Quiet Peacefulness of the Country?

September 21, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

As I sit here trying to figure out what next for the day, it occurs to me that something is bothering me. I’m irritable, figity and in general getting in a bad mood. It’s noise! When you move to the country, peace and quiet are the two things that come to mind. You can hear the birds sing, you go hours without hearing a single sound of any kind and its just peaceful. You know what, that simply isn’t true. The thing that’s so funny about what I’m getting ready to write is I grew up in the country and as a child I can remember the deafening silence (especially as a teenager). Not a lot of traffic, no horns blowing, lawn mowers, weed wackers..there just wasn’t that much noise.

So far today, I’ve heard heavy equipment running..for hours. The farmer next door is cutting and putting up hay. Apparently this is not a process that is done sitting in the tractor but one that requires a person strutting around, swinging their arms and yelling! So what do you think happens when this occurs? That’s right, the dogs go nuts, the sheep and goats take off running for fear that their lives will surely end soon and I am jumping up and down like a “pogo” stick trying to see what the problem is. As if that isn’t bothersome enough, another neighbor (not a farmer, but son of the farmer) has just returned from a weekend of “truck pulling” (tractor truck style). So there’s the banging and clanging of pulling these trucks off the hauler. Well, he must not have done well because those trucks sound like they are on the fast track to explosion. All the while the neighbor and another dude are standing around yelling at each other at the top of their lungs because they can’t hear over the trucks idling. Keep in mind this neighbor shared his feelings about our dogs barking at the UPS driver all the time and how it just had to stop! The military has more than obviously changed their “day’s of thunder” helicopter flight pattern to go right over the house. Each time this has happened (of the 6 times) the windows shake and you guessed it..the dogs bark, then the sheep and goats take off running again..it’s an aerial assault don’t ya know.

So, what have we accomplished today? The dogs have exercised their vocal cords, the sheep and goats have run to the point of exhaustion, I have spent hours going from window to window, field to field just making sure that all of the commotion is what I think it is and not some predator ready to eat the flock or herd. Maybe I expect too much from country living but it would be nice to have a 30 minute stretch of time when my ears aren’t being abused. Oh my I really am in a bad mood. Sometimes we must vent and even rant a bit!

OK, that’s it, no more fussing. I’m off to make soap for the rest of the day!

The Icelandic’s Have Arrived!

September 15, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

Several months ago, I share pictures from a farm visit, where I had looked at Icelandic sheep. Holly, one of those sheep, already had been chosen to come to our farm but she need a buddy. Well, I finally made a decision and we picked up our two new sheep Saturday evening from Magi’s Wood Farm. They are absolutely beautiful – well you be the judge- meet Holly & Ricky (girl).

Holly-Ricky

New Girls Meeting "Roy"

I can’t wait until we shear them next month so I’ll have their fleeces to work with.

We were told several things about these sheep that had given us some cause for concern. First, we were told they aren’t real big on flocking. The first day that seemed to be true but if there is a grain bucket involved they seem to flock just fine. We were also told that the Border Collies could not herd them. This isn’t exactly so, you see, if all the sheep are together, they can all be herded. While I feel like the new girls tolerate our sheep, I know they much prefer the the goats. After the song I heard the other day, “Sheep Go To Heaven..Goat’s Go To Hell”, I don’t know that I like this bond so much..HaHa!!

Well I’m off to make soap. The Green Market at Brandermill is Thursday and as always, I’m not ready! Someday I will get caught up, maybe in January?? I’m looking at this market as the launch of “crazy season”. Wow! It’s hold on time. By the way Molly, from Fall Line Farms Co-op will be there signing up new members for the Winter Season

In my next blogpost I will introduce you to our new project that I will be partnering up with Nadolski’s Butcher Shop in Goochland Virginia on. It’s new, exciting and on the path of my true passion. Can’t wait!

Until next time, be safe and enjoy this wonderful Indian Summer weather.

General Catching Up

September 2, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

Before I get too wound up in my Blog post I want to share something with everyone that I read this morning from Alpaca Farm Girl Blog http://networkedblogs.com/p10606724?ref=nf and it oh so true of the life of the farmer. Read it and maybe you’ll understand more about what our lives are like. Be sure to leave Katy a comment with well wishes for little Pippi, that she gains strength each day and will be in the pasture with her Mom soon.

What a beautiful morning! Nice and cool, 56 degrees to be exact, sun shining bright and low humidity. Can’t believe this is Virginia the 2nd day of September. Not to worry though, by the weekend it will be 90 degrees again. Don’t know why we’ve been blessed with this couple day cool snap but I for one could not appreciate it more. The prelude to Fall always makes me happy because that means Winter is not far behind! Between all of the acorns and how quickly the sheep fleeces have grown since shearing in the Spring, we may be looking at a hard Winter this year. These two things are usually a good sign of that.

