-05-31T14:06:00.000-04:00

palm oil, everyone is beginning to hear of it now, but palm oil is destroying the greatest forsete we have on our planet. the animals who live in them, are innocent victims. Read the label... pass the word, no palm oil in our products,.not in our face cream , shampoo or coditoner, not in our easter candy , chocloates, or anything else, and definatly not in our cars.
We, the masses say what goes into the things we buy, make your dollar matter...
buy very local produce, this is the time of year. and freeze it in a very energy efficent deep freezer, it is better than the 3000 miles some of our food travels to get to us . there are EASY cost effective ways to be middle class and green !!! matter of fact, im thinking of a new blog... maybe not tied to the farm, but on being green and poor ...
not poor exactly... but middle class, and the definition of that has changes too. anyway
look for the new blog site , Ill post
the name here soon.
in the meantime,
http://news.yahoo.com/s/nm/20070528/sc_nm/indonesia_orangutan_dc
here is an article on what palm oil is doing.

another nais action

2007-05-31T11:04:00.000-04:00

if you are anti NAIS another step you can take is to go to moveonh . org and bring attention to our cause. we are of course trying to inform anyone and everyone how this will affect them weather they have a farm or animals or not but this step may just bring a bit of attention to us .
http://pol.moveon.org/feedback/fb/form.html?tp=suggest

please go there and let them know what all will be losty if nais is imposed ! thanks Melissa

flickr photos

2007-05-20T18:49:00.000-04:00

Recently I opened a flikr page here is a link http://www.flickr.com/photos/8291178@N03/
and it shows many of my sculptures and puppets. DO feel free to comment ! I have been making more things and will be working on a new puppet this summer as well as a sculpture that I have in my head. My garden is growing great , my lambs all look fantastic and many of my 08 fleeces have been reserved. If your interested in an 08 fleece please do e-mail and I can tell you which I still have avaliable. grayjoe@charter.net thanks ! Melissa

MDS&W results

2007-05-08T14:34:00.000-04:00

My MDS&W entry won best in show. I couldnt have been more thrilled and excited. Lots and lots of people took photos of my work and everyone was so nice and positive.

The turnout at MD was HUGE tons and tons of people there on saturday and by comparison sunday seemed slow and relaxed .

My parents came and my husband and son went too . We had a great time and I bought lots of new wool to create with as I also got several new Ideas. My friend Laurie was there and I got my annual laurie hug. But she brought me wonderful shetland treasures, and some mulberry trees I need to transplant today before they die.. they do look a bit pathetic after the ordeal they have been through.

check back because after MD I am very inspired and will have new things in the works on a very regular basis ! thanks !!!

MDS&W

2007-04-30T12:42:00.000-04:00

Well, we will be headed to maryland this upcoming weekend. I have entered my lynx into the needle felting competetions, and shipped it last week. I hope it does well.. I can only cross my fingers. My parents who have never attended a fiber fest will be cutting their teeth so to speak at MD.
I also will be taking my 5 yo , who is calling it a sheep carnival. We will see how much he likes it
I will also take my camera and be sure to get plenty of photos for everyone.
I know I will be carrying wool to zellingers for priocessing and checking out sheepman supply for jackets for the sheep, but more than fleece shopping I will see, because it totally will depend on money lol.
anyway I hopwe to see lots and lots of ppl and things, we missed last year so this year should be great !

Averesboro fiber fair .

2007-04-23T10:33:00.000-04:00

We attended the fiber fair in averesboro this past Saturday and I have to say it was quite a good time. Met a lot of new and wonderful people out there, and taught some of them in my needlefelting class. Several I hope to see again.
I am happy to say I finished the lynx/bobcat .. sculpture over the weekendand she will be winging her way into the care of someone in charge of submissions for MDS&W sometime today.
I also hope to get a couple of the sheep sheared that I will then carry to Zellingers woolen mill, to have processed into rovings that I will offer at SAFF.
Linda and I are discussing other fiber gatherings that we may wish to attend and naturally would like to stay close to the east coast for now.. so if anyone knows of any , that are just starting up or are planning to become an annual event please lety me know ! but for now , farm catching up to do !

feed prices and my solutions ..

