Hello from Maybelle Farm on Friday Oct. 18th.  It's a very exciting day at the farm.  First my two little white Shetland ewe lambs arrived from Nussbaum River Bend Farm in Farmingdale, N.J.   I'm so excited to have these two little white ewes as they carry a new UK bloodline.  Tim, Miana and Collin delivered the two little white ewes from Rhinebeck, N.Y. where they met up with Shelley Nussbaum at the NY Sheep and Wool Festival.  Then we loaded Juliette and Chloe, two of our Shetland-Coopworth Crosses, into the two crates for them to take back to their new home at Sheltie Meadow Farm in Ghent, N.Y. 

My grandchildren Rowan and Declan have helped me get ready for the two little lambs today.  My son-in-law Todd had to repair the little shed for the two little girls and they do like their little house!  Jonathan got a 10 foot gate.  Rowan helped me make a small corral to put Juliette and Chloe in, so we could load them into some crates.  I just put two little black bowls with a little bit of grain and they came right in to corral, then into the crates and on their way to their new home.  I'm always so happy when my sheep go to a good home.

Well, I'm going to go sit down and read for awhile.......its been a very busy day here at the farm.  So-long from Maybelle MaMa.

Hello from Maybelle Farm on Monday Oct. 14th.  It is a beautiful sunny Columbus Day.  This blog is about our weekend at the Sandwich Fair in Sandwich, N.H.  On Wednesday night Darcy, Rowan and Declan helped me pack the van with crates of yarn,needle felted critters, needle felting supplies, socks, hand knitted hats, boot felts, roving, etc.etc.  Shelves, baskets ,tables and the tent was strapped to the roof rack.  Jonathan and I picked our grandson Austin up at school at 10:30 a.m. and off we went.  We stopped for lunch in Newport, NH at MacDonald's and then back on the road again.  We arrived at the fairground about  3:30 p.m. and unloaded the tent. Jonathan, Austin and Ken Carlucci helped me get the roof on and pop up the tent.  We put the sides on, unloaded the tables and headed to my cousin Roger's house for the night.  

It was such fun to stay with Rog and Robin.  They fixed us a nice dinner and we had lots of laughs catching up on family.  We got up at 6 a.m. and Rog and Robin had breakfast sandwiches, juice and coffee already for us.  We got to the fairground about 7:20 a.m. and Austin helped me unload all the crates and get everything set up.  People start coming onto the fairground at 8 a.m. so we really had to work fast.  Austin went with me to check out the fairground and find a little fair food!!!!!  Jonathan was fretting himself silly over the van, which had a problem with the emergency brake cable.   So he called and talked to our son David about what to do, who was coming over later in the day to the fair to pick up Austin.  David brought a jack, and tools to fix the van.   "Cheers to David", he fixed the van!  My sister and brother-in-law came with David and Ella to the fair.  It was fun to have them come and walk around the fair and see where we were.  David, Austin, Ella, Bev and Francis then left the fair and went to my cousin Roger's house for a short visit.

We closed down the tent on Saturday evening.  All the vendors close up at 5 p.m. so we left and went to Roger's house.  Their daughters Heidi and Terri were also visiting for the weekend with their families.  It was such fun for me to get to visit with both Heidi and Terri and meet their children.  There was a lot of laughing, talking and a few fireworks about 9 p.m.  Jonathan was exhausted and went to bed early.  I stayed up and visited and watched a Red Sox game.  

We got up at 6 a.m. and left Roger's house at 6:40 a.m.   We stopped and got coffee before we got to the fairground.  I set everything back up and was open for business by 8 a.m.  It's a wonderful fair but people just were not buying like they did last year.  I had decided to break down our booth and come home last night.  We loaded up and by 5:30 p.m. we were on our way home.  We stopped for supper in Charlestown, N.H.  and got home at 9:30 p.m.  I was so happy to see my sweet old dog Lettie.  I crawled into bed at 10:30 p.m. and slept until 6 a.m. this morning.

I had such a nice morning so far, up to see Kara ( my daughter's dog), then our to take care of all my beautiful sheep.   Now I'm just resting and I'm going to take it easy.  I need to just have a lazy day today.

That is all from Maybelle Farm.  Thanks to Jonathan for driving the loaded Van to the fair and trying to get through the weekend. It most definitely was too much for him to try to do.  I made a bad call trying to do the fair this year when Jonathan had just finished his radiation treatments in September. Thanks to Darcy, Rowan and Declan for taking care of the farm and my dog while I was gone.  Thanks to David, Austin and Ella for their help.  Extra special thanks to Austin for helping me get everything set up at the fair.  I am so proud of my family and love them so much!

So-long from Maybelle MaMa

Hello on Thursday October 3, 2013.  I cannot believe that September just flew by and I didn't write anything about the farm.  It was a very busy month and I guess I just didn't find the time to write at all.  Jonathan finished his radiation treatments on Sept. 11. They told him the next two weeks would be rough and they were not kidding!  He is slowly starting to feel a little bit better and can do a little work then needs to rest.

