Once Again, The Calendar Post...Finally

The "finally" parts seems to be a trend with the calendars...every year.  This year I thought I was really on top of the game.  Postage had gone up yet again, so I steeled myself to try and send as many First Class as I could this year and ordered two cases of plain padded mailers.  I took some test calendars to the post office earlier this week...

Several years ago Tim had an "old" printer that did a really nice job printing the photo cards and calendars.  It was obsolete though and they stopped servicing it so he had to get a new machine.  I, of course, liked the old machine better.  I thought the quality of the photos last year wasn't as good with the new "improved" machine.

This year Tim experimented with some different styles of paper.  There are probably as many different papers as there are different breeds of sheep.  Different types, weights, finishes, coatings...  This year's calendars are printed using a matte finish, clay coated paper.  Don't ask me to explain a clay coated paper; I just know (now) that it's heavier.  The calendars look very nice though and that's the important part :-).

The 2018 Farm and Lamb Camp calendars!

This might be my all time favorite Buddy picture.  There's so much "Buddy" here - is messy wool, his big mouth yelling at me, his ear fuzz curls (my favorite part of Buddy) with one ear forward and one ear back.  The quintessential Buddy portrait.

The almost quintessential Comby picture.  "Well, at least I'm not asleep this year."

Lots of Hank this year.

And Biscuit.

And Muffin, Mrs. Pepperpot, B. Willard, Hickory and T-Bone and  Maisie (of course ;-).

The lambs in the Lamb Camp calendars are as sweet as ever.  

Make your teeth hurt sweet ;-).

Leaping lambs.

Sleeping lambs.

And even a Christmas lamb.

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We'll do it basically like we do every year.  Equinox Farm calendars are still $12.50 each and the Lamb Camp calendars are $10.00. Shipping (to the US) will run anywhere from $4.50 to $7.20 depending on weight and distance.  Shipping overseas is usually not as expensive as I fear.  I'm happy to get a quote for you. Likewise for Canada.

If you'd like to order one (or more), just send me an email with what you'd like and your shipping address. I'll send everything out with an invoice and a return envelope and you can just drop a check in the mail upon receipt.  Checks are preferred, but we can also handle credit cards if that's easiest.

There are also Lamb Camp note cards, Christmas cards, drop spindle kits, Biscuit and Muffin ornaments, Maisie Orneries, Mug Shot mugs, My Favorite Sheep canvas totes, a little wool...in the Farm Shop if you are interested.   And there are also have two cases of padded mailers in case anyone needs to ship a bunch of lightweight items ;-).

As always, we truly thank you for your support. Your purchases help pay for hay, grain, bedding, shearing, vet bills...and even cookies ;-).  

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One person who won't need to purchase a calendar is Karen B.  She won the calendar from 20's giveaway earlier this week :-).  Drop me an email with your address and I'll get that shipped right out.  Depending on where you live, I might even get to use one of the plain mailers ;-D.

The Calendar Post...Finally

I was feeling pretty bad about how late it had gotten to put up the calendar post until I looked at last year and saw it was November 16th.  Hey, I'm two days earlier this year!  And then I scrolled down and remembered (trying really hard to forget!) that we were up to our necks in the big home remodel last year.  Oh right...

Without further ado, the 2017 calendars :-)

The Equinox Farm calendars - yes, two!

Same format as previous years.

Always Hank.

Here is your bizarre story of the day.  I took several shots of the Maisie month to make sure I had the camera straight.  I actually do that with all the pictures because I tend to tilt the camera as I squeeze the shutter sometimes.  Anyway, in looking through my Maisie pictures, trying to decide the straightest shot, it looked like she was winking at me (!).

Just think about that for a minute. I'm taking a picture. Of a picture.   In my head I figured out that it was just a camera angle issue, recording more or less of the dark color of the picture of her eye...but my heart knows she's probably just pulled another good one on me.  And she looks pretty smug about it.

"Please buy our calendar with a creepy picture of a half crazy sheep whose eye follows you around the room WHILE SHE IS SLEEPING!"

Yeah, I'm probably headed to McDonald's to flip burgers to pay the hay bill this year...

If  we all live through March, there's a little sweet Graham to wash our eyes out.  In more ways than one.  I miss that big, funny, sweet, annoying goofball :-/.  It's good to remember though. Always.

Baby birds!  Okay, so we just have to make it through til June! :-D

Lots of little pictures again.

And my all time favorite picture...so far.

And don't forget that Saint Tim printed two calendars this year.  You can pick which cat you'd like to spend September with or let me surprise you.  Just let me know what you prefer :-).

And the 2017 Lamb Camp calendar!

Bullwinkle on the cover.

Sweet mommas and babies.

Sleeping lambies.

Lambies on jungle gyms.

Okay, here's a cute story about taking pictures of calendars.  Actually, it is about note card pictures. I knew I'd taken some farm shop pictures back in the spring and this lambie reminded me.  I dug back and found them.

Bullwinkle's probably just looking at the shiny plastic, but I like to think he's looking at the picture.

