From our Farmhouse to Yours....

Wishing you all the best for this holiday season. May 2019 bring you good health, happiness and creativity. 

Thank you so much for reading, your kind words, your support and encouragement. I'll be back after the holiday season. I hope you have time to take a break, enjoy some good food, friends, and family. XO Kristin

Preparing for The 4th Annual Holiday Open House

Things have been busy, busy, busy here. Mark's health after the pulmonary embolism diagnosis seems to be improving a little at a time. Scary stuff. He has re-started Physical Therapy and is so much happier that he has a place to go a couple times a week. Each time he has PT he sees little improvements. Thank goodness. 

I have been embedded in my basement studio painting as many pieces of pottery as I can every day. Here is a photo of some pieces that will be bisque fired - hopefully this weekend and then glaze fired again before the 4th Annual Open House. 

Some days (like yesterday) I accomplished NOTHING because I had to do the last Tuesday Farmers Market in Northampton. Talk about frustrating - it was very cold and the traffic was so slow. The best part of the day was talking to the other vendors who I will not see again until next spring. 

On Saturday, I will be selling our Farm Raised Lamb at the LAST Amherst Farmers Market of the 2018 season on the Common from 8 to 1:30. The weather looks to be decent and so I am hoping for a good busy day. Farm raised lamb and Kristin's Tea Towels. Come if you are local! Would love to see you. 

Here is the flyer I prepared for the Open House. I think it looks good. Nice and colorful.

I have even created a Facebook event that you can find here.

We may be having a "weather event" - snow and sleet on Thursday night. I am not looking forward to that. We just got 4 cords of wood delivered - thank goodness. It was tough finding it this year. Need to get it covered up before it gets wet and full of snow and turns to ice. 

Next week, we will again hosting Thanksgiving with lots of my family. So many of Julia's cousins are now making their way in the world. It will be fun to catch up with them and my sisters, brothers-in-laws, cousins, and our Mom. I'm picking up the turkeys on Monday. I had to get a new oven because the 18 year old one only had 2 burners that worked. I like the one I got so far. The turkey will be the test. It has a gas oven which I haven't had since our old house. 

Hope your week is going decent. My prayers for the folks displaced by those insane fires in California. 

Holiday Good Wishes 2017.....

.... from our farmhouse to yours. Here's to the important things - spending time with family and friends, enjoying a good meal, and cookies and sweets. May you be warm and cosy and safe. 

I wish you the best and thank you all for your support, friendship, encouragement, and kind words. May the coming year bring you creativity, health and happiness. 

XO
Kristin

Merry Christmas - Happy Holidays 2016

Merry Christmas from our farm to yours. May you and yours have the happiest of holidays. We wish you all the best as we go into 2017. I look forward to sharing more with you as we continue on our journey of life, farming, making, creativity and color. 

This photo was taken a few years ago as the yearling ewes came up the hill during a particularly beautiful snowstorm. If you look close you will see our Border Collie Ness amongst the sheep. She was always there - working her charges. So nice to see her beautiful face as she has been gone for a year now. We were lucky to have her in our lives, as we are lucky to have you be part of our adventure too. We are thankful for all of you who read and comment over the years. Here's to a peaceful holiday season and 2017 for all of us. XO 

Back Again And Life Moves On

It has been over two weeks since I last opened my laptop. Gee whiz - how awesome! I actually forgot about the keyboard! I never feel totally disconnected because of my smartphone but I did try (and quite successfully) to not look at it too much. I am now jumping back into work and on-line life with the holidays over and life back to semi normal. Most of the Christmas decorations are still up and they will stay up for at least another month. I love the twinkling lights and glitter at this dark time of the year and I see no reason to put it away as it adds much visual cheer. 

We had a nice couple of weeks. I cherish the time we get to spend time together without the interruption of Julia's school schedule. The three of us visited my mom and my sisters in NJ and Julia and I went to Boston for a quick trip. Otherwise it was low key. Farming never stops for The Farmer. He is only able to be away for 2 evenings after getting the animals all stocked up with food. He never really relaxes when he away and I know he keeps thinking about all that needs to be done to get ready for lambing. He couldn't believe that it had been a year since he last was at my mom's house. Time certainly does seem to fly by the older you get, doesn't it? 

The Christmas Holiday Season is always bittersweet for me. My Dad passed away on the Winter Solstice eleven years ago. I always dread that day. I will never forget the early morning call from my sister Jenn sobbing and crying. That Christmas was a sad one with the silver lining of having the whole family together to remember Daddy's life. I'm sure many of you have had similar experiences around the holidays losing loved ones. There was an article in the WSJ about this same subject. This December, we lost two dear family and farm friends and we still are adjusting to thinking about life without them on the earth. 

