Christmas Goodies

My friend Tina knitted this white cotton wash cloth for me. See the cute sheep shape in it?
I LOVE it!
Chuck got me a sewing machine for Christmas, and these are what I've been using it for. They are weird, skinny little Santas. They have bags on their backs full of sticks, and their beards are Bluefaced Leicester locks.

Wilmington New Year's Eve show

Annette & Garnet, and Trieste and I. Garnet finished her championship tonight. WOOHOO!
Aren't these "red heads" gorgeous?
Judge Kevin Bogan looking over Rupert, Annette's CSB Satin Angora, before awarding him BOS.
Amy and her beau (from England) with Scott in the background. Nightshade (aka Bunicula) winning BOS in French. This is his 3rd leg, but he will need another one as a senior. If he will hold his coat 'til the PA convention in Feb, I'd love to do that. :^)

Jailbird's Larz

Larz is a REW Satin Angora buck. White SA are fairly rare. A Jailbird's REW buck won BOB at the ARBA national convention in California this fall.

AE Maximo

This is Max. He is a rescue, picked up in Indiana recently. I did not know until I got him and saw his pedigree that he is from my lines. He is a sweetie!

Roast Leg of Lamb in Orange Mustard Sauce

1 boneless leg, approx 3.5#
salt and pepper to taste
3 T prepared mustard
1 T Parsley flakes
2 T olive oil
1 c white wine
4 small onions, halved
2 slices bacon, cut into 1/2 inch pieces
1 orange, cut in half

Preheat the oven to 325 degrees. Season the lamb with salt and pepper, and spread the mustard onto it. Place in a covered casserole, and pour the oil and white wine around it. Then put in the small onions and sprinkle with the bacon pieces and parsley.
Bake covered, for 60 minutes in the preheated oven. Remove lid and turn roast over. Squeeze on some juice from 1/2 the orange. Return to the oven, uncovered, for 30-40 minutes, until browned. Roast will be pink inside. Serve with sliced orange wedges and garlic mashed potatoes.

Merry Christmas!

I heard the bells on Christmas day
Their old familiar carols play,
And wild and sweet the words repeat
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And thought how, as the day had come,
The belfries of all Christendom
Had rolled along the unbroken song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

Till ringing, singing on its way
The world revolved from night to day,
A voice, a chime, a chant sublime
Of peace on earth, good will to men.

And in despair I bowed my head
“There is no peace on earth,” I said,
“For hate is strong and mocks the song
Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:
“God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;
The wrong shall fail, the right prevail
With peace on earth, good will to men.”

Henry W Longfellow (1864)

Christmas eve dawning

And just where is this Santa fellow, anyway???

Wynne

This is a triplet yearling, Wynne, with Adagio behind her.

At the Feeder

Lambchops with Rosemary Potatoes

Rosemary Potatoes
4 C new red potatoes, quartered
2 onions, peeled and thinly sliced
1 T finely chopped rosemary leaves
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Lambchops
6 chops, or 2 lamb leg steaks, 1" thick
1 onion, diced
1 T chopped green olives
1/4 tsp sage
1/4 tsp chopped fresh marjoram
1/2 C chicken broth
6 baby artichokes, tips trimmed and tough outer leaves removed
1 T tomato paste
1 T parsley
salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste

Preheat oven to 375 degrees
Toss potatoes and 2 sliced onions with rosemary and olive oil in a large bowl. Season to taste with salt and pepper; spread into a large, shallow baking dish.
Bake potatoes in the preheated oven until tender, about 45 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat olive oil in a large skillet over high heat. Turn down and brown chops on both sides. Add the remaining onion, olives, sage, and marjoram and saute for 2 minutes. Reduce heat to medium-low, add chicken broth and cover and simmer for 30 minutes.
Stir artichokes, tomato paste, and parsley into skillet with lamb. Replace cover and simmer until artichokes are tender, about 15 minutes. Serve with rosemary potatoes.

The Golden Fleece

Something Special for Christmas Morning

Apple Panakuchen - from my friend, Becky.
Melt in 9" pie pan: 1/3 stick butter Mix together and pour over melted butter in pan: 3 eggs 3/4 C flour 3/4 C milk 1 tsp vanilla Peel, core, and slice one apple. Arrange slices in a circle on top of mixture. Mix together 1/4 C sugar and 1 tsp cinnamon, sprinkle over apple slices. Bake at 425 degrees for 25 minutes. Serve warm with syrup. YUM!