2007-04-12T09:02:00.000-04:00

First of all this photo is my "Strider" a 3yo percheron colt.

He is 17.3 HH and about 2200 lbs.. he is large but very sweet and goofy. I truly am enjoying owning this coldblood. This coming from a serious lover of arabians. Perhaps it is my age and knowledge that Im not unbreakable ..

In any case as corn prices have continued to increase , and according to my feed store will keep going up,

I have had to come up with alternative feed regimines.

rather than a basic "complete" pelleted 12% protien feed, I am now feeding, for example if the horse normally ate 5lb complete pelleted feed, I measure out in the same scoop, (not by weight)that I used to measure out the pellets, 4 scoops of dry beet pulp.

1 qt container, is my measuring device.. and I give 4 of those,

and then I also give 1 qt of alfalfa cubes. = the 5 origional lbs of feed, I soak this for about an hour... alfalfa cubes and beet pulp may cause choke in horses..

to help raise the protien lvl for those younger horses, I give 1/4 C soybean meal, and for the baby babies, I give 1/2 C rice bran too... because the beet pulp is a great base, but low in fat percentage , it is also only about a 6% protien.

the percherons are better off on less protien but my arab cross mare needs a little more, so she gets a little soy as well...

I personally chose to also add source, for the miocronutrients, and believe it or not still come out quite a bit less expensive in the long run ..

I do add horse mineral salts to the program too

I have incorporated this feed program for my sheep and goats as well with tweaking to meet specific protien needs, for example my rams do not get alfalfa cubes, but do get cottonseed meal for a boost in protien. cottonseed meal in stead of soy because soyhas some estrogenic compounds, and I do not want this to cause breeding complications.

my lactating ewes, get more alfalfa cubes than ewes that didnt lamb... as well as more soy bean meal and cottonseed meal.

I hope to have a feed that meets the nutritional needs of each species without breaking the bank . I believe as prices continue to grow, and NAIS gets pushed harder and harder small farmers will either need cost effective feeding alternatives or they will sell out .

IF you do try this feed alternative please use common sense , and watch the weight and condition of your animal closely.

I am not an equine nutritionist , but I have fed and owned horses for 30 years.

I am using a method I am trying out based in logic not in any proven scientific studies.

I would like to know your own results if you too try this regimine. and I will keep you posted on the overall health and condition of all of my animals on this feed program.

Melissa

Frost..

2007-04-07T08:47:00.000-04:00

We are supposed to get temps in the upper 20's tonight. definatly a frost. I will need to try to protect the small bean sprouts and more coming up that will likely die from a frost.Hope it takes a bit of the pollen count down. But I also dont want to loose my peach crop, small but important to me.. I have tried very hard to have an edible landscape. we are on 6 acres, but I grow dye plants and medicinal herbs as well as a grape vine, we cut out the hedges close to our house, ornamental boxwoods, and are replacing them slowly with blueberry bushes... down by the barn Ill be growing pupmkins, for the sheep and goats as well as to put pumpkin up for pies later in the season. Iam trying to grow luffa..gourds, and heirloom seeds... Im trying a new tomato caslled amish paste, I will see how that does. and then the standard ones one grows in their gardsns, after this frost anyway.. makes me very glad I hesitated to get my cukes and squash in the ground.. they are in here on the table... thankfully they are looking great.. I wonder if a lot of others were lulled into a false security and planted before me.. if so , they are hating themselves now.

garden fare...

2007-04-05T16:43:00.000-04:00

the garden is still being put in, in semi raised beds, I do not use wood or boxes to create these raised beds, I use mounded earth... on top of my old garden patch I then use spilled hay and manure from the winter, and I lay it about 6" thick all over the top of the mound... then on top of that I put rabbit manure or horse manure from stall bedding etc... then on top of that I use black composted earth, being sure to toss in several earthworms while I shovel.. then , I wet it thoroughly, and cover the whole row with a thick peice of discarded rubber roofing... I found this huge black rubber roofing when we moved here and I have used it for so many things since I found it I think finding something like this out here is a great treasure. the long narrow rubber matt stuff for floring also works I also managed to scab some of that too... so wherever the roof is not, the floor peices are... they stay on each row a minimum of a week but I prefer 2 ... and everything under them dies back ! except the earthworms and new more rapidly composting rows...
then in between the rows, they actually look more likr ditches than rows ... I toss in wool from the underbelly of my sheep and armpits etc... check at a feed store, many sheep producers dont even use their wool, belly wool is trash even to ppl who do raise sheep for fiber, and meat sheep, the wool is too coarse for spinners to want.. but makes great weed block...
toss wool and more chaff or old hay from winter over top of that...
depending on your own weed issues you may need to repeat this later in the season..

