_Hello from Maybelle Farm.  Its Wed. Jan 18, 2012 and I just had to have our Vet come to put down my very sweet Avocado this morning.  She was my oldest sheep and would have been 14 this spring.   I am so very sad but when she hobbled out into the middle of the barn, I knew it was time.  Stephen, our Vet, let me hold her while he gave her the medicine.  I got to hold her and tell her how special she was to me and that was a comfort.  He also checked on Arly who I have been treating for pinkeye. He said that is actually a corneal abcess and also glaucoma.  I will need to treat her eye with quartermaster twice a day for 4-5 more days.  I cannot put her back in with the big group of ewes as Stephen said she shouldn't take any beatings from the other sheep.  Well, its been quite a day so I'm going to take a shower, eat my lunch and go do a special after school program at 3:30 p.m.  Good-bye from Maybelle MaMa

_Hello again from Maybelle Farm.  Its Monday Jan.16, 2012 and it was 10 below zero when I got up this morning!  WOW!   That is too cold for me.  I really wanted to just curl up and stay in my nice warm, cozy bed but I knew my sheep needed to be fed and I had to fill 9 heated water buckets.  I can tell you, it didn't take me long to do chores!  The sheep sort of saw a blurrrrrr in the barn this morning!  Wheee, it's too darn cold!  Arly has pinkeye again or some eye infection so she is getting LA 200  3 c.c. every other day for three doses and eye ointment twice a day.  I do think its better today.    I called Stephen (our Vet) last Wednesday and he told me what to give her.  I think he will be coming to the farm this coming Wednesday to put my very sweet old Avocado down.  She is just a very tired, lame, OLD girl and I am so sad to have to tell her good-bye. 

My son David used my nephew Larry's ( a.k.a COOP)  backhoe and we buried Luther last Wednesday evening just before the storm hit!  This coming week Larry will use his backhoe to repair our water cistern.  When Hurricane Irene passed through, the water from the brook near our cistern went over the top of the cistern.  We have been using bottled water ever since Aug. 28th and its getting very old by now.  They will have to take the cover off and clean out the tank.  It should have been done in warmer weather!!!!!!!!!

I'm attaching a picture of the woodpecker at our bird feeder.  We didn't have hardly any birds this winter until this last storm.  Now we have chickadees, junkos, morning doves, blue jays  and one red squirrel.  They certainly let you know when a storm is coming because the feeder is very busy just before a storm.  The sun is shinning and it looks like such a nice day but it is bitterly cold.  Lets see, I got an e-mail from my friend Donna last night and she said........11 more weeks until April 1st!  I am so ready for spring, so I will have to satisfy myself looking at seed catalogs!

I went to Brattleboro on Saturday morning with my son David and my grandchildren Ella and Austin.  It was Ella's last day at gymnastics.  I will attach a picture of her with her ribbon at the end of the class.  We went to "Old MacDonald's" for breakfast after her class.  That is MacDonald's according to Ella.  We took Austin to the barber shop for a haircut and then picked up a few things at the new Wal-Mart in Hinsdale.  When we got home David cleaned up with the tractor and yesterday he plowed out to the barn for me.  I had to work my 11.5 hr. shift yesterday so Darcy, Declan and Rowan took care of my dog Lettie and kept the wood stove going while Jonathan and I both were at work.

Well, I guess that's all the news so far from Maybelle Farm so I will close and go get busy cleaning.  There is always so much cleaning to do and I'd rather be reading a good book!  HAHA! :-)

So-Long from Maybelle MaMa

_Good Evening from Maybelle Farm.  It's Thursday night  and a very sad night for me.  I went out to do chores and found my beautiful Moorit ram Luther had passed away in his stall.  His buddy Spartacus just stood there by Luther looking so sad as if to say "Hey, what's happened to my buddy"?  Todd came out to help me move Luther and we put Spartacus into the stall next to Thistle and Stuart.  Thistle is my newest ram from Kindred Spirit Farm and Stuart (a wether) is his buddy.  I wanted Spartacus to be able to see them for the night. Tomorrow he can go into the pasture with them. Thistle will chase poor Spartacus until they both will be exhausted and then things will settle down.  My handsome Luther would have been 11 yrs. old this coming April.   I knew he was getting thin and older but I really expected to loose either Blake or Avocado first.  This is the part of farming that I really don't like!  I know he had a good life and he had a wonderful disposition.  Farewell my beautiful friend Luther and enjoy nice green grass in sheep heaven!

