wintertime and the living is breezy

a wise sweater-chop supervises

goose ballet

strider!

annie warms up inside

junior is ready for rabbit season

tito flirts with camera

herschel fully recovered from rehab

a rare shot of camera-shy eunice

tonight's the night.

well, tonight is finally here. the greatest show in st louis. all my friends getting together to play some music and help me forget my troubles. i am so completely blown away by all the outpouring of support. i'm speechless. or shall i say, type-less.

saw new specialist and had a pulmonary function test. it came back normal. was kinda hoping for asthma. i know it's weird to hope for asthma. but it's better than the alternative. so i'm back to square one. a follow-up PET scan should be next on my calendar. maybe for may or june. to check and see if my spots have grown. so, more waiting.

in the meantime, i've been trying to get back to a normal life. got 3/4 of my garden ready for planting. and actually did plant the strawberries, leeks, and collard greens. might try and get my herbs in the ground today or tomorrow.

we had shearing day on the farm easter weekend. i now have my days and nights cut out for me for the next 6 months. beautiful mohair, pygora, and icelandic wool to wash, card, and spin. promise to have lots of yarn, hats, and accessories available for opening day of tower grove market on may 8th. this is the first year our farm will be participating. look for us, provenance farm. we'll have eggs, fiber products, and will be taking orders for duck and turkey meat available this fall.

herchel & bianka before

bianka, leon & herschel after

bianka's beautiful locks washed and drying

baby it's cold outside.................

just in time for winter, i introduce my latest creation...

the blue/green matching baby hat and mitten set custom made from 100% mohair hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn. the fiber comes from our handsome angora bucks, herschel and patrik.


i am currently taking orders for hats, scarves, baby mittens, and flowers. i can do just about any color and also have some lovely icelandic wool in brown and black.

stay warm!!!!!!!!

Purple, Pink & Turquoise Baby Hat.

I've been busy spinning and crocheting. Here is my latest creation available on etsy...



Made from 100% mohair hand-carded hand-spun yarn. From our beautiful angora goats, Herschel & Bianka. Just in time for winter!

meet audrey.

the very first kid goat born on the rook farm. surprise, surprise! marla was not the mother! violet, one of the pygmy twins, beat marla to the punch. herschel must have snuck in and bred violet immediately after his arrival on our farm, before he hooked up with marla. goats are sneaky that way!

little audrey was delivered sunday afternoon. kid and mother are doing very well! champagne for everyone!!!!!!!!

i'm just sitting here waiting...

any day now. i really think marla must be expecting a calf or baby hippopotamus by her size. and well, herschel is just as pleased as punch.

marla's bag.

herschel insisted on this gratuitous shot.

what a stud, indeed!

the goat stork came back...

guess who else is gonna be a daddy?... patrik, our little angora buckling! i've noticed that he and gretta have been sweet on each other for some time. yesterday, when jason & i were having our evening cocktail on the veranda, the goats joined us. and we noticed a sizable milk bag on gretta! i'm thrilled.

patrik, proud father-to-be

we decided to take a peek at the other female goats and guess who else has a bag? 842! yes, our crazy salt and pepper pygmy-mix! herschel can take credit for that one.

a coy 842 lounging under the van

and there is a possibility that violet, one of the twins, is with kid as well. no bag yet. but she is starting to put on considerable weight. too soon to tell though. a goat's weight can fool you. but her and patrik were seen romping around a month or so back.

mother violet?

goat stork, please land here.

herschel's been living up to his herd sire title. marla, his old lady, appears to be mighty pregnant. looks like she could either be expecting triplets or one bionic angora/boer cross mutant-giant baby. she is one big momma. we're looking at late july - early august for delivery. can't wait.

what a stud!

move over, there's a new sheriff in town

what do billy goats love?

cars

chairs

& trees

shearing day.

saturday was shearing day at the rook farm. herschel, bianka, and patrik all got their summer cuts. things went smoothly. patrik (who had never been sheared - since his kid coat fell out on it's own) didn't care for the fuss. we had to lay him down for the shear. but bonky and hersch did great and stood up the whole time. and i have tons of fiber to keep me busy all year long. next up.... baby snakes!

patrik

bianka

herschel

the ringer.

patrik

patrik is almost a year old (his birthday is the same day as mine, st patty's day). we were hoping he would be breeding our females by now but angora goats mature slowly. and with his previous illness, he just isn't up to speed. since we are really counting on some baby goats this year, we decided to bring in a ringer. we needed a tried and true buck. someone with experience...

meet herschel

herschel came from herbal maid fiber farm in rosebud, missouri. we picked him up saturday evening. what a handsome buck he is! he's only been here for two days and he's already made a lady friend, marla. of course, we were hoping he would fancy one of our angora does, bernadett or bianka. but instead, he took a liking to our big mean ol' boer goat. oh well, who can explain true love. i'm sure they will produce some lovely bogora kids.

herschel & marla