Merry Christmas from Outback Farm!

                   Wishing you ALL a very merry Christmas and happy fun new year too!

Some new items in shop.

Here are some new items in my shop. I just finished this pretty scarf that matches the knitted hat. They are both knit in the basket weave pattern. So pretty and soft. Not heavy at all. This is wool from my sheep that I've spun and dyed. $55 for the set. Or $35 for hat and $25 for scarf.

This is mohair I spun from some roving I bought last year. It's just a knit stitch. Very soft. I will be adding a button on the cowl. This hat is $40 and cowl is $25. Or $60 for the set.

These are some quilted bags my friend Cindy makes. They are perfect for knitting or crochet bags! Pockets all over to store knitting needles or crochet hooks and other tools and supplies. The one in the middle is $20 and the other 2 are only $15 each. I have one and I LOVE it!

I can ship too! I am in the process of getting set up to take Pay Pal! Just give me some time to get it all set up. I hope to be able to put a button here on the blog. And get some web sites set up as well.

Drawings by Chloe for sale.

These are some of my grand daughter Chloe's drawings. They are prints. On heavy card stock. They are $10 each.

Outback Farm Fiber arts and Pottery Studio is OPEN!

I had an open house here about 3 weeks ago. It was so fun! I had some jewelry and Himalayan salt lamps here that a friend makes. Plus all my things. I did really well.

So I am now open Thursdays, Fridays and Saturdays.

I had a Black Friday sale then Small Business Saturday sale. Did really good then too. My sister brought up some of her things she makes. I'll post them tomorrow.

So all these items are for sale. I do have a square for my phone and also take checks.

Soaps are $5-$7 each.

I have salves for $10 each. Plantain, calendula and comfrey.

These are all knitted hats that I've made. All are hand spun wool that I have spun. Some are from my sheep. Others are from roving I have bought.

They are $35 each.

I also have baby and toddler hats too. They are $20 each.

The 2 in the middle are from my sheep.

This is alpaca that I spun from my 2 alpacas. The black is from a friend. The yarn is $7 an oz. The hat is knit from Misha's fiber. It's $40.

These are some cotton totes my grand daughter and I hand painted. They are $10 each.

Then the hand spun wool yarn from my sheep. Except the 2 yellow skeins on the left. That's Merino  that I spun from roving I bought.

The wool yarn is $6 an oz.

This is some 3 ply wool yarn. The turquoise is BFL, the white is Finn and the gray is Romney. All hand spun by me. $6 an oz. This one is 162 yds. I have 2 more skeins. 1 is 102 yds. The other is still on the bobbin right now.

Then I still have some pottery for sale.

Comings and goings...

I hope everyone had a really nice Thanksgiving. We were short one person this year. Our middle grand daughter, Coryn, was in Chicago. She left late Monday night with 2 bus loads of high school band members to be in the MacDonald's Thanksgiving Parade! They had a full itinerary for each day with so many fun things to do and see there. We sure did miss her. But this was something we all felt was going to be so good for her to experience. And it was worth it. SO glad she and all the kids and parents are back home though.

My sister came for Thanksgiving. With her 2 horses! She has Falcon, an 8 year old Mastiff. And Finja, a 5 year old Great Dane. Seriously, these dogs are HUGE!  When they were in my small kitchen with me and Heidi, there was not much room to move.  But Stella really enjoyed having company. Saturday, my daughter and her husband Jason brought their 2 Boxers, Daisy and Rousey, out to visit too. So there were 5 dogs running around the yard and house!

One day, I will tell you all about what happened to Bubba. I just can't do it now.

So most of the wild fires in our area are pretty much contained now. Not all put out yet, but contained. We are supposed to be getting some good rain tonight and again on Wednesday. We hope this takes care of the fires that are still burning. And clean up the air. I was really sick from the smoke in the air for so many weeks. But better now.

Making friends

This is Shorty. He's almost all Finn. Has some nice wool. And this is Buttercup, his new friend.

Saturday, Darla was the only ewe that would even look at him. All the others ran and hid behind the alpacas.It was quite funny! Then yesterday, I let them all over here and they went to the back yard. He made friends with Annabelle all day. Then took up with her daughter, Buttercup. Still hanging with her this morning.

So, my flock of sheep will triple starting late April on. I am a little nervous about this whole thing. But people have been asking for lamb for awhile now. And a friend up the road wants her own flock. So I hope to be able to sell just about all of the lambs by fall next year.

Anyone need some lambs!

Life just got a whole lot interesting here at Outback Farm!

Wooden soap racks

My husband and I finally made the soap racks. I've wanted to do this with the wooden boxes we had made before. They were just taking up too much room on the tables. And I've been trying to conserve space when I go to markets. Plus this way will take up less space in the car too. So now I have the 2 plus the wooden cabinet for soap. 17 different soaps in all 3.                                                                                                          Now to get more dryer balls made. And get all my knitted hats and cowls priced. And pack up the car. And probably the truck too. Gonna be a fun weekend!

Feeling like fall here!

Yesterday we turned the AC off and opened all the windows! It was pretty cool last night. And this morning, the curtains were blowing in the breeze. I love this! Only low 70's the next few days! Welcome, Fall!

Some pig happenings...