I put half a calcium tablet in the ground with my green peppers, and that really seems to work great... and I grow things like marigolds, and other flowers near my veggies to attract bees, but also to deterr some other bugs .. I pluck the praying mantis off my mimosa trees and transplant them to the garden...

and do learn to look for friendly bugs like assassin bugs for your gardens too..
http://www.ivyhall.district96.k12.il.us/4th/kkhp/1insects/assassin.html

I always allow a big garden spider to stay,
and am very careful when I use insecticidal soaps near any beneficial insects..
my broccoli, spinich, and lettuce are coming along well... cabbage looks good too..

I need to get a few more chickens... they love cabbage worms,
or maybe I should get guineas, I hear they wont mess with the plants but eat the insects up
I'll have to look into it.

Currently (today) I decided to make my kids easter baskets rather than
buy a plastic toss it away disposable one...
I will crochet or knit a basket then wash it or "full" it ...
to make the basket...
as soon as I have some completed, I will post pictures.
but until then here is a photo of the bunny I needlefelted for one basket
but sorry to say the kids dont see them as much of a suprise since I make them .
more tomorrow.. im glad I didnt plant anything more fragile yet as we are supposed to have a very late frost this coming weekend.

going green

2007-04-05T11:59:00.000-04:00

spinning wheels, using what you grow, weaving by hand, felting the leftocvers, scoffing at acrylic yarns.. arent these all green things? now, how to get the mainstream media to pay attention to it... hmmm all wool sweater, not only fully bio degradeable, but from a completely renuable resource... hand spun? hmmm... no machine work needed pedal power from feet ... but we want cheep cheap cheap.. and high quality.. funny how that dosent sound right... more like cheap and disposable... watching jericho last night, I had to laugh... they were running out of clothes? in winter? my problem would be a plethora of sweaters, and summer togs being string bikinis...

I have my loom but oh wow. make a peice of wearable fabric with it? it would suffocate someone south of the arctic circle... but necessity .. right? guess I'd have to not only learn , but spin thinner... the bees are dying? no suprise there ... ive been hearing that some geneticly modified strains of plants that are pest resistant are causing bees to abandon hives...

what happens if the bees are gone?

in any case, here are my latest super green projects ..

these hats are knitted and fulled... from a wool yarn called "poems" there are several shades at the tail-spinner.. and they knit up very nicely. several fleeces are in the shop from my flock and Im completing the bobcat for MDS&W

support US wool... support handspinners, and attend spinning events..

and go ahead and learn how to do it too!

Needlefelting..

2007-04-02T14:04:00.000-04:00

please remember there is a fiber festival in avreysboro (Dunn NC ) April the 21st .. it will be the first like it at ths place .. and we of course hope there will be many more.

to the left is a chipmunk I made earlier in the year. I will be teaching this sculpture at SAFF in the fall along with 2 others. I recently read on another well known nedlefelters page that tthere are no skill levels for needlefelting, and I sadly must disagree.

While not everyone can visualuize in 3 d

still others have a hard time coordinating their hhands with their mental image... if I were the artist with a paintbrush of the things I can visualize in my mind, I would be phenominal, but sadly I cannot figure out how to make an image appear to have depth when working with a flat surface. I am not alone and while skill may or may not be in question, "creative vision" is important. If I teach a class , and say gently sculpt the entire surface area, no matter what I say if the student only felts in a single section, and not the entire area, the finished product will look different than what I myself create.

the medium does require practice and knowledge of how it works .. if this is a " talent" or skill level, such as intermediate, and advanced, then I believe classes will need to be seperated from beginner, and intermediate ... beginners may not fully understand then that , certain fibers felt better than others, and still others may give different effect to a finished peice. should someone accustiomed to using different wool be subjected to this information over and over again,

in a class situation just because "nobody is a beginner with this medium"

at some point with everything, everyone is a beginner.

if you wish to view more of my felting please read the archives. I am still creating but in the middle of shearing right now so the completion of new work is stalled for the moment :)

Melissa

)

shearing and farm updates.

