On Christmas Day in the Morning

A full moon on Christmas. How wonderful is that?!!!! I got up early, went out to feed the sheep and wish them a Merry Christmas, looked up and saw the most gorgeous full moon in the morning sky. I never tire of this view and definitely don't take it for granted.


Later in the day, the weather warmed up a bit and I remembered the 420 bulbs I'd bought back in October and thought I'd better get them in the ground before the dirt totally freezes. I bought mostly tulips, with a smattering of crocus and hyacinth. I tried to span a month's worth of blooming time, with some tulips fading as the others are just starting to show their colors. I adore tulips. They're so happy and perky and bring on a smile as I'm walking past them. I was inspired by Jane Brocket's lovely photos of tulips on her blog. I'm hoping I have enough to cut and put them in my vintage vases. This wasn't your typical way to spend Christmas, but it sure was fun digging in the dirt.

I put me hand into each bag, grabbing as many bulbs as I could and just threw them helter skelter on the dirt. The sheep poo that I'd put on back in September has composted nicely and I could just push the bulbs down with my fingers. March and April will be a tulipy time at Dancing Leaf Farm.

Holiday Knitting

Just some of the little knitted wearables I made for gifts.
These wrist warmers are from the 'Voodoo' pattern on knitty.com, made from my Slubby Nubby. I just love making these. they're fast and easy and one can easily adapt any yarn and needle size.


Nicole is modeling these although they're really for my other son's girlfriend, Sara. I also made a scarf to match. She'll be toasty warm, except for those freezing little fingers!


And these are Nicole's warmers, made from BeeBop with Fuzzy Wuzzy trim.




Forrest is modeling his hand picked colors of Peace Fleece hat. I made it a bit too big so we threw the wet hat in the dryer for 20 minutes and it came out perfect.

Not a Creature Was Stirring

I bought an old wool sweater at Goodwill, felted it, cut it up into little mousey shapes and sewed the sides together. Of course I filled them with catnip, wool and a bell. I made the tails out of my grey sheep's wool, felted into a long realistic looking tail. In case there wasn't enough catnip (we call it cat beer) on the little mice, I sprayed them liberally with catnip spray.


The mice are planning their attack on Cheyenne.


Ohhhhhh. These smell FANTASTIC!


Let me get closer!





After sampling all the draught mice, Cheyenne proceeded to act very strangely, staring at the Christmas tree lights for a long time, then was convinced there was something outside the window and batted at some invisible (to me) object. Gotta love the catnip! Merry Christmas Cheyenne.

Almost Christmas

A few vignettes at Dancing Leaf Farm. Merry Christmas to all!


Our mantle this year, starry starry night.














Visited a friend in Shepherdstown recently. I liked the message in the upper window.


Had to get some dry goods and notions for Christmas.

It's Finally Over!

I have been cranking out the dyed yarn and jewelry wholeheartedly since mid-September. I had eight shows in 10 weeks. I shut the door to the studio Sunday at 5:00 and went whooooo hoooooo! I've put yarn on the shelves for so many weeks, moved crates and crates of yarn to show after show and spent way too many hours in the dye kitchen in my basement. But now my yarn is in many baskets around the country being made into fabulous gifts. Thanks to all my wonderful customers who brought some Dancing Leaf Farm yarn home with them. I am truly grateful.


Slubby Nubby is my most popular yarn. This is just a smidgen of what I dyed. I love Slubby because it is instant gratification, perfect for holiday scarves.


We had our first lovely, winter wonderland snow last Wednesday. It was a perfect snowfall, light and fluffy, each snowflake a glittering little crystal. The farm looks so much better with a blanket of white, so clean and crisp.





My friend, Ann, and I got away Wednesday afternoon to do a little shopping in Frederick. My favorite shop is 'The Muse' happily run by Whitney, who is adorable. It's chock full of fun, frivolous artsy fartsy pieces. Whitney has a great eye for getting things in that I simply cannot resist. Ann and I had a perfect time, sipping coffee and watching the snow flutter down. The streets were scarce of people because folks are so afraid of the snow. I grew up in South Dakota, where it's known to snow, so I'm not afraid of a couple inches of snow. It was so nice to take a bit of a break and enjoy winter.