Sock size 9-11 sample colors

I grow wonderful fibers, which are made into yarns, socks, handknit and handwoven items.  (Uh, correction! – the GOATS grow the fibers!)

I have a little shop online and I have recently posted a bunch of yarns and socks to the shop.

If you need or want any of that sort of stuff (to stuff in a stocking maybe?) you can easily see the shop by going to:

www.etsy.com/shop/laughinggoatfiber

(Or click on My Etsy on the left side of the Laughing Goat Fiber Facebook page.)

If you see something you want, you can buy it from that site, or you can email me directly and avoid the shipping costs.  (Yes!  Free shipping until Christmas!  Just for yous guys!)

You can pay using a check, or Paypal, or credit card.

NOTE:  In many cases I have more quantity than is listed in the shop.  Etsy charges by the item, so I just list a few, and then I’ll relist if those are all sold.

Thanks for looking!

Lisa (and the goats)

They’re so lovely.  See?  (Please ignore the obvious chaos that is my home…)

I took Wilbur’s lovely mohair fleece, Shadow’s merino fleece, and trusted Therese and Charlie with them.

They did NOT disappoint me.  The yarn is lovely.  And it takes dye beautifully, as you can see.

If I can just get a minute to post it on Etsy, you can buy it!  That is, if I don’t sell it at the craft shows this weekend and next.

Here’s a link to Therese and Charlie’s website – Salt City Fiber Works – http://www.saltcityfiberworks.com/

And I’ll be on Long Island this Saturday, Dec 3rd at the Holiday Craft Bazaar in E. Setauket (near Stony Brook).

http://tinyurl.com/7qfne6l

Then, next weekend (Dec 10th) I’m in Dryden, NY.

Hey, another weekend, another craft show…!

http://tinyurl.com/7hopreu

And my final event of the season, I think, will be Shop Night (Dec 12th) at the Rochester Knitting Guild.

http://www.rochesterknitting.org/

Yessir, I will go a Loooong way to make knitters happy!

I hope to see you at one of these happy events – or all of them!  (That would be amazing!)

Of course, you’re always welcome to call the farm and arrange to stop by and make a purchase.  You’ll get the happy bonus of seeing the baby goats.  So cute!

Happy Holidays!

Lisa (and the animals)

Baby goats grow so fast!

In this picture you can see Kaytee, born Monday – white spot on her head, and Buttercup, born yesterday – all black.  Just 4 days between them.  They were the same weight at birth, but Kaytee has 4 days of growth over Buttercup.  Amazing.

I wonder if that’s where the phrase “growing by leaps and bounds” came from?

Now watch the video of Opal, and tell me if you can see her growing… http://youtu.be/qSQPTk3mMcshttp://youtu.be/qSQPTk3mMcs

Yes.  baby goats.  in November.  Gary came in from morning chores yesterday and solemnly announced that he “needed me to go out to the barn.”  It sounded ominous, but then he said “There are 3 baby goats out there.”

WAHT?  I mean WHAAATT? Gary thought maybe someone had dropped them off, the way people abandon kittens near farms.  But no.  The does were tending these little beauties and they are the spitting image of their mothers.  Two mothers.  Uhm  yeah.

So, here’s what I figure happened.  I raise angora goats, mostly, and I’m used to their breeding habits.  They mature more slowly than dairy goats and come into season in the Fall, about September.  Every August I separate the bucks and does before they have a chance to “merge”.  It works for me.  I can put the buck in with the does later in the Fall, and then count on having kids in late March/early April - instead of in Jan/Feb.

Well, I’m starting a herd of cashmere goats, and they are a little different – particularly these sweet little Australian cashmeres.  In late May of this year, just before the Memorial Day weekend, we combined the does and bucks, angora and cashmere, into one pasture paddock.  I didn’t think anything of it, and I didn’t see anything unusual going on, but it’s not like I’m watching them all day.  I’ve got stuff to do!

