#GivingTuesday : Barnraiser--Kickstarter for farmers

#GivingTuesday may almost be over, but it seems like the perfect day to share one of the things that has been bookmarked on my computer for weeks, because I knew I wanted to share it with all of you. Projects like this are always near and dear to my heart, and this is one that needs more eyes, voices and support behind it. 

An email from Barnraiser showed up in my inbox a few weeks ago and I was immediately intrigued. The best way for me to sum up Barnraiser is that it is like Kickstarter for farmers, artisans, educators and community projects that are aimed at helping to reshape our food system. It's for anyone wanting to make a difference in the way we farm and the way we eat. 

Just a quick perusal of the site and you'll find projects like heirloom fruit orchards and classroom gardens, a bakery's wood-burning oven, a farm's micro-creamery, sustainable bees and responsible chicken farms, looking for financial support to get their projects and ideas up and running. 

Secretly, I've always had lofty dreams of ways I'd love to dig my hands into agricultural and community-based ideas. But one of the things always holding me back was "where would I ever come up with the money." 

It's projects like Barnraiser that are opening the doors for these ideas that are making a difference and making changes in our local resources, small farming communities and the food that ends up on our tables. 

Take a moment on this #GivingTuesday (or Wednesday or Thursday or any day!) to check out this Barnraiser. Trust me, you'll be inspired by these people.

**Also note: Anytime you make a pledge on Barnraiser you can elect to gift your reward to someone else...what a cool way to give this holiday season.**

Just what we need at Woodlawn

If there's one thing you hear me say it's that we need more girls around this place.

So ten new heifers milling around the fields outside the house? No big deal. They arrived on Monday and we've been talking about things like the fact that the electric fence is now turned on, what songs they probably want to have sung to them, and who gets the orphan with the black and white face. 

They are currently being named and claimed. And serenaded (though not by trombone.) And last night, I found a certain 12-year-old flat on her back in the middle of the field doing homework and hoping curiosity would bring them in greet to her.

I told the girls we need to come up with a theme for name-selection. 

We're open to suggestions. 

Happy weekend friends! It's been wonderful being back here so much this week. Feels like old times. Must get back in the habit.

More soon...xo.

Short list after a long break

I'm sitting in my non-air-conditioned "office" and sweating-- even though I have a fan strategically placed on the desk beside me, blowing directly onto the side of my head. But I'm not complaining. Because outside in the barn are 20 tweens filming the 'death scene' from Romeo and Juliet in full costumes of varying degrees of polyester, velvet, nylon tights, cloaks and capes. I'm sitting here contemplating what would be the best refreshment for those poor kiddos, aside from dunking their heads in a bucket of ice water. I'm leaning towards lemonade if I can scrounge up enough plastic cups to go around. 

I've disappeared. Yes, this summer is bound and determined to not allow me to catch my breath. Apparently we've decided to squeeze every ounce of life out of it. And out of me.

So, to ease back in to this little blog of mine, I'm coming here today with a list. Because I love lists and that's the easiest way to catch up on a whole lotta stuff that needs catching up.

1. Shakespeare. What are those tweens doing in our barn in shakespearean dress? This is Emma's Shakespeare class that has been studying Romeo + Juliet during the school year and is now finishing up the filming of final scenes. Much of it has been filmed here at Woodlawn--which I'm told has required many takes thanks to noisy sheep and barn cats that like to jump into scenes at random moments.

2. It's almost time for the county fair! This time next week we'll be unpacking sheep, cakes, cookies, photographs, artwork, and crafts at the fairgrounds. On my to-do list today is to make a to-do list. For the fair. I'm not feeling stressed yet, so I figured making a list would help me get my rear in gear aka start to feel stressed. 

3. Emma rode her horse in an event--dressage, cross country and stadium jumping. Her second "official" event and just like last time, she got booted off her horse on the 4th jump, an automatic disqualification. Thankfully this time, there were less tears and more laughter. Maybe we'll try again in the fall.

4. Emma's going to school next year! This requires its own post, but this is HUGE news around here. A process we've been agonizing over for the past few months. But we're all so excited. My first homeschooler to leave the nest. 

5. We're down to 2 chickens. We have a fox. A fox who must stalk our chickens from the bushes. Not minutes after we let them out, he was racing through the front yard in broad daylight trying to snatch one up. We all screamed at him. The dog chased him. And the chickens are on house arrest. 

6. Willie sleeps through the night. Praise the Lord. He has also discovered the muddy hole in the woods behind the house and shows up at the porch door like this, all the time, wondering why I won't let him in.

7. The girls went to camp. Sadly, one camp home early with a migraine. We'll try again next year.

8. I've lost 20 pounds. And 18 inches. Woohoo. Still going strong on the healthy-front. A few bumps in the road from summer chaos, but feeling good!

I've missed you all. Hope summer is treating you sweetly. More soon. xo.

