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New Year, New Help

Happy New Year!  So far we're having a good one - well, Liam has a stellar case of tonsillitis and strep, but seems to be on the way up after a couple of days of sounding like a miserable chipmunk and a sleepless night for all of us (except Malachi, who slept like the proverbial baby).  

Even Better...

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...than the sheep kicking off a good year of 2016 with babies is... finishing this one with them :)  Our first lamb was born this morning (Wednesday), a little ewe-ling - or whatever they're called.  She's adorable, and mama's doing great.  These 4 Tunis sheep are all between 3 and 7 years old, so they shouldn't have any trouble knowing how to mother.  The only issue we've had so far is with good-intentioned alpacas.

Animal Wrap-up (I Hope!)

Well, there are only 5 days left in the year - Merry Christmas, by the way! :)  I really hope we are done with the medical drama of this summer and fall, so I wanted to give a year-end update.  

Knit, Knit, Knit!

Every year, usually in October or so, people start asking me to knit things for them.  They see me knitting at the farmers market, or notice a particularly adorable baby hat/pair of socks on my table - but their niece/grandson is just a bit bigger/smaller than that, and I make it the appropriate size or color or pattern, or whatnot.  This year, I actually started knitting in September for commissions, and I've not quite stopped yet!  I have just one single mitten left to knit, and I'll be done.

A New Name

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Real Farm Life

When I started this blog, I wanted it to be an unbiased, accurate look at a small farm, a peering-through-the-window into the realities and nitty-gritty of homesteading life.  I wanted to talk about everything - the ups and downs, the whys and why-nots - rather than just the highlights, or quickly glossing over the more unpleasant subjects.  In that vein...

I unfortunately have to report more losses on the farm.  We no longer have Barra or even more sadly, little Willie, with us.  

The Many Faces of Sweet Potatoes

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I thought a post about sweet potatoes was appropriate for Thanksgiving.  We are still digging ours, we planted a lot of them this year, and it's been really fun.  There are a number of regular old straight ones, but most of them are twisty, curly, gnarly things.  Often I can't  separate them without breaking one.

Latest Arrivals

We have a couple new Solace Farm residents - each of the last two weekends we have acquired one new animal!  Last Friday we bought another sheep from my midwife's sister, this one an actual milking sheep, the East Friesian breed. She's just 7 months old, born at the same time as our goat doelings this year, so that'll be easy to remember.

Farm Update

Yet again, it's been a busy few weeks.  We had a great WWOOOFer for a week, and then 2 more expected shortly after that never showed, so we've again had a bit more to do than we'd hoped.  

Last weekend we got a first coat of plaster on the addition walls.  We had 4 etra sets of hands, so we were able to get the entire wall done on Sunday afternoon.  The weather has been so damp that the walls are still too damp for a second coat, but a slow cure is certainly better than a too-rapid drying.  

Addition Update

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I can't believe it's been so long since I wrote here!  As usual, I've been busy - there was my birthday, Malachi's birthday (not that you could tell, maybe he'll get a party for his 3rd?), a funeral back in VA, and lots of knitting.  I finally finished all my commission knitting, and have only acquired 1 new order, so if anyone wants something made for Christmas, now is the time to let me know!