We had an ice and snow storm shortly after Christmas. I am still hacking away a path through the thick ice. Now we are in a deep freeze. It is "pipe freezing weather" and "lamb killing weather". I know - most of you probably don't think of these things but that is the gist of the general conversation when you live on a farm - the weather - the animals - and what is for supper. Luckily, most of the lambs are not due for a week or so. We have had 4 so far and when I get a chance, I will post some photos. I have light bulbs next to the the pipes in the kitchen which always seems to help. We have been hauling wood for the furnace but it is still chilly in the house. Good thing for wool sweaters and hats. 

Boy oh boy, I just re-read this post and it sounds like such a bummer and downer. I do not mean to sound that way and try to keep this place happy and upbeat but life is not all wine and roses. Sometimes it is best for me to share the good with the bad so that many of you reading who live in different places and dream of living a beautifully bucolic farm life, don't get the wrong impression of perfect life on the farm. Frankly, life is not perfect on a farm - just like it isn't perfect where you live. We are all faced with challenges, heartaches, sickness, death mixed amongst the happiness. On a farm it swings greatly between the two emotions of joy and sadness more frequently. 

On the 23rd, we lost our dear Border Collie Nessie to cancer. She was 10 1/2 years old and was the hardest working dog we have ever had. We miss her constantly. I keep saying to Kate - "Are you ready to be in charge? Ready to be top dog?" She looks at me with the most quizzical look.

Ness on our last walk through the fields on December 18th

The fact of the matter is I have seen a distinct change in Kate the past couple weeks without Nessie being around. At first she was trying to figure out where Nessie had gone. Then she realized that she doesn't have to fight at the food bowl anymore because Nessie was always laying next to it guarding it. She is more in tune with The Farmer's every move. She is always waiting for him to go outside to go to see the sheep. She used to love to ride in the car when Julia and I were out and about doing errands. Not now - she is all business just waiting to hop in the truck and go with him to do chores. Try as I might last night, she would not hop in and ride with Julia and me. 

Kate has been The Farmer's main working dog this fall because Ness was failing. She has a long ways to go and still scatters the sheep in the wrong direction at times. I think as she matures more and hangs around the sheep at the barn she should hopefully figure it all out. She is incredibly agile and quick and very sweet. During the winter, there is no herding or moving to be done because the sheep are all tucked into the barns. 

We will have to think about getting another Border Collie puppy soon. We have not been without two dogs in the house in over 30 years. I am missing the routine of having two dogs in the house with us daily. We have lost 3 dogs in the last 13 months - Phoebe, Winston, and Ness. Boy oh boy. You love them so much and then they are gone. And then you miss them and think about them every day. I call their names out of habit and then realize they are not here anymore.  

The LGD puppies Beau and Sadie are doing great outside. They are getting huge! They definitely know their place and reason for being on this earth - to guard the sheep and our family. There has been a lot more barking during the dark evening hours which is what they should be doing. Their coats are so thick and curly and beautiful. They still are not doing too good in the "not jumping on people department." Shoveling snow and ice and gathering firewood is one of their favorite activities. 

As Garrison Keillor says, "That's the news from Leyden Glen Farm today...." I'm not much for Year in Review Posts nor New Year Resolutions. It's best for me to just jump back in where I left off and start organizing what needs to be done. The photos in this post were taken on December 18th and I have not wanted to download them onto my computer to look at them until now knowing that this was the last nice walk I took with Ness. 

I hope you all had a wonderful holiday season and I look forward to sharing lots with you this 2016. 

Merry Christmas from Our Farm to Yours

Wishing you all a Merry Christmas and Joyful Holiday Season. Thank you all for your support this past year. I look forward to sharing more with you in 2016. 

I just found out the Yankee article is now available on-line. Check it out here. 

This is too good not to share. Enjoy! 

Easy Decorations Here for Christmas at the Farm

Last week, I had to make our farmhouse feel festive for the first Open House here at Leyden Glen Farm. I must be honest with you all -- we don't entertain a lot during the holidays. I mostly decorate for us to make the short winter days seem more bearable. We only have a few more days of shortening days and then they will get longer - hooray. 

So last week before the Open House, I did some quick holiday decorating. I never have a lot of time and don't go over the top. I prefer a natural look with little bits of our Christmas traditions added in. And I love little lights. I leave them up some places all year long. I think in the UK they call them fairy lights. I usually buy extras when they are at a deep discount after the holidays because for some reason, when i pull out the old ones, they never seem to work. Quality? 

My favorite part of decorating is to take my pruning shears and go out into the woods and clip lots of pine boughs, spruce, hemlock and whatever other green-ish stuff I can find. I throw it into the back of the truck and lug it indoors. Then I fill vases with greens and it just makes the house seem more alive and ready for the holidays. Nothing fancy and very reasonably priced - free. 

Mom brought me some pine roping at Thanksgiving and my brother-in-law Pat helped me hang it on the house. I love pine roping - it lasts a long time and it just says Christmas to me. Sometimes I make roping but I didn't have a lot of time this year. My family and I made some wreaths after Thanksgiving on our craft day. I ripped some silk scraps I had to make really pretty ribbons. Even the lamb shack and chicken coop get some roping and wreaths. 

