ello from Maybelle MaMa,
It's Sunday evening Aug. 29th and I'm waiting for my Macaroni & Cheese and tomato casserole to cook and then I'm taking supper to my sister Bev's house. My brother-in-law is not feeling well so I thought I would cook their supper. 
It has been incredibly hot here today and I put the ewes that were across the road, back to the barn at lunchtime because it was just too dern hot!  I checked everyone's water supply and just need to keep checking everyone.  It has been a very busy week,not that every week isn't busy.  Darcy started back at school at Floodbrook Elem. School on Tuesday Aug. 24th.  I took care of Declan and Rowan that day.  Wed. Declan and Rowan went to my cousin Ellen Stratton's for the morning and I picked them up at noon.  Wow, they had lots of fun and were not ready to leave.  Friday Rowan went to her friend Alexis house and took her bike and spent the day.  Declan was with me in the morning and with Todd for the afternoon.  I worked at the Tasha Tudor Museum Friday afternoon. 
This week-end I took care of my little Catherine on Toby Hill and we made Green tomato chutney.  Today Catherine, Taf and I worked together making, chicken salad, almond cookies,washing lettuce and getting ready for their company tonight.
My son David brought in 150 bales of beautiful 2nd cut hay from the Coleman Farm and it looks and smells so good I think I could eat it with a little vinegar and salt on it.  I'm getting 200 more bales from Ralph Coleman in the next 1-2 days so I will be all set for the winter.  Boy, that is a nice feeling to know that there is enough hay for the winter. 
This afternoon Darcy and her family went to the "Rescue" picnic at Townshend Dam.  David and his family went to Hapgood Pond in Peru for a picnic so I decided it was too hot to work outside so I played all afternoon dyeing wool!
I've included a picture and you can see Miss Squirrel is deciding which color she likes best.  Got to close and take supper to Bev's house. 
Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello again from Maybelle MaMa. 
Well yesterday was our wetfelting/needlefelting a landscape class and it was just fantastic.  There were 7 students and it was just so much fun to watch a scene come to life.  It is something that I could really get addicted to......along with anything else I've tried with fiber. I will add some pictures and can't wait for the next class.  Our next class is another fleece prep class.  Its skirting a fleece,washing it,carding and spinning so its the complete process of preparing a fleece.  It was a wonderful class and if you have interest in learning how to wash a fleece, please sign up early as classes are limited. 
I had an e-mail from a very nice lady asking for some help.  She was trying to track down the person that had owned the sheep she bought.  Well, it rang a bell with me and she was able to contact the person and hopefully register her shetland sheep.  She also gave my name to a lady and there is a possibility that she might want my beautiful little white Percy ram lamb.  They have a beautiful shetland sheep farm and some of the most beautiful shetlands I have even seen.  I think I'm going to buy a little moorit ewe lamb and possibly a little black ewe from this lady.  OH my goodness, I am beyond thrilled because I lost my beautiful Maura that I had for 10 yrs. and she was the sweetest moorit ewe.  This little lamb would definitely be extremely loved and help comfort me.
 My little grandaughter Rowan spent the afternoon with me and is having a sleepover.  She is in her pajamas sitting in PaPa's lap watching the movie Prancer.  We made sugar cookies this afternoon and decorated them.  We also went down to my sister Bev's house for a while this afternoon and Rowan had a great time there. 
This evening Darcy and Declan helped me move my Tinka group across the road to another pasture because tomorrow they are suppose to pave our hill.  I didn't want the sheep to be scared from all the equipment.  Darcy starts back to school tomorrow so I will have Rowan and Declan.  We are going to have a little table,chairs and snacks, sit on the front porch and be entertained by the paving crew!  Whewwwww big excitement in this little town!
 Today I went to Toby Hill to take care of my little Catherine and we made a batch of the most delicious Raspberry/Balckberry jam!!!! YUM, YUM I will have tomorrow and Wednesday off as Darcy, Rowan, Declan and I are going to Washington County Fair in Greenwich, N.Y. on Wednesday. It is a wonderful agricultural fair and we have a very nice day.  Both of the children have big ear protectors to wear this year because of the tractor pulls.  It will make a very funny picture with both of them sitting in the grand stand with their bright colored ear protectors. 
Well, I'm going to read a little tonight and then go to bed early for a change.  Oh yes I sold Rikki Red Squirrel at the fiber class yesterday so I will have to make another squirrel.  Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.

It's Sunday, Aug. 15th and another week of Fiber Fun Camp has taken place at the farm. It was a wonderful group with 4 students in the morning and 6-8 students in the afternoon.  Again Cheryl did a fantastic job teaching dying with Kool-Aid, Easter egg dyes and food coloring, wet felting, needle feting, drop spindle, carding and color blending.....WOW  what a wonderful week and all the students went home on Friday with lots of things they had made and lots of fiber knowledge.  It gives me such pleasure to see the students learning about and loving fiber.
 
