Ewe Hottie!!

Ahhhh…home again!  Just spent the weekend at the Michigan Fiber Festival and it was lovely as usual.  Zeillingers was kind enough to bring my finished fiber (it’s been sitting there since April!  Good thing I pay when I drop it off!) so I have lots of yummy stuff to play with!

Allison (my business partner for the past 5 or so years) makes a wonderful rug yarn that was used to make the rug in the picture and we sold every.single.bump!  If you were there and missed out you can reach her at www.ewespunwoolworks.com.

Everyone loved our business name (Ewe Hottie) and we couldn’t keep our cute bags in stock.   In fact we are ordering more right now!  

Our next show is Northern Lamb and Wool in West Branch.   In the meantime we would love it if you would like our facebook page: www.facebook.com/ewehottie.  It is in need of a little work yet but that’s where you will find coupons for the shows and where we will be next!

Getting herbal…

Today I made an Elderberry glycerite.  It will sit for 21 days and then I will use it to make elderberry syrup.  Elderberry is an excellent immune stimulant and has been shown in clinical trials to shorten the duration of the cold or flu.  

To make your own glycerite you will need:

• 70 ml vegetable glycerin (not synthetic glycerin, make sure you check your label!)
• 30 ml water
• you can also add 20 g of stevia, I opted not to because this will be used in a syrup and sugar will be added then.

Add the ingredients to a sterile glass jar (I added 1 ounce of elderberries to the above recipe), seal and shake well.  Store in a cool, dry place out of direct sunlight for 21 days.  Shake daily.

(recipe is from the Vintage Remedies Clinical Master Herbalist Course)

I have also made a tincture with Gotu Kola.  Gotu Kola is beneficial for many things such purifying the blood, improving the health of the skin, cleansing and boosting the immune system and strengthening the adrenals but the use I am most interested in is the benefit on the brain.  It is said to be calming, help with focus and improve concentration and memory.

If you are interested in making your own herbal medicine I recommend reading Backyard Medicine by Julie Bruton-Seal and Matthew Seal or The Herbal Medicine Maker’s Handbook by James Green.

It’s pretty busy ‘round here…

But there is always time for a quick cuddle!

IDF Ewes

We are so excited to have our new IDF ewes!   15 ewes, just delivered…

The farmer is pretty happy with how good they look!

And so is Jacque!

Dear Todd II,

Can you believe you would have been 25 on Wednesday?   Of course you can.  There you are..outside of time bound no longer by days and years.  I wonder if you see us.   Remember how worried we were that Eli would never grow up?  Seems silly now….grow up he did.   He still takes care of Josiah all the time.  He brings him to work a couple of days a week and to karate.  

Joey is going to college and will start at Ferris soon.  Electrical engineering…not surprising huh? 

Bobbi runs the restaurant all by herself.  She is still great at bossing people around :)

You won’t recognize Twila!  She is 12 years old!   Just barely 5 when you left us.  David is 11 now and Jed is almost 10 (it’s important that I mention that).  And then there are the two peanuts.  Yeah, all those conversations about adoption….remember?

Your dad finds his happiest moments here on the farm.  You wouldn’t believe it!  We have sheep (15 delivered today!) cows AND chickens!  Remember how badly I wanted chickens?

What I wouldn’t give for one more conversation.  I have so much to tell you!   I will save it in my heart until we meet again…

Love you,

Mom

ps. We remember.  Every day we remember you.