Becky suggests trying it with other fruits; how 'bout blueberries strawberries, or peaches? This is really easy to make, looks fabulous, and Chuck loves it!

We may have a new cat

This is Al. Or at least that's what he says his name is. As you might guess by my attempts at a picture, he is very friendly. He's got the cutest little white front mittens.

Silent Sunday

I'm dreaming of a White Christmas...........

with Carbon Credits, glistening in the snow..........

These are white pines, planted on AEP ground next door to us. We've got about 4 inches on snow on the ground. By the looks of the forecast, the snow should stay around for Christmas. The mercury won't be above 35 for the next 10 days.

Waiting for Grampa

Its snowing here. Can you see the big white dogs, waiting for Chuck to bring them biscuits?
Now can you see them?

That's Tim in front, and Buddy behind him. Don't worry, Tim is not sad - he always has that very serious expression. Tim's motto is: Never stand when you can sit; never sit when you can lie down."

More fun with dyeing

This is called Marigolds. Its made with yellow, magenta, and Madder Orange.
I call this "Sunset". Its made with Burnt Orange, Hot Pink, and Sunshine Yellow dyes. This is what I was doing while I was "supposed" to be cooking dinner and making out an agenda for our BLU board meeting tonight. :^)

Look for this yarn and more like it, as well as fleece, dyed locks, rovings and other BFL fiber on
http://outoftheblueshop.blogspot.com

Vendetta Has New Babies!

'Detta had 6 (or maybe 7) BIG FAT kits yesterday evening. There are 2 torts, and the rest are either fawns or CREAMS. They are HUGE compared to the SA kits that are several days older. She had them buried in wool, and they are so active, burrowing into it, that its hard to get an accurate count, or a clear picture.

Fun with Dyeing

After I came out of my stupor induced by too much driving yesterday, I got out the dyes and some BFL lambswool yarn and had some fun!
These yarns are available for sale on the Out of the Blue co-op sales blog.
http://outoftheblueshop.blogspot.com

BFL Fiber Co-op

Be sure to visit and bookmark the new BFL Fiber Co-op sales blog, Out of the Blue!

If you have BFL fiber items you'd like to list there, please email me at
OutoftheBlue2010@yahoo.com

Cyrenaica's Kits

All 4 look like chocolate agoutis - just like papa Timbuktu.

LONG day!

Just got back from a whirlwind trip to Michigan to meet with Kelly and Margaret(and Cindy) about the new board for BLU. We got a lot accomplished, and a lot of things for the new board to deal with. Kelly had a delicious pot of chicken soup and fresh bread for lunch. It was a very nice day and meeting.
However, 13 hours of driving is just about enough for me! I'm glad to be home, and to stop moving.

Keftethes (Greek Meatballs)

1# ground lamb
1 cup dried bread crumbs
1 large onion (finely chopped or zapped in the blender)
2 eggs
1 cup of chopped parsley
pinch of dried oregano
a dash of ouzo or brandy
2 T olive oil
salt and pepper to taste
Mix together, form into balls, fry in skillet, drain on paper towels. Allow to cool while
making sauce.

RICH TOMATO SAUCE
one bunch of corriander (chopped)
one bunch of basil (chopped)
2 large onion (sliced in thin rings)
3 cloves of garlic
1 C sliced mushrooms
6 fresh tomatoes (finely chopped)
Simmer together for 30 minutes, then add meatballs and cook another 30 minutes.

Serve over rice.

More new babies

Cyrenaica (SA) delivered her babies during the night. A couple did not make it, but she has 4 nice chubby little babies in the nest this morning. I did not bother them, since its sooooo cold, and they were very new, but they are light colored. She is a broken chocolate tort, bred to a chocolate agouti, so obviously they will be chocolate somethings. :^)
No picture yet - I did not take the camera with me this morning.