Of course, each day there had to be a visit to the barn to get their sheep fix.  One student named Vinca "Tail Wagger" and the sheep love the attention.
If you scroll down to the pictures below, you can see how much fun everyone was having. 

Our next class is Sunday Aug. 22nd and it is a Wet Felting and Needlefelting Class with Cheryl Flett to make a  picture/landscape and the class is 1-4 p.m.  Please register right away as the class is almost full. 

I needle felted Gregory Giraffe (selling price $175.00) and donated it to our local Wardsboro Public Library for the Red Barn Affair.  It was an evening event with a silent auction and there were so many beautiful things to bid on.  I'm sure it really was a huge success and so much fun in our small town. 

Darcy and Todd trimmed hooves Wed. evening and did 10 ewes.  Wow farm life, Darcy and Todd's evening together is out to the barn trimming hooves!  Java's front hooves got nicked so yesterday and today I gave her a shot of penicillin and some banamine for pain and tonight she is doing better.  Darcy and Todd put Java and Daisy in with Tinka, Juliette,Stella, Arly and baby Percy.......well let me tell you, Java does not like little Percy and all his foolishness.  Tonight when I did chores, Percy had a cut on his forehead at the base of one horn and Java was trying to give him another treatment!  I took Daisy and Java and put them in a small stall for tonight and will put them in with the old group tomorrow. 

I have said very often in these blogs that there is never a dull moment on the farm!  I put portable fencing out the road to the gully and my four boys Luther, Ripley, Spartacus and Stuart were in little piggy heaven eating leaves,and major brush.  That should keep them happy for about a week.  I moved one group  of ewes across the road into a beautiful pasture so they will be happy too!

I went with my sister Bev, my niece Carleen and my grandaughter Rowan to the annual Bills family reunion in Newfane yesterday afternoon.  We had a lot of fun and stopped for a soft serve ice cream cone on the way home.  I took Bev with me to the Red Barn Affair as my guest and we were real party animals!!!!!!  There were free drinks and lots of appetizers. My three great nieces were the waitress for the event and were so cute.  I can remember how exciting things like that were when I was young.....GAZOOK!  that was a LONG time ago.

My son David and his family have gone up to York, Maine for a vacation for 3 days so Jon and I are going to help Darcy, Rowan, Declan and my great nephew Robbie take care of Bogart the Newfoundland dog, two black cats Piper and Poppy and all the chickens.  Well I'm ready to go fall in a chair and do a little needlefelting.

Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa

Hello from Maybelle Farm on Sunday August 8th,2010.  We start another week of Fiber Fun Camp tomorrow and it goes all week.  I am so pleased at how successful the summer camp has been and can't wait for tomorrow.  I have actually been away from the farm this last week Wed. through Friday to go New Hampshire and Storyland with my daughter Darcy and grandchildren Rowan and Declan.  My son and grandson took care of the sheep, my husband took care of our dog and giving water to all the sheep.  The chickens were taken care of by several people and everyone and everything was fine while I was away.  I fret myself silly over my animals but that is just who I am.  We stayed at a lovely Comfort Inn and it was beautiful weather in the White Mountains of New Hampshire.  I know the children had lots of fun with the highlight being sitting with Monkey George and I took their picture. 
So I am now back at work and trying to get ready for the Fiber Fun Day.  I am going to Darcy's to copy the recipes for the things we make to serve that day.  I have to also put up the mystery fibers and I have such fun getting this ready.  Its a beautiful day today and I set up portable fencing yesterday afternoon for two groups of sheep to be in new pasture.  I am frantically needlefelting a giraffe that I have donated to our local Library's fund raising event.  Its called the Red Barn Affair and I have to have it done this week.......WHEW  I think I can, I think I can!  Well that is all for today and I will write again soon.  Good-bye from Maybelle MaMa.

We were away in NH for a few days this week... so this blog is a little late being posted.