I pulled out some of the little antique sheep I have collected over the years and grouped them on a desk with my Staffordshire statues.

The pom pom garland has been a staple this year at our house. You can watch my YouTube video and make your own. 

And because we are into pom poms, I dressed up some other sheep things I have around with pom poms. 

Out came the birch houses and my glittered sheep and pig. I have quite a collection that I have made over the years. I lined them up on the mantle in the dining room and added some votives. The candlelight makes the glitter sparkle. Here is a birch house tutorial. 

Here is the total scene - The oil painting above the mantle is done by a friend's husband who passed away. She gave it to me because it was a farm scene. He painted for years and years and never had a show nor sold any paintings. He just painted for the joy of painting. I like to have it as a reminder of what is important in art. 

I started a bunch of paperwhites just before Thanksgiving. They are blooming now. I was hoping they would be open for the Open House but they weren't. Just having the greenery though makes the house feel warmer. I ordered a bunch of them from Van Engelen so I keep potting them up all winter long. Nice quality and a reasonable way to keep up some cheer and life all winter. 

Here are some on the windowsill. The thing in front of them is Kate's dog crate in the kitchen. It is such a big ugly thing but she likes it and feels safe in it so it stays. On top is my sunflower fabric design which you can get on Spoonflower here. There was a lot of interest in it at the Open House. 

I also brought out the glittery ornaments I made out of cardboard when Julia was little. I love these things. More sparkle and really easy to make and cheap. All you need is recycled cardboard, glitter, scissors, Elmer's glue, and a paintbrush. 

So that is pretty much it here for decorations until we get our tree next weekend. I hope you all are enjoying the festive season. 

And if you missed it - my Etsy Pottery Shop re-opened on Friday. There is still a good selection of my colorful pottery left. Check it out here. 

Happy Easter - Happy Spring from the Farm

We are off to a family lunch but I wanted to pop in and wish you all a Happy Easter and Happy Spring from all of us at the farm. Here are a few photos of some of the new arrivals from earlier in the week. The snow is almost gone now and the sheep are beginning to poke around looking for any green shoot they can find (wishful thinking!). 

I just discovered this beautiful Easter tradition from Sicily via Julia Della Croce -- almond paste Easter lambs. So sweet - all covered with flowers and beaded confections. Did anyone grow up with this tradition? Made of marzipan, this is a sweeter rendition of the butter lambs (also sweet in a different way) from the other day (see butter lamb video here). Here are directions to make a butter lamb. 

Photo by Julia Della Croce from her blog Forktales

Happy Easter to everyone who celebrates and Happy Spring to everyone in the Northern Hemisphere! 

Beginning Again

We had a relaxing, restorative holiday season here at the farm. Lots of movie watching, nice stews, soups, a roast duck from our friends Laura and Rob at Sweet Morning Farm, and lots of glittery lights and tinsel decorations. The decorations are not coming down anytime soon because frankly, they make getting through winter much easier! Walking in from the cold to see twinkling decorations makes me smile. 

This week, it is unbearably cold. It is an extra job to keep the furnace stoked with wood and even then, the old farmhouse is still chilly and we are piling on the wool sweaters and blankets. Thank goodness for wool. 

The Farmer with his buddy Tommie getting rested up for lambing season

The last batch of kittens have all moved on to their new homes. It is quiet without them, I must say. No scurrying around underfoot, no pom poms being torn to shreds. Cats are fine and we love ours - but that kitten energy is so much fun. 

And then, they sleep and sleep hard.

It's about to get rather gray, white, and muck brown around this blog. Every year, when I look back on the past year's posts and my photos, I realize how "neutral" all the January through March photos are. That is because outside in western Massachusetts, it is stark, cold, gray, tan, and white. Added on to all these neutrals is the upcoming onslaught of lamb and sheep photos - off white, shades of brown, hay, and muck. For all you neutral lovers, this is your season on the "Getting Stitched on the Farm" blog! 

The sheep have started lambing. This week is proving very difficult with an ice storm and now everything is frozen. Walking around is a challenge - even with those metal track things that wrap around boots. We can't put down enough sand and salt. The Farmer took a spill the other day and he is hurting but cannot stop working because the animals are depending on him. (I seriously worry and wonder about how many more years he can keep up his pace.) There are a lot of mouths to feed and mothers to look after with babies coming daily. I help and we have an intern learning about lambing a few mornings a week. Our friend Terri, a delivery room nurse, is going to help some too.  I realize now why farm families had a lot of children - it would be very helpful to have some extra hands. Here are some previews of photos to come.

Stay warm everyone!

2015 Arrives

Wishing all your dreams come true for 2015 my dear friends. We've had a few quiet days here at the farm, enjoying the time off and chance to be together. Here are some photos from the last couple weeks that feel wintery and holiday-ish. I hope you all have enjoyed the short days and the holiday season. If you are lucky to have extra time off with your family, make the most of it!

 

Happy 2015 everyone!