Apparently there was a lot going on out there…  I think – I’m not sure, but I think there are 3 more pregnant does.  All Australian or 1/2 Australian.  I have two white American cashmere does, and I don’t think they’re about to pop out any kids.  But Ebony and Ivory and Mona are developing full udders, and that only means ONE thing.  BABY GOATS!

I have to admit.  I kind of like it.  Baby goats are one of my favorite creatures.  And Fall can be kind of “eh” with the colder weather, and shorter days.  I’m talking about ME here.  Hopefully I can make it easy on these little cuties… and their cousins to come…  In the meantime – I bring them in at night – to tame them, and keep them warm.  Fun, fun, fun.

Oh! Two girls, one boy.  Named them Kaytee, Opal and Opie.  Lucy and Lisa are the moms.  Kaytee looks JUST like Lucy, and Opal and Opie are sooo much like Lisa.  It’s almost like these cashmeres were cloned.  More pictures on the FB page.  Enjoy!

Normally, it doesn’t rain every 3 days, all summer long.

Normally, I have all my hay in the barn by now.

This is NOT a normal year.

Yesterday, the farmer who leases my fields notified me that he probably won’t be bringing the rest of the bales I ordered.  I’ve only got about 1/2 of what I need, about 375 bales.  Now, at the end of the summer, I’m scrambling to find someone with hay to sell – 450 bales of it.  Oh.  And they also have to deliver it.  Yeah…

I was researching optional feeds for goats, trying to decide if I can plant broccoli for them.  Or maybe let them out on pasture during the winter.. It’s gonna be interesting.  As usual, only more so.

If I’m lucky, I’ll be calling on my friends pictured above, to help get the rest of the hay into the barn.

Assuming I can find some hay …

I was finally getting the hang of making all these online pieces work together, with FB as the center.  In fact, Mike, my brilliant, generous and kindhearted son-in-law just finished making my WordPress blog posts flow to Twitter, and Facebook and the farm website.  Cool right?  I didn’t have to waste time cutting and pasting and formatting for each social tool.

Now Facebook is going to change the way that Pages get ranked and when they’ll appear in your news feed.  Oy.

Here’s a link to a blog that tries to understand and explain what’s about to happen when FB puts their new Timelines into effect for Pages…

http://fletcher-prince.com/2011/09/23/facebook-the-new-timeline-and-what-this-means-for-page-owners/

If you understand it, can you please comment with some kind of strategy for me?  I mean, should I start exhorting folks who “Like” the Laughing Goat Fiber page to “Like” everything I post on it?  Geez, Facebook.

He looks like Trouble, doesn't he?

Linus, gorgeous cashmere yearling buck, jumped the fence and made his way around the pasture to the older doe pen – TWICE.  He was recaptured and promptly hooked to the fence behind the barn until further notice.  When we tried to move him out of the rain, he escaped again, the slippery devil!

That told me we’d better go check the fencing.  (I catch on quickly, huh?)  There were at least a half dozen places where the fence had been pulled down low enough for an agile young buck like Linus to easily jump over.

So… Gary and I have been out in the rain for hours, pounding posts and tieing up fencing.  Between catching Linus, corralling the does again, and fixing fencing — we’re on our third pair of wet jeans.  The fencing is better, but Linus, and Edgar are tied up in the barn.  And the does were moved to a pen temporarily.  Never a dull moment.  Dull farmers, yes.  Dull moments, not a one.

Look at his resolute stride. He means business!

He has escaped twice in the last twenty four hours.  Both times he heads straight for the pasture where all the lovely does are feeding.  Luckily he hasn’t gotten inside the electric fence yet.

We put him in a pen last night, and he wailed mournfully for hours.  Then he began plotting to get his freedom back.  Just a push here and a tug there, and he popped the corners of the pen out.  I wondered why he was so quiet.. – because he wasn’t there!

The poor guy was like this last year too.  He’s always ready long before I want his services.  Sorry Edgar, you have to wait until November.