a name.  We do eat our sheep. We couldn’t raise them if we didn’t and we like lamb/mutton, as well as knowing where our meat comes from. I’m not quite weird enough to mark the packages in my freezer with names.

If you eat your sheep and sandwiches, you might enjoy this recipe. Dave’s new job requires him taking a cold lunch, rather than a “blue collar lunchbox” (microwave).  He’s not really a fan of sandwiches unless they are really good.  He has to watch his sodium and cholesterol intake, so deli meats aren’t really the best choice. And I just don’t cook a turkey every week.

1/2 lb ground lamb/mutton
1 slice of whole grain bread (home made if you  have it)
1 blue banty egg (I’m sure it would work ok with any small egg . Dave brought home some beautiful little eggs from work and I liked the blue one)
whatever seasonings you like. I used the no salt sausage that our butcher makes up for us and added a garlic clove and a little onion.
put everything in a food processor and process until it’s really well blended and very smooth. You are making a pate’ (or Pat-T as Dorothy calls it) rather than a meat loaf. It’s the food processor and the fine grinding that makes the difference.
bake at 350 for about an hour.
chill overnight.

In the morning, the pate’ cuts  easily into non crumbly sandwich friendly slices that, coupled with my homemade bread, are just what the doctor ordered for Dave’s lunch – and, yes, he loved the sandwich.

Free is nice. I like free.The internet truly abounds with free… free medical advice (always entertaining), free recipes, free fonts (I love free fonts – this week’s favorite is Ashcan, from http://www.1001freefonts.com/..

Ashcan is a good font for adding layer styles and for making smiley faces.

At http://www.subudesigns.com/downloads.cfm, you’ll find my favorite software for designing rag rugs. Actually, it’s the only software I’ve seen for designing rag rugs and it’s FREE!

(PS – hit the “print screen” key on your keyboard, open MS Paint or Photoshop and click file/new, then paste, to save any screen images. Very helpful if you are trying to figure out the clues in Myst)

Just put in the parameters for your rug, pick some colors and see what happens.  This is the diamond variation. See what happens if I change the color ratios abit..

You can also choose zigzag…

Or shwoosh….

Choosing “fabric” from the menu bar gives you the layout for sewing and cutting your fabric..

Change colors, change percentages, change weft width..it’s fun! Not interested in a pattern, but wondering how much fabric for a 3 x 5 rag rug? Just put in one color and “fabric” will tell you.

This website is a wonderful reference source for weaving drafts.. http://www.handweaving.net/Home.aspx AND it’s Free!

I would be a bitch. But since I am a cat, I am a queen.

Person doesn’t let me post often, but she’s coming down with a cold and her resistance is low. The cat rules.

If you’ve been following my posts, you know that I was a “pound” cat.

I am now a many pound cat and quite beautifully bulky, resplendently rotund, voluminously voluptuous.

It’s raining again today and my dumb Person can’t seem to do anything about it. Honestly, you’d think that someone who can use a can opener could do anything! If I only had fingers. BTW – I do NOT eat canned cat food that is all mushed together in an unidentifiable mass – the stuff they call “pat -T” or something like that. My cat food must be flaked, shredded, or chunked. I am, after all, a queen. And I don’t drink milk. As is my due, I sit on the floor next to the kitchen counter and await tidbits to be laid at my feet. I do not take food from Person’s fingers – I require suitable homage due my station in life.  Leftover Thanksgiving turkey is not to be placed in my food dish!

OOPS – here comes Person. I’d better log off…

Until next time…

Dorothy

every day for the blessings of our life.  I don’t need a day set aside to remind me of all I have to be thankful for. But,  I do love turkey, stuffing, pumpkin pie, homemade whipped cream, pumpkin pie, leftover turkey, turkey carcass soup, pumpkin pie – did I mention pumpkin pie?

Thanksgiving day this year was a really pretty day. Dave wanted to go deer hunting (doe day) and I had some outdoor projects. Friday was forecast to be cold and wet. There was no reason we couldn’t have Thanksgiving on Friday, so we did.

One of the things we are thankful for is that Dave has a job again. Work for skilled carpenters is rather slim, but he was hired as groundskeeper/animal feeder/ soon to be beekeeper at a unique farm/retail store nearby.  The farm is now licensed to produce ethanol for fuel, which I think is pretty interesting. They are currently building a community canning center. If you have never been to a community canning center, you are missing something! Dave agreed to feed the animals over the holiday weekend and I went over on Thursday to help.