Well Jonathan and I stayed home on New Years eve and I worked at Mr. G's on New Years Day.  My daughter Darcy, my son David, my grandson Austin all helped me unload 88 more bales of hay so now I have enough hay to get thru March and hopefully into April!  WHEWWWW!!!  It sure is nice to have that done.  David's children Austin and Ella stayed at Darcy's house to play with Rowan and Declan that afternoon.  Hot chocolate and snacks and playing with new Christmas things was fun for all.

I'm working on the plans for the after school program that starts on Jan. 9th at the Wardsboro Elementary School.  Jenna Konesko and I will be teaching a 5 week class of Fiber Fun Days.  We will teach the children how to process fiber, braiding, weaving, needle felting and as much more as we can fit into that 5 week session.  It is very exciting to teach about fiber to students.  The children will get a farm tour and meet the sheep whose fiber they work with.  I plan to bring pictures of Vinca, Annika, Arwyn, Dulcie, Star, Lyra, Colby, Clementine, Chloe, Tinka, Arly, Matylda to name a few.  They can each choose a picture and work with that sheep's wool!  WHAT FUN!

I am also in the process of filling out an eight page form to renew my nursing license and get that taken care of.  It just seems like there is so much to do and not enough time to do it.  I did take a little time to spin a small amount of my Marcus & Tinka blended roving  It is Coopworth/Finn/Dorset sparkling white roving and it makes you drool to spin it! WOW!!  Also a lady at the "Six Loose Ladies" in Ludlow, VT called and they may be interested in my yarn and roving.  It certainly would be nice to sell some of my products instead of constantly paying out for processing!

Well, I'm off to get supper for Jonathan so I will say goodnight from Maybelle MaMa

P.S.  I am re-posting this blog to include the poem that Patty Blomgren sent to me after hearing about Luther's passing.

Somewhere ~ somewhere in time's own space
There must be some sweet pastured place
Where creeks sing on and tall trees grow
Some Paradise where sheep go,
For by the love that guides your pen
You know great sheep live again.

_Good morning from Maybelle farm!   This will be my final blog for 2011 and just around the corner is 2012!  I can't believe that it is the end of another year and the start of 2012.  We had a very nice Christmas this year with my family.  I had to work on Christmas Day from  9 a.m. to 2:45 p.m. with my little Mr. G.   When his family arrived and I could come home.  My son David, his wife Rachel and their children Austin and Ella arrived about 4:30 p.m. and then my daughter Darcy and her children Rowan and Declan arrived about 6 p.m.  We opened our stockings and presents and then had a crazy Christmas dinner with a combo snacks-supper!  Wow, I am certainly was ready to crawl into bed that night, as I had stayed up late baking beans, half a ham and making rolls, etc... 

The Monday after Christmas was a great day to clean up and just relax and rest.  My grandson Austin arrived and helped me clean the upstairs in the barn, getting ready for a load of hay.  Austin then helped me load and bring a load of wood down to our woodbox on the front porch.  By that time we were ready for hot chocolate and snacks.  Austin stayed until 2 p.m. and then I went down to visit with my sister. Monday afternoon Mr. Steiner arrived with his hay wagon loaded with 92 bales of hay.  Jonathan pulled the hay wagon out to the barn, I unloaded half the hay wagon of hay alone and then told Darcy she would have to finish it!  That just about finished me.  I did chores, came home, ate supper and curled up in my chair with a good book. 

On Tuesday Dec. 27th Jonathan went with me to Greenwich, N.Y. to the Battenkill Fiber Mill to pick up some of our wool that they had processed for us.  The "Marcus/Tinka"  (coopworth/finn/dorset) roving that is beyond beautiful.  I also picked up a bag of "Thistle" that I had made into incredibly beautiful yarn.  I am so happy with their work and can't wait to spin some of Marcus.

I did chores early last night as it had started to rain a little while I was in the barn.  About 8-9 p.m. it really began to rain very hard and the wind certainly was howling!  There was a lot of rain then the temperature dropped, so I imagine it was pretty icy early this morning.  I fixed a birthday box for Donna Carlucci and also packaged up a box of roving for an Etsy order and just went to the post office to mail them out.  It is cold and lots of snow flurries this morning.  The temperature tonight, with the wind,  is supposed to be about -5 below zero.......YIKES!   I'm going to close the big back door on the barn and that will help keep out alot of the cold.  My sheep are getting too old to be in that kind of weather.  If I could, I would put a furnace in the barn for them!

