Winter Woolies

 Our first snow fell last week. Rob was pictured on the front page of the Great Falls Tribune carrying the mail in the 7 inches that fell that day there. He was wearing wool socks and long underwear top to bottom. A pet peeve of ours is that the US Postal Service does not have ANY wool clothing available from their official  uniform suppliers. And the 1000's of USPS employees are required to wear official uniforms ---at least on the outside! Wool outperforms synthetics in average conditions, let alone extreme ones! Synthetics get colder when they are wet; they do not breath when a person in sub-freezing temps works up a sweat; they chafe skin to an unbearable degree when wet or cold. Wouldn't it be great if our USPS supported US wool producers AND kept their employees better equipped? Ok......Enough of the "peeves".

**If you need handspun yarns for your holiday projects check out my sale pages. I have new yarn blends all the time, or can custom spin for you.
I have 2 pretty new rovings for you spinners.
And cute sheepy tree ornaments which also make good nativity scene figures.

The term "smallholding" is used in England to describe small farms. In this land of really BIG holdings--like our friends who farm many 1000's of acres--"small holding" seems to fit what we do on our modest 4 acres.
SO on our smallholding, we have been winterizing for weeks. We made the final "animal addition" to our place with the arrival of our new ram-lamb from Tucker Family Farms in Victor MT. Tyler Tucker's uncle, who lives near us, found the time to haul our sweet ewe lamb, Twinkie, over the Rockies on the 4 hour trip to Victor. He then brought home our new little ram, affectionately named, Tucker.  Tyler and his wife have been busy developing their organic, self-contained farm....and having their first baby! So life there has been hectic. We are grateful to know this delightful family! Other activities here include reducing the animal census, drying off the milkers, setting up heated watertanks and heat lamps, worming, hoof-trimming etc. I even got a new snowshovel!

The Montana Farmer's Union conference was a happy success! Five MT wool businesses showcased their products in a booth we organized. Area spinning guild members staffed the colorful booth and delighted people with their spinning and weaving skills. Our grandson, Toby, helped me set up the Fiber Market as well as my Heifer International booth.


As you do your Holiday shopping, Heifer International offers a unique approach to gift-giving which you may enjoy. They seek to end world hunger through gifts of agricultural development, so people in various parts of the world can become self-reliant. Check out their website at www.heifer.org  for "honor gifts" of animals, trees, water and more.

Blessings on your Thanksgiving!