at last a grandson joins 5 granddaughters! Grandma is delighted! The girls, below, returning from an egghunt in the woods. There is Sammi, Hannah,and Isabella (left to right in back) and the twins, Katelyn and Amber in front.

Its been a tough winter with feed, hay, food, utility and gas prices literally doubled! In the process of getting my taxes done, I had a chance to review all my costs and it was not pretty. We are all in the same boat and if you are like me, your income has NOT doubled either. So .... how do we make ends meet? I will try to share my ideas this year and will welcome your ideas as well. How do we get by on less? How much can we save by putting in a garden, producing our own dairy products, raising our own meat, making fewer trips to town, utilizing alternative feed resources for our animals, etc. For myself, I may be cutting back on my herd numbers throughout the summer, but for now lets look at the NEW births so far!

This month you will find the first of the Bunny Salelists! More will be added each month for the next few months, so stay tuned if you are wanting rabbits. Lambs and Kids are still trickling in. I had hoped to be done by now, but it seems this is going to be one of those prolonged birthing seasons... preliminary lists are posted on the sheep and dairy or mohair & meat pages. I also have a new addition to the farm: Royal Palm Turkeys! Read all about them and the geese on the poultry page.

The Goat Conference in Jefferson City, Mo on March 28th was great with lots of good information. I was especially interested in the two speakers who spoke on pasture management and some of the new forages now available. "Tiffany Teff" , a warm season annual, sounded especially interesting, and provides a June-August growth of forage.

I gave a talk on Neonatal Care and Hypothermic Emergencies It was a well attended conference... in fact, more people than they were expecting I think. About 45 people sat in on my presentation. Unfortunately, we had our time cut short and had to rush through the parts of the talk that I felt were the most important. So if anyone has questions about the handouts, I will be happy to talk to you . Just email me at hmffarm@fidnet.com I also have some leftover Hypothermia handouts , if anyone wants a copy send a SASE to me at 3611 Pump Station Road , Rosebud MO and I will be happy to send one to you.

Fiber Retreat Report - my Knitwit Mittens class went quite well with 10 students who made 10 delightful versions of my mitten pattern. The mittens feature a designer yarn (in this case, a fuzzy mohair yarn) on the top of the hand, but not on the palm, cuff or thumb. It is a wonderful pattern that utilizes to good advantage, a small amount of fancy yarn; incorportating it into a simple mitten pattern made with two strands of smooth yarn and one strand of designer yarn. I will be posting my original mitten pattern soon PLUS the new designer yarn version at my ebay store. A pattern for a Knitwit Shawl made from mohair will follow... I am working on that one now. visit my store at http://stores.ebay.com/Herbal-Maid-Gallery to order the mitten pattern OR maybe some readymade mittens!

Fiber Fest 2008 April 5 at Camden Co Museum at Linn Creek, MO sponsored by Lake Area Fiber Arts Guild Contact: Nancy Hanks 573-46-5458 This is a new event with demonstrations, vendor booths, fashion show, lunch

All Missouri Spin In April 26, 2008 Chillicothe, MO. concurrent with this event is "Strum & Stroll", an arts and crafts event . For more info contact Zelma at zkllamas@aol.com She asks that you put Spin In in the subject box

Alabama Folk School April 27-May 2 Camp McDowell near Birmingham AL . Different workshops throughout the year. This week features spinning, quilting, basketmaking and gardening www.campmcdowell.com/FolkSchool or folkschool@campmcdowell.com

Fiber Faire at Marshfield, MO May 17. workshops, competitions, kids activities, fashion show, demonstrations, vendors www.hfafiberfair.com or contact Helen Grace Muzzy at 417-859-7840

Christianson Native Craft Workshop August 3-8, 2008 at Shannondale Community Center, near Salem Missouri lodging, meals, LOTS of workshops cncwdirector@gmail.com

Rural Missouri Spinners Guild contact Queen Linda at littlefarm55@hotmail.com or treasurer Sharon at fann@fidnet.com / members from Gasconade, Franklin and Crawford county

Missouri Fiber Artists www.missourifiberartists.com MoFA offers many advantages to Missouri's fiber community: classes and workshops, scholarships, networking with Missouri's many fiber artists, conferences, retreats, and gatherings, a lending library of resource materials, and much more.