Juniper Moon Farm

Bravo!

Susan — Wed, 01 Sep 2010 03:43:59 +0000

This video is so brilliant! I’ve watched it a dozen times and it never fails to make me smile. Enjoy!

Probably something you would like…

Susan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 20:32:41 +0000

I love bow ties in the abstract, especially these. I just think most men who wear them are a little too…interesting. Shall we start a campaign to get normal men to wear bow ties? Never mind. Too much work.

Fabulous bag and not too pricey.

This grain sack stair runner made me feel faint. So very lovely!

Just perfect.

Adorable.

New blog crush: The Jealous Curator (via Crushparty)

Let’s make Olive Oil Gelato, shall we?

I am definitely making Watermelon Jelly this weekend!

These boots measure the rain level. Charming.

I’ve never really understood pompoms but this is lovely.

Made me laugh so hard.

The children from the original Willy Wonks movie. Augustus Gloop, Violet Beauregarde, Mike TV, Veruca Salt and Charlie Bucket.

So pretty.

DIY dollhouse made from an Ikea Billy bookcase.

Make your own chalk board speech bubble.

These 180-square-foot Eco Cabanas really knock me out.

These are the images and links that are making me happy this week. Do you have something we would probably like? Link us up in the comments or send me an email at Susie At Fiber Farm Dot Com

The New Man at the Farm

Susan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 19:47:28 +0000

My friend Amy gifted me with this fine looking rooster this weekend. He is a handsome thing.

All the ladies are already throwing themselves at him. Shameless…

They hate for him to leave but love to watch him go.

Mini Shearing Day

Susan — Mon, 30 Aug 2010 00:23:01 +0000

We sheared the Angora goat kids today, for a couple of reasons. They are six-months-old and Angoras are sheared every six months. We could have waited till November and sheared them along with the rest of the goats, but I was concerned that they might be underweight and getting a couple of pounds of fleece off them would let me check out their nutrition level. Further, Angora kids tend to go through a big growth spurt once you get the fleece off them.

The first shearing is always the most dramatic for the kids because it’s a new experience.

Emily is my shearer because she is so gentle with the animals.

After a couple of minutes most of the kids calm down.

And in just a couple minutes, it’s over.

So the good news is that the kids weren’t too thin. In fact, they looked great! It’s one less thing for me to worry, although I’m sure I’ll find a replacement worry by tomorrow.

Just Hatched

Susan — Sat, 28 Aug 2010 00:18:16 +0000

One hatched, seven to go.

Today in Pictures

Susan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 01:42:49 +0000

Nanny McPhee and the flock

Camila might be the prettiest kid we’ve ever had.

Grover

Feenat the Peanut

Look at all that green. In a few months, it will seem impossible that anything could ever be so green.

Aberdeen the Wonder Mule

Beautiful Leo. Beautiful, pesky Leo.

So Lovely

Susan — Fri, 27 Aug 2010 00:45:51 +0000

I am so lucky to have the world’s most thoughtful readers. I get so many kind emails and cards and so many lovely, handmade gifts in the mail. Y’all are such a talented bunch! I feel ungracious for not sharing these lovely creations with all of you so I’ll be posting some of them every week.

Rebecca Klier sent me these beautiful drawings of Miss Linda and Tiny this week. When I emailed her to tell her how much they meant to me she told me that she was glad because she’d never drawn a sheep before. Let me repeat that: SHE’D NEVER DRAWN A SHEEP BEFORE.

Rebecca really captured Linda’s spirit.

I’m having these framed and will treasure them forever.

You can check out Rebecca’s hauntingly beautiful original drawings here. There are no sheep drawings for sale yet, but I bet we could convince her to make some.

Probably something you would like… Quotations Edition

Susan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 19:13:48 +0000

“We should all do what, in the long run, gives us joy, even if it is only picking grapes or sorting the laundry.” EB White

“The best time to plant a tree was twenty years ago. The second best time is now.” Marshall Lyautey

“Do unto others 20% better than you would expect them to do unto you, to correct for subjective error.” Linus Pauling

“Nobody can make you feel inferior without your consent.” Eleanor Roosevelt

“Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do.” – John Wooden

“Everyone who got where he is has had to begin where he was.” Robert Louis Stevenson

“Summer afternoon – summer afternoon; to me those have always been the two most beautiful words in the English language.” -Henry James

“Ask yourself what makes you come alive and then go do that. What the world needs is people who have come alive.” -Howard Thurman

“Stack it loose enough for a mouse to run through, but not for the cat to follow.” – folk wisdom

2010 Yarn Share Status Update

Susan — Wed, 25 Aug 2010 18:28:56 +0000

This year, we’ve changed the way we have our share yarn milled. The primary reason for the change was that I wanted our share yarn to be a better match for our retail yarn. Since we’ve changed mills several times in the past, the yardage, weight and spin of our share yarn has been all over the place, and my goal is to create a consistent product from here on out.

Of course, it wasn’t as simple as just changing mills and shipping off the fleeces- nothing is ever that simple. The new mill we are using doesn’t wash fleece, they only spin it, which meant we either had to wash the fleece ourselves or send them to a third party wool washer. After some investigation, we elected to do the washing here at the farm.

The process wasn’t difficult but it was exacting. Maggie developed a system that got the fleeces clean without any felting, but it involved three washes and two rinses for each batch. The water temperatures had to be measured precisely. It was a big job, but Maggie got it done and the fleece looks lovely.

The other difference is that, rather than store our fleeces in a warehouse until they are ready to work with them, our new mill has us ship the fleece when they are ready to process it. I actually love this, as I would rather have the fleeces sitting around my house than their warehouse any day, just to eliminate possible mistakes and confusion.

All of our fleeces are washed, boxed and ready to ship as soon as we get word that they are ready for them, probably next week. It will take about two weeks for the yarn to be finished and shipped back to us. In the meantime, I will be posting the 2010 colorway options next week.

I’ll let you know as soon as the fleeces is shipped and what it’s status is.

Giveaway Winners!

Susan — Tue, 24 Aug 2010 19:27:35 +0000

Thanks to everyone who entered to win a copy of Minnie Rose Lovgreen’s Recipe for Raising Chickens. I wish I had enough copies for everyone but, alas, I have only three. And the winners- chosen at random- are:

Congrats Rosemary, Kiewies and Christina G! You have 24 hours to email me at Susie AT fiberfarm DOT com with you mailing address to claim you book.