Toasted

So, it appears that my brain does not function well when the temperature goes above 98 degrees.....which is partly why I have been so absent from here.  (Plus, I know you all are sick of hearing me whine about the heat, but here I go again.)  It has been deadly hot here and a significant amount of my time each day has been spent trying to keep my sheep and alpacas alive.  The alpaca boys get a filled pool twice daily, the sheep have a multitude of fans running and I check all the automatic waterers several times daily to be sure they all are full of cool, clean water.  I don't know what else to do.  It seems Mother Nature has decided to push us to the limit.  Our pastures have been toasted, along with my brain, and while we had a tremendous wind and lightning storm last night, we got none of the rain that happened oh so close to us.  At any rate, I know it could be much worse. So many people up and down the east coast and even my neighbors one road over are without power because of the storms.  Thank goodness for electricity and air conditioning!

(Sadly there's no pool for these girls. This weather makes me wish I had a Border Collie again so I could herd them down to the creek, where it is much, much cooler.)

It's hard for me to imagine how I grew up in a house without air conditioning.  I do remember that most of my summer days were spent in the swimming pool at the city park that was just across the street.  Even after my family moved out to the "burbs" (which was maybe a mile away), I was allowed to take a city bus to one of the pools in Lexington.  It was such a different time than now.  By the time I was 11 or 12 years old, I was allowed to ride the bus (alone) to go downtown and meet with my friends.  At that age, I was still sewing for my Ginny doll and it was so much fun to take the bus to downtown and spend my baby-sitting money on as many 1/4 yard pieces of fabric as I could afford!  (And, who would hire an 11 year old to baby-sit these days?!)

(Mara shawlette in beautiful Briar Rose)

I have managed to do a few other things besides adjust fans and fill alpaca wading pools.  Last week I made a very quick trip to the Asheville area of North Carolina.  I was on a mission and drove down and back on the same day.  I'll have more to share about that in the next few days.  I have been knitting on my Mara shawlette, using some beautiful Briar Rose yarn.  (Chris dyes up the most gorgeous colors!).  I'm nearly ready to bind off and will soak and block it before putting a picture here.  Several weeks ago, I finished the Silk Moon Crescent shawlette, designed by Jaala Spiro .  I used Noro Kureyon, because that's what I had in my stash.  I love the way it sits easily on my shoulders.  I think it will be just enough warmth to use a lot during the winter (if it ever comes again!).  Susan Anderson had a knit-along for the pattern and there are lots of beautiful ones on Ravelry to look at and be inspired by.  I'm thinking this might be a go-to pattern for family Christmas gifts this year.  (Have you noticed how many of us are knitting shawlettes right now?)

(actual color not this dark)

(Love the shawl pin - purchased at the Squam Art Fair)

On my drive to and from North Carolina, I listened to "Wild" by Cheryl Strayed.  (Do you use Audible?  They're a great place to download books to listen to when you need to be doing other things.)  My husband loves to hike, but me?  Not so much!  If I ever had any inclination to take up hiking, this book took it right out of my mind!  I just kept thinking, "this woman has a death-wish". It's interesting and held my attention the twelve hours in the car, but I'm glad I didn't invest in the hardback.

I've had a rough start to the Tour de Fleece, but am on my way.  I'll share my challenge in another post, but I'd love to know if you're pedaling (treadling?) this year.

**Once again, sitting in my friendly Kroger's Starbucks using their WiFi to upload my pictures.  You don't want to get me started on my opinion of my Windstream (terrible, lousy, no good) DSL service!

Summertime and the livin' is not easy

(This is what happens when they see me turn on the water-they're ready and waiting!)

This week has been hot, hot, hot!  Everyone is seeking shade and in the case of the alpaca boys, it's time to get out the swimming pool.  The boys came running when they saw me carry the pool out to their field.  Of course, there is no actual swimming and the pool is so tiny, they couldn't even if they wanted.  As far as I can tell, the main goal seems to be seeing how much water can be splashed out of the pool.  The biggest boy, Prince, also has a little trick where he puts just his front half in the pool and lays down, crushing the side of the pool down and then all the water runs out.

