Christmas in the Country

~:~:~  Holiday Open House  ~:~:~

at Sheepy Hollow Farm & Studio

Friday & Saturday

November 13 & 14, 2009

10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

2009 Shop Hours thru December 20, 2009: Fri, Sat, Sun, 11 – 4

I save EVERYTHING! What’s considered scraps by most folks, I save and squirrel away for that special project. For example, I save wool snippets from rug hooking, yarn scraps, thrums and so on. A scrap of wool makes a nice tie around a cellophane bag  ”wrapped” gift, a make-do collar for a sheepy ornament, tied around a bar of hand-crafted soap, bundling sachets, adding a tag to a gift…you get the idea.

I’ve been wet-felting ever since I have owned sheep (+10 years)! Wet-felting is a simple fiber project that requires no special equipment…just good clean fun with wool fiber, a dash of soap, hot and cold water and a little agitation, umm, mooshing and gooshing. Depending on my project, I usually generate small ’scraps’ of felted wool pieces. They usually become the ears and tails on many of my sheepy fiber art projects. But here’s a simple ‘crafty’ idea that uses some of those felted wool scraps. Creating these sheepy cards is easy enough for kids (with a little supervision) and adults – and we all love and occasionally still use stationery sent via the U.S. Post office!???

Any card stock will work nicely. Center and stamp a sheep image onto the card. If you don’t have a favorite sheep stamp, you can cut out a body by hand or use a large punch and draw a simple ‘primitive’ sheep head and legs. With an ExActo knife (here’s where the adult oversight may be necessary), cut out the body. Fit a small ’scrap’ of wool behind the ’stamp’ on the inside of the card and secure with a piece of tape. I like to attach a slip of paper over the tape on the interior that provides a little info about the sheep, breed, type of fiber, etc. Stamp a message, embellish to your heart’s desire. I tend to simplify…less is more. But, the possibilities are endless!

Enjoy!

A low maintenance wooly flock of sheep…made with a pipe cleaner, most sheepies are sporting my farm-raised Corriedale fleece. The large sheepie in the back is made with Merino and wool felt ears; the first on the left is Suffolk. Add a length of ribbon and they’ll make cute ornies for the tree. Embellish if desired with black ’seed bead’ eyes, perhaps a collar and small bell? You decide…

Happy fiber’n.

Do you recall all the parsley in my garden in a previous post (it’s actually about half of the parsley in my garden)? Well, if you have lots of fresh parsley, here’s a recipe that perhaps you’d like to try… TABOULI. First, a few facts about parsley. Parsley is a biennial – that means it comes back the second year and produces seed. But, I generally treat parsley as an annual and plant it every year. It’s not as prolific the second year because most if its energy is spent on producing seeds, not the leafy greens we’re after. If you’re a seed-saver, plant a fresh batch and save the seeds from the second year.

Now, I prefer Italian plain leaf parsley versus French or curly leaf parsley and most cooks will tell you the flat leaf variety has more flavor. While most folks consider it a garnish, it’s actually very nutritious, a rich source of iron and vitamins A and C. It’s also a natural breath sweetener! The goats, bunnies and chickens love any harvest surplus!!

Tabouli is a healthful Mediterranean dish traditionally prepared with cracked wheat (bulghur), parsley, mint, garlic, tomatoes, green onions, olive oil and lemon. I’ve substituted lentils for the bulghur and added a chopped cucumber. It’s great chilled or served at room temp, by itself or in a pita!

Prepare 16 oz lentils (or 2 cups bulghur) according to package. Drain any extra water and set aside. Chop 1 cucumber, 2 small tomatoes, 1 bunch green onions, 1/2 cup fresh chopped mint, 2 cups fresh chopped parsley and 1 – 2 cloves minced garlic (to taste).  Make the dressing: 1/2 cup fresh squeezed lemon juice, 3/4 cup olive oil, salt to taste, 1 tablespoon pepper. Mix all ingredients. Makes about 8 cups.

For dessert, how about GOAT CHEESE TRUFFLES?

Ingredients: 8 ounces high quality Chevre goat cheese (preferably your own), 10 ounces semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 teaspoons vanilla, cocoa powder. Method: Melt the chocolate chips and cool slightly. Cream the goat cheese and vanilla; add the cooled chocolate and continue to cream. When well creamed, use a melon ball to measure out the truffles. Place on a wax papered cookie sheet and place in refrigerator. When firm enough to handle, roll into balls and roll in cocoa powder. Refrigerate. Your friends won’t believe it’s goat cheese. HINT: The truffles freeze well – perfect for midnight snacking…straight from the freezer!  Enjoy!