Well, I'm putting a very cute picture of my grandchildren on Christmas Day on this blog. I will now say Happy New Year to everyone from Maybelle MaMa.  I wish you all a very Happy, Healthy, and Prosperous New Year.

_Ho,Ho,Ho from Maybelle Farm!   It's Saturday evening Dec. 17th and it has been such a wonderful day.  I went to Santa's Land with my daughter Darcy and her children Rowan and Declan.  We met my son David and his wife Rachel and their children Austin and Ella and just had so much fun.  We have been going to Santa's Land since the early 1970's.   Last week an article in the Reformer announced that Santa's Land would be closing for good on Sunday Dec. 18th, 2011.  We decided we just had to go and enjoy the place one more time.   It just made my whole holiday season in one day.  I'm going to attach some pictures and you can see how much fun the children were having on the little rides.  What a great day weather wise too! 

There still is no snow, it was chilly but not too bad.  We left Santa's Land and I stayed at McDonald's so Darcy could finish up a little last minute shopping and then we came home.  At 4 p.m. I went up to do chores and Darcy helped me move Lyra, Star and Colby to the barn.  That meant taking them away from Thistle - where they have been for the past month.  He is just frantic that his women have left him!  Oh well, at least they were with him for just about one month. This means that lambs should be born hopefully about May 1st.  That is such an exciting time but also stressful too!

My grand daughter Rowan is having a sleepover tonight and then tomorrow I work in West Brattleboro all day.  Monday Jonathan has to go to Dartmouth/Hitchcock for a consult with a surgeon as to what has to be done for his Diverticulitis.  Oh my.... it's such fun growing older and having the old bady parts go to  #@!* !!  Well, I guess that is all for now and things are very peaceful here at the farm.  Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa

_Hello from Maybelle Farm on Tuesday Dec. 13th, 2011.  It is a beautiful sunny day but very nippy!  I write this blog with a very sad heart.  I read on the VT Sheep Breeder Site that Dan Korngiebel, owner of the Yarn Farm in Cuttingsville, VT, passed away last week.  The day I read that sad news, I went up to the farm and walked around looking at 25 green metal gates, many hog panels, 6 rolls of portable fencing rolled up in the barn, and thought about how many times Jonathan and I went to Dan's house to pick up these things.  I loved calling to order sheep wormer and having a nice chat on the phone.  He was such a nice man with so much knowledge about sheep and farming.  He had such a great sense of humor and quick wit.  He certainly willed be missed by the whole sheep community that knew him.  I am so grateful to have met and known Dan.

Things are O.K. at the farm right now and trying to get everything ready for serious snow to arrive!  Heater buckets are now plugged in and everyone seems to be doing alright.  I went with Darcy, Declan and Rowan to Flood Brook Union School for their Christmas concert on Thursday Dec. 8th.  I went to Windham Hill Inn this past Saturday to their German Christmas Event.  There were about 12 vendors with absolutely beautiful items to sell, but not a lot of business.  There is just so much that goes on this time of year.  Attached are some pictures of my booth.  A BIG "Thank You" to Olivia for going with me and helping all day.  Olivia helped me with chores when we got back and I came home, ate supper, put on flannel pajamas and went to bed!  I think that is all for now.  So-long from Maybelle MaMa.

_Hello from Maybelle Farm.   I wanted to add this blog to show the wonderful pictures of Maggie, Cedar and Flopsy going for a walk with Bill, Olivia and Emma.  I bought a blue harness for Maggie, a pink harness for Cedar and a lovely blue flowered harness for Flopsy.  My grandson Austin went with me on Saturday morning to Over Every Hill Farm with the harnesses and you can see from the pictures that both the sheep and the Hoos family enjoyed walking around the their farm!  It was just too funny to watch!   Flopsy was more than happy to go with Bill, Cedar was glad to follow along with Bill and Flopsy, but of course little Maggie had her own way of doing things.  She jumped and ran around and it took her a little while to adjust to being on a leash.  We all had a great time as you can tell from the pictures.  I trimmed their hooves and then Olivia came back to the farm with Austin and I to do some farm chores.  We cleaned out in the barn, cleaned up the water tank, packed up for the Saturday German Christmas Event at the Windham Hill Inn.  Donald Hall did some work to the fence and put in another gate for me.  It was a very busy day but so much was done.  Jonathan and David went to Meridan,CT  to put Christmas wreathes at the cemetery and they did a little shopping.  Darcy's family was away for the weekend so I took care of the sheep and chickens.

