Friday, December 31, 2010

Memories….

I’ve travelled long

I’ve travelled hard

image

I’ve stumbled many times along the way.

image

I’ve bruised my knees a lot

and turned my back on God

image

image

And seen His Mercy

image

I’ve been quick to judge and slow to learn

image 

so many times I’ve gotten in the way

image

I think I know so much

I question God enough

But still He loves me

image

So now I’ll walk a different road.

I want to see Him there before I even go

I have run ahead and gone too slow…

image

I’ve got to be still now and wait upon His will now

This time, it’s going to be His time.

image

(Words are from the song A Different Road by Kathy Troccoli)

Thursday, December 30, 2010

Fiber Clubs!

Our last club was a success so I am doing it again!

2ndfiberclub

Just like before each package will contain items from the farm, either from our animal or hand dyed by me.  The fiber club will contain 4 ounces of fiber and a goodie or two.

yarnclub

This time though, we will also have a yarn version :)    Each yarn package will contain 350 yards of fingering weight yarn.

You can read more about our last club here.

The Fiber Club is here.

The Yarn Club is here.

We are on Facebook now too!   Please stop by.

Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Monday, December 27, 2010

Christmas Stollen!

The 2010 December Daring Bakers’ challenge was hosted by Penny of Sweet Sadie’s Baking. She chose to challenge Daring Bakers’ to make Stollen. She adapted a friend’s family recipe and combined it with information from friends, techniques from Peter Reinhart’s book.........and Martha Stewart’s demonstration.

I decided to make my own candied orange peels using the recipe found here.

DSC_1751

DSC_1752

DSC_1753

The candied peels themselves were AMAZING!   Really, you should give them a go :)

DSC_1755

My kitchenaid did much of the work but the resulting bread was fabulous!  It got rave reviews at the Christmas party I brought it to…interestingly much of the attendees were direct descendants of German immigrants.  :)

DSC_1758

IMG_0267

Feeling slightly sick...

The house is still a wreck from the presents on Christmas but I am not feeling well. So Doc and I are curled up in the chair with a book. Hope you are having a happy Monday!

Saturday, December 25, 2010

And so this is Christmas...

Yesterday we spent the evening with family and friends and sang Christmas carols (I still get choked up when I sing O Come, O Come Emmanuel).

We set the table using the fruits of our labor: fresh milk, homemade sour cream, cakes made from scratch. Food made all the better because of the work required to produce it.

We thought of those we miss and of those we are thankful to have...

Another year has come and almost gone. There have been tears, joy, laughter and we thank God for it all.

Merry Christmas!!!

www.countingsheepfarm.com

Friday, December 24, 2010

Thursday, December 23, 2010

Phatfiber Box

My lovely Phatfiber contributor box came in the mail. Lovely as usual!

Monday, December 20, 2010

The Loot!

I gave a sneak peek of the lovely soap that I received through the Brambleberry Soap Swap last week.  Here are the details as promised.

DSC_1765

Starting in the bottom left hand corner…

Alabaster Box Soap in Pear Berry (albasterboxsoap@yahoo.com)

My Angel’s Call Christmas Garden Soap

Cassia Cranberry and Fig

Sassi Soap Black Cherry Bling (sassisoap@cox.net)

Bonsai Soap (frenchbabesoaps@hotmail.com)

Schelle’s Soap Shack Cherry Almond Soap (on top)

DSC_1766

(Starting in the bottom left hand corner)

Anne-Marie  Faiola’s Oatmeal Stout (details on how to make your own here)

SOAPendipity! Goat Milk Soap

Coffeehouse Suds Turkish d’Light

Bubbles Handmade Heavenly Soaps (bubbleshandmadesoap@gmail.com)

Emergence Seaweed w/China Rain

Seattle Delight

A huge thank you to Brambleberry.com for hosting this wonderful swap!  Please do it again next year :)

Sunday, December 19, 2010

Rest in peace Molly

 

DSC_0278

Today, despite all our attempts to save her we were forced to put my daughter’s mare, Molly, down.  Our hearts are broken but we are comforted knowing she is no longer suffering.

DSC_0276

It’s been a bad week :(

Saturday, December 18, 2010

Soap Loot!

I promise more details later, but here is a quick peek at the soap I received from the Brambleberry Soap Swap.

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Sometimes, Farming is hard…

and not just in terms of work.   I can handle the work.  It’s the heartbreak that gets me.