2007-03-29T18:46:00.000-04:00

Well we will need to sell chance, a beautiful personable colt that came here last summer with a flesh injury to his rump. the people who had him said someone had to take him or they would shoot him, Im putting up a b4 and a current photo of him, he is currently

10 months old, leads, loads, ties, bathes, clips, ponys, and has been sacked out to tarps, kiddie pools balls and more... He is a very nice mover , with excellent hunter/jumper potential. I am asking a super reasonable price for him because I cannot afford to feed 5 horses indefinatly lol, and because he needs to be cut (gelded) , and the new owner would incurr that expence.

I am asking $650 for him ..

so if anyone is shopping for a colt or knows of anyone who may be, ... here is a great one..

We have also been shearing this month.

im posting a photo of this , for those fiber artists who dont own sheep of their own, Here is Rogue, a yearling corriedale ewe lamb, who had a covered fleece.
I started shearing at the legs, because the fleece needs to come off in a single peice, the skirted wool is the fiber on the lower legs, belly and under the neck. The head is also thrown aside because if a sheep is dirty it is on their heads.

the metal thing is called a blocking stand, and many sheep are not shorn standing up . I have her on this blocking stand because she is too large for me to shear in the traditional manner of setting her on her rump . By the time I get one of my ewes on their rump they still are so tasll their heads touch me about my sternum area , much too long bodied for me to shear this way efficently. What is scarier, is rogue is not even one of my bigger ewes.
We had a rain day today, good for the pastures, and once the ewes begin to dry out some more, I will get more photos.
Melissa

Spring fiber flings.

2007-03-21T16:46:00.000-04:00

Currently im knitting and preparing to "full" a couple of hats I will put my own needlefelted designs onto. I Hope to have a couple for sale at the Dunn Fiber Festival, but at the very least some for SAFF. Im getting a little excited about MDS&W , and my potential entry , he is coming along well, but I need to keep going, get it finished and not be working my fingers to the bone right before we leave. I dont know how I will avoid it because I have everyone to shear, wool to get ready to braid into rug mugs.. as a "local" contribution for the museum here.
I have put in most of my compost and am trying a no-till garden, that composte wise is in layers , and from all I have read is called "lasagne" gardening
First I made basic raised areas in my normal garden , I put manure heavy with hay sdown first then manure/shavings and on top of that , actual dark composted materials.. I then covered it with a black rubber roof.
I will post pictures as spring gets more into swing and the plants go in..

here is a little no bake recipe for a great cheesecake that I made up.

I hope you enjoy it and it is awesome with fresh strawberries.
you will need
grahm cracker crust
2 bars cream cheese,
1/2 cup sour cream
1/2 cup plain yogurt
1 box vanilla pudding.
a small container whipped cream.
1tsp vanilla extract
1/4 tsp lemon juice
1/3 c sugar
soften cream cheese mix in yogurt, sour cream , sugar, vanilla,lemon juice.mix well with hand mixer until creamy...
add in 1 box vanilla pudding.. fold in 1 container whipped cream. add fruit if desired.
pour into grahm cracker crust... chill and serve.

hope you love it !
be sure to let me know if you do want more of my homemade recipes...
and remember we love cheese.
so most of our recipes have lots of it in there.

we currently have added 3 new white angora babies to the farm and they are playing king of the mountian. as I can catch them I will surely get more pictuires of them as well.
please pass our blog on to any and all ppl that you think may be interested in it !

Melissa

Events.