Hello from Maybelle MaMa.  Its Monday night August. 2nd and we had our wonderful Grandma and Me class at the farm yesterday afternoon.  It was such fun and everyone really enjoyed the afternoon.  We needlefelted heads,  made very funny faces, and very wild hair.  For wet felting Cheyl helped everyone make flowers and they came out beautiful.  I will put a couple of pictures on so you can see the amazing items that were made.  Alison taught drop spindle to one grandmother and grandaughter.  Its so much fun to see people learning a new skill and having fun too! 
After the class was over I sat down with Alison and Cheryl and we made a list of more classes that will be offered at the farm.  I will put the list on our site as soon as I can.  We will be having more classes Sept. thru Dec. and such interesting ones like  Oct. 10th Diorama "The Legend of Spooky Hollow". This will be a 3D picture done in wet felting and needlefelting.  There will be a rug hooking class. an Adult Fiber Camp, making pumpkins with attitute, making angels and snowmen, and needlefelting a Jolly Santa or a Victorian Santa.....please watch for the list. 
Our Fiber Fun Day is coming up on Aug. 14th and there is still a couple of openings, please let us know by Aug. 6th..........I have come up with some incredible mystery fibers to spin this year. 
Well as I have said before, there is never a dull moment on the farm.  This morning at 6:15 a.m. I went up the hill to do chores and I look in the pasture and there are NO SHEEP!!!!!!!  OH,OH,  wherre are they????  I drive out to the barn and there they are standing there by the gate waiting for someone to open it for them.  When I got out of my car Arly and Percy came running over to greet me and, oh by the way "Do you have any grain"?  I opened the gate and they all went into the pasture.  I put that group inside.
When I got home from work I put the bug spray on them because the bugs are terrible right now.  I then moved that group to a new pasture across the road.  I just opened up the gate and across the road they go with just a little treat of grain.  Its always so nice when things so smoothly.  I certainly was worried when I saw the sheep were loose because Darcy's garden would have been quite a picnic for them! 
I made scalloped potato with ham, fresh green beans from my garden with new potatoes, cole slaw and a chocolate zucchini cake and took it to my sister Bev's house for supper.  It was a really nice evening.  Got to close for now and go to bed as its 11:30 p.m. I have to be up at 5:30 to start another day.  Oh yes, I forgot to mention that Rowan had another sleep-over at YaYa's on Saturday night and breakfast in bed yesterday morning with homemade waffles,juice abd cartoons!!!!  Who could ask for anything more? Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa

Well, here it is Tuesday July 27th and we had another workshop yesterday here at the farm.  It was a Beginner Spinning workshop taught by Alison Schantz.  She is a wonderful instructor and you certainly get more than your money's worth.  The class was scheduled for 9 a.m.to 12 noon but it went until almost 1 p.m.  She gives handouts and is so very calm about explaining how things work and tricks to make it easier.  I forgot to take picture and they spun some wonderful yarn.  They also carded wool and blended colors, "oh my goodness, what fun"!  One of the students has sheep and I have already talked to her about getting a fleece from her.  She has 5 merino cross ewes and has all 5 fleeces.  She wrote back about doing a swap so I am sooooooooo excited.  Now to more farm stuff.  I finally put Avocado in with Vinca that is her daughter and they did not fight, so last night I put Avocado and Vinca in with my old geriatric group and everyone was fine.  They did a little bit of butting but it was half-hearted and like  "Oh well, I'm just too old and tired for that stuff"!  Blake and Marcus came out on this side of the barn towards my house and they don't go very far from the barn.  I washed a small amount of Okra and WOW, she is sparkley white and I even spun some of her this afternoon.  Very,Very nice wool my dear Okra.  Alison took home some of Arnold's fleece.  Arnold is my blind wether and Okra is his mother.  They are both badger faced shetlands and so beautiful.  I worked this morning with my little Catherine and yesterday we made a batch of blackberry/raspberry jam that came out perfect.  Catherine got to use her new shower that is so nice, with a walk in shower stall and painted walls that are a very warm yellow.  This afternoon I went to Weston and picked up my grandchildren Rowan and Declan from Little School summer camp.  Darcy,Rowan and Declan are coming to supper tonight and Rowan is having her Tuesday night sleep-over with YaYa.  Well, I have to go finish getting supper ready and everything is peaceful here at the farm.  Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.

Well this afternoon I had to say good-bye to my beautiful moorit ewe Maura.  She was the first lamb we bought for the farm to be a friend for Maisie.  Maisie was our first lamb born here and we thought she should have a playmate so we went to Jeri Harris and got Maura.  I have loved her from the moment I met her and she has been a very special sheep. She surprised us with little tiny triplet lambs and truely didn't know what to do with them.  I ended up bottle feeding them as Maura got sick.  She had Rowena, Raquel,and little Ripley and they were all moorit (brown) too. 
Whenever I would go into the barn and the sheep would start talking to me, I would call "Maura, Maura" and she would be right there waiting for me.  This is the part I don't like about having animals but the good out weighs the bad. 
My little grandaughter Rowan came down to keep me company because she knew I was sad.  She had supper with us and then wanted to look at my jewelry.  She said "YaYa, I need a pair of clip on earring".  So we found a pair of white balls and several other pairs and she put them in a little treasure box and took them home.  Declan climbed into my lap when I took Rowan home and said "YaYa, are you still feeling sad"?  I told him that being with him helped me feel better.  So farewell my sweet Maura and I will miss you every time I walk into the barn. I will listen for your "BAAAA" and look for your beautiful face. Peace be with you my dear friend.  Good-night from Maybelle MaMa