DSC_0277

Last night my daughter’s horse sounded congested to me.  I called the vet and we decided that he would come and see her the next day since he would be over this way.  

At 6 am I went out to check on her.  It wasn’t good.    Her breathing was so labored it shook her whole body.    Back in the house to call the vet….

At 7:30 the children went out to start farm chores.   My oldest daughter came looking for me.

"John Boy has gone through the fence into the next pen and we can’t get him up…”

John Boy is my horse.   We have grown older together and are close to the same age…which means that while I am approaching middle age, he is elderly.

I rushed outside, hoping against hope, but knowing the truth.   

Back in the house for another call to the vet…

It’s Rachel again.  I need Dr. Todd to come quickly.   John Boy is hurt and I need to put him down.”

We covered him in blankets to keep him comfortable. We doctored the ram who had been cut when the fence came down.  We did what needed to be done.

When the vet arrived he explained what must have happened.  It appeared that John Boy must have had a stroke.    Saying goodbye was the right choice.

As the vet did what was necessary; what broke my heart, I considered going into the house.   I considered not watching.   But somehow, I felt I owed him this.   I needed to witness his last moments and not run from the pain.   I was in his debt and I paid him with tears.

Molly is doing better tonight but she is not out of the woods.   We are praying that we find her breathing easier in the morning.  

Monday, December 13, 2010

Thanks!!

Thanks to Gloria for the lovely package for the Phatfiber Holiday Swap!

DSC_1759

DSC_1760

Thanks to Karin for a lovely ornament swap package…

DSC_1762

And thanks to God….

Many of you know that I have trouble with my TMJ joint and my jaw has been partially locked for months.  The disk that cushions the joint moved out of place leaving me with limited mobility.   Which meant discomfort,  no whole apples…no suckers…I even had trouble eating burgers at times and difficulty singing (problematic because I sing on the praise team at my church).   I visited my dentist to have my bite splint adjusted and discuss what options there may be to unlock my jaw.  To my dismay the options were limited.  I have an appointment tomorrow so my dentist can attempt to move my jaw and put the disk back in place.  He wasn’t hopeful but it was one last effort before I see a TMJ specialist and possibly end up in surgery.  

Yesterday at church we prayed, a Godly people in our church laid hands on me.  And today I can open my jaw completely.   I am ashamed to say that I am shocked.   After 4 whole months I can eat an apple!

Saturday, December 11, 2010

This week’s update….

update

Lots of yummy fiber PLUS some great sales too!!

www.countingsheepfarm.etsy.com

Tuesday, December 7, 2010

I won!

I won this lovely soap from Joyful Soaps LLC.

DSC_1552

DSC_1553

It seems fabulous and has a great bubbly lather.   Yay! for me :)

Monday, December 6, 2010

Playing hooky…

The little ones and I made these lovely soaps today in preparation for the gift giving season :)

DSC_1550

If you would like to make your own you can find the directions here.

Speaking of soap, I just added a lovely handmade soap to the Etsy store.

DSC_1549

Dark Lavender has a touch of lavender but with dark mysterious notes that’s a bit on the rustic side.

Friday, December 3, 2010

I love mail!

Look what came in the mail! 

DSC_1528

DSC_1529

This lovely package is from the Fibery Goodness Swap over on Ravelry.

How is the Christmas knitting going?

DSC_1530

I have been busily working on the Spiral Cowl…I may be keeping this one for myself!

BTW I just added raw honey to the etsy store

DSC_1532

and few new fibers!

newupdate

Thursday, December 2, 2010

These Are a Few of My Favorite Things

A Christmas Gift List…Farm Style!

I love this time of year!   Today was the first snowfall of the season and it has put me in the Christmas mood.  I thought you might enjoy of few of my favorite things…

image

First on my list are these wonderful Handmade Wool Socks from Shady Side Farm.  The socks are knit on a circular sock machine and the wool used comes from their flock of Polypay sheep here in Michigan.

image

I have a thing for chickens and I love this lamp!

image

I can not tell you how much I crave this tablecloth!  The seller will work with you to choose your favorite colors.

image

And of course every cooking Diva needs an apron.  I really like this one for the holidays!

I hope you enjoyed my little list!  I will be watching for more yummy stuff!

Speaking of yummy stuff, don’t forget everything is 25% off this week at www.countingsheepfarm.etsy.com.

And if you are looking for soap this Christmas check out the Soap Queen’s blog for some ideas!

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...