with love

As 2012 closes, I want to thank each of you for following along with me at Long Ridge Farm. Your presence is felt and enjoyed and it makes the travel all the lighter!
I wish you good health, prosperity and a large dose of peace in the coming year, however you may seek and find it. Cheers!

awaiting

The hour draws closer to the most magical night of the year. 

Past the solstice now, a minute more light and a bit

higher in the sky, the sun mellows us.

Snow is coming tonight, the best of gifts

on this coming silent night.

Our tree is trimmed simply this year as if to make 

a promise for a simpler year to come. This was not

a year I will soon forget. 

Lots of loss and heart wrenching days. 

There is a gift in that though. 

Steering my life ship

away from the hidden ocean ledges 

along the shoreline, further into calmer waters, 

I hope to sail there more often.

The ornaments are few but reminders of loved ones.

Above is one made by our dear friend, Katie,

frames of our farm, sheep and dogs.

 

One special friend is truly suffering having lost her

love. Nothing to do but ride out the storm.

Christmas and the light of it's force will

kiss her gently.

The pups got an early chew today to work

off the boredom of waiting while I finished all the

preparations.

Now we celebrate the reason for this special time.

Music, conversation, friendship, wood fires, 

phone calls to those not near, 

a Christmas pageant nearby in the twinkling evening.

I wish each of you the gift of love. 

It is all we need. 

Merry Christmas, Happy holidays!

 

this is it!

There is an enormous sale this weekend at 

Long Ridge Farm
116 Paine Rd, Westmoreland, NH 

10-4PM Saturday and Sunday, December 1st & 2nd.

Come celebrate my birthday and take advantage of great savings!

 Included are spinning fibers, pre-felt, raw fleece,

closeout yarns from the farm, naturally dyed,

sourced yarns from Rowan, Brown Sheep and more,
 books, project bags, fiber equipment,
naturally-dyed tagua nut buttons,
rug hooking, spinning and knitting notions
and more....
much is new, most at 50% off.

Plus naturally dyed scarves, scrumptious leather
and special yarns.... 

This is the place to shop...
for holiday gifts or self-indulgence.
I am in the mood and afterall it's my
birthday....swing by!

good women

New Hampshire made history this election 

with full court press for women,

from governor to senators and congress women.

here is pretty simple.

a wall has emerged

in a space once occupied by sheep
and even students in the summer

young feathers have joined with

a bunch of woolies.

a wall between at night.

it's the best of all worlds.

women to the 

the left and women to the right with

private bathrooms.

private windows with full sunshine come morning

no bickering at night.

left side, right side congeniality.

Lily loves her freedom to eat and smile as she chooses.

 and in a small house nearby Matilda still carries forth alone.

during the days she ranges about the barnyards

and each night she returns to her private quarters.

we tried to integrate her with 

the other hens but she won't have it.

I understand this woman.

and all the while of late

 my heart is heaving for this woman, my friend.

a soldier in life's battle.

Patty is losing her husband of 3+ decades.

 all of a sudden.

time is imminent.

they just learned the grim truth weeks ago.

women friends.
life is complex.

Rhinebeck look back

Hurricane Sandy is barreling in tonight and this could be the view
in a few hours if driving. But rather it was the view
last weekend while Faith and I drove down to the
Rhinebeck show in New York to sell my wares.

It was a miserable, rainy Friday but promised to be

a gorgeous weekend regaling peak foliage along the Hudson River.

We set up the booth Friday afternoon which is always

a space challenge. How to get 4 times as much into a

pint-sized booth. Faith and I work well together

and after a few dress rehearsals we were ready for the show.

Rhinebeck is a monster of a fiber show, more than

250 vendors and record crowds every year. This was

the aisle by our booth Sunday morning just after opening.

Saturday was double the people. It is so busy

there isn't time to get to the bathroom with two of us working!

Mind over matter wins.

There is something about the maples on the fairground,

every year they are just perfect reds, oranges and golds.

And there are always the cutest babies

donning woolen knitwear...

and faces to die for. This is Oliver.

Faith captured a little Chihuahua mix.

A special friend, Nutmeg Owl,

created this beautiful shawl for me to display to showcase

my lace weight silk yarns. You can read more in the link 

above. She also wrote a great post about the show here.
Needless to say the yarns flew off the shelf!

Loved backing into our parking space Saturday night only to find

an easy-to-collect stash of black walnuts to take home. Perfect!

Saturday night dinner with Faith at Terrapin.