Dickens on Main Street in Cambridge

The streets of downtown Cambridge (OHIO) are full of the Dickens people, with 74 victorian scenes to enjoy. Dickens village has local artisans selling their wares. There are several antique malls and shops, craft shops, and stores where you can buy gifts made in Ohio. The courthouse has a light show, you can ride in a horsedrawn carrriage, or take a Christmas trainride through the countryside. You can learn more about Christmas in Cambridge at this website:

http://www.dickensvictorianvillage.com/index.html

Sierra Leone kindled tonight

Sierra(Satin Angora) was pulling wool when I fed the rabbits tonight, so she was on my mind all evening. At 10, I decided to slip down to the barn and check on her. Its raining pretty hard, and getting soft and muddy out there.
She had delivered 9 kits, 8 of them alive. The 8 were all snuggled under a big pile of wool, and were warm and dry. Sierra got a "good girl", a handful of hay, and some treat mix. She was glad to get something to eat. There are 4 bright pink ones, and the others look like they might be chocolate somethings. In this picture, I think I see pink ears on 2 of the darker ones, so they might be chocolate agoutis. That one on the top of the pile on the right definitely looks like a tort with the lighter back and head, and the dark ring around the skull in front of the ears. I'll look more closely in a day or so - tonight, I just wanted to be sure they were clean and warm.

I gave Cyrenaica (SA) a box tonight, and she was carrying straw around with her. She is due on Friday.

Got this email from the father of the girls who bought a couple bred ewes from us last fall for 4-H projects:
Greetings, Just wanted you to see them at the first snow, yesterday. From front to back, Babydoll, Kerryn, Vogue, and Lyric.Have a great day.-Allen

FHFH

Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry. http://www.fhfh.org/

Guernsey County started a chapter this year, and our SWCD office put in a lot of time helping to organize the drive. During the deer/gun season last week, FHFH collected 59 deer and paid for them to be processed for meat to donate to 2 local food pantries.

This is Joe, me, and Dave, posing with the 27 deer that were donated over the weekend hunt. Why not look into starting a chapter in your area? Or donating time or $$$ to an existing chapter?

BFL Rams

This is Lanark, an AI son of Carryhouse R1 E+ out of a Beeston Loyalty daughter.
This is Lockerbie, an AI son of Barlaes Titus E+ out of a Gwystedd Jamie line ewe.
We used both rams last year and this, and they are both for sale now. They will be two in March.
Yes, Kirby, your dinner is on its way!

Pomeroy

Today, we went to Pomeroy to attend a funeral. Our DIL's grandmother, Helen, was laid to rest after 98 years of living life on her terms. She was quite a lady!

After the funeral, we drove down Main St and enjoyed the old buildings and how remarkably close the town is to the Ohio River. Main St only has one side - the other side is a low stone wall, and the river flows against it. This bridge crosses over to WVa at the western edge of town. Its construction is really quite unusual looking. Click to biggify the picture to see the cables supporting it.
Notice the extra cute caroler in the back row?

Lamb Quesadillas

1 c shredded roast lamb
1 T extra-virgin olive oil
1 med red onion, slivered
8 flour tortillas
4 oz ricotta or goat cheese
4 oz pepperjack cheese, grated
4 lg mushrooms, thinly sliced
2 green onions, sliced
1 T chopped cilantro

Saute red onions in olive oil until limp.
Place 4 tortillas on counter and sprinkle with 1/2 of cheeses. Layer lamb, sauted onions, mushrooms, green onions, and cilantro, and top with remaining cheese.
Heat skillet, and place one tortilla with meat mixture in it. Top with another tortilla, and brown on both sides, allowing cheese to melt. Repeat with remaining tortillas, adding oil as necessary between tortillas.
Cut into quarters, and serve with guacamole, sour cream, or salsa.

Sweet Oleander

Oleander is a white junior French Angora doe. Her mama is Voodoo, and sire is Spang's Vidal. I posted a picture of her brother, Aeron, in a recent post. Both Oleander and Aeron are doing well at shows. Oleander won her first leg as BOS at the Lancaster show last month. I LOVE the texture of her wool.

New Satin Angora Bucks

I drove over to Indiana last weekend and picked up a doe I had sold earlier in the summer. Her new owner had some financial problems, and had to sell her rabbits. I also took 3 bucks to help her out. At the same time, I met some other breeders and dropped off some rabbits to them. I got talked right out of the chocolate agouti SA buck. :^) These are the 2 reds I have left. One has some of my older lines in the background - the one on the left is IA's Barrymore. The bigger one on the right is directly from 2 Somerhill rabbits. His name is Angora Eden Maximo. Both of them are sweet as anything!

First snow of the winter

We finally got enough snow to cover the ground. I went to town, and our road looked like half the county went in the ditch by the tracks! I guess everyone forgot how to drive again.
It must have inspired me, because I addressed all our Christmas cards this afternoon.......