The Navajo-Churro wool is beautiful! Just look at the colors of the sheep I was able to photograph before everyone came charging into the barn last week. I’ve been fascinated by their coats since we first purchased Reese and her twins, Lovey and Clara (Clara Barton Angel Of The Battlefield, so named by my history-loving son) years ago.

Attending sheep and wool festivals is always a treat because you get to see how spinners are using the wool and wool blends. I couldn’t wait to visit Loch’s Fiber Mill to “fill in the blanks”—I see the wool when it’s fallen from the sheep after shearing and I’ve seen the finished product in skeins, ready for knitting or weaving, but didn’t know exactly what went in to processing wool.

The morning we spent at the fiber mill was fascinating and informative….so much so that we couldn’t do just one quick segment—we had to break it down into parts! Jamie and Randy were so hospitable they invited us back to their maple syrup festival next year.

For more information, visit www.lochsmaple.com/fibermill/index.html

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Our host, Tracy Toth, tours a wool processing “fiber mill” in Wool Webisode 1.

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On the last day of school this spring Bob, the bus driver, was 10 minutes late getting to our house. I figured appreciative parents were showering him with praise and presents (Bob’s one-of-a-kind). Instead, when I asked he just pointed in the direction of the feed store and said “traffic jam.”

“Oh…”, I smiled. He was referring to the four-legged variety and not the two-axle kind.

Every morning, a local dairy farmer leads his herd down the road to another pasture and then collects them in the evening to milk. If you time it just right, you get to watch the march—it’s special—only this time, it caught the school bus. I bet if Bob has to call the transportation office to explain the tardiness, not much of an excuse is needed.

School will be back in session in a few weeks and we’ll all be engrossed once again in our hustle and bustle. I can count on that traffic jam catching me at some point…and I can’t wait. It’s just one of the reasons I love this area.

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I wander around the yard and barn capturing images I think would make nice accompaniments to blog entries and snapped this one of the chair in my flower bed.

Pausing to look at it in the downloaded images, it occurred to me that I’d never really SAT in the chair?! Not once! I seem to scurry about, in all different directions, here and there, between the barn and the house and the flowers and the compost area and the chicken coop that I just don’t pause for that good old-fashioned breather.

Don’t get me wrong; I’ve long-since admired the little ice-cream parlor chair…heck, I even smile at the chair…I just don’t sit in the chair. Maybe it’s time to re-think that……especially since the lavender’s in bloom!

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When I began canning, years ago, I was amazed to find preserving fruits and veggies wasn’t just “pickles and jellies.” In the years since then, I’ve collected and used many recipes stretching from marmalades to desserts!

The conserve is so versatile, one can use it as a spread on your toast in the morning or a topping on your cheesecake after dinner (or, like I prefer, with a little chevre). There are usually a few different flavors “going on” in the jar, regardless of the fruit you’ve used for the conserve.

The deep blue of the blueberry doesn’t allow us to see the lemon and orange rings that are part of the recipe – which is a shame because that makes for a lovely presentation. I’ll get over that though….I have to; there’s only one jar left!

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We all have them, to varying degrees. It can be a smell or a sight that conjures up one’s earliest memories. For me, the blooms of chicory and Queen Anne’s lace call up memories of stone bruises, calloused bare feet, scabby knees, popsicle-stained t-shirts, a cane pole, rusty fishhooks, and can of worms.

We had a lake behind our house when I was growing up. It was called a “lake” but to see it now, it’s more like a pond. I spent endless afternoons catching bluegill and the occasional bass out of that lake but had to make my way through a small meadow to get to it.

The stiff chicory always withstood my direct steps and there was nothing else in that whole open “bouquet” that matched that periwinkle blue color. I used to bring mom big handfuls of Queen Anne’s lace which she displayed proudly despite her terrible pollen allergy.

I see the flowers blooming now, in early August, on the sides of roads and in our meadow. Too many people call them “weeds.” Let me just grab my cane pole. I’ll meet you at the lake.

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We had an abundance of currants this year–so many that I was able to make both Bar-Le-Duc (currant preserves) and currant jelly.

Bar-Le-Duc is a highly-prized accompaniment but I was surprised to learn that currant jelly is regarded as “lower cost and quality.”

To make a jelly, one must extract the juice and then the juice is combined with other ingredients. No small feat with currants, which are not the juiciest of fruits!

I find the Bar-Le-Duc and the currant jelly very satisfying. Maybe my palate needs an upgrade? I think not. I’ll continue to enjoy them both. Equally.

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This very brown pile is responsible for making our corn very happy.

You see, corn requires heavy amounts of nitrogen in order to yield well. The manure/straw bedding that is taken from the sheep stalls is loaded with nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium — the main elements essential for healthy plant growth. (Raw manure, containing ammonium-N, which will dissipate when exposed to the heat and air of the outdoors, is applied to the soil early in the Spring.)

The pile in the picture came from one very large stall that wasn’t cleaned along with the others a few months ago—and had over-wintered. David estimated its weight at 4-5 tons! It’s a very difficult job breaking the mass apart in the stalls, separating it into wagon loads and taking it to the compost area away from the barn. And to say the ammonia odor is “strong” is an understatement!! However, the contents are rich in “plant food” and feeds the garden soil that is constantly at work to “feed” and nourish the plants.

The remants of the pile will compost itself and shrink down. We’ll use it in the Fall or even next Spring. Right now? The corn’s pretty happy—if a vegetable can be “happy”.

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