Thirty-eight years tomorrow!

I am married to my best friend and tomorrow we will celebrate our thirty-eighth anniversary! Years ago I wondered if married couples who have been married a long time run out of things to talk about.( I have seen couples eating in restaurants not speaking to one another.) I have to say for us we never run out of things to talk about. We still have fun, too. This has been an interesting thirty-eight years with never a dull moment. We are a little grayer and a little heavier but still in love and that is the best thing!

My husband likes to buy me flowers and plants. I like getting them but I have a brown thumb when it comes to house plants. They do great outside in the summer but the minute I bring them in for the winter they start to die. Is it too much water? Not enough water? Not enough light? Who knows?

After Christmas last year he bought me a pointsettia plant. His comment was that it didn't cost much so it was okay if it died. Lol. It is still alive. It has a few less leaves than it did when he gave it to me but the amazing thing, to me anyway, is that it is blooming!

These aren't the best pictures. I took them with my phone but if you look closely you can see the tiny yellow flowers.


On the weaving front I am working on dish towels and scarves. No pictures just yet, though.

Thanks for stopping by!

Linda

Taking the day off

Today was a mother son day. I have been wanting to do this for a while now. Our destination was Wilderness Road State Park in Ewing, Va., Cumberland Gap, Tn. and the Cumberland Gap National Historical Park in Kentucky. I am not sure what town it is in but if I had to guess I would say Middlesboro. I wanted to take W to see the pinnacle. From there you can see Harrogate, Tn, Cumberland Gap, Tn., Middlesboro, Ky. and miles and miles beyond those places.

Here are some of the informational signs we saw at the top.

                                                
                                                     

Here are the views we had.

Pretty nice, huh? If you ever get the chance to go to the pinnacle, do it. You won't be disappointed in the view!

Linda

sheep and goats

I have raised goats for a few years now and owned a sheep for a couple of months. Here is what I have learned about sheep. They are not like goats. Not this one, anyway. Goats don't really show emotion. They show fear occasionally but that is it. One of my goats, Esau, is very curious. He will come up to me and want to get right in the middle of whatever I am doing. Kami, is shy. She will stand off and watch me. However, if I have something she might want to eat she will come very close.

Then there is Phillippe the sheep. He is shy, too but he will come close to me hoping I have a treat. He loves peppermint horse treats! He has not been happy with me since Saturday and he vocally lets me know it whenever he sees me. He also likes to stamp his foot when he is not happy. I didn't know this about sheep. I had a years worth of hay delivered on Saturday. The hay man and a helper loaded it into the barn. I didn't realize it at the time but they covered up the trash can that I keep the bags of dog food, loose minerals and treats in. So, since Saturday Philippe hasn't gotten a treat. Thankfully the trash can is close to the door so now that it has stopped raining I can work on getting it out of that barn.

My hay barn is one of those vinyl ones from Lowes. It has double doors, two windows, skylights and vents. It is around 10 feet by 12 feet. This has worked very well for the hay and whatever else I need to keep in there. Only having two goats, one sheep and a dog I don't really need much more. Still a proper barn would be nice sometimes. Now that the coyotes are coming around, one came last night, it would be nice to have something to lock them into at night.

Remember on Saturday's post that I said  I might have a black eye. Yep, I sure do! And it is looking worse every day. Here is what it looked like last night. The red area is even bigger today! Thankfully it doesn't hurt unless I touch it.

It has been a learning experience owning a sheep. Now I know I need to have better control of him when trying to get him on a stand! I a glad I bought him and I am looking forward to working with his wool.

I bought a new toy this week. Last year I tried carding my Nigora wool but I wasn't happy with it. I then tried using hand cards and still I didn't like how it was looking. This year my friend Tina wanted to try out her wool combs on it. They worked beautifully! So, I bought a pair. They are hand made by Benjamin Green Studios. They are beautiful as well as functional. I am hoping to get Kami's wool washed so I can take it to the arts center on Tuesday (Loomytunes blog) so Tina can tell me if I am using the combs properly.

Well, that is all I have for today. Now it is time to get busy and wash all that wool!

Linda

Philippe before and after

When I woke up this morning Phillippe was still in the chain link dog kennel. Max did NOT break him out of there. Yay! I wasn't sure how long it would take me to get his halter on and get him past the goats and Max. Turns out it didn't take very long at all. Phillippe does very well on a leash. I was told to keep him dry so now what? I decided since we live on a quiet street to just take him for a walk. I don't know about him but I sure could use the exercise. Only one car went past us and we must have been a funny sight. The driver was smiling. After all, how ofter do you see someone taking their sheep for a walk?