Ambassador Kitty. I almost tucked this girl in my camera bag and hauled her home – she’s such a sweetie. Although Dave told me that I have created a monster by playing with her, as she now follows him every where and gets mad if he throws her out of the feed room. Are all calico cats so bossy?

I used to raise and show Rex rabbits. This broken otter is such a beauty!

Dutch? Neat blue eyes.

Dave told me there was a sow that was bigger than his truck.  I think this  friendly girl is darn close.

Donkeys being donkeys, you’re more likely to capture a donkey gazing into your lens than standing back looking prettily aloof.  I miss our donkeys.

This silly little earless goat (Lamancha or part Lamancha? I know nothing about goats) sure made me laugh.

Despite the missing neck feathers, this may be the prettiest rooster I’ve ever seen.

Later in the day, I treated myself to a few hours of working my way through an Aran/Fisherman’s Crochet Pattern with no interuptions.

It was a good day.

this beauty is not as pretty as she looks!! Dorothy is in a snit this week. She hates rainy days and for some reason seems to think that I can fix it – or she just needs someone to bitch at. When I don’t (can’t) fix it she screams at the door or plants herself on top of bookcases, shelves, the freezer and slaps me in the head as I walk by. When the weather is nice, she likes to shred the deck posts…

She’s currently sitting on my printer, pushing the buttons. She likes the noises it makes.

And I just can’t consider this new addition…

as pretty as my Kromski (stock photo – I was too lazy to photograph my Polonaise today)

The new tool is  the Universal Dream Spinner, designed and built by Teri Hollingsworth of Warner Robins, GA and sold by Babe’s Fiber Garden or directly from Teri.I bought a used Babe’s HH electric spinner a year or so ago to use for plying. Plying is boring. There is no reason to look at the yarn and I want to go really fast. The HH is a champ for plying.

I’ve been kind of thinking about the UDS since I heard that it could take the Ashford jumbo flyer.  When I sold my Traditional, I kept the Woolee Winder and the Jumbo flyer.  I’d tried the Jumbo flyer on an old sewing machine treadle base  – worked, but I didn’t like spinning at a right angle to the orifice – and put together a rather odd looking contraption using an old sewing machine motor. That did spin well, but I had trouble getting the flyer to stop spinning quickly when I shut down the motor. And that makes a real mess! I happened upon a used UDS for sale at a good price and decided to give it a try. It handles the jumbo flyer just fine

which I’m really happy about. Rug yarn! Maybe I’ll finally play around with some Navajo style rugs!

I’ve been lusting after a Butterfly Spinner for a few years, but it’s still beyond my budget. I love the way it spins and I love how quiet it is.  I may be one of the few people that doesn’t think it’s  all that aesthetically pleasing. The physical appearance just doesn’t quite grab me – nor does the physical appearance of the UDS or any of the Babes, although wood is prettier than PVC – but I’m not buying furniture – I’m buying a tool and it is a wonderful tool.

So, here’s my review…. the UDS is adjustable to handle any standard flyer, bobbin lead or flyer lead (haven’t tried double drive – not sure it will work due to the cross in the drive band).  It has a rheostat control that allows me to just set a speed and watch a movie while plying – with my headphones on – the motor is noisy.

I like it for spinning lace weight yarn better than my Polonaise. I’m a pretty fast spinner and even at the highest ratio on my Polonaise, I’m treadling as fast as I can to get enough twist into super fine yarn before I fall asleep (just joking – I’m not THAT fast or that sleep deprived). Teri really gave the design of this machine some thought and it works. It’s not pretty, but if pretty is as pretty does, it’s darn nice looking.

It’s not a relaxing zen sort of experience to spin on an electric spinner for me.  It’s a tool that allows me to spin more yarn to sell more efficiently.  I still need my daily “fix” with my Kromski

my folks were divorced when I was a baby. I’d sometimes see Dad’s mother as I was growing up as she wintered in Sarasota.  I didn’t meet my dad until I was in my 20’s. Besides meeting Dad for the first time, I found out I had another sister – another horse crazy kid and we had a blast taking off on Robert and Reina, while Dad visited with my first husband. Since then, we’ve visited, written real letters (like the ones the post office brings!), and more recently emailed pretty much on a daily basis.  Another sister has been found.  Dad’s 89 and he’s not dead, but he is gone. He is in the early stages of Alzheimer’s.