I was so excited on Friday Sept. 27,  my two moorit rams Otis and Odin went to their new home in Ghent, N.Y.  I am so happy for them to go to Miana because I know they will have a good home.  She is coming back in another week or so to get Juliette and Chloe.  They are both Coopworth/Shetland crosses and have incredible fleeces.  I know they will be happy there.

My little Catherine left on Sept. 3rd and it was such a sad day at Toby Hill.  I miss her terribly and I know she is having a rough time trying to adjust to being in a nursing home.  I went the whole month of Sept. without work and am starting to get a little worried. Usually something comes up but not this time.  It has been nice to have time to work at the farm.  I'm getting a lot ready because Jonathan, my grandson Austin and I leave on Friday Oct. 11th and go to Center Sandwich, N.H. to be a vendor at the Sandwich Fair.  We are gone Friday through Monday.  This is a long time to be away from the farm for me!  I will miss my dog Lettie terribly.  She is over 12 yrs. old and very lame.  She is just one of my best friends and I'm so sad to see her getting so old and feeble,  just like me!

I have been to my grandaughter Rowan's soccer games this fall.  I love to cheer for her and take movies.  She is going to be a great little player as she gets older.  Declan is in 1st grade and he plays soccer too but only after school on Tuesdays.  Rowan and Declan have sleepovers with me as often as they can and that is always fun.  I just finished moving 3 rolls of portable fence for two groups of sheep.  My daughter's dog Kara helps me and she is almost as exhausted as I am.......maybe we will both lay on the floor and have a nap!

Got to go take a shower and get some more work done at my fiber studio.  I have a helper coming tomorrow to the farm.  Jacquelyn has been such a big help this summer and is working with me to get everything packed up for the Sandwich Fair.  It's another beautiful fall day here in Vermont and the colors are just about peak today.  We have a cold front coming in tomorrow and hopefully we will get some rain soon.  Its very dry in the pastures and would help make things alot more green.  I'm hopping for grazing at least thru October.........so I don't have to use too much hay.

So-long from Maybelle MaMa

Hello from Maybelle Farm on Wed. Aug. 28th, 2013.  I got up really early this morning and started looking back to see when I had last written a blog.  Wow, the whole month of August flew by and I didn't even put anything down.  The very first thing is, I believe it was two year. ago today that Hurricane Irene paid us a visit!  That was something I hope we don't have to repeat here in Vermont.  I'm just very grateful that we all survived that storm.

Grace Cottage Hospital Fair Day was the first Saturday in August.  I went to it with my daughter Darcy and my grandchildren Rowan and Declan.  I also had to play with the Bills Band that evening during the chicken barbeque.  Next came the August Farm &Fiber Camp, which was a very busy week.  My favorite day that week was when we all walked across the field and each student made a "Fairy House".  They had to pick up things to use to make the fairy house, the night before construction.  Each student arrived with a bag of items to put in their fairy house.  We then had to go back the next day to see what happened and it looked like some little animal or fairy had decided to move in to a couple of the houses.

Next in August my very special sheep Vinca  got sick.  I came home from work on a Thursday evening and Rowan called and said I needed to go to the barn, Vinca was blind.  It was quite a battle to save her but Darcy and Todd stayed with her that night and took turns checking on her.  The Vet came on Friday and I had to give her Thiamine shots three times a day for 3 days.  She slowly make her way back to me and I am beyond thrilled to say she is doing so much better.  I wrote on the Shetland sheep site on Facebook and got a lot of encouraging messages and suggestions.  Whew, that was quite the week and I hope we don't have to do that again.

Darcy and Todd finished the new pastures out front of the farmhouse.  Darcy moved another group of ewe sheep and put them together with  the Moms and lambs from this year.  It was quite an adjustment with a lot of butting and trying to sort out who when with who.  They also mowed a lot of the very tall grass so there should be some very nice grazing for the sheep.  It seems like life is pretty great here at the farm right now.  I do have to sell a few sheep before winter and get another delivery of hay.

My summer job is going to end on Sept. 3rd.  My sweet little Catherine is 99 yrs. old and moving to Belmont Manor.  We have had such a beautiful summer on Toby Hill and I will miss her a lot. Its quite an adjustment to get back to life here on the hill after working many hours with Catherine.  I know there is alot of work waiting for me because I now have to start getting everything ready to take to the Sandwich Fair on Columbus Day weekend in New Hampshire. We will stay with my cousin Roger and Robin, and be away Friday through Monday. That is an amazing fair and I did very, VERY well last year.

Well, I have to get dressed,go to the farmhouse and take pictures of Darcy, Rowan and Declan.  Today is the first day of school for them.  Rowan is going into 4th grade and Declan is going into 1st grade.  This is very exciting and Declan said he is going to wear his "handsome clothes" today.  So-long from Maybelle MaMa