Halloween- Boo

Out in the county, we don't get many "trick-or-treat" ers.  Sometimes, like today, I am in town when the  Lexington area children parade down the streets picking up treats from all the stores.  Fun to see but unfortunately not many exciting costumes.

Every change of season is like Halloween to the sheep; scary.  Now that it has gotten cold in the mornings, I might where a sweatshirt with the hood up or an orange hat when I go out to the barn in the morning.  When winter arrives, maybe even gloves and a scarf, whoa that is scary.  Come spring it might be sunglasses, and summer a big hat.

Sheep seem to take things in mostly through sight.  The geese have a keen visual awareness but don't seem to mind change.  Some people would say sheep are dumb because the changes in clothing frighten them, but think about it, they don't change their clothing accept in April and that really frightens them.  It is like Halloween all over again.

Maybe it is good thing we don't get many witches and goblins.

What Does It Mean?

Ukraine 61 United States 58--  Not football or basketball, it is the viewing numbers on this blog over the last week.  I love it.  What search word brought them to the 6 sheep and a Llama blog in Rockbridge County, VA?

 It is fun fantasizing that one soul in Ukraine somehow found the peacefulness of our farm and shared it with a friend who shared it with a friend who………..  I sincerely hope, that is what happened.    I hope that no one will tell me how else the numbers can get so high.  It is the first time that any country had higher numbers than the U.S.

I get viewers from countries I have never heard of and then I go look them up.  I follow a few blogs and have read a fiber one from Canada, but no blogs from any other country.  I must find one.  I bet there are more Ukrainians that speak and read english than there are Americans that read Ukrainian.

Other Countries on the list this week are France, United Kingdom, Russia, Argentina, and Canada.  I have a fairly regular reader in Denmark and one in Latvia as well.  I know who follows from Denmark but not from Latvia.

O.K. off to search for a blog somewhere away.

Remember, if you know how my numbers get so high; if you know "What it Means"
DON'T TELL ME!

PROTOTYPES

I wonder what the average number of prototypes is before a product is produced.  With the shoe thing I am trying to come up with I think I am up to 3 or 4.

Today, I have been working on some puppet prototypes.  The first 2 didn't work out that great but almost everything that doesn't turn out as planned, becomes something else.  It is always interesting to see what they become.  I saw a show once where they talked about things that had been produced, that didn't sell that great for the intended use, but were later manufactured in a different area for an alternative  purpose.  Some of them really took off in their new life.  Wish I could remember an example.

The puppets may get a another chance to become puppets before I go to plan B.  Puppets are just so cool.  To turn them into something else would be like telling an artist he/she must become an accountant.

I do like the yarn I have been spinning out of 3 bins of colored bits of fleece that have been mounting up for a long time.  I am using the yarn to make some small purses.  I am really in color mode this fall.

 Maybe I will go to natural colors when winter comes.

Anyway, I am having fun making prototypes of Pockets, Pouches, Purses, and Puppets.

Fine Fall Days

A little frost, a little wind, day time temperatures in the 50s and 60s, dry sunny days, Lovely.

  Sometimes I wonder what Gretta is thinking.  She always seems deep in thought.
I got tired of waiting for warmer weather and decided to just use hot water in the cobb mix.  I think it came out good.
I was going to wash some wool in my BIG pot outside but it was too windy so I dyed it in the house and washed it after in a basin.  Sometimes you just have to do the best you can.


Yesterday, I weed wacked in the wind.  If I just do what I want to, regardless of the weather of the day, I can actually get a few things done.  And then when things are done, I can enjoy the Fine Fall Days.

A Post Card from Home

Greetings from Cabin Spring Farm, wish you were here.  From the lack of blogging lately, everyone probably thinks I have been away.  I haven't.  I have been Very busy, which is why, I wish you were here.

 Finished the dyeing project and presentation.  It came out good.  Now, I want to dye more from the dye baths that I saved in jars in the fiber studio.

 I made the geese's pond bigger and hauled away the fill.  I have not gotten back to the cob building to raise the water level because the weather hasn't been inviting for squishing.  I think I need to get Karen over here. 

I have had five people visit to check out the farm, fiber production and studio in the past week.  I alway enjoy visitors who are farm and fiber enthusiasts.  We have also had people in the cabin the past 2 weekends and expect to have this weekend.  One of our visitors was a teenage boy who helped me move the sheep.  It is always refreshing to have young people enthusiastic about farm animals.

I have had more time to get back in the fiber studio and these are the views out my windows.  I wish everyone had views like this from their place of work.

I think most of these photos would make excellent post cards.

A Schedule May be Hazardous to My Health

I have tried to make a schedule believe me I have, MANY times.  I tried schedules that changed with the seasons, I tried 1/2 day schedules, I can't do it.

I keep thinking if I had a regular schedule I would get more done.  But, if I can't paint a mud hall in a clockwise direction, why should I think I can keep a schedule.

Animals seem to like schedules or at least routines, it seems  to me.  I do keep a regular supplements schedule for the sheep.  Today, was the full moon (wow was it beautiful) so I gave the sheep their garlic barrier.  Sometimes, I give them a second dose the next day.  A few days later, I give them a probiotic.  Then at the new moon, more garlic barrier and maybe some dried herbs.  Apple Cider Vinegar in-between.  This paragraph started out seeming like I had at least a supplement schedule for the sheep but by the end of the paragraph, the truth came out, there are many variables in the schedule.

An artist friend told me that if I went out to my fiber studio for 3 hours every morning I would get into a working schedule and get more done.  It is not just distractions that keep me from accomplishing this, it is an abundance of other exciting opportunities.  I truly wake up (almost) every morning feeling like I am on vacation and I can do anything I want.  What a great feeling.

Talking to my friend Jan last night helped me sort some things out.  She said maybe I just shouldn't try to have a regular schedule.  Then she asked me if I prioritized.  I found myself hesitating, then realized everyone prioritizes, or they would be motionless.  But, the fact that I hesitated, made me look more closely at the way I prioritize.  One of my main rules is- "if the task involves something/someone living, do it first and animal over plant.  The rest can be completed later.  By the end of the conversation, we decided that I was somewhat deadline oriented.

This morning I felt a bit overwhelmed so I made a few lists, I think 5.  By the end of the day, I crossed off 4 things on one and 5 on another.  The other lists were for things not as pressing.

A meeting with Joe, was one of the top things on one list.  I was to meet him at the coffee shop where he plays music on Wednesday mornings.  On the way to meet him, I went by the Farmers Market so I walked through.  Some flowers I have been looking for, for dyeing some wool, jumped out at me.  Also a zucchini to make some zucchini bread I have been craving.  It was the last one she had left, just the right size, waiting for me.  And, on my way out of the market, I felt a tap on my shoulder and turned to find a friend I have been trying to connect with about some specialized plants for dyeing.  We made a plan for me to go over to her house, later in the day, to collect the plants she had, even though it was not on my schedule.

As I walked into the back room of the coffee house and heard the music, all my cares vanished and I felt grounded.  I said a prayer of thanksgiving for all musicians who spend countless hours playing music to calm the souls of mankind and animals the world over.

Synchronicity and Music is what is good for my health.