Recipe courtesy Goat Lady Dairy

What happens when you love F I B E R and G O A T S ??? You get a goat that’s reputed for its fiber and hardiness, in this case, a P Y G O R  A, which is a breed purposely bred and registered to produce fine fiber for hand spinning. Pygoras are a cross between an ANGORA goat (who produces mohair – a long silky fleece) and a Pygmy goat (often producing short, soft down). You can learn more about Pygoras at www.pba-pygora.com

I’d love for you to meet Brutus, the latest addition to my fiber ’stash’ and barnyard menagerie. My husband and I drove out to meet Pygora breeder and owner, Allison, at Great Lakes Pygora. Anyone interested in learning more about Allison can visit her at http://www.greatlakespygora.com

Brutus is a Pygora wether (castrated male) and is about eight months old. He has a Type B fleece (that is, Blend-type: a blend of the Pygmy goat undercoat, which is cashmere, and the longer Angora mohair. It is 3 – 6 inches long and has a nice crimp (curl). The second coat is usually obscured by the longer coat.) I fell in love with Angora goats and cashmere ever since I read an article in Wild Fibers Spring 2008 and Fall 2008 issues, respectively. Then, another article appearing in Spin-Off magazine entitled Fiber Basics: Pygora captured my interest!  But, the most recent clincher came when a friend was spinning locks of hand-dyed mohair during our last spinning guild meeting…I was smitten and knew I had to have some of that beeeeeautiful fiber!  

So, I asked hubby if I could have a Pygora for my birthday (mid-November) and he said YES! Welcome dearest Brutus! Ain’t he handsome!!!???   Pics courtesy of Allison…

Brutus is a quick learner. He knows that all of my goats are fed and ‘managed’ on the stanchion twice per day, where they get individual daily attention - cuz I love my critters! He’s already warming up to me and the rest of the flock/herd. The sheepies don’t pay him much attention and the goats are all ‘into’ checking each other out and establishing a ‘heirarchy’ amongst them. Brutus doesn’t know what to make of Bo, our Great Pyrenees? But, he’s got  lots of company and is making new friends and exploring his new home!

Happy fiber’n!

Matt was home over an extended 4-day weekend (mid-terms) so I spent lots of time rattling the pots and pans in the kitchen preparing his ‘favorites’. Used up the last of my goat’s milk cheese with baked manicotti…YUM! I made meatloaf –  it’s always a family fav – for another supper, and last, stuffed green peppers with a basil/tomato sauce with pick’ns from the garden just before the hard frost.

For dessert, I had to bake an apple strudel…but not the type you’re probably most familiar with…light airy filo-type crust? This ‘apfel’ strudel is my mom’s recipe from the ‘old country’, Nieder Osterreich (Northern Austria) from a little farming village called Rastenfeld where my mom was born and raised. It’s a simple-folk farmer’s hearty-type dough, made with flour, sugar, butter, sour cream, milk and egg yolks. It rolls out easily and is then filled with fresh sliced apples, sprinkled with sugar and dotted with butter (I toss in a few raisins and a little cinnamon). Another BIG Y-U-M!

Here’s the recipe, made the old-fashioned way – BY HAND. NOTE: MAKES TWO APFEL STRUDELS: In a large bowl, add 4 1/2 cups flour, 2/3 cup sugar, pinch salt. Stir with whisk. Now, make a hole in the center of the flour and add: cut in 2 sticks butter, 4 tablespoons sour cream, 4  tablespoons milk, 4 egg yolks (reserve the whites to brush on top of the strudel if desired). Now comes the fun part! Push up your sleeves and with your hands, begin to pull in flour from sides and incorporate into the ‘wet’ ingredients. Once you have formed a ball of dough – of sorts – turn out onto a floured dough board and work gently adding a bit more flour if needed until ingredients are all incorporated and smooth. Put finished dough aside under the bowl while you prepare your apples. Peel, core ‘n slice 7-8 large apples (I use Northern Spy but any good baking apple will do. Now, back to the dough…cut the dough in half (makes 2). Roll out half the dough to fit lengthwise on a parchment paper lined 11 X 17 baking sheet, approx 1/4 inch thick. Arrange sliced apples down the center of dough. sprinkle on sugar to taste, add cinnamon & raisens if desired, and dot with a few bits of butter. Gently fold over dough to center and pinch ‘n tuck ends closed. Brush on egg whites and sprinkle with sugar if desired - OR - when baked, just dust strudel with powder sugar. Repeat process with second half of remaining dough (for second strudel). Transfer from wood board to baking sheet, next to first strudel (see pic). Bake at preheated 350 degrees F until golden brown, juices should be flowing, approx 45 minutes – 1 hour. Remove from oven and allow to cool before slicing. Enjoy!  