(Think they need a bigger pool?)

Just in case anyone thinks that shepherding is all bucolic scenes of sitting out in the field with the sheep,  peacefully listening to their bells tinkling, picture having to catch, halter, drag from the pen, give medicine to and then shampoo the dirty bottoms of four or five lambs, twice a day!  That's been the routine for me most of this week.  A few of the greedier lambs managed to get more than their share of the grain and the consequences were unpleasant for all!  When the weather is this hot, the last thing they need is a dirty bottom because the risk of fly strike is so high.  (If  you don't know what fly strike is, consider yourself lucky.  Google it, if you dare.)  So, between trying to get pastures mowed and catching up on everything else, I've been washing the problem lambs morning and evening.  Because of said activities, I've had no less than 3 showers and as many changes of clothing, every day.  Finally, this morning, it seems that we have conquered that problem and everyone is back to normal.  Those of you watching the lamb-cam during evening feeding may have noticed that my lambs are definitely not halter-broken!  It's been a bit of a rodeo every time I've had to halter one of them.  Some of those little lambs can leap higher than my head and are much stronger than they look and I promise I'm not torturing them, regardless of what it looks like! 

(After his shower and before mine. If you think he looks bad, you should see me!)

It's hard for me to believe that this is the real beginning of summer.  It feels as though it's been summer for many months already.  As always, the weekend seems to be full of must-do chores -  drenching the ewes, moving them to fresh pasture, drenching the lambs, finishing planting the garden, (no, it's still not done) and always, always more mowing.  If we are really lucky, we might get to take the boat out on Sunday evening, for the first time this year.  Buying the boat came with our resolution to relax more, have a little leisure time once in a while.  How's that working for us?  Um, not too well.

It was fine

Shearing day for the alpacas and llamas went as near perfect as possible.  The weather was great and everyone behaved admirably.  I penned all my alpaca boys the night before and put Strawberry and Pippi in the big pen with the Easter mom and lambs.  It's always amazing to me how gentle and curious the llamas are with the tiny lambs.  They move slowly and carefully, sniff around some and seem to enjoy watching the lamb antics.  I've mentioned here before that Strawberry has even served as part of the exercise equipment by allowing the babies to climb up on her back (when she's lying down) and jump off.  Pippi is not quite ready for that.  She stands up if the lambs begin climbing on her.

Anyway, as I was saying,  I had no problems.  I loaded Strawberry, Pippi and one of the alpaca boys into the trailer first and the rest loaded themselves.  All I had to do was get in and remove their lead ropes and away we went.  At Lindy's, I was able to back right up to the barn door, put them in a stall and let them be worked through the gates until it was their turn.  The shearers were a study in speed and efficiency, all the while treating the animals with care.  They have a tag-team system where they shear two animals at once, on mats across from each other.  Each shearer has a specific task; one shearing the 'blanket' (that's the prime part of the fleece), others doing head, neck, tail and legs.  They also trimmed feet and I was able to give each animal a shot of Ivomec (de-wormer), all while they were safely restrained.  After seeing how the professionals get the job done, I cannot imagine what it would be like to try shearing an alpaca or llama while they were standing up.



When I went through my camera, I was amazed to see that all I had taken were two short movie clips.  I could have sworn I took more.

Guess what's next on my to-do list?  Have a great weekend everyone!

All lambs, all the time

(Easter babies - how they sleep)

That's pretty much the story of my day to day life right now.  Twenty seven lambs, out of twelve ewes is a paltry sum when I consider that my friend, Kathy, has had 150 lambs born in the last two weeks.  Oh,  but mine do seem to fill my days.  Right now I'm bottle feeding 5 lambs, 3 of them 4 times a day and 2 of them 5 times a day.  Yes, that's right .... twenty two bottles.  I'm well on my way to dishpan hands!  The ewe that lambed on Easter has been struggling to gain her strength and her lambs were just not getting enough milk, so they are getting bottles.  Two other triplets from separate ewes are also getting bottles.  This is not necessarily a bad thing.  I love raising bottle babies because they are so much fun and so easy to manage as they mature.  (Remember Luna and Birdie from last year?  They are still lovely and sweet girls.)  They've become ambassadors for the farm because they are perfectly comfortable being social with humans.  (Oh yeah, they are the two that were so good, they got to visit with Santa Claus!)

