Skip to main content

The Weather Outside Was Frightful

We did indeed have bad weather over the weekend, as forecasted. Friday night out at the marketplace was like being in a deep freeze. The diehard parade-goers came out anyway to see Sinterklaas and we had a fairly good night. Our sheepy display (you can see him in the photos here) was blown over and broke a leg. We took him home with us and The Farmer splinted his leg late Friday evening.

Saturday we felt as though we were in a wind tunnel, with swirling snow everywhere. The roads were pretty treacherous, and I would have stayed home, given half a chance. Again, the diehard Michiganders did not let a little weather spoil their fun. We put very little of our product out on tables and racks, due to the weather, instead choosing to display it inside the booth. Our big sellers were mittens and wool socks. Go figure.

After church on Sunday, I spent the entire afternoon catching up on entering the sales in the computer. The Farmer is feeling quite a bit of pressure to keep ahead of the buyers who love his socks. It's a good problem to have, but it kept him at his sock machine for most of the day. We actually called home Saturday early afternoon and asked the kids to fire up the heater in the workshop and dye some sock yarn for us. They are a wonderful help in this family enterprise, and we couldn't do it without them. I do notice that most of the yarn that they dye has pink in it somehow, but that's the price you pay for letting teenage girls do the dyeing.

This weekend is our last time out at the Kerstmarkt. We'll be there Friday from 3-8 pm and Saturday from 9-5. Here's hoping for better weather...

Comments

  1. Saturday was pretty frightful. We went to my husband's National Guard Christmas party in Kalamazoo, and then he had to drive one of his guys home to South Bend! I was really relieved when he finally came back in that door.

    ReplyDelete

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bloggy Giveaway--Now Closed

**This bloggy giveaway is now closed** Thanks to all who participated and gave such great comments. Janette is the winner of the $15 gift certificate to our etsy store . I'm participating in the Bloggy Giveaways Quarterly Carnival . Click the link to go to the carnival where you can enter to win literally hundreds of things. The good news is that even if you have no time to play on the computer trying to win hundreds of things, you can still enter to win one thing right here. This week, I will be giving away a $15 gift certificate to be used toward the purchase of an item in my etsy shop . This contest is open to residents of the United States or Canada only. The winner will receive free shipping on whatever item they choose. Items in my etsy shop include handwoven rugs, wool yarns and roving from our farm, and the ever-popular cotton dishcloth! To be entered in this wonderful drawing, you must go to the etsy shop and look around a bit. Then come back here and type a comment that ...

Haying 101

A few posts back, "deep end of the loom" (love that name!) asked me to tell a bit more about the haying process. If you want my version, read on. If you'd like to read the official wikipedia version, click here . Haying happens in three steps: cutting, raking and baling. This process takes several days, as the hay must be dry when baled. Moist hay molds and heats up and has even been known to spontaneously combust, burning down the barn. Gotta have dry hay. This first photo is of our haybine. The haybine not only cuts the hay, it also crimps each piece of long grass in several places, to allow for faster drying. We usually cut hay in the early afternoon, when the dew is gone. When we're done, long row of cut grass lie waiting. The hay is allowed to dry for two to three days, depending on wind and sun conditions. Obviously, the more wind and sun the days hold, the quicker the hay will dry. When we feel like the hay is nearly dry, we go out with the rake. There are diff...

This Giveaway Is Now Closed!

Today starts a giveaway at Farming in the Shade! I am happy to contribute this complete hat kit (needles not included) to someone who has a knitting obsession and a small person in their life. Here are the rules (contest open to US or Canada residents only): Giveaway ends May 1 at 9 p.m. EST. Winner will be announced by Sunday, May 3. Enter by posting a comment on this blog post. Tell me something about your knitting--who taught you to knit, your favorite yarn, the coolest thing you ever knitted. Make sure you leave contact information! Earn extra entries by: 1) Following me on twitter. (If you don't know what twitter is, don't worry. It's another way to waste your time on the computer.)  Add a comment here so I will count it as one entry. 2) Tweeting this giveaway (no more than once daily). Add a comment here so I know you did it. 3) Blog about this giveaway. Add a comment (with link) here so I can go visit your blog. 4) Follow or subscribe to this blog (or tell me if have...