And the lamb is looking back at him.  In a good way :-).

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We'll do it basically like we do every year.  Equinox Farm calendars are $12.50 each and the Lamb Camp calendars are $10.00. Shipping (to the US) will be a flat fee of $6.10 (whoops, postage went up and they are now $6.80) using a Priority Flat Rate Envelope.  Shipping overseas last year was not as expensive as I feared.  I'm happy to get a quote for you. Likewise for Canada.

If you are buying just a small Lamb Camp calendar and you live in Lexington, I will use a smaller plain envelope and charge you the actual shipping costs, probably around $4.50. Everyone else will be pretty close to the actual costs using the USPS envelope.  

If you'd like to order one (or more), just send me an email with what you'd like and your shipping address. I'll send everything out with an invoice and a return envelope and you can drop a check in the mail upon receipt.

There are also Lamb Camp note cards, Christmas cards, drop spindle kits, Maisie Orneries, Mug Shot mugs, My Favorite Sheep canvas totes, a little wool...in the new Farm Shop (yes, it's finally mostly updated) if you are interested.

As always, we truly thank you for your support.

Faux Fall - And The Final (For Now) Freebie

Every stinking time I think "Okay.  Whew.  All I have to do is make it three more days and it's going to rain and cool off and summer will finally be over." It teases me with a cool down and then right back into the 80s it goes.  We hit 86 the other day...in the FOURTH WEEK OF OCTOBER!  

It  sure looks like fall...

Even sort of like a pretty fall...

But this is Baaxter hogging the fan like he does all summer...at 7:30 in the morning...on October 20th. Hershey looked so miserable the night before (how on earth could it be that humid when it's so dry and crispy?!?) that I finally had to do the ole cookie test to make sure he was okay enough that I could go to bed.  If you don't perk up when the cookie box comes out, we call the vet.  Highly scientific...but actually very accurate ;-).

These pictures were taken yesterday morning.  It's cold and raining today.  We'll see if it lasts or if it's just a fake cold down for the big neighborhood Pumpkin (Pumpkin with a P) Party this weekend.   The 10 day forecast is encouraging...but I've seen that before.  

The Punkin's (no extra P) Patch Hug a Sheep/Open Farm Day is next weekend!  I thought about trying to take a new "promo" picture this year, but how on earth can you beat last year?

Actually, that whole post is pretty cute.  I love to go back and revisit the good times.  Even some of the bad times.  The link to the Ewenice and Renny tree had me crying this morning, but it was such a beautiful gift.

You know what - leave a comment telling us one/some of your favorite old posts and that will be the third calendar drawing.  Petunia can draw for that one Monday or Tuesday.  And for anyone wanting a calendar but didn't win one, I promise I'll get the Farm Shop updated this weekend!

What's Going On In This Picture? Another Giveaway!

I'm going to let this stand for about 24 hours and then I'll add some clues because I'm pretty sure there is no way anyone (except Auntie Reg...maybe!) is going to guess correctly the first time.  SO, make your first guess in the comments today and then come back tomorrow and make a second, more informed guess and you can have two chances to win a 2017 calendar!

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Hints And Clues

1.  The first thing you need to know is that Kate does pretty much everything with me.  Right with me.  The only reason she doesn't go to the bathroom with me is I shut the door.

2.  There are a few things though that Kate just can't abide.  Cooking is my favorite.  I don't yell and scream, throw pots and pans around and I have never even set the fire alarm off in front of her, but as soon as I turn the stove/oven on, she goes and sits in the dark pantry until the coast is clear.  Order carry out pizza though and she's right there ;-D.

3.  Kate is sitting under the Ewenice and Renny tree between the Wool House and the slightly less wooly house.  I am on the Wool House porch.  Revisit number 1.

4.  I am not spinning although that IS one of the things she can't abide.  At least that one sort of makes sense - a fast whirling wheel you could get your nose or tail stuck in or something.

What am I doing?  Leave your guess in the comments and I'll have Kate draw for a second calendar winner this weekend.

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Windswept Farm won the drawing for the first one.  Send me an email with your address and which calendar you'd like :-). 

Woolen Spun

Hopefully you can click to biggify.  It's a cool fall find!  Know what it is?  Leave a guess in the comments and I'll have 20 draw for a winner on Wednesday and send out the first of the 2017 farm calendars.  I have three set aside for a few fun giveaways.

I Really DID Live Through The Wool Festival

So it looks like I broke the internet.  I FINALLY put together a blog post yesterday and right as I was close to publishing it, a major Verizon tower went down and the entire area was without intertubes until early this morning.  Oops... :-o

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Friday?!?  I really not sure where the week went. Heck, I'm not even sure where the summer went! The Kentucky Wool Festival went really well.  We could not have had better weather, the crowd was the second largest in 34 years (somewhere around 50,000 over the three days :-o), saw lots of old friends, made some new ones, sales were good, nothing got pinched and I think everyone had a great time :-).

