Introducing my new Etsy Shop!

Well, I have finally mustered up enough confidence to start my own Etsy shop. I have listed some of my yarns and a couple pillows I made by needle felting. To the left is a sheep pillow I made with both alpaca and wool.

My spinning has gotten somewhat good enough to
offer it for sale. With the gift of a very good spinning wheel this Christmas from Tim (thanks to Pam), I am on my way to spinning to my hearts content. I sure have enogh bags of alpaca and wool to keep me busy a while!
Here is the link to my Etsy Shop, take a look!Feedback would be appreciated!http://www.etsy.com/shop/CoonHollowFarm

Snow and Bees, oh my!

I can't even begin to explain just how much snow we have had here in Connecticut! Only if you live here can you really appreciate the amount of snow and I am sure eveyone has their stories, from roof collapes to piles so high you have no idea where to  put it! This morning I spent time digging my way up to my bees...

 I literally had to take the shovel and cut out 18 x 12 inch sections to shovel it. This took about 50 times to make a path and my way up there. As you can see in this picture how deep the shovel is and I am still no where near the ground! It is probably another foot underneath.

Once I got up there, this is just how deep and buried they were from the last storm we had, this is the third time I have had to dig them out. I sure hope they are o.k. in there...

This is the hive finally dug out. We will be putting the candy boards on them later so they will have some food reserves. I am hoping they will be out today if not just for a quick pee break!

Snow Day!

 To say the least we had a major snow day today! With most of Connecticut getting about 2 feet of snow due to 2 storms that converged and greated a Nor'Easter. Just about everything was closed today and many people were asked to stay home. My job opened with only a few people working so I was able to stay home! Here is "Angus" striking his usual pose when the camera comes out.
"Autumn" took the occasion to steal some bread  from the chickens as I was feeding
them this morning. That street dog comes out in her often.
I hope one day she realizes she will always have food and won't have

swipe food from the other animals. She was formally a street dog so she has major survival
skills. Her belly will always be full as long as she lives on Coon Hollow Farm!
Just to give you a measure of just how much snow we got. If you look to the sides you can see how high the snow is! It was quite an impressive storm. There was no getting to the animals today without major diggin out. Usually we can just walk through it, no way today!

Here my poor "Babydoll" sheep who have short legs to begin with had quite a problem getting around today. We had to dig them eating paths and a path to their water. This is a picture of "Belle" with the snow up to her neck! This was quite a storm and when this stuff decides to melt we are going to have a muddy mess!

Fire Starter ideas...

  Let's get away from the newest creations or what the animals have done recently and talk a bit about sustainability and "Getting Back to Basics". As some of you may know I have been teaching a class called "Back to Basics" for the past few years at the Nature Center where I work. In these hard times and a society based on wasteful living I think it's important for us to look at ways to get back to that.
I remember going to my husband Grandmothers house for dinner and she even recycled her paper towels! Used them and hung them up to dry. Her generation was raised on frugal ways and stretching all she could out of everything.
In this picture to the left is my idea for fire starters for the fireplace or the woodburning stove. I take old candles in their jars, melt them down in a double boiler (in water, never on direct heat) and pour them into old paper egg cartons. As you can see I used it last night by ripping off one of the egg holders filled with wax and used it to light the wood burning stove last night. You can also use some lint from the dryer to help it ignite. Place some in the bottom before filling with wax. So do just one thing every day to get back to basics!
I'd love to hear your ideas for getting "Back to Basics"...

Welcome 2011 and life!

Welcome 2011 and a New Year with new goals and looking forward to good times. We woke up to a beautiful day and gorgeous weather that hit up to 50 degrees. Here in Connecticut that is rare but we will take it! Tim and I were out with the dogs, chickens and just enjoying the day. We had the opportunity to take this video of our bees out and about on this beautiful day. In the winter bees cluster in their hive surrounding the queen to keep her warm. The hive reaches temps of about 90 degrees, however bees are very hygenic about their space so "taking care of business" happens on beautiful days like today.