1962...

Today I turned 50 years old.  To some this is a crisis of epic proportions, to me it's a celebration. I am celebrating every single minute that I've spent on this earth... the pain, the sorrow, and the joys and happiness.  All of these things are a part of who I am,  I can't change it, and wouldn't if I could, because all that happened has made me who I am today....  And I'm pretty ok with that.  

Some fun 1962 facts for ya.........

Cost of Living 1962

How Much things cost in 1962
Yearly Inflation Rate USA 1.20%
Yearly Inflation Rate UK 3.6%
Year End Close Dow Jones Industrial Average 652
Average Cost of new house $12,500.00
Average Income per year $5,556.00
Average monthly rent $110.00 per month
Tuition to Harvard University $1,520.00
All Wheel Drive Scout off road $2,150.00
Renault Imported car $1,395.00
Average Cost of a new car $3,125.00
Eggs per dozen 32 cents
Gas per Gallon 28 cents
Factory Workers Average Take Home Pay with 3 dependents $94.87 

Popular Culture

• Beatles Turned Down By Decca Records
• Release of first Beatles recording: the single "Love Me Do"
• Andy Warhol's famous painting of a can of soup
• Beverly Hill Billies is on TV
• The Dick Van Dyke show on TV
• Johnny Carson begins as presenter for The Tonight Show

Popular Films

• West Side Story
• Spartacus
• El Cid
• Lawrence of Arabia
• To Kill a Mockingbird

Popular Singers

• The Beatles
• Bob Dylan
• Chubby Checker
• Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons
• Neil Sedaka
• Roy Orbison
• Shirley Bassey 

And I am blessed and surrounded by people that love me, yep, I'm one lucky gal. 
Toodles..........

New Faces

I have purchased two sheep this year, one from my Tori in Indiana and one from Stephen in Michigan.  Wait, that was before I went to MFF and got to see more sheep that just happen to be for sale, and can I help it that they are my favorites....grey katmogets!  I also caved and bought an emsket gulmoget that came from Becky Utecht....I am weak and should be ashamed of myself for not sticking to my plan of only getting 2 new sheep this year.  sigh......someone slap my hand and take my checkbook.  My husband's response to me telling him that I had more than 1 sheep to bring home was, "Now there's a shocker", it would seem he knows me better than I thought.

L: Anais Anais   R: Bengal ~~ Two ewes from Sheltering Pines

A very cool little gulmoget ewe lamb from River Oaks

Side shot of the River Oaks 2012 ewe lamb

S'More Cotillion~yearling

50th Birthday Bash!!!!

Donna and Kelly~50 years young

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

You are invited to our Birthday Bash!!

Donna and Kelly are celebrating 50 years of being young and we would love it if you would help us 

  When: August 25^th, 2012

Time:  5 pm till ???

Where: Jeff (Mucket) & Terri Mahlkuch’s “Party Shed”

W2685 Lumberyard Road, Juda, WI

We are supplying food and beverages

Band: JD and the Boys

Bring Lawn Chairs!!!!!!

Theme: Tropical~Luau

   Please RSVP to Donna: 608/558-2446 or Kelly: 608/558-5099

Family Friendly Party~Kids are Welcome

Another busy weekend under my belt

This past weekend, I was lucky enough to have Garrett Ramsay stop and pick me up on his way to the Michigan Fiber Festival.  This was my first time attending this event and I had a great time, meeting a couple people that I had only talked to on chat lists and reconnecting with folks that I have met in the past.  The highlight of our trip is always getting the chance to get our hands sunk into some nice sheep and fleeces.  I decided, kind of last minute, to enter a few fleeces into the fleece competition and then bullied Garrett to bring some as well, and Garrett ended up with 1st place Shetland fleece, I got 2nd place and then Garrett went on to take Reserve Champion colored fleece.  (Champion was a dark Merino fleece) Not too shabby G, not too shabby.

