Martha’s Vineyard Fiber Farm is one of my coolest finds on Etsy to date. Susan Gibbs is the wonderful Shepard of this amazing farm. She has started the country’s first CSA (Community Shared Agriculture) for yarn. The way the program works; you purchase a share of the shearing. Either a spinner’s share (which you know I am all over!!!) or a share of the yarn. This is the second time she has offered this program. The Fall Shearing is for kid mohair and goats. I am in love with her blog too. She keeps everyone updated on the happenings of the farm and all the new additions! This is a picture from a couple of new kids on the farm.
If you want to see more cute pictures: Check them out on Flickr.
I am planning on being a share holder for many years to come. Much love to Susan for sharing this amazing program with all up Little Bo Peep wanna-be’s! ♥
Last summer, having just started playing with my website, I wanted a picture of a sheep that I could use. So, I called up my sis, told her to come over…we were going on a sheep hunt. She said “Okay!” no questions asked. Gotta love the little sis! To get the kids into the spirit of the hunt, what better way then a sheep drawing on your hand? Once all the sheep were drawn…we needed a cheer…”Goooooooooooooo SHEEP!!!” That worked. So, we piled in the car, with high expectations. We will find a field of sheep. Beautiful, well maintained sheep. And we will take the very best sheep pictures anyone had every seen. Let the Sheep Hunt begin!!! We were off, randomly driving down back roads and highways in rural Arkansas. Come on, there has to be a sheep somewhere…Some of the fields were just to perfect to NOT have a sheep. Around and around we drove. How hard is it to find a darn sheep? Well, let me tell you…it’s not that easy. The kids never lost the spirit of the hunt, thankfully! AND there were some very exciting moments.
We came upon a very steep hill, at the top of the hill, I looked down, and there was a field full of “SHEEP!!! SHEEP!!!” I shrilled! I could barely contain my excitement. Everyone in the car cheered! Then we got a little bit closer and Megan said “Um…sister, those are goats.” Darn it! Don’t laugh, you try to tell the difference between goats and sheep from a long distance.
After the excitement of the goats had passed, we saw a deer. That was pretty cool…coming from Fresno, the boys had not had the chance to see too much wildlife.
The thrill of the Sheep Hunt and lack of seeing any was starting to wear on the three boys in the back. I looked at my sister, she and I both knew, our time was about to run out.
Just about then the phone rang and it was Granny (my mom), she suggested we put sheep in the GPS and see where that took us. Well, even though our darling Lee, the Australian accented GPS navigator, had gotten us out of many a pickle, this was one he was unable to help us with. Was this the end? Would our hunt actually end in nothing at all? I could NOT accept that. We put a drawing of a sheep on our hands for the sake of Pete! We HAD to find a darn sheep.
Up ahead was a gas station. I stopped the car and looked at Megan. “Go in and ask that guy if he knows where any sheep are.” I said as I pointed to the guy behind the counter. Megs looked at me and said “Okay!” and hopped out. Gosh, you gotta love the sis! She runs in and I watch as the guy behind the counter laughs and she laughs and then she runs back to the car.
“You are never going to believe this,” she says “There is a field full of sheep right behind the gas station.”
Sure enough, I pulled the Tahoe a little past the building and there in all it’s glory, was a field FULL of sheep. We had succeeded. We had found sheep.
We also found out why sheep need a good Shepard. These sheep were filthy. Dirty, dirty sheep. Poor little ones. Most of their wool was very matted and not very lovely at all. We snapped a few pictures anyway, I mean, really, we couldn’t go through all that and not have any photos.
The last picture turned out pretty cute, once I cropped close to it’s face.
Needless to say, we had a blast! We did find sheep and the kids were entertained for a couple hours. So, next time you have a few hours to kill, go on a Sheep Hunt. Be sure to draw sheep on your hands though, otherwise, you may never find a sheep.
Here is Drew’s Yarn! I LOVE it! “BIG N TASTY” is the name. The name has a long history, and maybe someday I will share it with you…but today, there is much to talk about! We got our tax refund! YIPPEE! The hubby was rather happy at the “loss” my business took and how it helped us with our refund. He even said I should look into getting a new spinning wheel! That is really cool…I have my eye on an Ashford Joy. But, I will talk more about that too later. With having a little extra disposable income, I figured there was nothing in the world better than getting some extra spinning fiber! I have some yummy purchases to share. Some yummier than others…
One Pound of super soft brown alpaca. It is so amazing, very little hay or anything to pick out. I just can’t wait to spin this up. I am starting on it tomorrow.
Next is three bags of fiber from a seller on Etsy. The one is the middle is washed Border Leicester. I will be dying it and playing with it some. The bag on the left is black n brown border Leicester and it is not washed. You want to feel like you just stepped on a farm, you should open up this bag. I have always purchased my fiber preprocessed into carded roving until now. The bag on the left and the bag on the right will be a new experience for me. I will be sure to tell you how it goes. The bag on the right is also Leicester in gray. I am still waiting for one more pound from this seller to come.
“Bah Bah Black Sheep have you any wool? Yes sir, yes sir three bags full!”
I took one of their bags! Woooooowoooo! This is a LOT of fiber. Four pounds to be exact. And it is actually alpaca, not from a black sheep, but this picture did get the lovely tune stuck in my head.
Just so you get an idea of the amount of this, here Brady is admiring the fiber. The idea of blending fibers is very intriguing to me. Making my own yummy blends. I thought a alpaca/angora would be super soft and gorgeous to feel. So, I had my alpaca (and boy do I have a lot of it) I just needed to get the angora.
The angora below is from another wonderful seller on Etsy: Yarntospin
Be sure to check out her shop. I got the honor of being her very first customer. First of many more to come, I am certain! This is fiber from one of her angora bunnies. Believe me, you just want to roll around in this stuff. So that is about it, for now! Hope this gave you a nice fiber fix for the day. I have a couple more exciting things to share, but I will wait for tomorrow. This post is already long enough, and my spinning wheel is calling my name. Happy crafting! ♥
We woke up on Tuesday morning to actual SNOW! It was super exciting for this California girl. Being from Fresno, the closest thing to snow we ever got was fog. Yeah, I know, it’s not close. Drew and Austin were thrilled to find out school was canceled. At 6:30, I went into Drew’s room and opened up his blinds. He looked out and yelled “SNOW!!!!”
When I got to Austin’s room, he looked out his window and was equally excited. At that time the TV was still saying Conway Public Schools were not closed. Drew was going crazy! He begged me to let him stay home from school anyway. Thankfully, school was canceled. The boys had a fun filled morning of playing in the snow and experiencing all the new things, like making snowmen and snowball fights.
Yes, I have failed to mention Brady… My Brady, my dear, dear Brady. When I woke him up, and opened up his blinds, his eyes lite up and he said “Snow!” Then not two beats later, “Will you make me breakfast?”
He was not such a big snow fan. He said it was cold. He did warm up to it a bit more after the actual snow stopped falling, but he was never as excited as his brothers.
Drew’s yarn is looking really great! I will have some pictures up soon of it. ♥
