Well I survived the Gilfeather Turnip festival.  There was a good turnout at the event because it was such a rainy day and people decided to visit the festival. There was turnip soup,turnip muffins,cookies,breads,pies, etc.etc.   Its amazing how many things can be made with turnip.  I like to peel the turnip and eat it like an apple.  The Gilfeather turnip is very sweet and the ones I bought, I will save a couple for Thanksgiving.

   I have packaged up three boxes of moorit (dark brown) Shetland wool to send out to be made into yarn.  I have also put up a box of Columbia/Texel lamb roving for one lady from our fiber of the month club.  Everyone seems to have fun trying different fibers to spin.  October is a Merino/Dorset cross and November is a Finn/Cross.  I enjoy finding farms and getting the fiber to pass on to our club members.

   Our 5th Annual Southern Vermont Fiber Event is really getting close and we are doing really well selling tickets for the raffle.  We will draw the winning tickets the day of the event at 3 p.m. and you don't have to be present to win.  I have more vendors waiting for a space but there's no more room in the Inn!  Next year we will have to move to a bigger facility.  If anyone reading this would like a poster, please contact me and I will e-mail one to you.  I think I really like this blogging business.  Talk to you soon.  

Well it was a nice day so I decided to skirt some fleeces.  I managed to do three of Maura and two of Cocoa.  They are beautiful (Moorit) chocolate brown shetland sheep and I'm going to send it to Argyle Fiber mill and be made into yarn.  That leaves me about 200 lbs of raw wool sitting in the barn.  It is going to get skirted and shipped out SOON!  I really need more roving and yarn now.  After lunch I started putting together needle felting kits  of Santa, Snowmen, and pumpkins. I also put up colored roving, natural Shetland roving and handmade hats for our Gilfeather turnip festival.  My daughter found a site called Beetsie's journal and it was a surprise to read it and find that the lady that write the journal is in our fiber of the month club and wrote about the beautiful Cormo fiber from This and That Farm.  Its such fun to see where our farm shows up and especially to read when someone really enjoys the fiber.  Got to close for now, its 10: 30 p.m. and I've got to be up early and at the craft fair by 8 a.m.  Until next time,this is Maybelle Mama signing off.

Here goes my second blog.  This coming Saturday Oct. 24,2009 is our Gilfeather Turnip festival here in Wardsboro,Vt.  I will be a vendor and its alot of fun. The Gilfeather turnip originated here at the Gilfeather Farm and the festival is around this very sweet vegetable.  All the food is made with turnip.  There is turnip soup,turnip breads, turnip pies and cakes,turnip casseroles, etc. etc.  Produce is sold and lots of crafters sell their products.  There is music and lots of fun.  If your in southern Vermont this Saturday, please stop in and have a very nice day in a little town.  I have even needlefelted a little turnip man named Willie Gillie Feather!  Today was a beautiful, sunny day and the color has gone past peak but its still wonderful to be outside enjoying the great weather, knowing that snow is in the near future.

This is my first attempt to blog for Maybelle Farm.  Lets see, I had my regular flu shot and the H1N1 both on Thursday.  Yesterday I had a headache and just felt a little off, but today I have chills,headache and feel just crummy.  I believe its a nice day for a nap.  At about 1:45 p.m. I moved my 23 ewes from a pasture across the road from the farmhouse back to the barn.  We got a little snow storm but it didn't amount to much.  I just feel better when the sheep are close to the barn. Oh yes, now I know what I can blog about!  This summer my friend Jenna put in a beautiful dye garden at Maybelle Farm for me.  Three weeks ago I got large glass pickle jars and picked marigolds, zinneas, jewelweed and golden rod.  I put the plants in the jar to the top and then filled them with water.  You then let the jars sit in the sun and I was beyond thrilled!  Wow, look at me, I'm solar dyeing.........time to open the jars, drain the  liquid and throw away the plants. Holy, moley I have never smelled anything soooooo bad as opening those jars.  Where was my gas mask when I really needed it?  Well I managed to put the liquid back in the jars with mordanted yarn and seal them up for more solar dyeing.  Time to open the jars and pull out the yarn....ugh.  I washed the yarn in wool wash, a 2nd time in hair conditioner, 3rd time in avon skin so soft and i can just about stand it to put it on a wooden drying rack and let the yarn dry.  Is this really worth it?  I will let you know when the yarn is dry. This is your new blog post. Click here and start typing, or drag in elements from the top bar.

I haven't had much time to work on "tweaking" our website.  I hope to have my mother set up blogging here soon.  I will be adding some new photos and getting some more information on here.  We are busy trying to get some PR done for our 5th Annual Southern Vermont Fiber Event coming up on November 21 in Brattleboro, VT.  See more info on the sidebar.  This should be a great day with lots for any type of fiber person to enjoy.  More again soon!