It's become a mother/daughter tradition to do the

shows together and a treat for us both.

I don't get a chance to shop this show as there

isn't enough time to get out and about but our booth

is fortunate to be very near the book signing area

so I swung through late Sunday afternoon.
There was one lone star author sitting with her new book.

Instantly I was drawn to the story she shared and the tale of her great-great-grandfather

"a nineteenth-century millionaire, William Skinner, a leading founder of the 

American silk industry, who lost everything in a devastating flood and his

improbably, inspiring comeback to the pinnacle of the business world."

From the first page this is a gripping story. Her writing style is
easy and captivating and it all took place
just south of here in Massachusetts in the late 1800's.
Put this one on your reading list and Rhinebeck
a destination next year!

look, see, run

Looking back a month, I guided a lovely group through the day

learning to dye with indigo. Beautiful blues.

A vintage dress that was a rather bland light peach

morphed. It was dyed with the indigo I grew this summer

which yielded a much greener blue. Love it!

It was a made to order September day here on the farm.

The pumpkins got harvested and they were huge 

despite the dry summer.

The flock finally in their glory with cooler

temperatures and less fences set for rotation.

A free for fall grazing time.

We got the last of the hay in, loft full, case closed for winter.

Kalie helped me while I loaded bales to the elevator.

Every blessed sheep coat from last shearing to date

got washed and sorted, finally.

Crystal is still with us doing it slowly

and calmly.

Early October Long Ridge Farm was on the 

artisan tour and it was a wonderful experience.

Luna was the official greeter!

I was delighted that right around the corner there

is a breadmaker and a new winery. 

Made for a great tour route.

Lots of people stopped to visit and shop while I let 

the fresh indigo vat simmer all day and dyed up a storm.

I gave people the chance to dip their own silk to watch

the magic happen.

The sheep modeled for the visitors. Good sheep.

And now it's time for Rhinebeck. Shoving off momentarily.
A very special delivery came
from a very dear Owl friend.
You can read about it here and see it on display
at the show. Just gorgeous.
Come visit the grand dame of the
wool festivals on the east coast this Saturday and Sunday.

in the cover of darkness

Autumn as been short and lackluster in my corner of the world. 

I suspect the too dry summer stressed the trees and when the time

came to say goodbye to their canopies, it was without a fight.

The leaves have drifted down, mostly yellow, ever as lovely,

on the forest walks,

 giving way to my favorite view. 

I can see the flock in the near field now from the house. 

And they can see the lights of home come nightfall. 

Weather reports portend the end of the growing season

tomorrow night with a killing frost. I am behind on that count.

It can't be! I looked at the thermometer in the kitchen window

tonight. It reads 34. Too close for discomfort.

Luna and I swung about the gardens to cover anything

I am not ready to part with yet.

The indigo won. 

It will have a few days relief after

tomorrow night and we have work left to do

my indigo and I.

about today

On this day in 2006, at this very hour, I was standing alone in the far field at the farm. 

My memory of that moment is as if it was yesterday. 

I felt an eerie silence. An aloneness I couldn't define.

Never did I imagine

what I would learn by nightfall.

As I stood in the field staring at the hills, 

waiting for the sun to come shining

through, an hour or so away in the heart of NH,

my big brother, Jim Walker, was logging alone in the woods 

with his horses,

and suffered a massive heart attack.

No one found him until late afternoon.

It was too late.

True, he died doing what he loved the very most with

his beloved horses at his side.

Somehow that consolation falls short.

Jim with Ted and Tony 2006

He was loved by so many people.

He loved so many in return and would give the shirt off his

back for those who he cared for.

 me and Jim at 6 and 10 on our farm in Amherst, NH

Jim Walker was a good man, taken too soon.

I am thankful for those who share this day with me each year

who also miss this guy immensely.

So goes October 4th every year.

they do remember

Katie, dear friend and prior shepherdess,

is home for a visit from Rwanda after a year away.

she came for the weekend here on the farm.

a treat for us all.

Katie was most excited to visit the flock,

as she had done chores daily, helped with lambing
and written wonderful tales about the flock.

she was much loved for the two plus years she lived on the farm.

the first evening she and I did chores together
and it was a happy reunion.

 the following afternoon

Crystal was waiting for her own visit. she gets around

but the arthritis keeps her less mobile than the rest.

Crystal looked, listened and accepted Katie back into the fold

with no hesitation.

it's been reported before but now I see

it first hand. sheep can remember up to

200 faces for up to 2 years time.

it was a sweet reunion we had.