We went to Brandon, Vt. this morning to pick up the cleaned and processed wool from our sheep. Maria wanted to do something different this time, so she had some of the wool dyed in different colors. The gray and brown skeins are natural, the teal and coral are colored.

All of the skeins are $25 plus shipping, and they will go on sale tomorrow or Tuesday on Maria’s website, fullmoonfiberart.com, as soon as she is done sorting through the wool and getting her shipping labels ready. I believe much of the wool is already spoken for.

This is one of our  cherished rituals, driving to the Vermont Fiber Mill, stopping in Vermont to eat, taking some photos. The wool process is not simple or inexpensive, it takes six months for the mill to process and clean the wool and this  batch of skeins and roving cost $1,033.

We stopped for breakfast at the Wooden Soldier in Fairhaven, one of the funkies and most charismatic diners anywhere. The Wooden Soldier was built in 1950, and nothing has changed much since then.

We shear the sheep twice a year, usually at our Open Houses. This year, we are only doing one Open House that will be on Columbus Day Weekend in October, and the sheep will be shorn again then.

The egg and cheese sandwich on an English Muffin was memorable, and I could watch the native Vermont diners all day. They did stare at us quite a bit, it occurred to both of us that we are conspicuously different sometimes.

The wool coloring is exciting, and some of the wool is “bulky,” thicker than usual. You can check her website or e-mail her at [email protected].