December 5 was my 64th birthday.  I spent the day with my sister Bev, brother-in-law Francis and niece Carleen.  We went to Saratoga Springs to the mall for some Christmas shopping, late lunch at Ruby Tuesday's and then to do a little gambling at the Saratoga Casino.  I didn't win much but had lots of fun and got home about 10:30 p.m.  I took care of Declan on Tuesday.   We went to Bev's to visit then we both had a nap!  Chores are done, supper is over and now I have to finish some needle felting for my Saturday event. 

Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.

_Hello from Maybelle Farm.  A few changes have taken place at the farm in the past week.  On Friday Nov. 25th, Bill, Olivia and Emma arrived to help me load up Flopsy, Maggie and Cedar to go to their new home at Over Every Hill Farm in Podunk.  I will put some pictures on for you to see how happy everyone is.  My grandson Austin arrived Friday morning and helped me move sheep around and do chores.  He helped me get the dog crates all ready to load the sheep. The two little girls went in one dog crate together.   Bill thought they felt like little puff balls of wool.....they are such tiny little girls!    Flospy went right into her crate because there was food in there.  We put the two crates in the back of Bill's truck and off they went.  Austin and I followed them and helped to get the girls all settled in. 

Saturday Nov. 26th Darcy, Rowan, Declan, Olivia and I loaded Cornelius into a crate.  We then had to move Custer (our little white ram lamb) to another pasture with Cecil and Chet (our two little wethers).  We moved them to  the manger area down next to the barn in the big shed.  I know Custer is thrilled not to be butted constantly by Cornelius.  Olivia, Rowan and I took Cornelius to River Bend Farm for Sara to use for breeding. He was thrilled to have a new home with two lovely Shetland ewes and a wether.  I hope this all works out well for everyone and there are some beautiful lambs born in April. 

When I got back Darcy, Rowan and I moved Star and Lyra to the pasture with Thistle, Colby and Stuart. We decided to breed both of them this year as well.   Thistle was very excited to see Lyra.  Star blatted and cried constantly saying "I know what he wants, and I want out of here"!  Everyone is settled down and things are O.K. for now.  On Sunday David ,Jonathan and Ella went to Mr. Steiner's and brought back 20 bales of very nice hay.  I just need to Darcy and Todd track down at least another 100 bales soon.

Well Declan is here today and we are headed to the post office to mail a package from a order that I got yesterday through etsy.com.  Next we will go visit my sister Bev and then this afternoon its nap time.  The weather is a gray foggy, gloomy day and its great for napping.  That is all for now from Maybelle MaMa.

P.S.
I will be a vendor on December 10th, 2011 at the Windham Hill Inn for a wonderful Christmas event.  I have added a picture of a few things I will be taking to the event.  Please check on the Windham Hill Inn site for this wonderful event.

 Hello again from Maybelle Farm.  It's Monday Nov. 21st and almost Thanksgiving time.  It has been two weeks since I've written and many things have happened.  My poor old Avocado was limping, so Darcy and Todd trimmed her hooves and discovered an abcess on her chest.  They cleaned it and put bacitracin ointment on it and gave her 3 c.c. of Penicillin.  We did this for three days then I decided to have the Vet come to check on her, Blake and Thistle.  Poor old Luther is just ageing faster than Blake and is thin.  I moved Luther and Spartacus to the barn so I can feed him better hay and a little extra grain/cracked corn. Deb, our wonderful Vet, cleaned off Avocado's chest and sprayed it with silvercote and said no more Penicillin.  She also said to give Avocado extra grain/corn as she is very thin.  Its hell to grow old... both for humans and animals!  Deb gave Thistle, our breeding ram, a good physical as he didn't seem to be very interested in Rosie!!!!!!  I only hope he bred Rosie as she is a beautiful,very sweet ewe. 

Maggie and Cedar, the two little ewe lambs that will be going to live with Olivia and Emma, are a constant source of humor for me.  Maggie is loud and just a funny little clown.  Cedar loves to buck,jump and bounce around and makes me laugh every time I am with her.  Olivia said they picked out "Over Every Hill Farm" for their farm name!  I really like that and I'm so glad they are close by, I can go visit the two little ewes.