It was hard to lose my mother, grandmother, and step-father, but they were here while they were here. Sometimes Dad is here, but those times are getting progressively less common.

Even though we never spent much time together and didn’t agree on much – especially politics!, I miss the daily emails, even the infuriating political cartoons and comments. I miss the argumentative, stubborn, intensely brilliant man I used to know. I miss the time I thought we had left and the things I wish I’d said.

finaaaaallllly.

The Yakob-Tson Lady Jane rug mentioned in an earlier post became a table runner. The Lady Jane (owned by Perfect Spot in NC) is approaching her 25th birthday and doesn’t have as much wool as she used to. Try as I might, I finally had to realize that there was not enough wool to finish the 24″ wide rug I’d started with her wool. For some reason, a square rug just looks weird to me. Her wool is lovely – light and fluffy and a bit short. Because of the length, it took a little thicker piece of fleece for the weft. In retrospect, I could have used a closer sett. I have excellent hind sight!  The decision was made to unweave the rug and cut the width down to 12″.

Lady Jane is a wonderful old girl, who shows great-great grandget registered in JSBA.

Huntsberger Isla, also owned by Perfect Spot, supplied the wool for this rug..

Isla has a nice unfreckled fleece with a really! nice luster. I had a hard time handing the rug off to Cathy today.

These rugs took me way longer than they should have, even taking into consideration unweaving/reweaving the Lady Jane rug/runner.  I’ve been weaving the fleece rugs on my 60″ Leclerc Gobelin vertical tapestry loom lately. I decided to switch back to my Macomber floor loom for Isla’s rug. Gosh, this is easy!  And educational. You can really crank up the tension on the Gobelin – tight enough that your cuticles start to get rubbed off when you are hand laying in every lock.  In real tapestry weaving, you would  use a tapestry bobbin.  Switching to the Macomber reminded me that these rugs do not require a warp tension that you can play music on.  They are slightly felted in the washing machine after coming off the loom.  I’m warped (okay, no jokes ) on the Macomber for two more rugs, but am anxious to try the Gobelin with a looser warp tension.

Fleece rugs are a great way to use britch wool – contact me for prices using your wool.

Unzicker Jedd

went with Cathy and Greg Robinson back to NC and will move back to his breeder, Royal Unzicker, next month. He’s leaving Patchwork with a son and 7 bred ewes 7 bred ewes and son behind at Patchwork. Catching him up today really made me appreciate his gentle personality. I’ve always wanted to see if roping a horn might be a good way to catch a ram over the fence. Well, I can’t rope worth a darn, although I did rope a few goats as a kid (no pun intended) and did have a rather tense moment when I managed to rope a wild hog and the other guy missed on the heeling part. Blaze was a really good horse!!!.  Jedd just stood there as my rope kept missing his horns and giving me a confused look. I finally just decided to reach in and catch a horn. He politely walked to the truck to be loaded.  He attracted alot of attention at Aunt Sue’s on Hwy 11 in Cleveland, SC where we met up with Cathy and Greg. If you really want to promote your sheep – park them in a busy area on a scenic hwy on a gorgeous day.

But don’t order a chili dog! It was really packed, so I said I’d go get us some lunch to eat outside on one of the picnic tables. Dave wanted a chili dog with onions.  I got my usual garbage dog – whatever you got, put it on.  I have a really strong stomach.  Dave’s chili dog turned out to be minus the dog. I hadn’t noticed when I went to order, but the chili dog doesn’t include the dog. ???? Chili on a bun? I’m still chuckling over the look on Dave’s face. I gave him the hot dog from my garbage dog and had an extra scoop of ice cream for dessert.

I didn’t bring anything to show this year. I didn’t have anything left for sale, was pinching pennies and didn’t want to pay for the health certificate, was feeling stressed enough that dealing with the booth and showing sheep seemed abit too much for this year, and wasn’t sure if I could fit two lambs in my van along with the booth items. Macgyver made the trip comfortably tucked behind the driver’s seat, but I wasn’t really comfortable squeezing in another ram that had been breeding – and certainly  not a ewe lamb!  I got out to the barn to get some pictures of the show and I have to say that I was wishing I had brought something to show again this year. Unlike my years of showing Quarter Horses, showing Jacobs is just plain fun, with alot of smiles and giggles…

It was a treat to see Jacob, with his Barking Rock ewe (gorgeous fleece!) …

and his sister, Sarah, again. Sarah was awarded this Karakul ewe  (and another) at MSWF for her essay.