2007-02-28T11:06:00.000-05:00

well April 21st I will have the puppest and more items at a fiber festival in DunnNC this is a new event so hand spinners please come out and show event planners that fiber arts is something we do want to see more of !
March the 10th there will be an all day needlefelting class for making an easter bunny, it will be palm sized, and plan on the class taking all day. It will be held at the Tail spinner starting at 10 am . please pre-register for the class! www.tail-spinner.com/
There will be a 3 day spinning class at the Tail Spinner starting March 23rd. on one of those days , students will come out to the farm to watch us shear a few of the sheep. From there they will scour the wool and get it ready for preperation for spinning.
We are still lambing and just had anopther little girl born a few minutes ago . I do still have several lambs for sale and you can contact us thru e-mail . As always all the puppets and hand sculpted items are for sale thru the tail spinner web site.
The SANTA ornaments. I am not selling them at this moment, but will have enough wool dyed to begin selling them again in July. IF you are going to need more than 10 of them please order them WELL in advance. and remember, I sell them for 10$ each . I do not care what you sell them for as long as I am paid upon reciept of the santas. WE are working on a new christmas ornament .. keep checking back for news on newest sculptures!
Melissa

New cashgora babies

2007-02-13T10:49:00.000-05:00

It has been requested that I supply photos of my newest Cashgora kids..
they were born on Sunday, and arent they lovely? I think they are great My son has chosen the name for the little girl, and he wants to call her Shadow. the billys name is still in the works

But I'll let everyone know what we decide on.

In the works right now

2007-02-09T18:19:00.000-05:00

This lynx is is in the "creation " stage.. he is not finished.

at this point the form for his body is there,the color applications of fur and details especially coloring like "markings" down to details like toe nails, and whiskers will come shortly.

I will be finding a y shaped branch to cut and mount this statue to.

This is what I hope to submit to MDS&W fiber artist competetion.

2007-02-09T18:18:00.000-05:00

a lambie we have recently added to the flock... many more to come :)

Lambing and kidding.

2007-01-26T14:20:00.000-05:00

I am up to my elbows right now with wonderful new lambies, expecting cashgora kids any second by the looks of nanna goat. but in the interm I am promoting wool to everyone I can, one tip to convince ppl who are not wool savvy... get a peice of acrylic yarn, and a peice of wool...
catch them both on fire. watch the expression of your new wool convert.

As of now Im creating a full body sculpture for competition at MDS&W and Im very excited about how it is turning out. as it gets closer to completion I will certianly post photos.

I am also working on a small bunny sculpture. as we approach easter, we will see what I can create ... I will soon post pictures of the newest bundles and also of the latest creations :) thanks Melissa

des femmes: Eye candy for the fiber artists

2006-12-12T23:16:00.000-05:00

des femmes: Eye candy for the fiber artists

holidays and plans for the new year.

2006-12-09T23:05:00.000-05:00

Attended the Parade locally, it was chilly and only emphasized to me my need to improve my knitting skills so I can make more warm things for my family. I came home and began spinning up some of my bets corriedale and right this minute as cold as my toes are Im thinking... socks.

on a more reliable note, especially considering that Im like a remedial knitter, I will be working on the 3rd part for my planned class for SAFF . It will be the third forest animal in that It will be a wild rabbit also on a stump. After completing that , I will begin sculpting the animal I hope to carry to MDS&W to compete there in needlefelting. IF I still qualify. I will need to read all of the rules and guidelines for it before I decide something like that.

Im trying to get several things completed around the farm before we begin lambing and kidding. things that will help me seperate the billy and rams farther from the ewes.
we will be looking into a new ram this spring to add to our flock of super fine corriedale sheep. We also hope to locate a cashmere billy that wont be too far out of our way or too expensive .

I will be ordering matilda coats for more of the flock this year, it should help increase the quality as well as quantity of wool my sheep produce and make sure it is nice and white.
I will post more photos from around the farm after the Christmas holidays end.
but until then happy holidays to everyone

another puppet photo.