The late garden is looking fantastic! Every tomato plant is covered with tomatoes that should be ripe by the end of the months and the peppers – Wow! Aside from the typical Bell Pepper, we planted Chocolate and Orange Bells and Jimmy Nardello’s. Lat weekend at a Farmer’s Market, I bought a couple of the JN’s to try…can’t wait for our to rippen. The early garden has pretty much finished it’s thing, except for the tomatoes. With this lul in harvest, I’m taking advantage of harvesting seeds for next year.

Well, our new sheep additions are getting closer to their arrival time. I can’t wait! Adding Icelandic’s to our existing flock should make fiber harvest interesting. These new girls will be ready for their Fall shearing when they arrive, so we should get several pounds of fiber from them. This will also be a new thing for us, our sheep are only shorn annually. It’s nice to add something new.

I’ve got to get goats milk soap and lotion deliveries ready for tomorrow and as of about 20 minutes ago, we have another new retail outlet, Ashwood Gardens & Nursery in Ashland, VA, so I need to get their delivery ready too. Welcome to the Breeze Hill Farm family Charlie & Terry Blair, owners of Ashwood Gardens!

There are still a few more days to make comments on the “Giveaway” post from last Friday.

Have a great day!

Good Day, Observation & A Giveaway!

August 28, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

Yesterday was a really good day. I had someone helping me make my Co-op deliveries, so I was able to visit more with my wholesale customers when I made their deliveries. We were all talking about the holiday season and wondering what it will be like this year. It really is hard to predict. While many of my customers businesses are thriving, several have closed their doors over the last few months. As I spoke with people yesterday, it seemed that there was one topic we all agreed on, everyone has had to ramp up customer service. While it’s true that folks may have less to spend, when they do spend, their expectation of how they are treated has changed. Going that extra step to keep customers happy and coming back is what it’s all about. There are so many times I wish I had a “brick & mortar” shop, but then I come back to my senses and it doesn’t take me long to realize – no I don’t. While I work steady 8-14 hours a day, sometimes 7 days a week, I can get away from it, when I feel like it without posted hours being affected. I really hope we all take our numbers off the chart this season.

Speaking of business. When I promised everyone another Giveaway today, little did I know it would be another celebration of a new retail outlet! New shop, Real Goods Virginia in Mathews, Virginia has become our most recent customer. They will carry our full line of products and they should be in their shop with in the next two weeks. So, in celebration of this new addition, we are offering another Giveaway! Are you excited, wondering what it will be? I bet there will be soap involved. OK, here it is:

1 Pair of our Wool/Alpaca Blended Socks

2 Bars of Goats Milk Soap (winner chooses fragrance from website list)

The socks are made with a blend of our sheep wool and alpaca fiber from another local farm and are commercially made. They are one size fits all up to a size 10 (mens or womens). If a lady wins and has a tiny foot, we do have small socks too. You will love these socks and it’s a great way to sample our fibers made into a garment.

All you need to do is make a Comment to this Blog post, before the end of the day Friday, September 4, 2009. The winner* will be announced on my Blog, Tuesday, September 8, 2009 . This is a big Giveaway for us, so let’s start seeing the Comments come rolling in!!

Good Luck & Have a Great Day!

*There will be a shipping charges for any winner outside of the Continental U.S.

The Whole Garden is Finally In

July 21, 2009 by Breeze Hill Farm

Well we may be picking our last tomatoes and peppers as the first snow falls but our garden is finally in..now it’s time to think about fall planting. It will be interesting to see how well this garden does. If the rains continue to come every 4 or so days and it continues not to be so horribly hot, everything should grow well. Just can’t believe we took this long. Oh well, it’s been really busy here and there just wasn’t enough time to get everything done.

I am trying to get a rather large goat’s milk product order filled and it’s really slow going. Probably because I’m trying to fill other orders at the same time, while dying roving and yarns in between. Also, I am making myself sit down at the spinning wheel everyday for 1 hour and spin. It’s good for the mental health and I have a custom spun order that I’ve been working on for several months now that is finally getting finished. Usually by this time of year I have completed the 12 items that I spin and knit each year to sell..I don’t even know where my knitting needles are!

All fussing aside, things are really going great. The animals seem to be doing very well, even though Boggie, my 18 year old sheep, gives me a good scare everyday with her “dead sheep lay”..guess she’s practicing or just exercising her Mommie.