Late November News from the Farm

Hello Colorful Friends:

I’m popping into your in-box this morning to say hello. Wanted to send a note before the crazy activity of the Thanksgiving holiday begins. Or maybe it has already begun at your home? We are hosting my family here at the farm. A tradition that began in the early 2000’s, our sheep farm is the perfect place to celebrate the harvest season. There will be a crackling fire in the large central fireplace in the living room and we will share stories, wine, and delicious food. I’ll make the turkey and everyone else will bring what they signed up for and more.

In years past, Mark would hook up his tractor to a hay wagon. We would all pile onto the square bales and wrap ourselves up in wool blankets. Up the hill we would ride, looking out to the beautiful woods and hills beyond. Over the years, we’ve had days with snow, brutal cold, and sometimes weird warmth. We haven’t done a hayride in a few years but maybe this year? We will see.

After dinner, I used to go around the table and ask everyone to say one thing they were thankful for. Although there were lots of groans and moans, I always thought it was a lovely tradition. Lives now are so fragmented and attention spans so short that spending time together - even if it only one or two short days, is more precious as the years go by. On Friday we will all convene at my sister Nancy’s house in NH for a day of wreath making and food. That I must admit is my favorite day of the holiday - sitting around her big dining room table, making whatever craft we decide upon, sharing stories. I’ve been so fortunate to have a large supportive family - something I do not take for granted.

I want to take this moment to thank you all for your continued support or my work, our farm and lives. I’ve been doing a bit of cleaning (a bit I said - let’s not get crazy) and purging of books and stuff. We have lived here in this old house for over 25 years so there is a lot of stuff! I stumbled upon a print newsletter I used to write way back when we started with sheep before we were married in the early 80’s. I started a mail-order yarn business with wool that I had processed from our sheep. It was a side hustle before they were called that. I worked in NYC on the 34th floor of the Empire State Building as a merchandiser for Botany Shirt Company.

On my bus commute from my hometown of Dover, NJ, I would knit, design and formulate the newsletter. I’d type it up on my early Apple Computer and paste down the dot matrix type adding halftones of photos I took of sheep and my sisters and friends modeling my designs. I’d print out the addresses, stick on the labels and postage stamps and send the newsletter out far and wide. I had an early break when Nancy Thomas who worked for Vogue Knitting when it first “came back”, featured my little biz in the back pages of VK.

That’s how long, I’ve been writing newsletters! It’s kind of mind boggling if I think about it. That little newsletter led to my job at Elite Specialty Yarns, then to writing books, blogging at my old blog Getting Stitched on the Farm (it’s still up), magazine features, a feature on Martha Stewart’s TV show (taped just before she was convicted and during a blizzard - that’s another story) and now to this Substack Newsletter Kristin Nicholas’ Colorful Newsletter from the Farm.

I think there may be some of you who have “followed” me for that long who are still reading today. I’d love to hear from you in the comments below or in an email if you are shy. Tell me how you found me, why you read, etc. And if you are new here - welcome. I try to keep things positive, inspiring and informative. Writing this newsletter is a special part of my life - sharing the things I find that I think you might like to learn about and things that I’ve done or experienced. I thank you for your support by reading my whims and my listening to my “soapbox”.

So enough of my babble. Onto what’s going on here in creativity and life. Last Saturday the sheep got sheared. I wasn’t there because I had to do the Amherst Farmers Market like I do 35 Saturdays out of the year. There were three shearers - two electric (Gwen Hinman and John O’Connell) and a blade shearer (Kevin Ford) and lots of volunteer help. Gwen and Kevin have been shearing for us for over two decades. By the time I got back from Amherst, everyone was gone - along with the sheep’s wool. We don’t process our wool anymore but some of it does go into the textile stream. Lisa Fortin of Bloom Woolen Yarns spins our lambswool into her yarn called Babe. Peggy Hart of Western Mass Fibershed picks up our tags and skirtings and makes it into their new Wool Pellets for gardeners. (It’s a new venture you’ll be hearing more about, I’m sure.) My favorite thing about shearing is we learn how many mature ewes and rams we have. That number this year is 185 but there are a lot of lambs that we didn’t shear (or count) that will be wintering over.