Before long Megan, the shearer was here. I tied up Phillippe and we unloaded the stand. Now to get Phillippe on there. No easy task, I have to say. It took us three attempts to get him on but we did it. The bad thing is my face and his horn met and hard! He got me right below my eye brow. I hope I don't have a shiner when I go to church in the morning but it looks like I will. Will anyone believe me when I say I was wrestling a sheep?

Here is his before picture.

And after.

Major difference, isn't it? Max thought so, too. I had to reintroduce Max and Phillippe all over again. After a few good sniffs on Max's part all was well and I could turn him loose.

After all that I cleaned up the barn. My hay comes later today. Whew! I need a nap!

Linda

Life on the farm

Sometimes I just don't understand it. How could I have grown up in the city and love farm life so much? It is a mystery to me. I love it!

For weeks now I have been trying to get Philippe to trust me. I can now hand feed him some horse treats! He loves the peppermint ones. The one thing I haven't been able to do is catch him. A friend suggested I feed him in the dog kennel to catch him. I gave that a try. It may have worked if Kami hadn't butted him out of the doorway. I tried tying her up but Phillippe wouldn't go in. Hmmm, what to try next? My husband suggested I get down on Philippe's level so I didn't look so intimidating. Last night I fed Kami and Esau some hay to keep them busy and then I sat in the kennel. Phillippe came in to get the treats! Progress! Tonight was the true test. I had to catch him so he can be sheared in the morning. I fed Kami and Esau some hay again and I sat in the kennel. I asked our youngest son to stand out of sight. His job was to close the door of the kennel at my signal. I lured Phillippe into the kennel using his treats and William closed the door! Success!! I hope he is still there in the morning and that Max hasn't broken him out of there!

I have arranged for my hay man to deliver enough hay for a year and then some  just to be on the safe side, tomorrow. He is wanting to bale the hay in the morning. It rained near here this evening. I don't know if it rained on the hay or not. I sure hope not! So, after Phillippe gets sheared I get to clean up the barn and make it ready for the new hay. My husband doesn't understand why I go though all this. To him it is hard work. To me it is just plain enjoyable!

A few years ago my husband asked me what I thought about moving to a condo. I told him that would be fine but the animals had to have their own room. LOL. I wish you could have seen the look on his face!


Linda

Coyotes!

There was some excitement here last night. Our oldest son heard yipping and our Great Pyrennes, Max was growling. After turning on the spotlights he went outside and saw coyotes in the road right in front of where I keep my goats and sheep! I can't believe I slept through it all. I have been busy cleaning two houses and doing yard work in two yards that I guess I was exhausted and missed the whole thing! I am almost afraid to go to sleep tonight! I saw on the news that a part of Knoxville is having a problem with them in a subdivision! I saw a video of a coyote walking though a subdivision in the daytime and that small animals are missing. Scary!

This is our big weekend. Our youngest son graduates from high school late tomorrow afternoon. Some of our out of town family arrived today while the rest will arrive tomorrow. I hope I can keep from crying!

Linda

Taking a short break

For my non weaving friends, I have to tell you, getting ready for shows is work! First I have to weave up some inventory then pack it all up. Then I have to decide what items for displaying that inventory I will take, which loom and supplies, etc. I will need. Then there are the multiple trips to the van to load it all up. I usually don't sleep well the night before so by the time I get to the show I am tired.

My first show of the year was yesterday. For the first time I shared a booth with two other people. It sure was nice having some company for the day. It also worked out well when I needed to leave the booth for a short time. I didn't have to worry about leaving the booth unattended. The only downside to sharing was that we were a bit cramped. I had my loom and rack that I hang my rugs on out of the booth. That would have been okay except that it rained a few times in the morning. I had to keep covering and uncovering my things. It will be fun to share a booth again in the future but our space would have to be larger.

Today I am taking a break. Other than putting everything away and going to church I relaxed but all that will end in the morning. This is the week our youngest graduates from high school. I have so much to do before out of town guests come at the end of the week! The week after that it will be back to work building my inventory back up. My next show is in June! For me time is just flying by!

Until next time,
Linda

My new desk

Antique shops and Goodwill are some of my favorite places to shop. I don't really go hoping to find a particular thing. I just like to look. Last week this is what I found at my local Goodwill. It is a portable wine bar. I thought it would make a perfect desk for craft shows! Neat huh?

Underneath the top are slots for wine glasses. I was thinking about removing them but then I thought this basket might slide under there. It does! Now I have some extra storage.

There are holes on the bottom for wine bottles but I am going to put my plastic bags there. I believe this is going to work well for me. Now I will have a place for my customers to write checks and I will have a place for the receipt book, calculator, etc. I will be trying it out this weekend at an antique/craft festival.

Linda