Rosette for Reserve is hanging off the side of Garrett's fleece

 

And here's Betty executing a perfect photo bomb and she runs through the picture!!!!  

Shortly after this last photo, things started to get completely out of control.......none of us could stop laughing.  The whole photo shoot was supposed to be a silly set up of Garrett and I high-fiving (I know, that's not a word) each other while holding our fleeces.

We thought this would be a funny way to take a picture and it was so much fun to pose for it since we were trying to be ridiculous.  Why not sprinkle as much into our sheepy activities as possible?  

Silence and Beauty

Note: notice the brown crunchy grass? 

Real men aren't afraid..........

......to wrap yarn for their wives.......pose in public for pictures.....wash dishes....do laundry....make supper......carry their wives' purses.......I think you get the idea.     I'm proud to say that my hubby does all those things and man more just BECAUSE....that's right, just because.  I'm not sure what I did to deserve this guy, but I am NOT complaining.  I couldn't do all my sheepy things without his help and support.
This is my "hat's off" to all the guys that help and/or support their wives in what we love.  


 

 Mike in his spiffy new FFSSA polo shirt with our farm name  PS-he looks surprised, but he's just trying not to smile

And photographic proof that he was playing with yarn!!!  And none of his man parts fell or anything.  I know, it shocked a lot of men that day, but it's true......
                   .NO MAN PARTS WERE DAMAGED IN THE MAKING OF THIS YARN. 

Yep, that's my guy........winding yarn, which only makes him more of a man to me.  (Actually, he got so tired of doing nothing, he was happy to help me-giant sigh of relief)

Wisconsin State Fair

I was pleasantly surprised to be asked to participate in the Wisconsin State Fair Hall of Breeds this year.  I thought that the chance to share the FFSSA display kit, and some of my projects would be a great way to expose the public to Shetland sheep.  I was not prepared for the vast numbers of people that filed through the sheep barn, and was a bit overwhelmed by the interest that my little sheep generated while we were there.  It was 4 days of fun doing what I love.....talking about Shetland sheep. 
The most popular comment that my husband and I heard time and again was, "Oh my gosh, they are sooooo cute".   The most popular question was,  "Are these babies or is that their full grown size?" (I brought 2 growthy yearling ewes and 2 Apil lambs) The one comment that got the whole crowd smiling and giggling was, "Oh look, she's wagging her tail".  Now I know that none of this has anything to do with their fleece, but I wasn't there to push fleece, I was there to get Shetland sheep  in front of the public and they LOVED it. 
I did manage to have a table of roving, yarn, and some knitted, woven and felted items, and there were a lot of comments about how soft and nice they were, the favorite item being Sabrina's little felted mouse, Eek, with the little Brahma hen and her nest being a close second in terms of popularity.  I did a little spinning, which fascinated the children and brought back some fond memories for some of the adults. 
Most of the parents took such pleasure in showing the kids the sheep, explaining that we sheared off their wool, then washed it, and made this (the would show them the roving) then they spin it on this, (pointing to a spinning wheel) and then the wool is made into yarn, and they would point out the yarn and then you can knit, weave or crochet one of these (they would point to the finished products).   By having all that stuff right there in one place, I provided an opportunity for parents and children to make the connection between the animal and the end result and that was so unexpected, but very rewarding. 

Kids.......I love them and so does Alabama.  See the lady in the bottom left of this picture?  She's explaining to this little boy that the wool is used to make things.  She lost him about 2 minutes into the explanation, but she was so happy to have the chance to teach him about sheep and what can be done with their wool.  It made me smile. 

This little older lady was so taken with Alabama and she was the perfect ambassador for the breed all 4 days.  Each person got a lesson on why it's so important to clean and sanitize your hands after touching each sheep.  (they had no idea)  The Fair had hand sanitizer everywhere.

Display table and "feelers"  (people that feels things)  big grin

More crowd shots