oh just a little something I do...

...in my spare time...

Actually I find it therapeutic to repeatedly stab an inanimate object with a blunt needle... :-)

I kid, I'm a kidder.

Meet the Cast - Will and Kate

You'll have to pardon the names, the kids named them... but I'll have to say I think it's cute! We picked up two piglets today for the kids to do their 4-H projects with and then to fill freezers with when the time comes. I'm not ready to think about that now, as they are just babies. Aren't they cute? I just love pigs and baby ones at that! OH. MY. WORD!!! They were not sure they wanted to come out of the crate we brought them home in, new sights, sounds, smells and a whole lotta traveling today! When we got them here to the farm they were shivering so we got them into the barn and got the heat lamp on them, only a short while and just to take the chill off. (No mom we did not take your suggestion to bring them in the house and put them in from of the fire place despite how cute it would be...) So after a while curiosity got the better of him and Will was the first one out.

Then he was followed by Kate and much to their delight found a nice bowl of organic pig food and a warm light! Not to mention two very happy kids who'll lavish love and attention on them...
Then they turned around and found a bowl of milk! They dove in and drank it all up and wagged the little stubs of a tail and tried pushing each other out of the way to devour it all themselves.
And then Will was picked up for an official photo
or two
(This is Kate, sorry, but these are out of order...oops)

or three, he tolerated it much better than she did, she squealed and screamed most of the time, so I was the only one that got a picture with her -today. See Will's milk mustache, cute right?!

When we went out for barn chores we made a nest of hay for them in the place where they'd been sleeping and right before we left they were snuggled down in it like two peas in a pod, so Faith covered them up with a bit more hay and they went fast asleep with what looked like smiles on those sweet little pig faces!

made fresh!

Chive and garlic chevre, all made here fresh on the farm! Making more today! Yum!

WA FREAKIN' WHOOOOOOO

I passed my tractor safety class tonight with flying colors! My written exam score was 98 out of 100 and my driving exam including back-up was 97 out of 100. I had a blast and learned so much. Now if I can only find a farmer who'll let me work for hay...

anything more beautiful??

Is there anything more beautiful than quilts; made by loves ones since departed and dear friends, hanging on the clothesline in the fresh country air?

shearers...start your clippers!!!

Poor little unsuspecting Monkey, just hanging out in the glorious afternoon sunshine filling his bellys with the first green grass of the season. Little did he know that he'd be stripped down, or should I say clipped down 'nekkid' in less that 24 hours!

After Dakota (our llama) arrived, my husband as well as the farmer I get hay from told me I should go get to know the people just down the road from us, the people with sheep, a llama and an alpaca and likely shears! Instead I didn't. I just used the kids' school scissors to shear Dakota, reasoning that I'm not generally one to force myself on people and figuring that I could manage quite well with the scissors. And I did until the fiber herd increased from 1 to 6! I'd never have won any awards for beauty; shearing with scissors, but I got it done and Dakota was much cooler! I knew that when the alpacas arrived I'd need to do something different, like purchase a set of shears and ask (oh the dreaded word!) for help. I prepared myself all winter and since I didn't formerly know this couple I decided to write a letter explaining who I was, where I was and wondered if they'd mind showing me the ropes. Time passed and I figured they were too busy or had no interest, the letter was never received or what have you because I hadn't heard from them, but just last week I had a voicemail from them and much to my delight were willing to help! I called back yesterday and we chatted a bit and was told they could stop in this afternoon and we could go from there. It was set.

Today arrived and so did my neighbors, shears in hand and willingness to show and guide me. We chatted in the driveway for a while, getting to know each other and all 4 of the Nubian "guardgoats" walked up to them and demanded they be pet and loved on before any shearing was to be done. Fortunately the "guardgoats" are super friendly which renders them completely useless as "guardgoats." But I digress.

Andrew went out to the pasture caught Monkey and brought him to us. Jan, (pronounced Yan, my neighbor) and Monkey sized each other up and decided neither on was a threat and got comfortable around each other then we all headed to the barn. I had special concerns about shearing Monkey due to his having a wobbly hind end because of and a severe bout with the meningeal worm at the previous farm. I expressed this to Jan when talking to him on the phone and asked how he shears. Most of the shearing I've seen done had been to have a couple strong able bodied men on one side of the alpaca reach over and flip them to their side, and strap down legs, for Monkeys sake I was relieved to hear him say that he stands and works with the animal instead of traumatizing them. Monkey was a doll, he stood and was so well behaved and Jan was patient and took his time! I couldn't have been more relieved. I stood watching, learning, taking mental notes, and pictures. (And forming this post in my head.)