Hello from Maybelle Farm. 
Its Sunday night July 18th and WOW what a day we have had at the farm.  This was the "Wild and Woolly" workshop taught by Patty Blomgren and it was beyond exciting.  Alison,Cheryl,Patty and I made some of the most beautiful yarns doing coils,adding nubs to the yarn,adding beads that was just more fun than I can describe and making up very colorful batts. 
The class was suppose to be 1-4 p.m. but we finally called it quits at 6 p.m. and not because we wanted to stop.  Its called making dinner, doing chores, and bothersome stuff like that!  I wrote a note to Patty, Alison and Cheryl and told them I was over the top excited about today.  It was like drinking too much Mountain Dew. That could be either the soda pop or the "good old mountain dew".  I took Patty out to the barn to see Juliette's fleece and she is going to wash, card and make it into roving for me.  Juliette's fleece is a combination of black,dark charcoal and med gray.  The staple length is incredibly long and it definitely is one super fleece.
Darcy,Todd,Rowan and Declan have gone to Maine today and will be back Wed.  I'm staying at the farm with their dog Kara, the chickens, the sheep and the garden.  I enjoy staying there because it is where I grew up and where my mother was born.  Kara and I lay on the couch, eat popcorn and watch TV........oh what a stressful time!!!!! 
Well I've got to go shut the chickens in, the sheep are all taken care of and so its popcorn time for Maybelle MaMa and Kara.  Goodnight!

Hello again from Maybelle Farm.  It's Friday night July 16th and all is well at the farm.  My beautiful Arly is doing great, Percy is a rascal and I moved them with Tinka, Juliette and Stella to a new pasture.......wheeeee.  Percy can run all over to check out lots of new space.  I had a very nice lady from Florida that is visiting this area stop over to the farm this morning.  I gave her a farm tour, she got to pet and visit with the sheep and check out my raw fleeces in the barn and my fiber studio.  She has just learned to spin on a drop spindle and is very interested in fiber.  I just love talking to people about fiber and my sheep! 
Oh my goodness, I haven't been on our blog since the Fiber Fun Camp happened at Maybelle Farm.  I cannot begin to describe how much fun everyone had at the camp.  I'm not sure who was having more fun, the students or Cheryl but she is a fantastic teacher. The children were constantly smiling and I heard one boy say "It was the best camp I've ever been to"!!!!!! WOW!
 The first day they learned about fiber and dyed wool with kool-aid, easter egg dye and I think food coloring.  I couldn't believe the beautiful colors and varigated rovings.  Tuesday they did drop spindles where they decorated their own CD and took home their own spindle and the yarn they had spun.  Wed. they did some needle felting. Thursday they did Wet felting and Friday they made fiber cards.  It was absolutely a wonderful week and we have another week of Fiber Camp in August.  If you missed this July class, you definitely should sign up for the August camp.  There is very limited space left. 
This coming Sunday July 18th Patty Blomgren is teaching a "Wild and Woolly" class and I just can't  wait.  She taught this class last year and it was so much fun, we didn't want the class to end.  We also have added a Beginner Spinning class that will be Monday July 26th 9 a.m. to 12 noon and its a very limited class. 
Everyone is having such a good time with all these classes that we are talking about a fiber camp for adults!!!!!!  We have had a very good interest in the Fiber Fun Day and which is limited to 12 people.........please contact me by Aug. 5th to save a spot. 
I am working 6 days a week this summer in homecare and still trying to keep up with everything here at the farm.  I hope this poor old,tubby farm girl can keep on trucking till fall and I can cut back on working in homecare.  I have to work in order to keep the sheep and working off the farm really cuts into my fiber fun!!!!!!  Well that's all from the farm for tonight, check in again soon!
Goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.

Its Tuesday night June 29th and this is an update for everyone about my sweet Arly.  Yesterday I had our Vet come to see her again and he gave her a shot of thiamine,a shot of penicillin,an oral med. for ulcers and I had given her the probios.  He had me mix up ground alfalfa with electrolytes and use a large syringe to feed it to her.  Last night I gave her another shot of thiamine and this morning I gave her a dose of the probios,the oral ulcer med. and a shot of thiamine. This afternoon I gave her another shot of penicliin and she a Percy are out in a pasture and she is chowing down the grass!!!!!!  YIPEEEEEEE  Oh yes, she is pooping pellets again! Its amazing what can make you happy sometimes.  I was convinced that i had just about killed Arly giving her grain, and letting her get to Percy's lamb starter pellets.  Talk about learning a very expensive lesson....... I can tell you tonight I will finally have a good nights sleep.  I went to Bennington with Jonathan and got another large dog crate so I can let Amy Cooke know I will be coming to get Johnnie Jump Up and her lamb Pansy ( my new Finn sheep) as soon as Darcy can use the pick-up.  Well life is good at Maybelle Farm.  Got to go get busy so goodnight from Maybelle MaMa.