2006-11-20T20:51:00.000-05:00

I am not certian but after this posting I may have the majority of my puppets on the blog ya!

the elephant was a huge hit at saff, and the cheetah is one of my favorites. both of these guys are " earlier works." and the later stuff is below. I am currently sculpting a puppet modeled after one of my own horses. Will post him as soon as he is completed! Melissa

new to blogging

2006-11-20T15:52:00.000-05:00

I am still learning , and hope to soon figure out how to add my fav blogs in links to here, I want to learn how to be a part of a fiber artist blog ring, and more , but one baby step at a time. in any case if anyone already knows how I can do either of these things and could help me along thats great! but if not its ok !!! Melissa

another puppet

2006-11-15T12:29:00.000-05:00

I realize photos of 2 or 3 puppets on this blog site cannot really give the desired effect but I am trying to show some of my sculpture without being boring.
I am also working on 2 new projects that I will finish as I have time and most likely after the holidays .
but then again that will also depend on how heavy lambing is then too... all my adult ewes should be delivering lambs jan-Feb time frame.
My puppets are derived from photos of actual animals. Because I breed all white corriedales,my inspiration for other breeds of sheep, Llamas, alpacas etc, comes from pictures I liked. not always from "requested " work. so, just because I used a specific ram as my "model" does not mean that puppet was sold to the ppl who owned that ram.
so if you see a puppet that really "looks" like an animal you have, it may still be available for sale.
soon I will be ordering brass lamb ear tags, they will be engraved with my first initial and last name. and then numbered on the back. I felt this way, if I tag and "number" my work , people will know they recieved an authentic peice of my work, and that even 2 or 3 years down the road, if they give me the number, I will have a reference point , in referring to a peice of work I may have sold.
Yes I use all corriedale in all of my puppets. The outer fluffy wool may be any numbers of fibers but the base sculpture, (that even without the wool just looks like that species of animal only with a very close shave,) that is all corriedale.
yes, from here. I use that because it felts consistently and I have little guessing to do when working with it.
soon I will publish a "puppet in the works" here. so everyone can "watch it come along"
but until then I must go make more Santas :) happy holidays ! Melissa

class for SAFF2007

2006-11-14T17:12:00.001-05:00

here is one of the 3 items I will be teaching in my class at SAFF on Friday next year. it will be an 8 hour class , with limited spaces . I ask anyone attending this class to please have needlefelted Something, anything before the class . it will help me to instruct the finer detail within the class if everyone already understands how the felting process with a needle works .

santa photos

2006-11-14T17:12:00.000-05:00

here are the "santa heads " that I have been making A LOT.
each is a little different but they seem to be very well liked this christmas. thought I should show a photo of them

currently in the "works"

2006-11-13T22:07:00.000-05:00

Well at SAFF I had 2 dozen "santa " faces ornaments. they were gone within an hour of opening the booth. so that night I made 4 in the hotel that lasted 4 minutes at SAFF on Saturday... so I made 3 more sat night that were gone immediatly in the morning on Sunday, since my return home I have had every one I have made, gone before I can catch my breath... in groups!! like ppl do not just buy one.. they are buying like 4 and 6 at one time ! so I recently made "frosty" faces, complete with corn cob pipes, black top hats and I really like them... the first 4 ever out in public will hit lindas shop on Tuesday night. she does sell thru the internet, yes even the santas and frostys..
they are 10$ each not including tax and S&H, but they are not heavy.
here is the link to her page
http://www.tail-spinner.com/
my puppets can be found there as well. plus if you plan to come to the coast, I do give classes at her shop.
I will try to get some pictures of the santas and frostys ...
but while setting everything up this evening to do just that, my camera lets me know in no uncertian terms that I need new batteries to feed to it. oh also please do feel free to pass around this blog spot to anyone who may be at all interested in my sculptures, I just want to get them seen and lil ole NC town is not a big metropolis :) melissa

three postings??