The good news is that help is on the way with bottle duty.  A lovely young woman, Hannah, is coming to get three of the bottle babies this week.  She has purchased lambs from me before and is building her own fiber flock, so these babies will be going to a wonderful home.  I do become attached to these little ones that I visit with so many times a day.  Five bottle babies are too many to have out and following me around, but two ..... well, that is much more likely.

The ewe flock spends nearly all their time eating.  They are especially ravenous now,  partly because they're providing milk for growing lambs (and partly because everything around here loves to eat).  If you are still watching the lamb-cam, you can see how the lambs are getting bigger and bolder in their play when they come in for the night.  The straw bales are like jungle-gyms (are those things even still called that?),  providing endless hours of jumping and climbing pleasure! And when they're worn out from all that play, the bales make a handy napping spot.

Tomorrow is shearing day for the alpacas.  It's a little stressful for me because I'm always afraid something will go wrong.  It never has, but still I worry.  I'll be loading my seven alpaca fiber boys and two llama girls into the trailer for the ride to Seldom Scene farm.  My friend, Lindy, has scheduled a team of professional shearers, who travel all over the United States in the springtime, to shear all of her alpacas and is gracious enough to allow me to bring my small herd.  Hopefully, I'll have a chance to take a few pictures and post a little about our day.  Wish me luck!

To knit is divine....

I've spent the last few days figuring out how to keep all the animals somewhat comfortable and staying indoors myself during the middle of the day. The lambs and ewes are spending their days under shade trees (or in front of the big barn fans) and the llamas and alpacas are getting a cooling shower from the garden hose, several times a day. How can it be that we are in the 90's and it's not even officially summer yet? I hate to complain any more because I know there are many of you who are dealing with even higher temperatures. So, how about I talk about something else?

 

I finished my "To Eyre" shawl last week and finally got around to blocking it. I love this shawl so much, I'm ready to cast on another.....right now. I knit this one with Jo Sharp Silkroad Aran Tweed and the color is Brindle. I don't think Jo Sharp has stockist in the United States anymore, but it can probably be ordered on-line. Happily for me, I had this in my stash, left over from this sweater that I blogged about way back when. I'm not sure why, but knitting this shawl was so much fun for me. The pattern is easily memorized and the short rows are somehow entertaining (or maybe it's just that I'm easily entertained?). I'm feeling the shawl love these days and I'm not the only one. Ravelry and other blogs are full of enthusiastic shawl knitters at the moment. I guess if a shawl Kate Middleton wears to the grocery becomes a fashion statement, we commoners are free to wear them without being dubbed an "old lady" in a shawl. (of course, in my case, I'm already considered to be an old lady, so what can I say?) I had literally just bound off when I got an updated pattern from "Sunday Knits". It seems that some people had trouble getting the back of the next to stay flat and it was determined that the neck shaping was a little too severe. I literally blocked the heck out of mine and think I have eliminated most of that problem. I will definitely use the newer version of the pattern on my next one. The only thing stopping me from casting on right now is that I haven't been able to choose which yarn to use. This is just the project for someone looking to escape the heat and spend a few days hanging out in the comfort of air conditioning.



And speaking of blocking; I found some play mats (or anti-fatigue mats or whatever you want to call them) at Lowe's and they work great for a blocking surface. They were around $20.

Working on it

A few weeks ago, the alpaca boys, along with Strawberry and Pippi, took a little trailer ride over to Seldom Scene Farm for their annual shearing day. When you have as many animals as they have, it's a big day.  I'm grateful that my friend, Lindy, allows me to bring my small herd over for the event. The young men who do the shearing do a tag team effort that is inspiring (and tiring) to watch. They have it down to a science. There are plenty of ways to make yourself useful, while you wait your turn. The sweeping, sorting, labeling and bagging go on non-stop, just to keep up with the shearers. My gang was well behaved this year, with the exception of Pippi, who screamed the whole time she was on the mat! Last year it was Strawberry who did that, most likely because Finn was still a baby and she was upset about being separated. This year, with no baby at her side,  Strawberry was very well mannered and quiet.