After a while standing Monkey cushed, (laid down) and we were able to get to his legs. Lots of alpacas are sensitive about their legs and male alpacas can be especially sensitive, so that; along with his wobbly issue was a valid concern. Additionally Monkey is the one with a sort of eczema skin issue on his legs. It doesn't seem to bother him, but it looks just awful. And just so you know I'm not forcing monkey to lay there, I'm just attempting to keep him calm and petting his neck and shoulders.
I'm not sure why, but I like the above picture of me. Sorry, had to throw that in there.
When it was all over and Monkey was let back out into the pasture the other alpacas went running up to him and pushed him around a bit; I think it was because of his skinny little pencil neck, which is so ridiculously small it makes me laugh, but it was more likely because the rest of the herd didn't recognize him. That is until they smelled his butt, I'm so thankful we as humans do not have to do that to recognize friends and family! Can you imagine?!

So there you have it, Monkey nekkid! All winter long I've been telling him that I couldn't wait to get him nekkid so that I could wear the fleece and now that it's here I can hardly wait to get it
spun and knit into a sweater! Yes, I'm going to attempt to make a sweater for me out of Monkey! I think I'm just a bit too excited about this!

Next up was George and my attempt at putting to use what I'd just observed...

Jan oiled the clippers, made the first pass, and handed the clippers to me! I took them, took a deep breath and stepped up to the plate, or rather the alpaca.

I was glad I'd had some practice clipping cows this past summer, it made this seem easier than what it might have had I not had a tiny bit of practice. (Funny how a shirt can feel soooo comfortable on and at the same time look sooooo awful! Yikes!) I did what he'd shown me to do and I had a blast doing it. I'm totally ready to buy my own shears and finish up the rest of them! We only did two today because of time, blades getting dull, and the whole teaching me how to do it thing, but I was fine with that. I've got a pretty good grasp on how to do it and I think with the exception of Dakota (the spitter) and Jonathen, (the kicker) I'll be able to do the others without too much help. I could be wrong of course...
And there you have it, my first attempt at alpaca shearing with clippers and a great mentoring neighbor. Thank you Jan, Vicki and Ron for your help! I really appreciate it! Now to get it into a finished product...

eating ice cream

Yesterday was a beautiful day and one that was made for being outside, so I spent most of it raking and doing yard work with my family. Ron was leaf blowing, Faith having not felt well for a while sat and picked rocks off the lawn and ate popsicles, more than I thought she would do. Andrew took turns picking up the piles of rocks I was raking; the downside of having the gravel drive way plowed, and leaf blowing when Ron took a break. At one point during the day Ron and Andrew grabbed a pole, tackle box, the dog and headed out to see if they could catch anything. They did not, but had a nice time trying.

The animals are being weaned onto the grass now that the last bit of the snow officially left last week, yes, I'm serious! I do it slowly so as not to upset the stomachs of my beloved animals or the delicate root systems of the grass. I think Garlic's best week is the first week he's let back out onto fresh pasture, he hops, kicks, bucks, farts and tosses his head around like a spring colt! It's simply delightful for both of us. As the day wore on and I was loosing steam and my body was aching from cleaning the goat pen out after a long winter of deep bedding and a day of raking I walked out to Garlic who at that point was being brushed by Ron and said how much I'd love to go for a ride. Ron continued brushing and said "Well, in the words of Pam, (a family friend who just lost her courageous battle with cancer) 'Life is short, eat ice cream!' do it." For about half a second I considered it, but the rocks on the lawn beckoned my return and I obliged and continued raking. Afternoon turned into early evening and I had gone inside for something to drink and on my way back outside I walked past my husband; who was sitting in a lawn chair after his final turn with the leaf blower, and said, "I'm going to go eat ice cream!" Then I went to get my boy, (Garlic) brought him to the barn for a quick brush down, slapped a saddle and bridle on him and took off. It felt wonderful and was just what I needed.

So for those of you who've never galloped down a country road or eaten ice cream this video is for you! I hope you find it as delicious as I did.