Thistle & Stone Farm - November Update

A month of craft markets, new sourdough, wool dreams coming true and a flock that found its way home.

This Saturday: Holiday Craft Market at My Home

This Saturday, 11/15 from 9am-2pm, I'm hosting my own gift market. Follow the signs to 6163 Ponderosa Way (in the Pinery).

The tables will be full of handmade favorites and new seasonal pieces:

• Pottery

• Ornaments & Christmas Decorations

• Barnwood Art

• Bath Salts

• Paintings at deep discounts

• Dutch Roll Cozies

• And......fresh sourdough!

Come by, say hello, shop local, and wander the studio. It's cozy, festive and full of things made slowly by hand.

Hilltop Craft Fair - The Following Weekend - Nov 22nd - 10am - 3pm

If you can't make it this Saturday, I'll be at the Hilltop Schoolhouse Holiday Fair next weekend, bringing all same handmade goods, including specialty sourdough boules and a few extras.

Two chances to visit, shop, and support small makers this season - I'd love to see you at either one (or both!).

And....Mrs. Clause will be at the Hilltop Schoolhouse.

New For November: Heirloom Blue Corn Sourdough

This month's special bread release is a loaf with history woven through it: Heirloom Massa Blue Corn Sourdough.

It's a hearty, denser loaf with a gentle sour, a quiet nod to cornbread and a warm Southwestern depth.

Slather a warm slice with wildflower honey for a sunrise-on-your-tongue experience.

And yes, like all my boules, it weighs in at over 2 pounds.

The Sheep Have Arrived!

This is George

This is the part of the newsletter where my heart takes over completely.

In the span of a few weeks, I went from dreaming of sheep....to bottle-feeding two wethers I named Ollie and George, to partnering with my friend Susan on two Valais Blacknose ewes, Sparkles and Opal.

Ollie and George

My friend Melissa - whose daughter is one of my piano students - messaged me one afternoon asking if I wanted two bottle-baby lambs. I didn't hesitate.

Now Ollie and George drink warm milk from a bottle, follow me around like toddlers, and fall asleep leaning against me. George, especially, is unbelievably cuddly - soft, trusting, cozy in a way only bottle babies are.

Sparkles and Opal

This Is Opal, our Valais Black Nosed Beauty

At the same time, my friend Susan and I jumped together into the Valais Blacknose breeding-up opportunity - starting with beautiful F3 girls. Over time, gently and slowly we will work toward F5 in the years ahead.

Sparkles is gentle. She had spent time in assisted living and I am eager to take her back to the people whose faces brighten the moment she walks in. Opal, her mama, is loves hugs and getting scratches on her neck.

And their fleece? A dream to work with - soft and coarse all at once, crimpy and full of character. I can already imagine the batts, the yarn and the stories.

Homesteading Without A Homestead

I realized something funny this month: I am officially homesteading, but without land to call my own. My flock is spread across two farms. My hands smell like lanolin. My car now regularly carries poop boots, halters, and a bag of sweet feed.

Somehow, this is exactly the way the Wool Woman's journey would unfold: not all at once, not in a perfect line, but in the beautiful, unexpected, slightly chaotic way real dreams arrive.

The sheep will absolutely find their way into the next chapters of Wool Woman - because this is part of the story now.

Music Notes: Harps Repaired & Holiday Songs

Both my harps have been repaired (finally!), and I've been playing holiday pieces in the quiet evenings. I'll be bringing the music - and maybe a little sheep magic - into local assisted living homes this season.

And my students have been working hard too; they'll be playing at a nearby assisted living home next month, sharing the music they've practiced all autumn.

Final Thoughts

November has been full: Bread. Markets. Lambs. Wool. Music.

Dreams arriving in real time.

As we move toward Thanksgiving, I find myself grateful for so much - this little farm taking shape, the friends and my family who have supported me, the sheep who found their way into my life, and each of you who continue to cheer on this adventure.

Wishing you a warm and happy Thanksgiving!