As always, I had tons of good help.  Miss B and Miss L helped get the booth components ready ahead of time.  Auntie Reg and Stella worked in the "sweat shop" getting everything packaged and labeled. Saint Tim did his usual herculean job getting all my printing ready and the four legged family, for the most part, stayed out of trouble.

Tim covered farm duties, a Unit driving neighbor came over to doctor on T-Bone's leg (horrible dew poison this year :-o), Miss B and Always Amazing Aaron answered questions throughout the day and helped get new spinners started with their drop spindles and Auntie Reg did a great job basically tripping people coming into the tent and sending them in to buy stuff ;-).  

I am Not Good at "selling myself".  Oh, if you come in the booth and ask me a question, I talk until your eyes glaze over.  Having to go up to you and say "Hey, look at all this cool stuff I (and our sheep) made to try and support my bad sheep habit!"... I don't know why I can't do that.  And it's important.  This is what pays for the hay, straw, grain, shearing, vet bills...  Luckily I have a great team.  I appreciate everyone way more than they can even imagine!

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I figured too many days had passed to do a booth tour, but I've had several requests from friends who couldn't be there, so here goes.  I missed a few things taking pictures.  I had so many bags of roving that we pretty much had to tie the booth together to keep it from exploding, but you'd never know by these pictures.  The funny thing is two of us were taking pictures and we both missed that and a couple other things.  

I loved having the raw wool out front.  It was pretty, attention getting, folks were looking for wool at the "wool festival" (it's primarily a huge craft fair with tons of great food and live music) and didn't smell up the booth.  I personally love the smell of raw wool, but as the temps climbed on Friday, it would have been a bit much for non sheep people perhaps ;-).

The usual card display.  What am I going to do with a 13th card next year?  

Volumes 1 and 2 of the Mug Shot Mugs.  

I actually made some felted sheep!

And wool wreaths, which Miss B did a fabulous job embellishing with all sorts of flowers she gathered their garden and fields again this year :-).

I made quite a few medium size wreaths, too, and even figured out an ornament size wreath...that neither B or I took a single picture of...and there were 24 of them in the booth!  How on earth we missed them and all the roving...

Punkin's Patch swag.  I think this design is really cute, but non blog readers didn't "get" it.  That's okay.  I'd rather they were "ours" alone anyway.  If you don't know who Punkin or Miss Ewenice or B. Willard is...

You know what I just realized?  There are no pictures of the 2017 Equinox Farm and Lamb Camp calendars!  Now I'm wondering if I'm missing files on my camera card.  This just makes no sense...

Edited to add:  And while I was waiting and waiting and waiting for the internet to come back yesterday I realized that there were also 24 Maisie Orneries and 24 Ornerie kits that neither Miss B or I took any pictures of.  That's a lot of stuff in a small area to miss getting in a picture somehow!

Anyway, back to the tour...

I had a super cute vintage Ashford Traveller for sale, but it was too crowded to set it out where someone could really try it.  It belongs to a friend's mother who is down-sizing and she has a regular and jumbo flyer, extra bobbins, a copy of Paula Simmons Spinning and Weaving With Wool and it is tuned up and ready to go back to work in case anyone is interested.  

We  sold 20 spindle kits!  As I ordered another 100 wooden wheels last month to make them, I realized that I've made over 200 spindles over the last 10 years.  That's kind of crazy in a sort of exciting way. If even only 10% of those folks stayed with it (like Miss B did :-) that's 20 new spinners! Definitely not a dying craft.

These are the prettiest wool balls I've ever made.  I almost hated to sell them, but what on earth would I do with 150 wool balls?!?  Inside joke - that's my most common question "What do you do with a wool ball?"  I just consider them neat decorations, but most were buying them for dryer balls. Anyway, they were made from the tiny throw away fleeces from Levi's cousins who got shorn this fall.  Perfect! 

Once again, my favorite part of the booth was the digital picture frame.  One thing I forgot to do was update the photo file, so we re-watched the same 2000 (!) pictures I used last year.  No matter.  I was happy to see the oldies.  If you don't already have a digital frame, go get one.  Just priceless to be able to watch and watch and watch.

Punkin's Patch.  All from one little lamb years ago.  You know, sometimes the whole thing just seems unreal. As the sun set and the night lights came on and the really good bands started playing while the dinner crowd grew and I was finally able to stand still and catch my breath and look around, I couldn't help but wonder a bit.  How did all this happen?

If you'd have asked me 25 (or so ;-) years ago what I'd be doing with my life, raising sheep and being a fiber artist teaching people how to spin yarn would never have crossed my mind.  Never. I don't really know what I would have said, but I can promise you it would not have been that.  What a privilege.  

I appreciate everything way more than anyone can even imagine!

Look Who I Found

Who is that cute lambie?

"Cute lambie?"

"Um, I guess it's me?"

"I'm 601...or Levi!"

I've been working on pictures for the 2017 Lamb Camp calendar and keeping an eye out for a certain black lambie and tadaa, I found him :-D.