Yesterday was the last outdoor Amherst Farmers Market of 2024. It was very cold, rainy, then very windy. It was good to see my customers and say adieu to them until next April when the market opens again. I’m glad to have the winter of Saturdays off. I love doing the market - being with my fellow vendors, developing friendships with customers, sharing about our sheep farm, spreading my love of good food with recipes for our lamb, and selling my handmade ceramics and tea towels with those who appreciate art and color. I won’t miss the getting up at 4:45 a.m. every Saturday though! I’ll be having a small shop update on-line of my pottery in mid December.

I recently read The Editor by Sara Franklin. It is the fascinating biography of Judith Jones, the great literary editor of Julia Child, Madhur Jaffrey, LIdia Bastianich, Edna Lewis, John Updike and so many more. She discovered The Diary of Anne Frank in a slush pile when working in Paris’s Doubleday office. Judith brought it to Doubleday’s attention and pushed for them to publish it in the USA. What a good read this book is. Highly recommended. You can listen to the historian/author Sara Franklin on the Inside Julia’s Kitchen podcast HERE speaking about Judith and how she came to write the book. If you like biographies, I highly recommend. What a fascinating life.

Our neighbor David Nussbaum worked with Julia Child on her cookbooks and television show. I was lucky to have tea with Judith back in April of 2012 when she was in town for a talk at Greenfield Community College. I wrote about it on my blog . HERE. Judith was lovely. She was 88 years old and still learning. She was interested in learning about blogging so I told her what I knew. That’s me, Judith, and her little Havanese dog Mabon above. One of the highlights of my life for sure.

So onto some Good Links that you might enjoy…….

• I have followed the UK architect/interior design Ben Pentreath for years. House and Garden UK has just produced a lovely 9 minute film about his house in west Dorset. You can watch it here.

• With the holidays approaching, I love to take in some festive music. One of my favorite events is our local Tuba Christmas Concert. You can see if there is one area too by checking out their website here. They are held all over the world.

• Does an interior inspire creativity? I truly do think so. Here’s some helpful info HERE.

• I’ve been doing some cleaning here. Don’t get me wrong- I hate to clean. Never have - never will. I don’t even notice when things are grim. That said, I’m making an attempt to spruce up a bit before guests arrive. I got this very effective scrub brush with a long handle for washing my floors. You can’t imagine what our floors look like - 4 dogs, 7 cats, and 3 people living on a working sheep farmer. (Well maybe you can imagine…..) Lots of scrubbing needed although I doubt much is going to get done.

• It’s really impossible to believe that these mushrooms and lichen are not real - but embroidered with sewing thread on a sewing machine. Crazy and beautiful.

• Look at these knitted lamps. Amazing.

That’s it for today. I’m going to be picking up my Mom Nancy who just turned 90 on Monday and bringing her here to the farm so she can spend the holiday with us all. I hope you have a lovely holiday however you spend it.

Colorfully yours,

P.S. Here are some ideas for Christmas gifts that you can order from my on-line store. I appreciate your support of my little farm based business.

For friends and family who enjoy a little DIY, Crafting a Patterned Home is my most recent book. I’m offering a BUY ONE, GET ONE FREE SPECIAL. This book has lots of fun projects in it. It’s one of my favorite books I have written. Full of beautiful pattern and color. Check it out here.

If you have a young person in your life who you would like to introduce to embroidery, my The Amazing Stitching Handbook for Kids is the perfect tool. Special price for my readers is $10.00 (normally $17.00).

Don’t forget my sweet Sheepy Notecards. They come in assorted sets and packs of 10 of one design. Check them out here.

Are you new here? Check out this video of our farm and farmhouse.