Hello Everyone and a Happy 2026!

This month Susan sits down to discuss all things pop culture and the influences it's had on her art and life and maybe yours. So, cue up your Betamax deck and reminisce about what inspired you and your crafts.

Links:

https://www.mosshollowhill.com

https://www.starwars.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stranger_Things

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt4574334/

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It’s our last podcast of 2025 already. In honor of what’s left in the barrel at the end of the year, the best way to enjoy both is to drink up with Paul and Pierce of Taconic Distillery.

For this one, we have a video on the Backyard Green Films YouTube channel to go with this one, in case your imagination needs a visual boost. For the taste buds, you might want to head to the Hudson Valley.

Links:

https://www.taconicdistillery.com/

http://www.rhinebeckfarmersmarket.com/

https://sheepandwool.com/

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On this episode Susan discusses the joy of making gifts. Whether that be a handmade felted ornament, a special song, or holiday memories.

Links:

https://youtu.be/fGmAekTPD5c?si=Sg45IZ3I5Ukd7HfL

https://www.mosshollowhill.com/

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And on the 8th day, God looked down on his planned paradise and said, "I need a caretaker" -- so God made a Farmer. --Paul Harvey

Links:

https://www.americanrhetoric.com/speeches/PDFFiles/Paul%20Harvey%20-%20God%20Made%20A%20Farmer.pdf

https://www.collierswcd.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/2013_02_Gazetteer.pdf

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Paul_Harvey

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For this month's podcast I travel to Rhinebeck, NY for the NY State Sheep & Wool Festival. I met so many wonderful and talented people...I was totally geeking out. With my cameraman Oscar in tow, the two of us interviewed some amazing talent, from rug hooking to fine art. So please sit back and enjoy this month's episode of Susan's Shire.

Links:

http://www.ravensgateprimitives.com/

https://www.sheepincognito.com/

https://www.toftuk.com/

https://makeitwithwool.com/

https://chesapeakefibershed.com/

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Muck, glorious muck! Sounds funny, but it’s true. The “muck” found north of NYC and south of the capital city may look like black dirt to some, but it’s more like black gold to those who know – and that’s not a Clampett reference. The agricultural region known as the Hudson Valley grows almost everything like nowhere else, due to this phenomenal resource.

Join us today as we speak with Michael Risario and Jeff Scales. They took a moment from their busy duties at the Rhinebeck Farmers Market to talk about the incredible bounty that can be found in the Hudson Valley – but especially can be found every Sunday from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Rhinebeck. Rain, shine…or muck. Just how we like it.

Links:

http://www.rhinebeckfarmersmarket.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hudson_River

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sheep

https://www.ediblehudsonvalley.com/2022/black-magic-hudson-valleys-special-soil/

https://www.rhinebeckreformed.org/history

https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/genus

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This month Susan discusses the difference between a yarn festival, a fiber festival and everything in between. Susan just returned from the Lambtown Festival in Dixon, CA and will be heading to Rhinebeck, NY for the 45th annual New York State Sheep and Wool Festival. She gives us a little history about some of these festivals and what inspired her down the path of fiber arts and that there isn't such a thing as bad sheep's wool, because someone loves it. So, please sit back and enjoy this episode of Susan's Shire.

Links:

https://www.mosshollowhill.com

https://www.lambtown.org

https://sheepandwool.com/

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fiber_art

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Hobbit

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Sheep are cute and fluffy and produce that wonderful stuff from which many sweaters are born. But there’s another side to them that doesn’t get mentioned quite so often. Lamb is an incredibly common meat in most other countries of the world, but not so much in America.

Nick Forrest is trying to change that direction, to capture the possibilities of a multipurpose animal that fits so many different needs. Just in time for the New York State Sheep and Wool Festival 2025, and the Saturday morning “Raising Meat and Dairy Breeds” breed talk, here is a talk about one of the other many sides of raising sheep.

P.S. And may we just say, kudos to Shari Lewis for pulling off a character called “Lamb Chop.” Captain Kangaroo, no less.

Links:

https://www.sheepusa.org/newsletter/december-15-2023

https://sheepandwool.com/sponsors/

https://www.dcswga.org/services-7

https://www.facebook.com/nick.forrest.927/

https://lambboard.com/

https://www.sheepusa.org/

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