Last week I had the opportunity to bake 100 loaves of Limpa Swedish Rye Bread for a Swedish Bazaar near Washington DC in Potomac MD. Dolores Johnson, a Ridgway native who has a home in Maryland, received some of my bread from her friend Betty who buys bread at the Farmer's Market in Ridgway. Dolores loved the bread and told the Swedish Drott Lodge #168 about it and had me send samples to them. Previously they had ordered bread from Minnesota, but after trying a sample of my bread, they agreed to order 100 loaves of bread for their annual festival.

I wasn't sure how long it would take to me to bake 100 loaves, but I was able to get it all done in one day. I usually bake 100 loaves of bread in daily incriments for Bell's Meat Market in Kane the week of Christmas, but never in one day. The mixer and oven ran all day and as you can see the table was filled with bread. On Friday Cliff and I drove to Breezewood to deliver the bread to Dolores, who drove from Maryland with some friends to meet us. The bread took up the whole trunk and back seat of the car. We had lunch at Bob Evan's and did a little shopping at State College on the way home.

The best part was when Dolores called on Sunday to tell me that the bread all sold out by 2:00 pm and that next year they would like 200 loaves of bread. On Monday I received phone calls from folks in Virginia and Washington who bought the bread. They both said it was the best Limpa Swedish Rye Bread that they ever tasted and wanted to order more. It was quite a gratifying experience for Cliff and I.

This week the Ridgway Record ran an article about our natural lifestyle. We've received some nice comments about it. If you would like to read the article the web address is: www.ridgwayrecord.com/content/view/156522/27/ This weekend is the annual Christmas Gathering in Brockwy. I will be taking gingerbread, cookies, hot pepper jelly and mustard to the Horse & Sleigh in Brockway for the event.

Autumn 08 in Pennsylvania was wonderful and busy. We attended our two annual Autumn Festivals at Sizerville State Park and Rocky Ridge Orchards. It was great to see many of our old friends and meet new customers. It was a good year for apples, so we had plenty of apples for apple butter that simmered with spices in the kettle over the open fire.

I took a few day trips with the grandchildren this fall. We went to Tall Oaks, Pumpkinville & Jake's Rocks. Tall Oaks is an outdoor shopping exerience with celtic music, good food and neat shops. While there I met a new friend, Heidi Zemach. Heidi works as a reporter for the Ridgway Record and part time at Tall Oaks. She is interested in raising goats and came out to visit Cliff and I for the afternoon. She offered to write an article for the paper. During our conversation I learned her parents were famous children's authors. I have passion for children's books and ordered a couple of the books from Amazon.com "It Can Always Be Worse" is a humorous Russian folk tale with interesting illustrations of children, goats, turkeys & chickens.

Last Sunday we went hiking at Jake's Rocks and Rimrock. The hiking spots skirt the Kinzua Dam and are filled with large rocks to climb. Jeremy, William, & Cliff found sticks that represented firearms and had fun shooting each other through the trees and rocks. Afterwards we stopped at Bob's Trading Place for ice cream cones. I got the smallest size, "doggy dish" cappucinno truffle for .75 and it was more than enough.

The Red Bourbon Turkeys are getting big and will soon be ready for Thanksgiving dinners. Three new Nigerian Dwarf goats have joined us. Bonnie and Sophie are mother & daughter. Buckaroo was born in late September and when he is big enough will breed Bonnie and Sophie. The kids will make nice pets for children. We lost one of goats, Suzy. She was due to give birth at the beginning of October. The three kids she was carrying were dead and she never recovered.

The election of our new president, Barack Obama was an exciting time for us. I've been following the election closely and have had my hopes on Obama since February, when I listened to his two audio books. I was impressed with his intelligence, sincerety and his communication skills. Hopefully this country can get turned around and get headed in the right direction under his presidency. The slaves that built the White House steps probably never imagined an African American would be walking up them as President of the United States of America.

My apologies for not keeping up with the Little Mill Creek blog for the summer. In June my daughter and two grandaughters moved in with us. Paige is six and Ariana is 1 1/2, which makes for a very busy house, not giving me much time to spend on the computer. Everyone is getting along exceptionally well. Ariana loves being around the goats and Paige gathers the eggs.