Meet Willie

We've been talking about adding to our family for awhile now. Don't get me wrong, we're in love with Ruby. In fact that's been part of our motivation to add four more paws to the family tree. We want all of her good habits to be passed on to the next little pup. 

But we've been waiting for the right time. Waiting to settle in here at Woodlawn a little bit more. Waiting for the weather to improve so that we're spending our days outside instead of in. 

And when, on somewhat of a whim a few weeks ago, I called the man who sold us Ruby and he happened to have a litter of pups just two weeks old, it seemed like the right time was finally here. 

Meet Willie. The newest member of our family as of yesterday afternoon. A boy this time. The gender scales need a little tipping in my husband's favor, I do believe. 

He's Ruby's half-brother. But for now, she's not giving much love in response to his eager curiosity. Ruby stays at my feet while I make dinner, or beside my chair while I work at my desk, cautiously eyeing this strange little thing on four paws. 

I know it's only a matter of time before they become best pals. 

Last night was Willie's first night. And just like Ruby's first few nights, I let him sleep in our bedroom. He sprawled out in a cool corner and slept all. night. long. 

I however, did not. Between booming thunderstorms, a sick kiddo, and constant checking on the snoring pup, I'm feeling the ache behind my eyes of my newborn baby days. 

But Willie was up at 5. Ready to eat and dying for attention. (I was dying for my bed.) 

But after making the rounds for morning chores, and then following me into the kitchen while I made extra-strong coffee--he's fallen asleep on the cool kitchen floor, head wedged inside someone's sneaker. 

So here we go. A baby in the house again. No more sleeping through the night for awhile...although I'm not sure I've slept through the night since I became a mother 13 years ago. 

You might remember Ruby's traumatic beginning. She turned out so well, I'm wondering if it's the secret to a perfect dog. Kidding. There will be no under-car-napping for Willie. 

Shave and a haircut :: Shearing the sheep

I remember when Sarah delivered the sheep to us a few years ago...she handed me two tool boxes full of sheep shears, clippers, blades, oil (and bandaids.) She said her husband went to a shearing school and the one thing he learned was that he never wanted to shear sheep. 

I've sheared a few sheep in my day. In fact, the very first time I met Dan's family I sheared their ram lamb. As the men of the family struggled to get the sheep down on a tarp and in to position, I stepped in, did the old 'bend the neck' trick and the ram dropped down onto his side so I could zip off his fleece. 

I'm pretty sure I sealed the deal with his family right there.

But except for buzzing down our lambs for the fair (what we call slick-shearing) I am ridiculously rusty, out of practice and a complete nervous-Nellie. On top of that, Southdowns go down in the books as one of the toughest sheep to shear because of their dense fleece. 

Last year, my sister sheared for me and one swipe into the job she turned to me and said, "I think I bit off more than I can chew." But she muscled through and we got the job done. 

But you know how sometimes in life there are jobs that you can hire out to have someone do and you think to yourself, Why have I waited so long to do this? and This is worth every single penny!. Yeah, that's how I felt about hiring someone to shear the lambs for me this year. 

Standing there watching Kristen shear my sheep, realizing that this huge job was being taken care of by someone else and someone who was doing such an amazing job? I could kiss her lanolin and wool-covered hand. 

Kristen makes the rounds shearing in the Philadelphia area and we were lucky enough to catch her on a day when she had a few farms to shear in our area. She couldn't have been nicer, kinder or more patient with my sheep. She was the best. 

Kristen shears in the New Zealand-style which means she shears them on the ground versus up on a stand. The day before she came, we eased way back on the lambs' water and feed so that they would be more comfortable while she sheared them. This way, their bellies aren't full when they are being bent into position, they are less apt to fight and fuss and less apt to get cut. 

We asked Kristen how she ended up as a shearer and she looked up and said, "This is what happens when you go to art school." In reality, Kristen majored in fiber arts and is hoping to have her own flock some day. She wants to do the whole process from growing the herbs to dye the wool, to raising her flock, shearing her sheep and turning the fibers into goods. Now, she's traveling from farm to farm learning and watching and saving money. 

We asked Kristen how many lambs she could shear in a day and she said eighty. I'll let you just sit with that fact for a moment. I thought for sure she was about to say eight. But eighty? Be still my heart (and achey back.)

The lambs get the full service treatment. After they are sheared their hooves are trimmed (another job I hate), and then they are re-introduced to the other sheep. 

This part is always pretty humorous as they suddenly don't recognize each other and have to go through the whole meeting process again. There is much head-butting and foot-stomping and baa'ing for their friends, even though they're standing right next to each other. 

We kept some of our wool--the Southdown wool isn't the best quality for spinning--but we use it for a wreath project that I hope to share some day soon. The rest of the wool we give to Kristen who takes it to the Maryland Wool Pool and gets a few dollars a pound for it. 

So now the deed is done. And there is happiness all around...except for maybe the sheep--whose missing wool has exposed their gigantic bellies. Next on the schedule--a rigorous diet and exercise plan.