2006-11-12T18:02:00.003-05:00

I apologise for the 3 repeat SAFF posts below. if you read the first , then you read the 2 below them as well.. I have tried to edit this and remove it but am so new to blogging in general that this just is not going well at this time . thank you though for your patience I am sure I will get it all worked out soon ! M

SAFF

2006-11-12T18:02:00.002-05:00

I attended SAFF 06 and had a wonderful time ! here is the link to the SAFF site for those who may not have seen it before http://www.saffsite.org/page.php?page=home.htm
I will be an instructor for fine detail needlefelting next year, and will be holding an 8 hour class .. crazy right? possibly ! I was a little overwhelmed by the huge amount of ppl at SAFF, but the puppet I made after my angora doe Luci won the needlefelting competetion so that made me very happy. I bought some fleeces from Dan-Vir sheep, they have georgus covered cormos and colored corriedales that are "to die for " and I always try to buy a fleece from them. My friend Laurie Andreacci from Lauries lambs also needs to put a fleece or 3 on the SAFF show table for me to show off for her, her shetland fiber is beautiful , and sooo soft. maybe I can coax her into it for next year... hoping I will be able to get a good photo of the things Im creating with my needlefelting and put it up soon. Elizabeth Ashford put my Giraffe in the newest edition of "the wheel " magazine and WOW was I thrilled! anyway SAFF was a huge success and the puppets recieved a wonderful reception for their big debut!
thanks to any and all who attended ! Melissa

SAFF

2006-11-12T18:02:00.001-05:00

SAFF

2006-11-12T18:02:00.000-05:00

Fall fiber festivals

2006-10-02T22:26:00.000-04:00

this october I will be attending SAFF, or southeastern animal fiber festival and hope to showcase my puppets ther, I think they will be well accepted but I guess I will see. Im a little nervous about the commentary they might recieve, a whole years worth of work into them and rovings im busting my tail to prepare before I go...

Alpaca puppet

2006-09-13T23:16:00.002-04:00

This is fiore, an alpaca photo I saw inspired me to sculpt her in wool. again using needlefelting. the only main difference was I used angora rabbit hair on the head and face because of its softness.

ram puppet

2006-09-13T23:16:00.001-04:00

This is a ram head , again needlefelted all in wool. he depicts a common color scheme in the breed of sheep known as shetland.

Large puppets in the works

2006-09-13T23:16:00.000-04:00

here is one example of my sculpture. this is my giraffe, completely sculpted with wool. I use a technique called "needlefelting" and make new puppets all the time. Soon my work may be published in a few fiber artist magazines.

artistic works.

2006-09-08T08:06:00.000-04:00

I have found myself in the unknown realm of an "artist" and now I am not sure what to do with it. I sculpt large puppets from an unusual medium, wool. I needlefelt the headso of animals onto a mitt like structure, and from what I have found out recently, not many people do this. I also of course process some of my own wool, and make yarn as well as handmade hand spun items, the current going fad is socks... everyone here seems to be knitting socks so so am I , but in the interm I have also been sculpting these awesome looking heads. anyone wishing to see them can go to the tail-spinner.com
or here http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/srpntwyn/album?.dir=67cf&.src=ph&store=&prodid=&.done=http%3a//photos.yahoo.com/ph//my_photos

or, to ask questions aboutr fleeces, fiber, yarns, or puppets visit my site, at abcwoolcrafts.mralter.com/

thanks !

putting up the garden

2006-07-10T18:26:00.000-04:00

Canning and preparing the veggies fresh from the garden , nothing quite like it, and the weeds are a mess! but the tomatoes are lovely and the corn is cheap in the road side trucks. I have broccoli frozen that will last the whole winter, squash for an army and even made up some pickles. Cant wait till I have tomatoes filled in jars and that is all finished. but it is great to have a pantry full of fresh food. ahhh summertime

NAIS makes Equine slaughter easier

2006-03-21T22:16:00.000-05:00

been hearing for the past 2 years about old horse slaughter facilities opening back up, Also had heard how new slaughter laws were enabled, like the ones that make it legal now to buy hundereds of discarded mustangs. Well the NAIS will make it financially harder to rescue , because rather than chip and report a hundred or hundreds of horses available for adoption, now, with NAIS one "lot " number will be much easier. now pony skin, for purses and boots, horse meat for europe and japan , thats where the money will be. Lots of horse registries are aware of how NAIS will make "grade" horses not as "worth it " so, they support NAIS, but then again they also support slaughter. Ask them . ASK the AQHA if they support the NAIS. ask them if they are for slaughter . they wont answer you unless you really press them. all the NAIS action will make trail rides vet visits breeding and showing a nightmare. and how will you feel when the local vets decide your animals need what shots they decide, or what de-wormers to use, or your horses will be labeled a risk to public health. loose horse? you have to report it ! someone elses loose horse runs to your farm? every animal it contacts , thats YOUR expense and reports for all of your animals. heard how you wont have to report if you dont leave your own property?
dont bring home a new hen or ram, thats livestock, in contact with livestock . All animals that contact the new critter , each will be a report.
so while Japan eats your fancy saddle horse, dont pretend that microchip kept your horse from being stolen, they just toss those chips into a bucket , and sell them to try to subvert the system . after all, before the new un counterfeitable 20$ bills were dry, fakes were already circulating .
who knows, maybe that distance reading rfid chip reader will be able to help that horse thief know right where to go to find all the local horses. the GPS map will help for sure!

