It’s been a busy week: the grass is up but growing slowly, so the sheep need new pastures every two days, which means I’m putting up new fencing every two days. (The downside of not having permanent fencing!) I’ve been knitting socks like there’s no tomorrow, so there’ll be samples of all the sock yarns we are bringing to the festival, and so I’ll have something to sell…The raw fleeces have all been weighed and labelled and packed in the car. Photos of the sheep whose fleeces are for sale have been taken and printed, to put with the fleeces. Business cards have been made. The truck is packed. (At least the FRONT part, where my stuff goes. The back still needs sweeping out: that’s where we put the tables and equipment and stuff from Sue’s store.) I still have some rovings balls to label, grain store and food shopping to do this morning, and finishing one more last sock, one made from some new stuff: wool, bamboo, and silk…
This morning I put the boys on pasture, and transferred the piglets from the winter chicken coop to the ram pen, where they have light and air and lots of dirt and hay to root through in search of fermented corn left unintentionally by the rams all winter. They will stay there for a couple of weeks, and hopefully ready that area for squash planting. They will also acclimate to electric fencing, which I’ll put inside the cattle panels next week and power up, so that in a few weeks, when it’s time for pasture, they know that they need to stay within the fence.
So, if you are wanting a really neat fiber experience this weekend, why not meander down to Contoocook, N.H., to the state fairgrounds (right off exit 7 of I-89) and “come to the fair”. The lamb sausages are great. There’s always fried dough. (My personal favorite.) There’ll be sheep galore, border collie demos by David Kenard, who is great with his wonderful dogs. 132 vendors or thereabouts…fleece, washed, raw, processed, yarn, rovings, batts, sheepskins, oh, and those alpacas and llamas, which I am allergic to and stay away from, but which others are really thrilled with…and angora rabbits and angora goats, and …demos, a fleece auction, you name it…there are people who make this their Mother’s Day celebration each year, much more fun than going out to brunch at the La-de-da Inn…If you go, look for me and look for Sue at the Hodge Podge Fibers booth in one of the buildings, whose number I don’t know (rats!), but you can find us in the great booklet you will receive at the gate. Introduce yourselves.
Okay, off to the grain store…have a great weekend, and remember all the women who’ve mothered you (in good ways?) throughout your life this weekend.
May 10, 2009 at 6:03 pm |
I hope you have a successful time at the fair, and a happy Mother’s Day.