The seagulls beckoned me to take the granchildren to Lake Erie for some Summer Fun. They also led us to Atlanic ocean. After we were featured in the Pennsylvania Pursuits travel journal we met some wonderful people who traveled to Ridgway to see our beautiful town and visit Little Mill Creek. Diane, Harold and their two daughters Emma & Liza called from Maryland to schedule a visit to Little Mill Creek. When they arrived we immediatly felt comfortable with them. They are homeschooling the girls and supporting their health and local economy by buying local natural foods. Needless to say we had a lot to talk about. Our conversation continued into the supper hour so we invited them to eat with us and then to camp out in the living room. Paige and Liza enjoyed playing dress up and theatre together.

Diane and Harold invited us to visit them sometime in return for our hospitality. I asked about visiting the ocean. A few months ago someone referred us to Make A Wish for Paige's diabetes. Although she didn't qualify, one of her wishes was to go the real beach. When we told that to Diane and Harold they invited us to a beach house they had rented at the Outerbanks in North Carolina in late August. We spent three days enjoying the water, sand and good company. The vacation exceeded all of our expectations. Cherey, Paige and I came home refreshed and encouraged to have met such wonderful friends.

Cliff stayed home to take care of the animals. He doesn't enjoy the hot sun, so it wasn't too much of a sacrifice for him. We sold all but two of the goat kids that were born in the Spring. The Bourbon Red turkeys are getting big and have now been moved to an outdoor pen. Suzie is due to freshen the beginning of October. Joseph, the billy goat has a new girlfriend, Sally Grace that is visiting us from Jody Bryant's farm on Grant Road. She should be a new mommy come the first of February. Our hay loft is full thanks to our neighbor and friend, Paul Oldand. We've dug a few potatoes and will be harvesting the rest soon. I canned over a bushel of pickled beets last week.

We are looking forwad to Autumn and it looks like the leaves are going to be spectacular this years. Their are lots of apples on the trees and I've seen a few pumpkins in the fields. We will be getting ready for the Sizerville and Rocky Ridge Autumn Festival.

Last Saturday Cliff and I attended the Woodland Hobbit and Fairy Festival in Keating Summit, Pa., which is located a few miles north of Emporium. The day was enchanting. I took the Gardeau Road, which is a back winding road to the event. The mist lifting off the mountains was spectacular. I was surprised at the number of people at the Festival. There were young girls dressed in fairy costumes floating around the grounds asking us if we needed anything.

It had rained the night before and some strong winds had blown down some of the tents. The ground was a little muddy and the vendors were sparse, but we set up our table, thankful that we had ample space. Bonnie Woods, the host of the event asked Cliff if he would cut some walking sticks for the children to make. He had about ten birch saplings he found in the woods that he brought along. Cliff hauled his shaving horse up the mountain and found a nice place to set up. He started carving out some spoons, with young and old alike stopping to watch. One young man took a particular interest in Cliff's tools. Corey was about 11 years old and had bright red hair. Cliff always has a soft spot for boys with red hair, as he was a redhead in his younger years. I asked the boy if he would like to make a walking stick with some of Cliff's tools and he jumped at the chance.

Cliff showed him how to use the axe to chop off the branches and then let him get on his shaving horse and use the drawing knife to peel the bark off the stick. Corey was very adept at handling the tools and it didn't take him long to finish his walking stick. While Cliff was taking a break to check out the Hobbit House that was built from bark sheeting, had a round door and neat roof a young girl dressed in a blue fairy costume asked if she could make a walking stick. I said "Sure" I showed her how to use the ax and then invited her to use the shaving horse. She hiked up her skirt, as she had denim shorts underneath and sat on the shaving horse. As I was explaining how to use the drawing knife she informed me she was a country girl and felt comfortable using the tools. She had a natural stroke and cleaned up her walking stick quickly and cleanly.

When Cliff came back I showed him the photo of the violet fairy that had landed on his shaving horse. I thought "This is truly a magical place as children have never been asked or asked to use Cliff's shaving horse." We enjoyed the rest of the day watching children get their faces painted, buying puppets, eating kettle corn, making fairy teddy bears, sketching in journals and collecting fairy memorablia.