Cabin Fever at Rainbow Fleece Farm

Last weekend, March 10 and 11, and this weekend,March 17 and 18, Rainbow Fleece Farm is having an open barn to view the spring lambs and sell some of their fleece and yarn they have been carding and spinning over the long winter. While there, you can also check out the ducks, chickens, peacocks, farm dogs, and numerous barn cats. I took the kids and the Grandmas last weekend and we had a great time watching the lambs and roaming around the farm. Bring your checkbook, you will want to buy all the lamb, fleece, roving, and yarn you can get your hands on.

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Viking funeral for regret

I didn’t get the job. But it opened this Pandora’s box in my brain:
“What am I going to do with my hair? I have nothing to wear to the interview. I have nothing to wear to a real job. Who will take the girls to school and pick them up? Will school take the girls for 5 days instead of their current two?What about Manly? What about breastfeeding? What about vacations?What will I do with the kids during the summer? Will the money from the job offset the cost of daycare? (answer, no.) When will I have time to workout? Why don’t I workout more? Why haven’t I lost this blasted “baby weight”? Is this what I want to do? Where did all that time go?What have I done with my life? I should draw more. Why don’t I watercolor more? Now I’ll never get the home projects done.What if I forgot how to draw in Illustrator. I drank too much in my twenties. Why do I still regret that awful trip to Brazil? I need more sleep. How I will I work on no sleep? Will this overtax Mr. Brown? He does so much as it is.I should be doing more, more, more..”

And then in spinning class I visualized a variation of a viking funeral pyre:
Spin really hard, then about 45 minutes into the class, settled in at a nice pace and close your eyes. Picture a beach with viking boats lined up on the shore. A quiet beach, one of your favorites, early in the morning before the sun comes up. March one regret on to one boat. Tie it up. Kiss it goodbye. Walk away and stand on the beach. Take all that energy that you used to keep that regret or anxiety alive, that is your fire. Get a big ball of fire ready, then set the boat on fire and push it off into the lake. Watch it burn. Feel the heat on your face, and let it go. Then go to the next fear/anxiety/pain or regret and put it on another boat. Take its energy and build use it to light a torch. Say a few words, light it on fire and push it out to join the other burning boat. Repeat until burning boats fill the lake. Now they are dead and you don’t have to waste any more energy on them. The truth is, the past was always dead, you’ve just been feeding them your spirit and time because you thought you still needed them. But you don’t. Stand on the beach and watch them burn. They are gone and you are still alive. And the sun rises above your burning boats.

Here are some pictures of what Brownbuilt is up to:

Since I wear Manly in an Ergo carrier under my jacket, the Rebels needed to wear their babies, as well. The family that shovels together… I can’t think of what rhymes with “shovels”… Ladybird had to put a hat on her baby. Coco simply zipped her jacket up to keep her baby’s head warm. Side note; shoveling with a baby strapped to your front is not very efficient. But it got everyone outside to get the stink out.

Manly is 8 months old. Here is very proudly standing up in his crib. I think this was the first time he pulled himself up to a stand. Then he panicked when he realized he couldn’t get down from such heights. No he doesn’t sleep through the night. Yes, I wish he would.

I am making necklaces for the girls for Valentine’s Day. Yesterday I bought myself chocolate, lip gloss, and roses. Then called Mr. Brown to tell him he was off the hook. Such a silly holiday. Although, here is a nugget from a conversation with my 3-year-old, Ladybird:
L: Why do we have hearts for Valentine’s Day? Is it because they have blood?
me (grateful to celebrate blood, and not romance): Yes. We celebrate Valentine’s Day to celebrate our hearts pumping blood and how great it is that it helps us move and run and play.
L: And do we get chocolate? Like Easter?
Me: Yes. Because it is always good to get chocolate. And I think it helps my blood move.
L: Yep. It helps my blood, too. I love Choc-co-late.

