SouleMama

Postcards from Vermont

I'm writing to you this morning from beautiful Shaftsbury, Vermont, where I'm tucked into the coziest home and farm of Tammy (Wing and A Prayer Farm), with a crew of amazing women getting ready for the New England Fiber Art Summit, which begins tonight. Lots of knitting and adorable farm animals ahead! (Kind of just like home, no wonder I love it here so much.)

On Saturday here, Taproot is hosting a Maker's Market (and Open Farm Day!) here with some really fantastic makers - it's open to the public and free, and I'd love to see any of you there that can make it! Did I mention the fiber and baby sheep?

 

 

shearing/sharing the sheep

This week was shearing week! It's always a special day when our friend Jeff (Buckwheat Blossom Farm) comes to give the girls a fresh trim. Spring (and fall) cleaning. A lightening of the load for all, and the beginning of another fiber process for me! I'll send this wool once again to Battenkill Fibers, who has done a beautiful job in the past with our fleeces. This time, I'll be able to deliver it myself, as I'll be in the Hudson Valley this week visiting Wing and A Prayer Farm (we're hosting a Makers Market there on Saturday, June 2nd - join us if you can!).

Once the sheep were sheared, we turned them out onto new pasture, but not before pulling four aside. Those four are headed off to a new adventure, to another farm, where they'll be loved up by farm kids, and eventually bred. Adelaide's best friend is taking over shepherding duties of those four, and the two of them are having a blast in the transition - it required a double sleepover naturally, so the sheep wouldn't be scared in their new digs, she said. (Or just so they could have a double sleepover, really. They were not a fan of the car ride (can I tell you how many animals I've transported in our old minivan? Oh gosh!), but upon arrival, settled in so nicely to their new space and beautiful pasture. They're so friendly and such loves, I'm sure they're going to be a hit at farm camp! 

It was bittersweet, this transition. We still have eight sheep, and I don't want to part with those. I so love keeping sheep. But we are thinking carefully about streamlining for both the simplicity of our daily lives, and the health of our flock. Our pastures still needs a great deal of work and improvement, and we know it's going to be easier and healthier with fewer sheep trampling on it. 

It all feels rather symbolic of lots of transitions that happen in our lives and that are happening as our family grows and ages together, and things change. It's always so good to look at all the parts and pieces and question their presence when life gets full. Does this still fit? What's the most important thing to us? Can we put this aside for now and come back to it later, in a different phase of life? So many great questions that end up narrowing our focus and sharpening our eye on what matters the most to us, what we value most of all..and ultimately leads us to making more room for those things. Family. A close relationship with this land. Community. and Peace of mind and heart.

Wishing you all a most wonderful weekend with those you love....

 

and then the baby turned seven

How is it Thursday before I've been able to get here to say hello? Life, I suppose. It's been full. There have been college visits (to our alma matter, a trippy experience to say the least), a launch party and celebration at Taproot, the garden that is calling for my attention, end of year school and activities, recitals and concerts, and in the midst of all of that...our baby girl turned seven. How very wild to have our youngest be seven big years old! Annabel wanted to have her party at a wildlife park she loves, with her cousins and a few friends. She smiled all day long, and it was just a joy to watch her joy. She's a firecracker this one, with a heart of gold, and she is so very loved! Happy birthday, Annabel! 

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Brimfield treasures!

It's the most wonderful time of the year.....Brimfield! The Brimfield Flea Markets Show was last week, and I made my annual May journey down there. I love, love, love this tradition. Especially because we somehow manage to make it a two night affair, and for two very busy friends, it's a delight to have such focused time together to chat and visit and connect. But of course, there's more than that...because there are treasures to be found! I went there this year with the promise to myself not to fill my bags up with little things - dishes and linens are inevitably what I come home. But this year I found just what I was looking for - a set of chairs (they swivel!!) for in front of our wood stove (that room recently having been rearranged a bit), and a little outdoor sitting furniture too. There was, well, a bit of a color theme as you can see. Ahem. I do love yellow. And treasure hunting! 

the soda business

The rhubarb is coming in strong and steady right now, and most of that is going to making rhubarb simple syrup. My kiddos love this, a splash of the syrup with a lot of seltzer. And Harper, who has taken quite a fondness for the kitchen as he slowly builds his cooking repertoire, is the maker of said simple syrup. It became a daily little ritual he developed in the past week and I began to worry that we were taking a little too much of the rhubarb. But then I saw all the violets in the yard and set him on that. His mind was blown that simple syrup could be made from so many different flowers! And now he's off - harvesting and cooking, bottling and labeling. He wants to start a soda business. Or at the least, gift everyone we know with his pretty syrups. 

Not to be left out of anything, Annabel wanted in on this project that Harper was protecting and keeping all to himself. Thankfully, even if the soda business is not be shared (those sweet middle children have to hold their ground sometimes!), there are plenty of violets to make things with to be shared. And so candied violets it is for her.  

Soda and candy? Sweet indeed! 

celebrations

What a full and awesome family weekend! Kicking it off with prom night (holy moly, how is my baby a junior?), and then rolling into a date night (The Secret Sisters at Stone Mountain Arts Center, such a delight!), and then of course Mother's Day. My wish is always to spend the day in the garden with my babies. That's really all I want these days, is for us to all just be together. I got that wish and a beautiful sunny day to boot. I fell asleep in the yurt (my first time sleeping out there actually), and had a heart full of gratitude for all the wild and full, busy and chaotic life that I somehow have been blessed to live. I sure do love being a Mama to this crew.  

Wishing you all a most beautiful start to your week! 

and so it begins

Oh, it's time! Hallelujah! There is nothing more hopeful than the first appearance of flowers in the spring. Such a sweet relief. I wandered in the garden today and found hearty rhubarb and asparagus both. Stinging nettles and chives. Violets too! Simple early things, but I'm oh so grateful for them! 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Postcards from Maryland Sheep & Wool

Well that was a ridiculously good time! I snuck away for a super quick weekend trip down to Maryland for the Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival, the oldest and largest of its kind, I do believe. I had never been before, and had no idea what to expect. But what I found were so many gorgeous sheep of every breed possible, an amazing amount of fiber of all kinds, and some of the happiest friendliest people I've met (it must be the yarn plus sheep combination!). It was a treat to wander around all weekend amidst farm and fiber folk. 

Coming home, perfectly timed was a call from our shearer asking if we were ready for shearing day. Yes, yes we are! And after that of course, comes more yarn. Hooray!! 

projects everywhere

    

I can tell it's spring, not just by the fluke ninety degree day we had yesterday, or the blackflies that appeared all of a sudden, but mostly by the mess inside my house because we're all OUTSIDE. The evenings right now are just so great. Everyone has a ton of projects going on outside, and it gives me no greater joy than to wander around and see what everyone is up to. And up to so much they are! Adelaide is busy designing and constructing a rabbit hutch for a friend, while plotting the business venture that could come of it. Harper and Bruce (our neighbor, still hanging out at our place after his fire this winter) have been working very hard on perfecting a handmade bow, using a mash up of instructions from the American Boys Handy Book and The Dangerous Book for Boys. Bruce, I believe, is having as much fun with it as Harper. Ezra is working on scenes for his next film. Ani is happy to help clean up from the winter mess, while taking breaks to work on her various 'rocket ship' structures from Ada's scraps. And Calvin, who loves his car so very dearly, has been gearing up to replace the catalytic converter. Creativity of all kinds, I tell you. And  I really do think it's still true, all these years later, that when we are engaged creatively as a family - whether with each other or alongside each other - there is the most peace and harmony in our family rhythm. It's bliss. And I'm grateful for these days!