The system the shearers use may look a little scary, but it's actually very humane and makes the whole exercise safer for all involved. They lay the animals down on the mats and slip their feet into loops and then stretch them out on their sides. The ropes immobilize the animal and prevent any kicking or rolling around. The whole process is over in a matter of minutes.

 I came home with my precious alpaca fleeces and began washing them as soon as I could. Recently the mill changed it's policy and began asking for washed alpaca fleeces and these were the first I'd ever done. Of course, the sheep fleeces are always washed, but because alpacas have no lanolin, it hadn't been required. Alpacas and llamas are habitual rollers, so there can sometimes be a fair amount dust involved. It turned out to be much easier than I imagined. Getting them dried was the most time consuming part of the whole process. There was not one dry day the whole time!

So, I used a bunch of window screens, set them up all over the studio and spread the fiber out on them to dry. It wasn't pretty or high-tech, but it worked.

Wednesday was my appointment day at Ohio Valley Natural Fibers. I left the farm around 5:30 am, in order to get there when they began their day. The driving conditions were not great because of all the stormy weather and there were plenty of wrecks on the interstate, which slowed me down a lot. It was worth every white-knuckle moment though because my sheep and alpaca fleeces blended beautifully and the roving is a dream to spin. (I was so tired when I got home, around 8 pm, I could hardly carry on a coherent conversation, but I did manage to spin a tiny sample. I just couldn't help myself!

All this frantic activity has been to prepare for the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival. I'll have roving and yarn, a few knitted items and maybe even some lambs to sell at the festival. Of course, Luna and Birdie will be with me (but not for sale-I couldn't bear to sell my own children!) The festival is going to be even bigger and better this year. We've added lots of new fiber vendors, some great classes and more food vendors (yay!). Now all we have to do is hope for good weather! Be sure to come out to Masterson Station Park and join us for a great weekend of fibery fun.

Meet and Greet

Last week, we had two rather significant events here on the farm. One of our home-grown llamas graduated and has gone on to hopefully begin training for a career (more on that later) and two new members joined our fiber flock. I'm always cautious about how I introduce new animals to the rest of the gang here. Usually there's no drama, but it's always better to err on the side of caution. I pulled the trailer into the back barnyard, opened the door and stood back. After spending some time trying to figure out how they happened to land in this place, the boys came off the trailer and went straight to the gate for a meet and greet. There was a lot of sniffing, but that's about all. Normally, I might quarantine new arrivals, but all of our alpacas came from the same farm and I had no misgivings about putting them together.

Our alpacas came from Seldom Scene Farm, right here in Woodford county. My friend, Lindy, has a beautiful farm, right on the Kentucky river at the other end of the county from our farm.  Her farm is famous in alpaca circles and has a reputation for producing wonderful animals. We have strictly fiber boys in order to blend their fleeces with the wool from our sheep.

I'm happy to observe that the new boys have integrated into the herd with no problems, possibly because they are younger and smaller and are being submission to the older animals. The timing for bringing the new boys home is just about perfect. Shearing day for the alpacas is April 20th, when they will all load into the trailer for the short ride back to Seldom Scene, where the shearers will be working. Hopefully, this year, I'll have the presence of mind to take my camera and actually use it.

Spring is trying really hard to arrive here in the Bluegrass state. Yesterday was warm and sunny, though a bit windy. Today is warm, but cloudy and extremely windy, which signals rain and a cold front heading our way. This morning I mowed the house yard and part of the barnyard and yesterday the Purple Martin scouts appeared on the porches of their house; all signs that the long, hard winter is over!

