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.

Hello everyone, its Sunday June 27th and I'm going to take a day off from working like a fool.  Yesterday was our Skirting,washing,carding and spinning workshop and it was a great success!  Alison Schantz and Cheryl Flett did a super,duper job of showing two different techniques to wash wool.  It is just pure fun to be with other people that love fiber and to spend the whole day playing!  We skirted Cocoa that is (moorit) and Little Lola Low Rider that is (white) to wash and prepare to spin.  We were also very lucky with the weather. The rain held off until just before 3 p.m. and we just had to move the drying wool onto the front porch.  We had two regular size drum carders and one small size drum carder, hand combs and flickers.  It nice to see how each person uses these tools and you get different ideas just from watching.  We had a very nice lunch and I treated all the ladies to a glass of "SWITCHEL" that is a drink we had when I was a little girl during haying.  Its made with apple cider vinegar,maple syrup,ground ginger and water.  They all liked it and it really is just the thing on a hot,humid day.  After a little treat of tootsie rolls, we were back at the fiber with a good sugar buzz.  At the end of the workshop, everyone went home with beautiful washed moorit and white wool. My daughter Darcy left with her family on Friday morning to go to the Thousand Islands for a week.......I am totally lost without them but I hope they have lots of fun.  My son David arrived and asked if we would like to go with him and his daughter Ella to Chester to "Curtis Ribs" for supper.  I had never been there and Jonathan and I had a nice time and got to have a ride in David new Dodge Ram diesel truck.  Its a double cab and rides really well, with me in the back seat with Ella!  My poor sheep Arly has been very sick since Thursday and I had Deb (Vet) from Green Mt. Bovine here on Friday afternoon.  We are not sure if she ate something in the pasture or if she ate too much grain but Deb gave her a shot of Vit. B, some banamine and probios.  Deb had me give her pepto bismol/gatorade/peppermint tea Thursday evening.....actually Deb said pepto bismol and I added the gatorade and peppermint tea.  Yesterday she was still not any better but I put her out in the small pasture thinking that might help just to be outside.  David is coming this morning to help me trim her hooves and I gave her more probios this morning and water with a syringe.........she just acts like she is in misery and I called Green Mt. Bovine yesterday afternoon and they have Walpole Vet. Clinic cover for them on the week-end.  I talked to a wonderful Vet and he said I would have to make her want to live and I'm trying really hard.  Poor little Percy, her little ram lamb needs his mother!  Well I guess thats all the news for now and I will go to the barn to trim Arlys hooves.  Good-bye from Maybelle MaMa.