This morning, on my way to Mrs. T's, I came across this peculiar sight. I thought it was 2 dogs walking down the street. But upon further inspection, (like I got out of my car to see if it actually really was what I thought it was) I realized it was a pig walking with a white dog.

Yes, a full blown pig. Maybe a pot belly pig? It was a male pig, not too awfully big.  The dog was very friendly. I tried to get a look at her tag, which had a bone tag with names on it, but the pig was too close. And I don't think the dog really liked the pig.

So she took off across the road, with the pig grunting after her. I sure hope they found their way home, where ever it is. Just another strange sight in the little town of Flintstone, Ga.  And that's the little fire hall with the tractor beside it. The elementary school is to the right behind the fire hall.

Speaking of pigs... here's my pig. I haven't been down to see him in several months. He's in the middle. They really aren't very big. They are long. But not fat. And I want a FAT pig! I mean, I want FAT on my meat when I get it. I want fat on the pork chops. I hate lean tough pork chops.  And fat in the sausage. I don't like having to add oil to the pan. I can hardly wait! And I want lots of bacon. And I want to make lots of lard too. So I want a fat pig.

I am trying to get ready for a big show this weekend at Cloudland Station. It's Sat. and Sun. I always do really good there. So I have lots of things to do the next 2 days to get it all ready. I'll be taking pottery, soap, and wool stuff. So excited!

A woolly week here.

This week, I have been working with wool. Lots of wool. I made a lot of dryer balls. Some of the wool I dyed turned into dryer balls. And some white wool too. As I was going through some of the wool, I was seeing really nice locks. From Amarrillo and even Adalaide. Then I went through a whole tote of Darla's wool from last year and got a lot more of really long locks from her. So had a nice basket full of good locks.

                                This is the basket full of beautiful locks. They are so soft and pretty.

                       
                      Some of the locks being combed into top. It's so soft and pretty like this.

This is a little bird nest all ready to spin into beautiful fluffy yarn. I'm still spinning alpaca, but will take some of this to the market with me to spin this afternoon. Do something different.
               

58 summers

So 58 summers are behind me now. I've started thinking things like this. My 58th August. My 58th Labor Day. Or anything like this. I never did before. I am 58 years old and I was born in 1958. I think that's just amazing! How many people can say they are the same age as their birth year? Probably thousands of people who were born in 1958.

So here I go into my 58th fall. My 58th winter. My 58th Thanksgiving. My 58th Christmas... It feels different for sure. I've never been 58 before, so it's all new to me. But I'm looking at things in a whole new way. I like it.

Happy fall, y'all! I hope it's your best 30th. Or 50th. Or even 58th. Have a good one! Make it count!

Last day of summer.

(Cameron was fascinated by my feet!)

Hanging out in the pasture with the sheep and alpacas this last full day of summer. It's a beautiful thing. Sheep munching grass. Birds chirping. Insects doing their thing. Seems like it's been a really long summer to me. Long and very hot and dry.

What are y'all doing this evening?

Spraying

There is spraying of something across the road from me. There is a light breeze but it's blower away from us here. I sure hope the honey bees will be ok. They normally will fly out of the hive and them back behind us toward Lookout Mt. I have never seen them go across the road before. I hate this.Looks like an airplane.

Last night...

Alpaca

This is about 3 years worth of my alpaca Misha's fiber. Do you think this will be enough to make myself a sweater?                    

Day with the hubby...

Today, my husband and I went to town. There was a motorcycle gathering in Chattanooga and Coker Tire Co. down the road from the Chatt. market. We went there first and wandered around a little. Then went down to see the motorcycles.

I didn't even know this place was here. We got to go inside the building to the museum. And we were blown away by all the old cars and trucks. But the old motorcycles! Oh my goodness. There was a whole wall of them, 3 high, of really old Harleys. Even a Sears. And some Indians. And Cushmans. Oh my, it was amazing in there! And this is all free! They are open all the time and even give tours. This would be a perfect home school outing. I'll post more pics later. It takes so long to get them off my phone. But you can see the little blue bug. It's a 1957. I almost died. I want it. And behind it is a VW van. Oh please!

After this, we went to Outback Steakhouse. Our youngest daughter had given him a gift certificate for his birthday so we used it. That helped out a lot! It was good.

Then we went to Home Depot to look at refrigerators. I want a bigger one. I have always wanted one with the fridge on top with freezer on bottom, but the more I look at them, the smaller they seem to be. With at least 5-8 gallons of milk in the fridge at one time, I just don't see anywhere in those to put big jugs of milk.

So I asked the guy about commercial ones. He showed me some on line and I was amazed that they are so cheap. Like around $2200.00. I thought they would be so much more. I really want one now. They are about 48" wide. I could live with that. Now I will be looking on Craig's List.

My hubby got in an electric wheelchair. They are amazing! It really helps get around these big huge warehouse stores. I told him to not get too used to this though!

Then we came home. I sat out in the garden for awhile, just enjoying the peace and quiet out here. Not even any traffic going by. I love it out here. I took a short video but I don't know if it will show up. I had the gardens tilled yesterday. I sowed 4 1/2 pounds of buckwheat and a mixed clover mix. It only got a little over half the bigger garden. So I will go get more tomorrow and finish both gardens. I'll leave enough for planting kale, collards and turnip greens. We had a really good rain last night but I was too late home for planting. Ground is still wet though.