Since I had man-power available, we managed to perform necessary flock management, worming, feet trimming, etc. getting everyone prepared for the winter and breeding(?). I also managed to skirt, wash and pick Reeces’ fleece, my ewe lamb - whom I sheared this past September. I was hoping beyond hope for a nice warm day to perform this ‘chore’ when it turned so unseasonably cold! Nevertheless, I accomplished the task in two days…well, I had to let the fleece dry overnight in my drying barn before I could ‘pick- it’. That’s kind of like teasing the wool apart – in preparation for spinning. But first…

Before I could USE the drying barn (I forgot to mention sequencing) – remember ALL that lavender drying all over screens and racks in the drying barn??? Well, it took me two days, but I finally ’garbled’ (that is, removed all the leaves/buds from the stems) every bit of lavender I had harvested this past summer and temporarily stockpiled in the barn. YEAH – well done! Smells heavenly. I saved some of the longer lavender stems to bundle and use as scented ‘faggots’ for the fireplace.

And, I also made another batch of goat milk soap – this time I used peppermint and rosemary essential oils and some of my farm-raised organic peppermint for color. TIP: I use a ‘dedicated’ electric coffee grinder for grinding herbs and other botanicals for creating various herbal sundries. I always look forward to soapmaking day - the kitchen is usually filled with wonderful scents. After the soap is allowed to “set” for approx. 24 hours, I remove the soap (in this particular batch, a 10 pound loaf) from the mold. TIP: Use freezer paper to line your mold for easy release. I immediately cut the soap ‘loaf’ into individual bars. TIP: A non-serrated knife/blade makes a clean cut and/or a cheese-cutter (straight or curly/fancy blade cuts the soap nicely. Sometimes you can find them at the dollar store. I usually get anywhere from 24 – 30 bars depending how I cut the loaf. TIP: A small old wood drawer makes a nice soap mold! The bars of soap are placed on wire racks where they’re allowed to cure/harden for another 3-4 weeks before the soap is used/sold.

Last, but not least, hubby also mulched our veggie garden compost with his chipper/shredder that operates off the tractor PTO. We have a 3-stage compost system. One bin accumulates, one bin is in-process/cooking and one bin is the final ‘product’ …which is usually always empty because we put it right back into the garden beds in the Spring.  Since we already got hit hard with frost several times, I’ve been cleaning-up the garden beds and accumulating lots of garden debris. You increase the rate of decomposition by increasing the surface area…that is, chop up your veggie waste. Here’s the final product – it looks almost ready to place back into the garden – full of nutrients for next growing season!

A busy, blessed weekend!

You never realize how creative you are until it comes time to figure out what to do with all the L A V E N D E R in your garden!?!!

Most of the lavender seen here (in my drying barn) will be ‘garbled’, that is, the buds and leaves will be removed from the stems and stored for use in sachets, sweet bags, natural moth chasers, herb soaps, various herbal sundries and culinary creations. The woody stems and other herbal clippings may be saved and gathered together with twine or raffia for scented ‘ faggots’ for the fireplace. Toss them on the embers to release their sweet scents!

Other garden chores on my ‘to-do’ list are: plant bulbs, clean-up beds, empty pots & containers for winter storage, bring in ‘vacationing’ plants such as bay, scented geraniums, French lavender and rosemary; harvest herbs, make wreaths, gather pumpkins, gourds and Indian corn for Thanksgiving decorations, rake leaves, sow grass, mulch compost pile, gather rose hips…that’s enough for starters! It seems like mid-November rather than October since the weather has turned prematurely COLD (mid 40’s for high temps?) and the days are already growing shorter. You know it’s cold when you start skimming the ice off the critters water buckets. I’m sooooo not ready for winter!

Better break out the woolies!

Sunday morning I visited our local Armada Flea Market. Aside from seasonal farm fresh produce, ‘yard tag sale’ stuff (ya know – one man’s junk is another man’s treasure), occasional collectables and antiques, there’s also kittens, puppies, chickens and —– bunnies.

As I was leaving, I noticed this little furry thing, perhaps a chinchilla?? My fatal mistake was to allow myself to hold him when the ‘kind man’ handed him to me. YIKES! I was smitten. This little Lionhead bunny has the softest fur and the gentlest demeanor. I was HOOKED! What’s one more bunny? I don’t have a steely blue/gray one? He is little, and I have an empty hutch!??

Here’s some info I found on the Lionhead Rabbit’s website.

“Lionhead Rabbits are an exciting new rabbit! Even though they are a recognized breed in England, they are not yet a recognized breed with the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA). Currently both Purebred and Hybrid Lionheads can be shown at ARBA shows under the Purposed Working Standard for the breed. They will have their first official showing with the ARBA in 2004. The American version of the Lionhead Rabbit will have erect ears and adults should remain under 3 3/4 pounds to be shown.

