An Owens Farm Update!

So, apparently, the sheep are having the time of their lives right now!  The lambs have been weened, and it's too early for breeding season, so the sheep are basically on vacation.  Sounds like they are out in the pasture, just hanging out, grazing, and lazing about.  The lambs, on the other hand, need lots of attention.  They are susceptible to worms and parasites, so Caroline Owens is keeping a close eye on them and deworming as needed.  The pigs and chickens are multiplying as well (one mother pig had 11 piglets!), and the garden is full of blackberries, cucumbers, beans, and herbs.

One question that Caroline anticipated in her update letter is "don't the sheep get hot in their wool and blankets at this time of year?"  But, interestingly, their wool protects them from extreme heat as well as extreme cold.  The thick fleece has insulating properties, so a sheep with an inch of fleece is more comfortable than one with less wool.  Summertime shearing is actually bad for the sheep because adequate wool growth not only keeps them cool in the summer, it prevents sunburn!  By the winter, their coats will be full and warm.  Glad to know that Princess is having a great summer!

Many Creative Gifts Wrapping

So, after the scare with the email/password disclosure, I've been very wary of any emails I get from unknown sources, especially if they have links in them.  But, I got a nice note from a subscriber and decided to check out the link.  It's a handy list of creative ways to wrap gifts!  My two favorites are giving a new mom a diaper bag full of goodies and filling a coffee mug with small gifts.  Many thanks to Jacqui for the heads up about this wonderful article.

I know I've just been terrible so far this summer with the lack of blogging and sending out the newsletter, but hopefully, it will all be worth the wait!  My new website is almost ready to be launched, and I've got some projects and ebooks in the works that I think are going to knock your crocheted socks off.  So, please be patient with me, and I will try not to disappoint :-)

Scary Times

So, I have been spending the entire morning changing all of my passwords because Yahoo! screwed up!!  This is so annoying!  But, we should all be practicing good password protocols anyway...

1)  change your password every 3 or 4 months.
2)  don't use real words or names
3)  use lots of numbers and symbols among letters, including caps
4)  try not to write down your passwords (yeah, right!), especially in an accessible place
5)  be careful with the security questions also -- don't put stuff people would know about you

Ok, so let's see about getting other stuff done this morning!!