Cave-Cubby--Take Two*

We were a little late sending out the lamb hides this year. We got them all salted in a timely fashion, which is sort of necessary because otherwise they, um, rot. A powerful incentive for immediate salting.

But after they were salted and put in old feed bags, they just kind of . . . hung around. They sat in the shop, awaiting boxes. Six sheep hides require quite a lot of boxes. Which we never seemed to have. But then Christmas arrived, with its multiple deliveries of presents for Cubby that all handily arrived in boxes. So we sent the salty, dirty, frankly kind of nasty hides to the tannery in Pennsylvania so they could work their magic.

Best rug ever.

We didn't actually sew them all together into a rug, though the thought is tempting. We shall resist temptation, however, and sell them. Because we have enough hides to cover our chairs by the woodstove and you'd be surprised how many random people come to our house, see those hides, and tell us they want one.

Animal pelts are a hot item, apparently. Who knew?

That photo actually shows only five of the six we sent. We're still waiting on one. And once that one arrives, we will have come full circle from last year's lambs to this year's.

Which reminds me! Another Cotswold lamb was born a couple of days ago. So current lamb count: Seven--four girls, three boys. And two ewes still to deliver.

* Cave-Cubby: Take One is here, in case you were wondering what on earth I'm going on about here. A good question in general, actually.