These little rabbits have a mane of wool encircling their head much like a male African Lion. (Both male & female Lionheads have a mane). Unlike other wool rabbit breeds, the Lionhead Rabbit has normal fur on the rest of their bodies. They are very friendly, easy to train and make excellent pets. Once they reach adulthood, they do not require the extensive grooming that some of the other wool breeds do.”

So, I’ll be working on a name for my latest addition to the barnyard menagerie!

Aside from my bunny episode, I want to mention that my friend Deb and I visited the Hadley Spinning Guild last Thursday. The guide membership is offered free to the community and meets once a month at the Metamora Public Library. Deb and I packed-up our spinning wheels and drove over to Metamora (about a 35 min drive from Armada/Allenton). We had a wonderful evening ’sharing’ with this group of talented fiber artists!!!!! You can find out more about the guild at http://hadleyfiberartsguild.com

I also have a recipe to share – Gingersnaps! Gingersnaps are one of my family’s favorite cookies, especially this time of year with the molasses, ginger, cinnamon & cloves…just smells sooooo good while they’re baking in the oven. I usually serve them during my Holiday Open House (coming up November 13 & 14) and they’re, let’s say, much appreciated.

The recipe is quick and simple: 2 1/4 cups flour, 2 tsp baking soda, 1 tsp ginger, 1 tsp cinnamon, 1/2 tsp cloves, 1/4 tsp salt 1 cup brown sugar, 3/4 cup vegetable oil, 1/4 cup molasses, 1 egg. Optional: You’ll need a bit of granulated sugar to roll the cookie in before you place on the baking sheet. Sift together dry ingredients (flour, soda & spices) in a bowl. In another mixing bowl, add brown sugar, oil, molasses and egg – mix well. Add the flour/spices and beat well. Shape dough into 1″ balls (I use a spoon and roll in my hands) and roll in sugar if desired. Place 1 1/2 inch apart on ungreased cookie sheet and bake at 375 degrees F, 10 minutes. Makes about 4 dozen. Stores well, good dunkers too!

Enjoy! 

Osage orange trees are a common sight on the Great Plains today although they were not a widespread member of the prairie community originally. Before the invention of barbed wire in the 1880’s, they were planted as living fences – or hedges – along the boundaries of farms.

The name of the tree comes from the Osage Indian tribe and the pleasant ‘orange-peel’ smell of the skin. The wood of the osage orange tree is strong and so dense that it will neither rot nor succumb to the attacks of termites or other insects for decades. Its strong yet limber branches were prized for the construction of bows by the Native Americans. Many people believe that the fruit of the Osage orange will keep insects out of the house!

This time of year, when the ‘fruit’ ripens, I like to place a few of the bumpy- skinned osage oranges in a wood bowl on my kitchen table and enjoy the sweet scent.

Happy Day!

Athos, my Shetland ram, has a new home! Yeah! A simple lean-to construction, framed with 2 X 4’s, plywood roof and asphalt shingles, exterior cedar siding and 2 X 6 board interior. I’d like to paint the exterior of this shed barn red with white trim…if time and weather permits? After my tragic accident and loss of my ram Testiamo, we fenced off an area within the horse pasture for Athos and Skip, his wether companion.

My dear hubby also tore down my wall feeder/trough in the back barn and renovated it into a new hay feeder…in preparation for winter. ALL the goat kids used the wall feeder as their ‘runway’ – jumping in and out, tracking little ‘dirty’ feet everywhere…YUK! So, I moved my portable hay feeder into the kid/lamb pen – temporarily- and built a new hay feeder for all the menagerie to belly up to come winter.

It has the same ‘functionality’ as my portable hay feeder. The critters go through the panel and eat down, minimizing waste (?) and limiting hay all over the sheep’s fleece. Well, that’s the concept and is an improvement over most wire wall feeders. I’m already brainstorming another enclosed/weather protected portable feeder using/recycling a plastic 55-gallon drum. Stay tuned for future updates…lol. BTW, my honey-do list never gets shorter!

As you can see in the pic, the wall feeder runs the entire length of the stall, approx 16 feet, leaving enough room for everyone to access the hay. It sits off the ground (we used old timbers), allowing air circulation. The ‘boxed’ wood frames lend support on which to nail the wire hog panel. The wood front fascia keeps the hay inside – inside dimension is pretty much the size of a flake of hay. So far, it’s working well…this feeder also helps to minimize contamination from poop. If you have critters, ya know that if it falls on the ground and is stepped on, most sheep/goats won’t eat it! Smart animals!

Well, I’m off to get caught up after a busy weekend hosting the Country Heritage Color Tour…just one stop ‘off the beaten path”.

Take time to sip some cider and have a great week!