“For those about to rock, we solute you.” -AC/DC

2009 Resolution; Less  Soccer [Mom], more Rocker [Mom].

1. Get rid of this God-awful-helmet-hair and get something with some style. I currently look like a news anchor cum Republican Senator’s Wife. Time to bust out some layers and add highlights and low-lights. I need to find a hairstylist who is worth his or her weight in overpriced hair product.
2. Early to bed, early to rise. The resolution to wake up, and actually get up, dovetails into Chris’ desire to start attending morning yoga classes. I will be expanding my Mothering Hours from 6 a.m. to 8 p.m.  I will get to bed by 9 p.m. to make up the lost morning hour.
3. Learn to play guitar. This resolution came to me in a dream.  I woke up at 2 a.m. thinking “I should really learn to play guitar.” Go with it.
4. Figure out my fancy new camera and this darn WordPress. I love and fear my new camera. Repeat after me, “Knowledge is power. Knowledge is power…..”
5. Make a felted camera case for fancy new camera. And a camera strap. I will post instructions on Brownbuilt, or better yet, make them and sell them on Etsy. Maybe this will offset the cost of the fancy new camera. Yeah, right.
6. Birth Brown #3 sometime in late May, early June. Have a “Welcome Baby Summer Solstice” party instead of a baby shower where everyone brings a  frozen dish instead of  baby gifts.
7. Burn old journals and datebooks that just sit in my studio and bum me out. Do this after Baby is born so I can toast, and drink, to my mistakes and remember that mistakes brought me to the beautiful place that is my life.
8. Prenatal yoga once a week. And then postnatal once a week until I can start running. How do I stack a running jogger for 3 kids? I must look into this.
9. Continue to go the the gym 3 times a week to  workout and visit with Laura. I resolve to be supportive, not envious, of her half Ironman training.
10. E-bay and/or Craigslist all the fancy, useless stuff that is packed away in my basement and cluttering up my drawers. Put the money towards a new sewing machine and  baby hammock.
11. Paint the kitchen lavender. For about a year everything I do, sew, paint, and knit is a shade of purple. Again, go with it.
12. Knit myself a pretty nursing shawl. It will probably be purple. Maybe navy with light lavender edging for contrast. First I must finish eggplant colored shawl-neck sweater I started in 2008.
13. Redesign and make another Mei Tai sling for Baby. This will be prototype #3 for baby #3. I will post the design on Brownbuilt.
14. Graft dying apple tree to new dwarf trees. Cut down  mammoth dying apple tree and use the trunk + 12′ to make an awesome fairy-fort for the girls. Determine what constitutes a “Fairy-fort”.
15. Make chicken tractor and acquire 4 chickens.

Upon reviewing my list, it doesn’t look very “rocker” at all. Except for #3. The point is to not let my artistic spirit get lost in the undertow of raising children, working out, making dinner and keeping this tiny house from exploding at the seams.

I still need to wash the dishes, but I can throw on an i-pod and listen to the Yeah,Yeah,Yeah’s while I scrub.

Driftless Arts Festival

I planned on Blogging more, but I have been swamped in CSS writing trying to figure out how to customize Brownbuilt. I can never leave a style sheet alone. So, until I can find my way out of this quagmire-blogmire, I apologize for links that go nowhere and photos that don’t open. Luckily, only 4 people read this sight, and I know their love will outlast a few coding hurdles.

Last Sunday we took a road trip to the Driftless Area Art Festival. The winding roads prohibited me from knitting in the car, lest I barf on my handwork. The weather was fantastic, the food and beer was local, organic, and yummy as was the art and music. I visited with a favorite artist, Amy Arnold , and like a school girl crush, I blushed and giggled and choked out that I was a huge fan. Then I backed it up with buying two hats. Chris gave Coco and Ladybird their first “underdogs” on the swings, which made them squeal with delight. Swinging will never be the same again. We drove past Pleasant Ridge Waldorf School and dreamed of which farmette we would like to own. Tried to hit Sibby’s Organic Zone Ice Cream Parlor, but it was closed on Sunday. Another reason to come back to our little slice of homesteading heaven.

Sheep+Wool and Quilts all over

miles of fabric at this weekend’s quilt show

multi-purpose

roving for all

My week was bookend with the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival one weekend and the Quilt Expo at the other. What a perfect way to kick off fall.

Notes form the quilt expo: How do you know if the needle is the right size for your thread? Remember this; If it won’t slide it won’t sew. Thread the needle. Hold the tread taught between your hands. Tilt the thread 45 degrees. Think of the needle as a gondola going down the mountain. If it doesn’t slide, your needle is too thin or thick.

I am the on the outer fringe of a fringe hobby. Everyone asked which machine I had. I responded that I was a hand quilter. The unsaid comment, “Funny, you don’t look Amish.” I was in search of the booth that salvaged vintage tablecloths and sold them as quilt squares. It doesn’t exist. Baubles beads and mirrors. Since when do quilts need more flair? Lots of glued on rhinestones, sewn on beads and tiny mirrors, which when well done, reminded me of beautiful Indian Saris. When done poorly, looked like rhinestone sweatshirts. Watercolor wash. Lots of wash over white to give the quilts more interest. Not that they need it.

More is More. Some quilts made my head spin with the colors. My favorite comment I overheard from two women admiring one of the quilts on display: “What’s not to like? Its black with orange and, your favorite color, purple.” Interestingly enough, one of the crowd favorites was a handstitched trapunto. This was an extraordinary work of art and the direction I am going to take with my Anniversary Quilt.

The Sheep and Wool Festival was lovely. A beautiful day. The girls were terrified of the sheep. I guess they are city girls after all. Now when I say “Sheep,” Ladybird replies.”Wool.” I consider this a victory. Sheep and Wool folks seam to want to do it all. They may not own the sheep, but they are lovers of spinning, dying and enjoying the process of creating the yarn. non-mechanized. Even the sheep sheerer used a hand crank sheering blade. I think I only saw one booth that had a sweater-in-a-bag kit. Quilters, on the other had love kits. They love prepackaged fat quarters. The other feeling is that since the machines are so computerized, it’s not that you are making a quilt so much as engineering a quilt. The more complex and mind boggling the colors and layered techniques, the better. Quite a difference from the atmosphere of the Gees Bend quilt exhibit I saw in the spring. The Gees Bend women made beautiful works of art, modern paintings from nothing. I was standing next to a woman talking on the cell phone and she was saying ” I sat down and said I am not leaving without buying a machine. Yup. So He gave me a real good deal. $3156.” Wow.