My son David came up Friday morning and helped me load Rosie into the dog crate for her trip back to Center Sandwich, N.H. Jonathan and I left at 9 a.m. and Rosie was a wonderful traveler, not one little "baaaa" from her!  We ate lunch in Bristol,N.H. and arrived at Ken and Donna's farm at 2 p.m.  Rosie walked out of the crate and over to the barn.  There was a little butting going with her "old friends" and then she settled back in with everyone.  We visited for a short time then went to register at the Bed and Breakfast we were staying at.  It was the Strathhaven Inn Bed and Breakfast.  They had the most comfortable beds and it was a lovely, quiet place to stay. Tony made a delicious breakfast for us on Saturday: an omelet, sausage, and silver dollar pancakes, orange juice and wonderful coffee.  We had a very nice visit there, then back to Ken and Donna's. 

We then went to a little coffee shop so Donna could show me the yarn, looms, wheels, etc. and it was such fun to chat.   Donna also showed me the fantastic pencil roving and yarn that she got back from the Green Mountain Fiber Mill.  They did a wonderful job and Donna has some of the most beautiful truly black roving from her sheep Aberdeen.  It is hard to get a true black, but Donna has it!!!! Oh yes, I forgot to mention that we took Donna and Ken to George's Diner in Merideth,N.H.  My cousin Roger Rist owns this restaurant and we had a delicious seafood dinner!  It is absolutely the very best food!  Thank you Roger!  Well, we loaded Colby into the dog crate and headed for Vermont about 11 a.m. on Saturday.  Colby was a wonderful traveler too and didn't make one "baaaaa" on the way home.  We stopped twice and got home about 3:30 p.m.  Colby went into the pasture with Thistle and Stuart.  Thistle was extremely excited to see Colby and I hope they will make some beautiful little lambs.  I will add some pictures I took today of Colby and Thistle.

Jonathan and I both have come down with terrible colds and I think I will have a nice nap this afternoon.  The sun is shinning in on my bed so I can be like a cat and lay in the sunshine.  I guess that is about all the news for now so I will sign off and go take my nap.  Good-afternoon from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello again from Maybelle Farm.  Its Tuesday night Nov. 8th  and we set the clock back an hour this past weekend.  I do like getting up and having it light to do chores at 6:30 a.m. but I do not like it being dark at 4:45 p.m. when I have to go do chores. I have moved sheep around and have the two little rams in the front pasture.  The big group of ewes (21) are in the pasture by the garage.  Blake and Marcus were out all day but I put them in tonight.  Poor old Blake should be in the barn at night where he can have nice bedding.  The four old ladies are on the backside of the barn.  Chet and Cecil are in the side pasture by the barn.  Thistle, Stuart and Rosie are out on this side of the barn and still no "Romance" between Thistle and Rosie!!!!!!!!  All Thistle wants to do is eat!  I think I need to take him for counseling for food obsession!  Arnold and Okra are in their stall. 

It was a beautiful day and Jonathan fixed a gate for me with Declan helping.  I had Donald Hall here on Saturday and he put up some fencing for another pasture.  He also made a space for the gate which Jonathan hung the today.  I was able to have Flopsy, Maggie and Cedar out in this new pasture and have some adorable pictures to add to this blog.  They are just such little babies and love, LOVE attention!!  How I will miss them when they go to their new home, but I know they will be very well loved and cared for.  Olivia helped me on Saturday and we moved the skirting table, cleaned up pastures and brought in tubs and buckets.  We worked in the fiber studio putting away things from the Gilfeather Turnip Festival.

I have a student coming to do an interview tomorrow for her Art Class.  It will be fun to have her meet the sheep and see my studio and my needle felting.  I also have someone coming to buy wool and felting needles.  Tonight my project is to finish two little cats that I have been working on for a VERY long time.  Cats are very hard to needle felt and I just can't seem to get them to look the way I want.  I'm also knitting a hat with some merino and variegated cotton.  I'm pretty sure it will be a surprise for Rowan.  You will see in the pictures that Declan certainly loves the sheep.  I'm also adding a Halloween picture of Papa, Rowan and Declan.

Well, its time for me to crawl into my flannel sheep pajamas and go do the needle felting that has to be done.  Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa