Homer's a Da!

We are starting to think that the entire flock of sheep has a conspiracy going to not lamb until after we have left the state.

However, Coriander couldn't wait any longer. About 1:00 this afternoon she had twins. Obviously, Homer is the dad. His daughter is Cappucino and the little boy is Catsup. They all seem to be doing well. Cori had the energy to tell Aniken to take a hike in the top picture.

Listening and felting

"Can you make it in green?"

That has been our code phrase for a person at a craft show who really doesn't want to purchase an item, but they want to look and shop and maybe dream up something that is a little different.

It's not a problem, we are happy to be creative and innovative. However, at shows we are generally rushed and our attention is divided among several people. In that venue, we have to focus on the person who is looking to buy something NOW, and hope we can work with the dreamer later.

The internet has facilitated that thinking and interacting process. Now, customers from around the world can ask, "Can you make it in green?" And we can answer yes (or no) as soon as we get the e-mail.

One of our recent customer led innovations is a scroll type needle felted case for knitting needles. This customer wanted several special features - she wanted a set of 5 knitting needles, all done in different woods, with carved ends instead of beaded - and - is is possible to do cases for the knitting needles like the ones I do for the crochet hooks?

Yep, it's possible.

I was in the mood to leave this case natural and plain. I thought the natural wool colors set off the wood knitting needles nicely. I felted braided alpaca ties for the case, a wee bit of luxury. They feel really nice when tying the case shut.
- And, they are green!

Hay there!

We hauled hay yesterday. Sweet gorgeous rye grass with a little clover, put up in heavy, dry, tight bales. Lena drove, Shawn bucked bales and I stacked.
It was sunny and cool, the view was stunning and we had Broadway show tunes on the radio.
Bliss!

Bees behind

As part of getting ready to go to Colorado, we got new hive bodies for the beesies. We figured they'd need new condo's before we got back, so we thought we'd just add them now. We queried beekeepers and they said it should be fine once the exsisting hive was 80% full, before that it would be too hard on the bees, giving them too much territory to guard.
So Shawn loaded the wax sheets into the new frames, suited up, got the smoker going and we carried the new sections of hive out to the bee yard.
Maybe we should have checked the bees before going to all that work. The hives were only about half full. I guess the late freeze has the bees set back, too.
So we carried everything back to the truck - and told the beesies we'd be back in August! Maybe then we'll have honey comb...

Ewe's special!

Meet Cardigan - at six hours old she is sure she is the boss! First time mommy Button is doing a great job.
Her aunty Cowslip has been fascinated with Cardigan since she was born. Cowslip looks like she decided not to have lambs this year, so maybe she'll baby sit for all the new moms.
Penny and Basil also look like they aren't carrying lambs. With the move, I expected many more of them to be open. But it looks like we'll be starting our first year at Foxbriar with a good sized lamb crop. Wish Lena luck - she's gonna be full-time shepherding for the next few weeks.

Bright Blooming Berries!

We are so blessed in where (all the wheres!) and how we live - and I never cease to wonder at it. Ok, I want to write a bunch of silly words about divinity and nature and bliss - but who wants to read that stuff any way :-) So here's the good stuff - pictures!

These are the black berries. They won't be ready before we leave for Colorado next week. So we'll have to have Lena post pics when they are so that we can all drool over them!

The flowers are gorgeous, the edibles, like the chives in the picture at the bottom are bountiful and everything is so beautiful here in Fox.

We are still awaiting lambs and are going to add a hive body to each of the beehives tomorrow so the beesies will have room to build while we are gone.

We have hay to haul, a ram pen to build and so much more to do before heading west on Wednesday. The hay is a big worry. Everybody up here on the mountain cut yesterday. Will it be dry and baled by Monday or Tuesday, so we have enough time to get it hauled in? How long does it take hay to cure here? What are our options if it isn't ready?


Got an e-mail from Susan, she and Bruce are doing ok and her sense of humor has returned.

I don't know how much time I'll have to share - but I'll update when I can. Wish us luck on the road and send Lena bright thoughts and energy for dealing with the animals and the farm!

Homeland Security

Homeland Security on Foxbriar Farm

Muppet the guardian llama roams the entire farm and personal questions every visitor - human or animal!

Aniken, (the white german shepherd running with the sheep) keeps an eye on the sheep while they are out at pasture. When the sheep are locked up, he follows the chickens and keeps them safe.

We only have to listen to the news each day to see the world becoming a little more unbalanced. The government's stance has been to whittle away at personal freedoms trying to get control of the people.
But what can we, as individuals do, to heighten our illusion of security in this life?
Ok, I'm crossing belief systems here - but lets just go with the idea that people are happier and more productive when they feel secure. I want to think I am secure in my home (whether it is a camper, a truck, a castle or a pole barn), that my animals are safe, that my food is nourishing, that my family is comfortable and happy.
So what does the average person need to do to be safe and secure?

1. Learn constantly - learn how to grow your own food, take care of your own body, make your own power....

2. Take responsibility for yourself - It's your body, you know best what it needs - so do it! Eat right, exercise, stretch muscles, rest...

3. Grow your own healthy food - or if you can't grow your own, get to know your local producers. This means you can't eat bananas (do you know what the human and energy cost of a banana is?) , so what local foods give you the same nutrients that you enjoy from bananas? Find out...

4. Build your own shelter, make your own clothes, grown your own fuel... What does it take to be self sufficient? Research it and then try it, even on a tiny scale. Knit yourself a hat, crochet some slippers - you'll be amazed at how empowering it can be.

Boy, I sure got preachy just from watching Aniken and Muppet providing our own brand of Homeland Security here at Foxbriar Farm... sorry.... though those who know me, know these have been my soap boxes from most of my life. Sorry for the rant. I'll turn the soapbox over an go back to making soap

Mother hen lessons for Mother's Day

Last night the chickies decided they were grown up enough to go roost in the trees and not come back home. With trepidation, we let them. (Besides one of them was roosting about 12 feet up in a tree we couldn't climb!)

We do have foxes here. There is a gorgeous little gray one that I enjoy seeing regularly. But I don't want to feed my chickens to them.

This morning, bright and early, all the chickies were hard at work eating ticks and turning the bedding in the lambing pen. I guess for this Mother's Day I get to cut the apron strings and let my little chickies do their job.

I've always found chickens useful - but here at Foxbriar - I think they are vital. And I'm really getting to like the little guys.

So thanks, Mom, Summer and Julia! Some day we'll have a chicken castle and a whole renaissance chicken village. But for right now - I'm just going to enjoy watching the little tick eaters at work and quit being such a mother hen!

Sheep talk and ticks

"Family is very important to sheep."

Some people laugh at me when I say that, others accuse me of being anthropomorphic, most just nod their heads.

But it is true! And I'm not the only one who has noticed. I think most any shepherd will tell you the same thing. This phenomenon is noted enough that researchers have studied "visual recognition in sheep." They could have just asked a shepherd or gone and spent a year living with a flock of sheep.

I spend lots of time with my sheep and I watch how they behave and interact. the picture at the left is Marjoram, comforting her yearling daughter who just went through her first shearing. Button seemed very confused by being naked, she acted like she was just going to huddle under the tree and die of embarrassment - but with her mother's gentle coaxing, she was up grazing with the flock in about an hour. (Sometimes I even think I'm being anthropomorphic!)

I first noticed the strong family bonds when we began separating the first time ewes from the older ewes for lambing. This way we could keep a closer eye on the first timers and give them feed that they didn't have to fight for. After everybody had their lambs and all the sheep were doing well, we put the two flocks back together.
I watched Licorice greet her yearling daughter Ogre and the two of them sniffed and burbled over each other's new lambs. Marj's twin yearling daughters ran right to her and she let her new twins sniff their older sisters and as all 4 new lambs toddled around.

In the move to Foxbriar, several families of sheep moved together. Because we could not take the whole flock, several of the ewes moved to Arkansas without their mother's or daughter's. The sheep that moved here with their family seemed to settle in better, quiet down quicker and loose less weight.

But, as much as I have been worrying about the sheep's health, shearing them was enlightening. They are very healthy, the fleeces are strong, their parasite loads are way low, and they are fat (oops). They are due to start lambing this Tuesday - so I would rather have them on the little too heavy side than too thin.

The most interesting thing though, is, the sheep don't have ticks!

The ticks are terrible this year. The locals say they haven't ever seen them this bad. Some of the people who've moved here are wondering if they will let a little bug chase them off the mountain. We routinely pick between 6 and 20 off of each human every night, and that's not counting the ones we burn during the day. The goats are covered with them, I pulled more than a dozen out of one of Erie's armpits and 3 off of Beth's eyelids (YUCK). The dogs and the horses get their biweekly dose of One Spot and seem to do ok.

But the sheep - the sheep who have been on the farm for 6 weeks now, without any one checking them over for ticks - have about 20 dead ticks (and one live one on Coriander's ear) throughout the whole flock! I find more than that on one goat's udder at each milking!

Is it the wool? I'll check them over the next few days now that they are naked and see if they start picking up the little buggers. Until then, since even I can't imagine wearing wool in the summer in Arkansas, I am going to scatter the "trash wool", dung tags, ruffs, belly wool and some leg wool on the ground all around our camper, Midas.

Is it the lanolin? Maybe. The ticks that I did find on the sheep were dried, shriveled, mummified and covered in lanolin. If that's it, maybe I could make a lanolin tick repellent?

Is it the sheep smell? Sheep do have a distinct odor and they tend to sweat a lot, especially when they are nervous. Maybe ticks just don't find that appetizing?

Is it because we cleared the briar out of their pen and they don't wander the woods like the goats? Maybe, but I can get 6 ticks up my pants leg just walking from the camper to the barn and that is bare dirt anymore.

I'll let you know what I find with the ticks and sheep. Perhaps we can figure out a way to keep the bugs from winning!

Portals to friendship

I used to scoff at the idea of internet as community. I told our teens that virtual friends were not the same as real people. That was 4 or 5 years ago. Now, much of our human interaction happens over the web. I tend to use it as a communication tool with people I know, but even I have begun to meet people and make friends over the world wide web - and in a place that is not generally seen as a community.

As most of you know, the majority of our income comes from our eBay store. And while we have other venues and income streams, in many ways, eBay is my favorite. The interface is easy and intuitive. It tracks inventory well and organizes sales and shipping. It gives me a job to go to - and it integrates with our financial software.

Not to say that it is easy, mind you, I spend 6-8 hours a day on the computer keeping up with the listings and shipping. My camera gets the majority of its use taking product photos for our eBay store. (The farm gives us a beautiful venue to take those pics :-)

And the days I am at shows, I have to make up those hours spent away from the computer in longer days catching up with items the next week. (Especially this last week with the postal rate changes. I have not seen the farm in the daylight!)

We do lots of shows. This year we will be on the road 28 weeks. Most of our shows are marketing, connection and feedback events. We learn things from what interests the customers at the shows and people get a chance to meet us. Then we go back to the farm and make new products, and the people we visited with go to the web site and order the items that have stayed in their memories. In an interesting turn of the circle, this year, people who met us on the web are starting to come to our shows.

We also have an online storefront with our web site, a Half.com store and have had an Etsy store. Most of these are minor in terms of their business value. But lately, with changes eBay is going through, I thought it was time to consider other online venues. I am researching Amazon.com and other types of stores and have discovered that none of them offer the thing I love most about eBay - the chance to interact with customers and get to know people!

Just today, I visited with a triloom customer in Austria about her new loom, helped a lady in Philadelphia with her Spirit Bell, came up with a new weaving kit for a customer in Florida, designed a knitting needle holder for a repeat customer, directed a new weaver to the right weaving book and shipped 17 orders. The interaction with customers is what I love about eBay!

Now it is hard to quantify that in a business plan. And I could maybe spend less time at my computer if I didn't take the time to visit with customers. I could use software that automates most of the e-mail and feedback process on ebay, but I enjoy the creative energy that we share with people who take the time to inquire about us and the things we make. I think it makes our business better and I know it makes my day so much more fun!

So keep those messages and questions coming and know you are brightening my day! And for those of you who don't do eBay because it is impersonal - take the time to question sellers of items you are interested in - you may find a new friend who shares your passions!

Wet drops

The sheep don't get out too often, they tend to drift out to the neighbors pasture looking for grass. They are very much grazers. When I am out working at the farm I let them loose for an hour or two. The pic above is the sheeps in the meadow.
The goats on the other hand, rarely get locked up. They are happy to browse right around the barn and help clean out the underbrush that is close to home. They seem to fit better on Foxbriar as it is now.

I've been waiting for a bright sunny morning to take a picture of the bee houses. (And then I was going to photoshop a ribbon on them for Summer!) but it hasn't happened yet. So here is a quick preview pic of the bee hives in their little clearing. They are in the spot where we will eventually like to put our house. The hive door face east and they have a nice wind break from the ridge behind them.
The bees are loving the black berry blossoms. They are out thick right now. blackberries survived the frost and are only a few weeks late. The grape came back, too and is growing new leaves.


They say the Eskimos have 50 some odd words to describe snow - I think our vocabulary should have more words for rain.
Rain covers the basics - drops of water falling from the sky.
But then we have to add all kinds of adjectives - soft, gentle, driving, hard, heavy, cold, warm, blustery... and the list goes on. It would be nice to be able to let people know if it was a good rain or a bad rain with just one word.


Right now it is raining a good rain - soft, gentle warm rain, just the thing for the new baby plants in the garden, perfect for healing the last of the frost damage on the trees and delightful to curl up in a chair with a cuppa tea and read to... so I'm not going to kick myself too hard for not being out digging sheep pasture postholes at the moment. Besides, with the new Postal rate change coming on Monday, I have enough computer work to do to keep me in my chair until then. The rain is nice to walk in, though...

Shawn's current fascination is mushrooms. Oddly enough it is one that I don't really understand or share. Morels are delicious when you find them, and pretty distinctive - but I have no intention of experimenting with eating fungi! We do have lots of them though and are finding new varieties every day. These are probably Inky Caps... maybe.

A different kind of Festival

The weather couldn't have been better for our two days at the Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival. We had the perfect spot, both wind and traffic-wise.
Several people from Spindler's, Spinning and Sheep Thrills lists came out looking for us and we had wonderful, quick visits. I kept getting distracted by other visitors to the booth, so I don't think I finished any conversation! Thanks everyone for coming out and sharing hand spun skeins, blue bird houses and llama cria stories.

This festival was different from the others we attend, teach or vend at. Almost every time we explained what we were doing at Foxbriar - turning forest into farm while trying to work with Mother Nature; building a home, barn and fencing with our own 6 hands and available materials; fighting ticks - the response from people at Baker Creek was - make sure your grass is down before you pull stumps to keep erosion from making a mess of the creek; How long have your logs aged?; get rid of all the underbrush and leaf mould and lime the heck out of the place before the spring rains to help keep the ticks down... in other words - "Been there, done that, best of luck."

The advice, company and connections are impossible to put a value on. And the food was divine. If you ever have a chance to have green beans with cashews and red peppers cooked in a cast iron skillet over an open fire and served on a bed of wild rice - eat up! Dinner was one of the best meals ever.

The festival was very busy and quite crowded on Sunday. There were two stages playing live music, non-stop. We demonstrated spinning and triloom weaving and gave lots lessons to many people. One young woman, Heather, from the Nebraska Sandhills was a very determined learner. She and her husband are raising heritage fruit trees and seven children.

Now, at the beginning of the festival I had told Shawn, "No plants!" We don't have the room in the little garden that we have fenced off from the goats, we don't have time to plant any more and we are leaving for Colorado in two weeks. He reluctantly agreed, though it was hard on both of us. There many, many plant vendors there and they had wonderful rare herbs that I would love to have and fruits and vegis galore....

Shawn was off looking at books from the Back 40 Books booth when Heather came over to ask me if I would like to trade trees for a drop spindle and wool. So, in spite of my edict, we came home with a little Cox's Orange Pippin apple and an American Summer Pearmain apple. They are sitting in the wheel barrow, getting used to our climate and will likely have a temporary home in the little garden this year, moving to the orchard next year. My favorite apple that I have ever grown, and the Holy Grail of my orchard is the Arkansas Black. I grew one when we lived in Canon City and harvested two apples off of it before we moved. They were the best apples I've ever eaten.

So much, so fast, so many

Quick update, as I still have to finish packing and we want a bit of a nap before we leave for the Baker Creek Spring Planting Festival at 2:00 a.m.

As promised, here is Kermit, not quite a day old, looking stunningly handsome. His favorite place is at the breakfast bar and his mum dotes on him.

The beesies are doing great, busily gathering pollen from the blackberries, which are heavy with blooms in spite of the frost that left most of the leaves half brown. The forest is a funny mix of Spring/Fall.

I got the tomatos and Basil from Sage planted, along with the carrots. Most of the garden looks good. The strawberries and the lilacs are amazing! The Vitex bushes that I planted for the bees are taking off and growing fast.

We met another local resident. A gorgeous black snake was mousing next to the sheep pen. She had either recently eaten or was ready to lay eggs. I tried to make her feel welcome and invited her to stay. She was beautiful, and any critter who lives on mice is more than welcome to take up residence on Foxbriar.

Lena got a new puppy. Gaz is a joy, we'll have pics soon. She is a German Shepherd/Black Lab cross, 8-weeks-old, big and so smart. My dogs are having fits - they are so jealous. Don't read them any Garfield cartoons, they'll box Gaz up and send her to Abu Dabi.

There is so much more to tell, but I have to go find the sides to the merchant tent...
We'll let you know how Baker Creek was when we get back on Tuesday.

One quick note - for those of you who know Bruce and Susan, give them a call, and send healing energy, they need our thoughts and prayers now. Bright Blessings, Jen

Kermit - It's not easy be'in born

New born baby llamas are about the strangest looking creatures on the planet. Luckily they get cute really quick. Tomorrow I'll take some pics to show how gorgeous this new guy is!

It's not fair to the little guy to post his new born baby pictures, He was about 10-15 minutes old in this one. At this point he is soft and fluffy and he walks very well and looks quite elegant - but -

Meet Kermit!

He was born this afternoon about 1:30. He is the first cria born on Foxbriar Farm.
Of course, his mommy, Rosemary is taking excellent care of him. His older brother, Muppet, is jealous and his older sister, Pequena, is curious.
The sheep all had to come up and greet the new little guy. Like his brother, he is black and white, too much Jacob sheep influence?
Lots of other new stuff, but it's midnight and I think I hear my coach turning into a pumkin!

Shearing and musing

We've started shearing!
This is Snowy, showing off her pouf. I like to shear on the stand. I feel it is easier on me and easier on the sheep than the more traditional "sit them on their butt and bend over them" method. Of course, it is no where near as fast. I am lucky to do 6 sheep in a day, even with the electric clippers, and this year I am using scissors. My dad built me a wonderful shearing table. It is currently a wonderful packing table and as soon as I have a building to shear in, I'll take it out to the farm to use the shear the sheep.

We are shearing late this year. Normally we shear in March and lamb in April. With the move though, I thought the sheep would be less stressed moving in fleece. And I didn't want to move heavily pregnant sheep. So we bred very late and planned on shearing in April and lambing in May.


I was very glad I had not sheared when we had a deep freeze here in Arkansas the second week in April. The sheep all stayed comfortable in their wooly coats.
The fleeces I have sheared so far are very nice. Silky, with a nice sheen and strong fibers, no stress breaks. I was worried, with the move. I'm going to shear everyone, and then skirt and bag fleeces. People who have sheep shares should get their fleece by the end of May. We have really cut back the flock, so I don't know if we'll have any fleeces for sale, but if we do, they be in our Common Threads ebay store by the end of May.

While I was shearing this afternoon, Shawn was nearby working on building a chicken tractor, so we can move the chicks out to the farm. We really need to get them out there and working on the tick population!
We were conversing off and on - planning and musing. I started shearing over Cakes' hip as Shawn pounded nails into the slab wood brace he had just cut with the hand saw.
"Do links still help with Search Engine Optimization?" I asked. He replied that my blog was indexed by Google and that wasn't a problem. We went on to discuss Keywords and other ways to improve the rankings of the store and website.
I realized this had to be about the funniest combination of conversation and work currently happening on the planet - and it is nothing unusual at all around here!

Viewing from different points

Many, many years ago, I responded somewhat flippantly to a woman who asked me how to keep her goats from jumping on her car.
"Don't park the car in the goat pen," was my dismissive reply.

I'm paying for it now! The picture is of Constance dancing on the windshield of Midas.
The goats are an important part of our land clearing effort at Foxbriar. Cat briar (part of the origin of the name), bull briar and wild rose make most of the mountain an impassable mess. We've had sheep get so tangled their feet were off the ground and we had to use a saw on the vines to get them loose. The black berries thickets promise delicious delights - but about 4 acres are so thick with them that only moles can get through. The goats eat all these thorny invaders and are thriving on them.

But that means the goats are running loose on the farm. Anything we don't want them climbing on, eating or strewing about as they curiously try to figure out what it is, has to be fenced off. Well fenced off! But I figure it is good training, they are teaching us how to keep gardens and orchards safe from the deer, rabbits and coons.
Now, about that question - How do you keep goats from jumping on your car? Well, if you look at it from a different view point - build a car corral that is goat tight. Hmm, if that exists - see picture above!

Today the internet and e-mail groups are great places to go to find information and ask for advice. Many people are willing to share what they know and most do it in a manner that shows they are just offering to help from their point of view. IMHO (in my humble opinion) is used and implied in many posts. Other people are adamant that you should do it their way or you are wrong.

We just moved from a place where there were lots of veterinarians. Most of them didn't like working with sheep and goats, but I had a few that were wonderful with all my animals. I had moved there from a place where you could not get a vet to come to the farm, period, and it was almost 200 miles to take your animals to a vet. We've been calling the vets in and around Mountain View since before we decided to move here, and we've found a few that will work with us - but it was apparent before we made the move that we would have to go back to being responsible for the majority of our animal's health care.

So we've asked for advice on the groups and internet boards. I've never raised sheep in this climate. Parasites and imbalances are very different. Southeastern Colorado is an area where Selenium is present in toxic levels, animals become very ill from the amounts that are present in the hay and in the ground. Here in the Ozarks, you have to supplement selenium in the animals feed. This difference I know about and understand. But what else is there out there that I need to learn?

So, I ask questions and research. The people that we have met up here on the mountain are friendly and have been more than willing to answer my somewhat silly sounding questions. And many wonderful people have had great advice in internet groups. But there are a few who insist their way is the only way - so you smile, nod, say thank you and realize the point from which they are viewing is not the same as yours.

This was obvious last week, when talking with Mona, who moved up here a few years ago from Florida. "It's so arid here and the soil has so much clay," she said while walking through her verdant pasture.
Shawn and I looked at each other. We had just been talking about how delightfully lush and wet it is here, and the soil was so nice and sandy that it drains well, unlike the slick clay of Colorado!
Viewing the world from different points.

Right hook

As a lifelong crochet artist, I know what type of hooks I like. I often spend many hours a day crocheting and I want a hook that feels good in my hands and makes my work easier. When Shawn started carving crochet hooks, we worked together to create hooks that are easy to use, match guage and feel good. Yep, I'm spoiled!

He is a talented artist, so his hooks are beautiful to look at - but more importantly to me, they work well.

Lately, between the store and classes, we have been working with many people who want to crochet, but are having trouble with their hands, wrists or elbows. Shawn created his square hooks to help people who are experiencing pain when they crochet. The square shape sits easily in their hands allowing their fingers to relax around the hook. It seems to help many people continue crocheting.

As word gets around about Shawn's Laffing Horse crochet hooks, people are asking him to carve bigger hooks (up to P like the one in the pictures now), longer hooks (22 inch!) and hooks to solve problems. He is now working on an afghan hook in the larger sizes that will help eliminate thumb joint pain. We are trying making one side flat, so that no matter how you hold your hook, you thumb has a resting spot. I'll let you know how it works.

This search for the right hook or the most comfortable to crochet has led me to consider how people hold their hooks and other factors that go into the process of crocheting. My grandmother taught me to crochet. I've been crocheting close to 40 years now and my hands and wrists don't bother me from crocheting. (They do give me some trouble with heavy lifting, a legacy from my days as a mail carrier!) Part of that is because I crochet loosely, with a light tension. That helps keep my hands and arms relaxed. But I also think the open-handed, under-palm way I hold my hook helps make crocheting easier.

I was trying to explain that to someone who has been having trouble with finger pain when crocheting. It can be quite a challenge to help someone with a craft over the phone. So I thought I'd try posting pictures. Boy, this is an awful long caption for some photographs!

The bees ate my pottery wheel

"The bees ate my pottery wheel" - that was the subject line of the e-mail that I read first yesterday morning. And it continued to be the subject of my thoughts as I dug up another raised bed in the garden this morning.

I could have been digging fence post holes for sheep fence, (CJ, left, born Easter morning is one of the 23 reasons for sheep fence) or gathering rock for the foundation on the garden cottage, or burning brush to get rid of the ticks, or clearing scrub from the area we want to make into pasture, or any one of an almost endless list of things that all seem to need to be done, Now!
But I had decided to dig the bed for the carrots - so, the carrots ate my garden cottage!

To back track a little -
Because I am writing this blog, it is about me and my perceptions. But I am not doing this homestead thing alone. Not only are Shawn and Lena here throwing balls in this juggling act we call Foxbriar Farm, there are many, many people working on this project.

Our dear friends, Robin and Summer, actually own the land that is Foxbriar and have collected much of the human community that is attached to it. They are also funding much of the infrastructure.

Summer wrote the quote above. Yesterday was her birthday. We have been e-mailing back and forth, worrying about Colony Collapse Disorder and wondering what we could do and how it will affect our farming aspirations. Shawn had contacted a "bee guy" in northwestern Arkansas about getting bees. Researchers cite cell phones, GMO crops and a fungus as possible causes of the bee die-off. We don't have anybody raising crops up here on Fox mountain, cell phones don't work up here... and fungus, well it grows great, in all forms, but hopefully local bees who are not being trucked about the country would be immune. And the forests here at Foxbriar are starting to bloom with bee food - like the honey suckle belo

We thought we could get bees and they should be safe here. But bees are expensive - and you need hives and supers and a smoker and other bee gear.

So, Summer (and Robin!) offered the funds to cover Beeing at Foxbriar. We are going to pick up the little buzzers on Sunday and we are researching everything we can find on bees right now, during breaks from carving, weaving, crocheting, felting and packing orders.
But Summer's e-mail pointed out the trade-offs that we are all making, and that everyone makes in their daily lives. She could have had her long-desired pottery wheel for her birthday. She's wanted it for .... well... I really hate figuring out that the years are moving faster... let's just say a very long time.

Instead, we are all going together and getting bees. I hope they thrive and grow and give all of us many years of pollination and honey and bees wax. Thanks Summer!

There are many others helping with this adventure. My parents have provided support way beyond filling up the truck with diesel (and that costs a mint!); getting us baby chickies; and spending a week of their busy schedule out here slashing through catbriar and wild rose bushes and Icky, Icky Ticks to help us get horse fence up. Shawn's folks have helped out whenever we asked, and even when we didn't!

Our wonderful customers have helped by being patient when orders are a bit delayed because we are trying to get a barn up - and by their continued loyalty in purchasing from us while things are a wee bit chaotic. This enterprise seems to bring out the most wonderful people. We have had customers e-mail and offer housing for the sheep. Others opened their homes to us as we were moving. Many people who started out as customers and business associates have become dear friends.

And as we get rolling other people are chipping in, with offers of pasture, money for motar for the garden cottage and many other things. I am terrible at remembering to say "Thank You,"
but I do appreciate everyone and their help. If I start listing off people, I will inevitably leave out the most important ones and feel guilty forever more (I'm still sorry Lisa!), so, here and now I'll just say thank you. And get back to work...

Back to juggling resources - Summer's bees ate her pottery wheel, Sheep fence may just eat the chicken house....
Only 24 hours in a day - right now I have 23 orders to ship - then - do I plant in the garden, cut cordwood for the cottage, build fence for the sheep, do book work for the business, make stock for the store, do marketing for the shop.....

And then there's a gift or investment of money from a friend for the farm. Do we buy fence for the sheep, motar for the cottage, perhaps some windows, grown-up chickens to eat ticks, grass seed to plant some pasture or herbs for the bee garden or....

Your comments, suggestions, energy, wishes, prayers and thoughts are always welcome. Send an e-mail - or come dig fence post holes!

Fantasy meets reality

I am often asked the question, "Don't you wish you lived back then?" or "Don't you feel like you were born 200 years too late?"
My answer for these is easy - "No."
I love our life both homesteading and re-enacting at Renaissance Festivals and Folk Fairs. And we could not do any of it without automobiles and the internet!
We would not be homesteading in Fox right now if we had to get to a town via horse or foot - it takes 40 minutes by car. We could not have even gotten here without our major-mondo Dodge diesel pickup truck to haul everything.
And we really could not do both the festivals and the farming in any time other than the present. Our vehicles allow us to be in Louisiana one day and Oklahoma the next. Cell phones allow us to manage the farm, office and shop while traveling. Wifi lets us keep in touch with customers and track orders.
And, we could not make our living without the miracle of the World Wide Web. (Also we would be terribly bored without our music, news and research ability that the internet provides - and how would we identify those plants!) More than half our income comes in between our web store and our ebay store. While in days of yore we might not have needed this income, in days of now, we do. In some ways it is a vicious circle and we are working on ways to simplify things - but accepting some modern miracles will help us get to the point where we don't need as many modern miracles.
We got electricity at the farm today. It was sweet to be able to run the 14-inch electric chain saw. That saw weighs half what the gas one does. We now have a refrigerator for the first time in two months - and I'm almost not sure what to do with it! And lights that come on at the flick of a switch, instead of at the flick of a Bic... well, at the price of lamp oil, the electrics are cheaper.
Being on the grid with city water and city electricity will help us move toward our plan of being off the grid much sooner.
Life is much more fun when fantasy and reality are able to walk hand-in-hand.

Listening to the weather

This morning I knew it was going to be a bright sunny day, even before I opened my eyes. It was early when I woke up, the sun wasn't up yet, though the light was beginning to show. I think the birds woke me up. Lots of birds, many different types of sounds, calls, chirps, cries and whistles. It was a wild morning symphony!

The last several mornings it has been cold and raining. The only sounds to greet my awakening were the horses stamping in the barn (it makes kind of a low drumming noise up here on the mountain) and the song of the cardinal. He sings every morning, silly bird, in the dogwood tree right outside of Midas' door.

And every morning, Shawn rolls over to me and says, "Would you please hit the snooze button on that bird."

But this morning, even before the light, the morning was happy, active and full of song.

I noticed the sound of the change in the weather again tonight. The sound of things warming up!

As we were working on dinner and settling in to the workshop after a busy day at the farm, I heard the frog chirrups. It has been so cold this last week, the frogs were burrowed in and hibernating. I hadn't missed their evening chorus, but I really enjoyed hearing it again! Tonight, it is warm and they are back in full voice.

Maybe Spring has returned?!

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Did you ever read "My Side of the Mountain" by Jean Craighead George? It is a book for older kids. I read it once or twice in elementary school, I think, and I have never forgotten it. That book, and my memories of it have shaped much of my life. I haven't re-read it, but I have been thinking of it a lot lately. Perhaps I'll check it out when I go in to town to the library tomorrow. Maybe there is something in there I need to read?

Back to.... On to.... ?

Fria, Lena's 24-year-old Arabian mare loves her new paddock and all the greenery here in Arkansas.
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Well, we are all here, people and animals at least - there is still some stuff to move. And, I started to say back to Normal - but in our lives that's a little town outside of Huntsville, Alabama and about 900 miles from here. I hope to get back there to visit some day. I also want to go to Options, Louisiana and probably will this fall. I'm looking forward to exploring Options.

We spent last weekend winding our way through delightful little towns such as PeeDee, Bee Branch, Flippin and many others on our way to and from the Baker Creek Heritage Days Festival. I found myself wondering how many people pick the town they live in by the name? Do people decide to live in Three Brothers just because the name pleases them? How do people decide where they live? Do they?

I know I love the name of our new town - Fox, in part because it is short, easy to write and everyone can pronounce it. It is also unusual, though probably Carr, Colorado trumps Fox on the strange-name-meter of places I've lived. This picture is of Shawn walking back to our store from the Post Office in Fox. It is now really easy to get orders shipped - the Post office is next door!

I've been away from my blog for a while for several reasons. I was without internet for two weeks while I was in Colorado getting the farm ready for the auction. The auction was brutal. That is the only word that really covers it. It is a quick, efficient way to wipe out much of your past and the baggage associated with it. Of course, so is a house fire, but people don't die in auctions... just dreams.

I had the help and support of so many friends and family in getting things sorted, pulled out of corners, cleaned, organized and packed. My mom worked with me most of the two weeks and my dad spent several days on the farm doing hard, manual labor. Wonderful friends came down from Denver and cleaned my house while I was off teaching a weaving class. Many other friends showed up the day before and during the auction and others friends came to haul things away afterward. I couldn't have done it without you all - and I mean that, no matter how cliche'd it sounds. I can't tell you all how much I needed you and how much I appreciate your help.

That is part of why I've been away from writing here, too. This move, while planned, blessed, guided, gifted and wonderful in so many ways, is also a ripping change. Generally, I write from the heart. Lately, that has been a little too raw to splash on the internet.

But we are getting back on to familiar ground with a routine developing, the animals adapting and the store... well, it sure needs a boost right now, but now that I am not driving back and forth across the country, I have the time to devote to it. To this end, we are offering free shipping on store purchases through the month of April to anyone who reads this post and sends me an ebay message requesting it.

There is a comfort in routine. Farm chores are getting easier as we get more fencing built and paths cleared. Lena has single-handedly cleared most of the catbriar off the barn meadow.
I try to do chores in the morning and then get to the store by 8:00. Shawn and I work there until somewhere between 2 and 4, take a break for lunch and then go work on the farm, fencing, shearing, hoof trimming, brush clearing, post hole digging... and on.
Lena works on the farm all day and usually has a pile of stuff ready that she needs an extra hand with. We have all been working together on the farm until dark, coming back to the store for a quick dinner and to finish up making stock or answering queries and then off to bed by 11:00 or so.

We are currently fencing the power-line road to make a pasture for the horses. Then the sheep will have the horses' current paddock. Homer (yes, he's doing great and really appreciates his hair cut - thanks Mom and Julia!) (He's the black sheep in the middle, for those of you who don't know and love Homer - and if you know him, you love him!), the llamas and the whole goat herd were helping us clear brush and string fence yesterday.

I'll try to keep everybody more up-to-date now - but it's Saturday and there is fence to string...