Today Jack and I celebrate our 26th wedding anniversary. It’s always kind of a low key affair for us, seems best to just be home and recognizing our blessings.When I first arrived home from work and went down to the barn there were three deer grazing in the near field pictured above. It was so quiet all about and they were spanned out across the field, quite content. After Jack arrived home from work and we tended to the daily chores, we took our ATV’s, a bottle of good wine, fresh shrimp cocktail and warm garlic bread up on the long ridge where we sat and enjoyed the moment of this one special day. The sun was going down, the wind was a bit high, there was a chill to the air and we sat and reflected for that one brief hour; blessings, losses, hopes and dreams. It’s been a great quarter plus century for us…we wouldn’t have it any other way. As we returned down off the ridge the deer were back in the field once again grazing as we headed for the barn. Nice.

Here are a few pictures from the CT Sheep and Wool Festival last Saturday. It was a very nice event, with a great group of vendors, sheep events such as shearing demos and ongoing demos about how to skirt a fleece, plus a sheep to shawl contest; the judges were the famous Roving Spinners, Richard Muto and David Lima! What stood out to me as the best part of the festival was the organization of the association. They had thought of everything to keep it flowing nicely. There was a fantastic Shepherd’s Cafe that served lamb burgers and lamb stew plus many other items all day, at great prices. There was a large fleece sale with more than 100 fleeces offered and by noon there were less than 20 left! I heard the gates were closed about 11AM as there was no more parking!And the fairgounds were a nice size. The sun came out just after 9am after a dreary, foggy start and it was sunny all day UNTIL 4:30 when all of us vendors and members had to start packing our cars to go home, and then did it pour! My clothes were still wet when I got back to NH at 7:30PM!
Two thumbs up to Connecticut Sheep Breeders Association for a great festival!

Pictures top to bottom: Me! www.longridgefarm.com; happy fiber shoppers; Katharyn Crippen Shapiro of www.crippenworks.com ; Leslie Smith Jackson and her daughter of members.aol.com/wwweaver1 ; and the booth for www.themerlintree.com

To the Connecticut Sheep and Wool Festival, tomorrow, April 28th! I have a truck load of wool, fleeces, dyes and related items! And of course it is raining cats and dogs (so to speak!) so what could go in the back of the pickup will have to be stuffed inside instead. If you are in the vicinity of the Tolland Ag Center, Rt 30, Vernon, CT stop by and visit. I will be in the Gold Building, it’s heated, yeah! Cheerio!

Button, button, who’s got the button? Remember that simple game when we were kids?( I know, probably dating myself!) It was so simple…someone would have a button between their hands and would go around the group and pretend to pass it to each person…and one person would get it dropped into their hands. Then one person had to guess who had it. Of course as kids it was easy to spot the winner, they had smiles all over their faces!

Well, these buttons pictured are great fun also. They are made from Tagua nuts and are part of a successful rainforest preservation initiative in Equador which Earthues has been proud to support. Through a collective the nuts are gathered and fashioned into vegetable ivory buttons, the monies raised helping local villages in that region.

I have tinted the buttons with various Earthues extracts and they make a wonderful finish to your own projects! I will have them posted on the store in a few weeks or be sure to visit me at my booths this year www.longridgefarm.com/events.asp where I will have them for sale.

Here, in the center of the picture, is Memphis with last year’s lamb, Charlotte, each with their head on the other’s back, just snoozing. What is as touching is Savannah, Memphis’ lamb from ’03 just behind and to the right watching over them both. Memphis is the only ewe we have who sleeps with her offspring this way, even after they are full grown.