Rub-a-dub-dub

The alpacas boys really like their pool. It's not so pristine these days, but they don't seem to mind a bit. Alpacas (and llamas) are habitual rollers in the dirt. So, you can imagine what happens when that dusty alpaca fleece hits the water. Mud baths all around. All four alpaca boys will stand to be sprayed with the hose now, but three of them just love getting in the pool and lying down. So far, I've not been able to get Finn to stand for being sprayed, but am planning to put a halter and lead rope on him and see if I can't get him to appreciate how nice it feels to have a cool shower on these hot days. Finn was weaned from Strawberry a few weeks ago and I've been pleasantly surprised how well he has done. I think it helped a lot that he remained in the field with the alpaca boys (where he was used to being) and I moved Strawberry out of sight and back in with Pippi. For her part, Strawberry doesn't seem to miss him at all! That's our Strawberry, though. She's all about getting on with the business at hand. We are hoping she is bred and, if so, will be due in early spring. Most likely this will be her last cria, so it would be especially nice to have another girl like Pippi.

Update: For the last two days in a row, I've been able to just put my arm around Finn's neck and gently hold him while I sprayed him down. I think he likes it! Smart boy! Also, you can be grateful that I was able to remove my latest heat related rant from this post. Today is all that summer should be. It's sunny and in the mid-80's and feels fabulous.......finally a day that is not in the mid to upper 90's. According to the weatherman this morning, we have had 28 days, so far, this summer with temperatures in the 90's

They asked for it

The heat is unrelenting and ongoing around here and nearly everyone else I know is dealing with the same thing. I've actually gotten tired of hearing myself complain about it!! So, anyway, in the continuing search to find ways to keep my animals from suffering too much, I have resorted to catering to their every request. I just happened to see this kiddie pool on sale at our local K-Mart and decided it was worth it, if it only worked once. Not surprisingly, the alpacas were a little leery at first. (Maybe it's all those brightly colored fish swimming around on the outside!) I think the sides might be just a tad too high for them to feel comfortable stepping over, but, nonetheless, they did finally get in and thrash around enough to empty most of the water out onto the ground. I only paid $10 for this beauty (the pool-not the alpacas), so it was not much of an investment and once I started putting the water in it, I made up my mind that I'd use it myself, if they didn't take to it. In fact, I've seriously considered going back to get another one just for me!

We are so (not) cool

Trying to stay cool has been a full time job around the farm lately. We did have a bit of a break over the weekend, but the weather forecast shows us heading back into the mid-90's in the next few days. We all have our ways of coping, as best we can. The animals move as little as possible during the daylight hours and do their grazing at night. There are four fans running in the barn right now and that is where they hang out during the day. Last week, I kept noticing that the automatic waterer that's shared by the llama/alpaca pen and the lamb's pen was filthy every evening when I brought the lambs in for the night. Sheep do not like dirty water and will not drink from it. It took me a while to figure out what was going on. The alpacas were cooling themselves by putting their feet in the waterer and splashing water all over the place. Yesterday I found a tub that we used before the waterers were installed and pulled it into the back barnyard. I filled it full of water and stood back to watch. Prince, who is the boldest one of the herd, stepped right in and tried his best to figure out a way to lay down. Failing that, he stood in it and splashed water until the tub was nearly empty. Next thing I know, they'll be requesting a swimming pool!

Holly moves around all day looking for a cool place to catch a nap before her night-shift begins. The cemetery rock is a favorite spot because it's shady all day and I'm sure the rock feels cool on her stomach. Plus, it's a great vantage spot for keeping an eye out for any predators. An elderly woman who grew up in the big log cabin that stood on our house site (before it burned down), told us about all the different people buried on that spot. They were her ancestors and she had a story for each of them. When we bought the farm, there was only evidence of one grave marker, so when this huge rock came up out of the ground when our farm road was rebuilt, we decided to use it to mark the cemetery. The rock forms a natural seat and is a great imaginary stage or boat or mountain for the grandkids (and a wonderful observation platform for Holly).

I hate to wish my life away, but I'm already dreaming of cool autumn days and nights. Hope you are staying cool, wherever you are!

Hail, hail

the gang's all here........in the barn.......jockeying for position in front of the big fan. There is a smaller fan hanging on the side of the pen and the runner-up gets that one!