I really loved the look of this pretty ewe, Blue Ewe Sage, owned by Dave and Sally McLaren of Blue Ewe Jacobs in Kentucky. Strong Spahr Farm background – and I do love Spahr Farm ewes. I really prefer four horned, but this girl has a really spectacular horn sweep and  a lovely feminine look that “grabbed me” – not to mention a really nice fleece. I was SO tempted..

This handsome yearling ram really caught my attention. He’s Byland’s Jericho, owned by Ken and Laura Frazier. A very well balanced, primitive ram, with a nice blend of Painted Rock/Perfect Spot/4Horn lines

Laura and Ken also brought two nice ewes, who won first in ewe lambs and yearling ewes, as well as champion and reserve champion Jacob

Perfect Spot Chelsea, bred by booth partner Cathy Robinson was champion Jacob

FarmGirl’s Clara was reserve champion Jacob.  Congratulations Laura!

I’m not sure what Elke of Wellspring Farm was thinking about, but I like the picture

And then there is this picture. I didn’t have time to focus, but had to grab the picture.

The parents were nearby and all was well, but I sure got a chuckle out of this little boy who had been penned with the sheep.

Wow! What a weekend!

We (Cathy from Perfect Spot and I) arrived at the Western NC fairgrounds around 2 on Thursday to set up. In our five years as SAFF vendors, this is the first year that we have returned to the same spot. It sure makes set up easier if you know where you are going to be! The McGough arena is a horse show arena. If you are placed on the rail, you can end up with an interesting curved, pie shaped back wall  and booth – just right for a show arena, but a little awkward for setting up square tables.

Our booth from the front. I don’t know why neither of us noticed that darn plastic bag sticking out from under the table! We had poster collages done to hang on the back wall. They drew alot of attention.

From another direction. Darn! need to get some longer cloths for the table! Shannon’s needle felted bags sold really well.

This llama was very well behaved and I was really impressed  with him/her and the young drivers. But, I got a huge kick out when the llama stopped and looked back at the drivers “what next?”

This is from the felted landscape workshop behind our booth. Amazing!! I wish I’d got some pictures from the workshop on the other side. Melissa Gray’s needle felted woodland creatures were really stunning.

I really liked this needle felted picture in one of the booths.

Stay tuned for “SAFF – part 2 – the sheep.”

and almost ready to GO to SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) in Asheville, NC next weekend. Cathy Robinson of Perfect Spot Farm and I will be back for our fifth year. We’ll be in booth 83 in the McGough Arena (lower floor)

Dave built me another pvc display, so now we have three. These are really easy to build and inexpensive.

They are only partially glued so they can break apart to fit in the back of a Ford Escort wagon.

We made this one a row higher than the two previous ones. I’m not sure if I’m going to put a basket on the top row or not. At SAFF, the baskets will be stuffed! There is a spray paint that works well on pvc. If there is time! I’ll paint the new one black and IF there is more time, I’ll repaint the two green ones black. In the back is a folding wooden display that Dave built me. It’s five feet tall, which is exactly what will fit in my van, leaving me 3 feet behind the seats to stash a couple of lambs It’s very heavy, though. It’s hard to convince a boat and house carpenter that sometimes lighter is better. I kept saying “isn’t that going to be heavy?” and he kept saying “you want it strong, don’t you?”. When we set up at SAFF, we can drive into the barn to unload. You can drive in to load up, too, but when everyone is trying to load up at the same time and there is only one car width in the barn, it’s better to just carry things out – and it’s a long walk (or so it seems after three days at SAFF plus a day to set up.  We put wheels on it today, which will be much easier. I think I’m going to see if I can lash on a few things and use it as a doily make that dolly.

Dorothy really enjoys the preparations for SAFF. The plastic bin is full of batts, packaged for SAFF – and VERY tempting to a cat that loves comfort. Happily, she has decided that she likes the felt sheet that didn’t turn out well (or maybe just needs more work ) set on top of two boxes of JSBA logo items for SAFF. Two handmade felt sheets that did turn out pretty well are there on the left hand side.