I am trying to create a few small baskets to sell at the Waldorf Winter Fair next weekend. So far I have three made, and the biggest one in this picture is for my sister . I tried to make it square, but I need some work on the border.  The fitching went well though,  and I like the sturdyness of the border.

These two darlings came Sunday afternoon. Thank goodness Kevin noticed when Bundle was anxious by the barn. ..They were a bit cold but not too bad.  They had been licked dry and seemed alert. Annabelle is the Mom and although she seemed a bit confused at first (First Freshener) she is now standing beautifully for them. She was returned with her mom and 3 other bucks...about 5 months ago.  Only one of the bucks was a Nubian and judging from their long ears it must have been Jack, Candace' s buck that caught her on the trailer ride. Today, it was zero degrees out,  so nice and warm compared to Sunday night, so now they're drinking well and warm under the heat lamp with momma in the barn.  It was nice having them in the house though Sunday night. 

We said goodbye to our final campers of the season today! What a great set of camps we had. I do believe we have created a bunch of farmers this summer, teaching self sufficiency and community building has felt oh-so- very rewarding!!!

We will be setting dates for next years`s camps soon after Christmas, so keep your eyes and ears to the dirt til then!

In the meantime I want to share a few websites that I have recommended over and over this summer:

Proboards family cow
Misty Mountain Lye Calculator
Glengarry Cheese


I would also like to invite you all to join me on Sept 13 at 10 am til 3 pm to create a Coiled Cattail Basket. Our friends at the most recent homesteading for homeschoolers camp helped harvest and store plenty of cattails so that I can teach and weave all winter long if I want!! Gotta love how much boys like wielding machetes!!! The cost for this workshop is $30 and we will potluck our lunch, so bring something homemade and garbage-free :) I will likely supply cheese :) send me an email :)

This is Willow, the one girl, about one week old. Thanks to Kerry, Terry and Shania for this wonderful experience of having kittens. We will be keeping all of them and they have taken over the barn loft! So much so that they haven't come out yet to meet Tootles! We got little males so that Tootles wouldn't be put out in his old age... they better come out soon while he's still spry! Pretty soon now they will be old enough to spay and neuter!

These are Bella, Benjamina, Betsy and Benjamin. Their buddies this year are Beatrice, Blaine, Banjo, Bongo and Bassoon.

Soooo fun to watch!!! Come on out people and "waste" an afternoon watching baby goats play!!!

And our faithful momma duck, who sat on eggs for over a month!!, was finally rewarded with ONE duckling! Picture coming soon, if they make it....long story, but the ducks don't want to come in at night and the coyotes are getting them when they sit beside the pond all night long. Rigel has built a raft (Thanks Sam and Duncan for helping him!) and they are now using it and the two remaining females we have (the male only lasted long enough to fertilize on egg apparently!!) have been coming into the barn more frequently, so it is hoped they are the "smart" ones!