In one of our new and increasingly cherished rituals, Maria and I drove to Brandon, Vt. today to the Maple View Farms where the wool from our sheep are cleaned and spun and woven into skeins and rovings. Maria is selling both on her website this week, I don’t think it will take long (she has a lot of pre-orders already). Zelda’s roving came out beautifully, and the sheep’s wool seems to have matured in color. Maria and the people at the mill were very happy with it.

Our sheep are getting shorn again next month – we are doing it twice a year now. We are also thinking about lambing in the Spring, bringing a ram here in December, which would give us lambs in April or May.

Our drive to Brandon has become a ritual in its own, we stop for lunch in town at the Cafe Provence and then drive out to the fiber mill. Red and the alpacas stare at each other in disbelief, then we head home with the wool, Maria’s head spinning with shipping, cost and  distribution issues. This is one of the reasons we love being here, we love our life here.