Wow! Winter arrived about a month early this year with a wicked snow and ice storm on December 1st. November 30th found me scrambling for immersion heaters, extension cords, and hay feeders. On December 1st the pastures were covered in a 3 inch glaze of solid ice covered by 6 inches of snow (and we got it comparatively easy). Everything is so difficult in this kind of weather... thawing the water hydrant, walking without falling down, getting through gates <sigh>.... not to mention my driveway which is all uphill. And did I mention the hose? Thinking I was very smart for remembering to stretch it out and drain it... imagine my dismay upon realizing it was GLUED to the ground under 3 inches of solid ice that next day. I had to hack and chip along 250 of hose to free it up! Ok... next time drain it and bring it in.

After four grueling weekends of drilling holes and placing posts into rock and hardened clay, bent auger, broken auger-teeth, and leaking hydraulics... the last two holes were SO easy! Pictured is my brother John on the tractor and friends John and Kay came to help too. All the posts are in now. Next I will put up the gates. It's coming slow but sure. Deadline for completion is March.

Sheep - see my sheep page for some interesting international sheep news interspersed with HMFF sheep news, sheep for sale, and the herdsires of the coming 2007 crop of lambs.

GUINEA PIGS Need the perfect pet for a child? (or yourself) Check out the rabbit & cavy page for FOUR new litters of guinea pigs. So cute and so sweet. They never bite, are cuddly and make such nice little sounds. Kind of like the cooing fuzz balls in the Trouble with Tribbles (remember that old Star Trek episode?) Ready in time for Christmas!

GOATS I am offering one bred American Alpine dairy doe for sale plus a few dairy buck prospects for 2007 . Our herdsire for the 2007 crop of dairy kids is also featured. See the goat page Wanted: I am looking for a new dairy buck. Yearling preferred, but will consider older model. Must be French Alpine (registered)

A number of dollcrafter and collector magazines from the estate of a dollmaker have been posted to my ebay store: Herbal Maid Gallery My hat is off to those who make these exquisite creations! And since I know many of my mohair customers are dollmakers, I thought you might be interested.

Winter Solstice is December 22nd. It is the first day of winter and the day with the fewest hours of light...oh how I hate these short days! No wonder we go crazy with the Christmas lights! Yet, after the 22nd the minutes of daylight will begin to increase. At first it is not noticeable, but by New Years our brains know that the sunlight is returning. Chickens begin to lay again. Rabbits take interest in breeding. The ewes in the field begin to fatten with lambs and our hearts lighten with the promise of a new year. It is a great day to celebrate on the farm!

So why should we fear the winter cold

when under the furrow sleeps the gold?

The earth bears seed of the future sun

and out of the dark, new life will come

-Sylvia Mehta

As the holiday season races towards us and we find ourselves whirling in the frenzy of shopping, cooking, wrapping and parties; I want to offer you a quiet few moments for yourself. Remember how wonderful it was for someone to read you a story? Well, you will have to read it aloud to yourself, but I will provide the story... and it has a GOAT in it! (imagine that) It is a story based on an old German folktale... bless those dark forest folks... they sure could conjure up a story. The original story has the winter hag stuffing bad children into her sack (hence the "you better watch out..." concept to Santa coming to town) , but this one is sanitized for my small grandchildren.

Now imagine yourself in the cold of winter, sitting in front of a fireplace, bundled against the cold at your back in your favorite wool shawl... you can be the grandmother or you can be the child... its your fantasy afterall. Now go to this link and read yourself a story:

Also included in this months newsletter is a recipe for some fantastic cookies that my brother made for us at Thanksgiving. If you like gooey butter cake, you will LOVE these Gooey Butter Cookies!