Now I will introduce myself and tell you a bit about my family and our farm. I am Andrea, I'm thirty-something, a stay at home wife and mother. I've been married to my very best friend for almost 17 years (anniversary is this Sunday!!!). His name is Mike and together we have two children...a fourteen year old son and an eleven year old daughter. I won't share their real names here but will refer to them as the kids or by the above mentioned nicknames. We homeschool our children, I'm the teacher most of the time and Mike is our principal and sometimes helps teach too.
Our farm is very small. We live on about an acre of a larger farm that is owned and operated by various members of our extended family. We grow produce for our own use and for market and have a lovely herd of French Angora rabbits. We currently sell produce locally at our communities tailgate market though we plan to open a farm stand or roadside stand next year as well as expanding our offerings to include cut flowers, annual and perenial plants and seeds, native wildflowers and herbs . Our rabbits are used primarily for the luxurious fiber they produce. We also breed and sell babies to other breeders, handspinners, show and pet families. I will frequently refer to the rabbits as everything from bunnies, buns, bunz to popples and fuzzballs...lol. We hand harvest our rabbits which means I sit with the rabbit in my arms and pet it for half an hour or so. While petting it I gently pluck the loose fiber from its coat and drop it into a box. The fiber is then 'graded' depending on its length and quality. Angora rabbits (most breeds) naturally shed or molt their entire coat every three months or so...we do nothing to encourage this, it's the way they are made...:). Since the hair is loose anyway, the bunnies don't feel anything but relief when it's removed! The German Angoras do not molt so must be shorn of their coats, much like a sheep.
In addition to our farm and rabbitry, I am a fiber artist and crafter. I am an extremely tactile person and have had a long fascination with animal and other natural fibers, sticks, tree bark and rocks...lol. I love to rub stuff to just see how it feels...is it rough, smooth, warm, cold....what happens when it gets wet, when the sun shines on it...etc., etc...:). I cannot knit, tried to take spinning lessons but carpal tunnel syndrome stopped that, can crochet a chain around the world but cannot make a simple Granny Square...but I can make felt ! I use both wet felting and needle felting techniques to create wearables, ornaments, rugs and home decor items as well as animals and dolls.I am still finding my center in this endeavor and am experimenting and learning a lot.
In this blog I hope to document my journey and all that it brings me. I will bore you with mundane things but really hope to fill you with joy...:) . In the coming days and weeks I hope to get some photos of my work posted here, open my etsy store (etsy is an on-line marketplace for handmade arts and crafts and supplies...fabulous gifts can be found there!), and share our families and my lives with you just a bit...:).
Talk to you soon....!
