More Sad News

This fall, our faithful border collie, Gus also died. He had developed a large, cancerous tumor in his neck and we decided to have him "put-down" so that he didn't suffer. Gus was a good dog, a loyal companion, a willing helper and, in his younger days, an excellent car chaser. He had an excellent work ethic and could even manage to stop cars in their tracks ( often stopping Governor Pataki of New York and his entourage for many minutes on the road before we rescued them from the "eye of the collie".) Walter buried Gus down next to the sheep pasture on the bank of Camden Creek so he could continue his favorite activity, watching sheep. Gus was 12 years old and we miss him every day.

The Blue Moon Necessary Room

Yes, all of the comforts of home on the farm!! It is very modern with a small handwoven rug on the floor and a wastepaper basket made from wood scraps. There is a cushy little seat and a polished pewter toilet paper holder. Who could ask for more? But wait....is there a moon? No....there are TWO moons. A full moon on the back wall with blue opaque glass and a deeper blue half moon on the side. We have nearly thought of everything! So, come visit...we have all the amenities!

Joanne,of course, has to test run things to make sure all is well in the new facility! It is a cozy place, and little reminicent of Grandma Freemeyer's little one holer near the cow barn when I was a little girl....good memories.

A new shop for the farm

People come to Common Threads Farm for many and various reasons. Some people come to visit, some to talk about sheep, some to buy Christmas Trees. In an effort to make take the business away from Walt's house, we have "fixed-up" an existing building on the farm called the sauna. Walt's family heritage is Finnish, and indeed there is a sauna room inside this building. We have decided that will be the employee lounge to be used after a long day of selling Christmas trees.

The shop is FINISHED!!!! Walt and Joanne worked hard to be finished before Christmas tree season began. Visitors to the farm can cut Christmas trees, admire the sheep, then come to the shop for some warmth and conversation. We are pleased with the outcome, especially when neither of us really had many carpentry skills. In the area? Stop by for a weekend visit during the holidays, until Christmas.

about the shop

The pictures on this page are the "before pictures". We used lumber which was logged last fall and winter and was sawn by a friend into useable lumber for this project. Most of the other renovations were made possible by using "found" materials from the farm and from the neighborhood. The shop will be open during the hoilday season and occasionally thereafter as a base for selling Christmas trees and for selling our fleeces, handmade items, 4-H meetings,teaching spinning, knitting, felting, and for general "visiting." Please stay tuned for the progress of this project....it will be a good story.

A New Barn

This year our sheep population grew to such great proportions that we felt it was necessary to build a larger barn. In the picture is my husband,Tom on his dad's tractor digging holes for our poles. The project didn't look very big to start out with when it was "laid-out" with strings and batter boards, but as we have begun to to set the poles, we realize it will be a big project for us. The barn looks like it could hold large animals from Africa instead of rascally little sheep from Iceland! Once again, stay tuned! I'll update as often as I can. Hopefully we'll have a large shelter up and running for the sheep before snow flies. This will be an improvement on all of the little shelters scattered about the farm!

Farm News
	Poles were set on Sunday. Tom and his dad, John worked hard with us to set most of the poles for the frame of the barn. One more day and we'll be ready to build. It's pretty exciting!

That Tom Steele will do most anything to keep those little sheep over at Walt's place! Here he is helping Walt put up the front supports of the barn after setting the last of the poles. We are thankful that Tom has taken time out of his own farming work to help us with the new sheep abode. It is finally beginning to look like something! Stay tuned.

Walt is on the roof of the barn putting up roofing material. On Thanksgiving morning, Tom came to the farm and helped finish up the roofing. We had lots to be thankful for! The sheep were dry and happy, and we were glad to be finished with the second of our big projects for the year. The sheep love their new home!

Our barn has proven to be a comfortable place to spend the winter! The ewe lambs enjoyed the protection and safety of the pole barn