Merry Christmas! Remember there are 12 days to celebrate it!! Check out Capital Press and Black Sheep Newsletter for articles on the mill and Greener Lifetsyles. In the family, we have had a lovley and adventurous Christmas. The kids are visting from Montana.They have been greeted with historic snows,lows and blows! 45 inches of snow in 2 weeks kept us ALL shoveling. The snow plus -4 degrees, set records in "temperate Western Washington"!90 mile gusts took out power more than once and gave us a dark, but memorable Christmas morning. Seeing our daughter-in-law, "great with child", sing the Annunciation at the C-Eve service was precious.Rob managed through sheer will and hard work,to deliver most of his mailroutes during the historic weather and we hope our road is passable soon!Wonderful neighbors with tractors and family with 4 wheeldrive have all worked hard with us to keep all well. Don't miss St Distaff's Spin-In on Jan. 3rd at Cavalerro Middle School. It is ALWAYS great fun with over 200 spinners and vendors. The Country Living Expo is Jan.31 at Stanwood High. Sponsored by WSU Snohomish Co Extension, this day of 70 classes in all country topics is a huge event. Vendors of all types, spin-in, classes from beekeeping to sheepshearing. I will be teaching Basic Wool Processing, Dairy Sheep 101, and doing an Aged Cheese Demo.Check out the Snohomish County Extension Office Website for registration. Check out the new Washington Wool website at www.washingtonwool.net . This is a super new website featuring small farms and fiber producers from WA state. 2009 is the United Nations International Year of Natural Fibers.Check out www.keepthefleece.org for more info on this exciting year of opportunity for ALL fiber enthusiasts. On the farm,animal care in this weather is a huge challenge. No water at the barn for 2+ weeks means hauling buckets. We did manage to save the carport and woodshed as the thaw made the snow heavy and they threatened to cave in.The animals are unhappy cooped up more and no grazing-but they are alive and healthy. Money and time costs soar in this weather in double feed and bedding.But it is all neccessary to keep our creatures well.We continue blessed by Bridget's milk and the hens'eggs.They return the favors! In the mill, we have added an ionizer to our shop. This used model helps keep static electricity to a minimum when processing. A HUGE help with finer fibers like alpaca.Many thanks to fellow carder and shepherd, Al Schwider for his suggestion and expertise in procurring this helpful devise.I start experiments with local Freisian wool and a local felter, to bring Greener Lifestyles Furniture a wool-felt product for manufacturing. Check out the new "photo gallery" link from the "About Us Page" on our website for seasonal pictures from the farm.