if BIRD flu hits , then store WHAT?

2006-03-21T18:21:00.000-05:00

Ive heard several numbers. Store enough food for 8 weeks. ok , dry food? frozen food do they count? canned? ok if freezers wont work then how much kerosine for lanterns does that add up to ?
I have horses and sheep, Im assuming I will also have to store feed for them. BUT thats a double edged sword. Im NOT letting my neighbors kill off my sheep to eat. Im NOT letting anyone steal my horses to use as transportation. I feel like if you didnt set aside enough food for you and yours then TOUGH. I plant my garden I medicate my animals. I am there from birth to death. Refugees without foresight do not deserve to be able to accost my livestock.
Because of how things went for New Orleans, I am storing bullets alongside my powdered milk.
I actually think it is my job and obligation to rescue my family and supply us with the things we need durring a crisis. what happened to people feeling this way ?
Since when did America become a large group of people with their hands held out ??? the more I learn the more disgusted I become.

governmental gardening.

2006-03-21T15:21:00.000-05:00

the USDA has written something called the NAIS, National animal Identification System. This sounds like something to prevent mad cow, only, mad cow is not passed from nose to nose contact. it is passed from eating bodies. in 1997 a law was passed that made it illegal for ranchers to feed animal body parts to cows. sounds like a no brainer, dont feed meat of any kind to mother natures vegetarians. Ok. easy enough. only, now a few 10 yr and older cows are showing signs that they were exposed to contaminated feed, and test positive for Mad cow. That cow was destroyed, but the USDA is trying to scare everyone to death , making it seem like other animals could have "caught" mad cow from that sick cow. nope. not unless that farmer ground her up and fed her to the rest of the herd... but now that the USDA has everyone afraid of mad cow, they say "we have a soloution, it is called NAIS, if we had mandatory tagging and traceback on these cows, it would help us !" only they are NOT telling you,
that it wont only demand the tagging of cattle for food, but also ALL other livestock animals. llamas, horses, sheep, goats, chickens, alpacas, and yes cows, but that means , the old lady with one chicken , she has to tag hers too. I have a few sheep for spinning from , and wuill have to tag them too. everyone with even ONE horse will have to tag it.
thinking ok thats not all that bad .. it does get worse... the USDA says thats not enough, we (anyone with animals , or even the POTENTIAL of owning farm animals) must report their property and recieve a "premise ID" for GPS sattelite tracking numbers. GETTING your premise ID is FREE right NOW, but will not be in about 2 years. then there will be an annual charge!
it gets even worse!
then there is reporting, if your chicken crosses the road and MIGHT come in contact with any other livestock, this movement must be reported 24 hours in advance to the USDA, the return home is yet another report . and this will need to be done at the OWNERS expence.
ALL of this enforcement , will fall to HOMELAND security, and individual farmers.
when you hear no no animals that never leave home dont need a chip./ yes they do, if that owner EVER buys a new animal that MIGHT come into contact with it.
there is so much to this proposed new legislation, or "regulations" it will help make horse slaughter easier,
it will make Cargill and monsanto richer
it will make digital angel very happy , and that company is tightly aligned with Tom ridge , the director of homeland security.
it will make small farms obselete
it will ruin the organic market.
it will raise the prices of meats . because without small farmers , big ones have no checks or balances to prices.
they claim the food will be safer, but it will in fact be a larger group in a single location instead of thousands of locations.
go to nonais.org
go to the USDA site and read for yourself!