Bozeman is Beautiful

This weekend we have snow in Bozeman, MT. But the last two weekends were beautiful! Just to prove it, I took some pictures on our first M hike of the year, and our first Peet's Hill walk. Behold, the beauty of Bozeman ;)

Specialty Mice

Norman LOVES mice :)

At Hide and Hair, we love Mice! Not the real mice that scurry on your floors and leave little droppings, but our felted wool, catnip stuffed, shaker or bell noisemaking Mice! We love them so much we make them for every occasion, every cat (or dog!) and every person. We've made Packers, Vikings, snowflakes, meow, help, striped, fuzzy, and peace, love, and happines. They come in different colors, sometimes different shapes and sizes. Some even come without noisemakers or catnip (for all the 'mean drunks' out there)! We love our mice so much, that we've even started making specialty mice for specialty stores!

Immediately after this was taken, she stole one from the bowl.

First up in our new series called Specialty Mice for Specialty Stores is the EEK mouse, found only at Maiden Wisconsin! Here's what owner Deb had to say about this Specialty Store:

Maiden Wisconsin is found at 124 N. Water Street in the heart of historic downtown Sparta Wisconsin, and is across from Ginny's Cupboard Restaurant. We are located in the newly restored 1899 Sugden building where the original maple floors and ornate tin ceiling are still intact! Gifts of the area abound: whether jewelry, paintings, t-shirts, jams, mixes, soaps, toys, candies, carvings, games, dog treats, felted items, area publications or some great "EEK" catnip mice; Maiden Wisconsin has them for your enjoyment. These often one-of-a-kind destination gifts cater to the locals, bike trail visitors, and military at near by Fort McCoy. Come in and have a handful of popcorn, a micro-brewed soda, and enjoy the wonderful artisan products! We are open M-Sat 9-3, but if you come by and see her closed, just ask a soda jerk over at Ginny's and we will be happy to open the doors for you!

Norman kept getting scared of the camera, and never caught one for himself. 

So the next time you find yourself in Sparta, drop by this wonderful local store and check out what they've got to offer, I'm sure you won't be disappointed!

Gardening In Montana

Not only will this be my first garden in Montana, it is the first garden I have designed myself. Our wonderful landlords built me a little raised bed garden, and I have a few other sites around the yard for other items. I'm focusing on vegetables, because I would rather be able to eat my garden than look at it :)

Here's what it looks like now:

Raised Bed and Three Sisters Area (I will cut the sod next week)

Peas and Parsnips Fence (Full of weeds at the moment)

Broccoli and Bush Beans (Yes those are Elm Trees right now)

Hopefully in a few weeks I'll have shots of real vegetables! Of course, I will be cheating a little bit...I'm planning on buying tomato and pepper plants...but everything else is from seed! Wish me luck! :)

Sheep Shearing In Wisconsin

This year we did something different on sheep shearing day.  We sheared the sheep in the barn! Randy put up a gate to keep the sheep in, and since it looked like it was going to rain we locked them up the night before.  I expected to find them wandering the yard in the morning, but instead I found a Sand Hill Crane!

It kind of freaked me out!  Randy was able to sneak out and take a picture of it.  He said he should have done a movie so he could have gotten a picture of it's wingspan.

The shearer couldn't believe how friendly and well behaved my sheep were.  Buttercup was the first one to get her wool cut.  When he finished with her she was turned loose in the yard and had access to the pen.  She went over to see the other sheep and they didn't know who she was with her sporty new haircut!  She kept wandering into the barn to keep an eye on the shearer!  Gracie the llama had the last hair cut of the day, and now we're good for another year. The wool is all in bags ready to go be processed into either yarn, roving or socks!

Our friendly Amish Sheep Shearer

Sheila watched!

 

Reticule

I found this cute little bag in the Jane Austen Knits Interweave Knits magazine, and I love it!

My head is full of ideas for this little bag, I love the bottom and the handles, but there are so many things to do with the sides! I'm seeing new lace patterns, different colored liners, monograms, bridesmaid packages...the list goes on and on! What do you all think?