It was so stinking hot here last week. High heat and high humidity make for miserable animals (and me!). Early in the week, I started bringing the group of boys (alpacas and sheep), plus Strawberry and Finn, into the barn first thing in the morning and turning on the fans. The sheep boys make a bee-line for the big fan and settle themselves in for the duration. The alpacas and llamas stay scattered about and they all spend the day snoozing away. When the sun goes down, I let them all out into the pasture for the night, so they can graze. The ewes and lambs are kept in the driveway lot during the night, to make it easier for Holly to guard them, and I let them into the big pasture early in the morning. They graze early, then find a shady spot and sleep all day. As soon as the sun starts going down, they are up and eating. Musical pastures is the name of the game around here in the summer. Some in, some out and then some out and some in! It's like brackets on each end of my day to get everyone in the spot where they will be most comfortable.

Thank goodness we are getting a break from all that heat. It is wonderful today. Low 80"s. It's one of those days when I can say there is no place else on earth I would rather live than right here. (Might not have been my answer last week!)

Knitters Rock Mo Rocca's World

Lamb count is at 4 right now.......all girls. Yay! The ewe that was due on Thursday finally delivered at 5 am on Friday morning. I don't usually have night time deliveries, but there was a complication with this one and it took a while to get things sorted out. I was up all night and finally fell into bed at 5:45 am. I can tell you right now, I hope not to repeat that.


The alpaca count has also risen to four. Friday I hooked up the livestock trailer and drove to Lindy's (click the link on the side bar to see some of Lindy's beautiful farm and animals) to pick up our newest addition to our little herd of fiber boys. This boy's fancy name is Flashpoint and he has gorgeous fiber and a sweet disposition.

If you didn't see CBS Sunday Morning yesterday, you need to watch it now. Go to their website and click on Mo Rocca's piece on knitting. For once, just once, we knitters didn't come off as a bunch of grandmothers in our rocking chairs (not that there's anything wrong with being a grandmother in a rocking chair----I am a grandma and I do sit in rocking chairs occasionally!) Mo Rocca now knows that knitters are a force to be reckoned with and that they are gracious and generous when they put you in your place.

Edited to add: Anyone else having trouble with Blogger today? I had links to the above references and tried many times to make sure they were exactly as they should be, but Blogger would not let them work. It also would not let me post pictures, but I went through Firefox to get that done. I'm ready to have a melt-down here! It is difficult enough for someone like me to even get a blog post done, but when things don't work as they should...then I'm lost!

Fibery Friday

Shearing time is nearly upon me and I'm just getting the rest of last year's fleeces processed. I made the trip up to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers on Wednesday and had my very first alpaca fleeces made into roving and, oh my, they are wonderful. This morning was the first opportunity I've had to open these boxes of goodies and pull out some samples to play with and I am so pleased with all of it. I had them processed so that the roving is 70% alpaca and 30% wool, and what little I've spun is beautiful. It makes me want to forget all my commitments and spend the next few weeks playing in the dye pots and spinning this luscious stuff. I spend the whole year nurturing these fleeces (and the sheep and alpacas who are growing them), and I always feel a bit of trepidation when I get to the mill and hand them over. Not that I'm worried about how the mill will process them. Just that maybe they aren't as nice as I was thinking. No need to worry over this batch. All seven boxes are fabulous......if I do say so myself!

Finally, finally, finally the sun is out today and, according to the local weatherman, we have a bit of a warm-up on the way. Not a moment too soon, as far as I'm concerned. I bought these daffodils at Trader Joe's in Cincinnati on Wednesday and I'm wishing they would last until I can pick some from my very own garden.

I'm hoping you have a sunshiney weekend and golden daffodils to brighten your windowsill.

Autumn rain

It has rained, off and on, since late last night. I love this kind of day, if I don't have to be out in it all the time. Unfortunately, some of the animals around here don't have much choice at the moment. The yearling ewes, Buddy (who is a wether now), the alpaca boys and Strawberry are in a field with no shed. All they have are the trees to provide some protection. If the weather was cold, I would bring them in so they could at least have the shelter of the sheds on the sides of the barn, but it is 65 degrees today and they are not suffering. Of course, looking at the alpaca boys, you'd think they were being tortured (and might I point out, they have chosen to hunker down in the middle of the field). Strawberry, on the other hand, is getting on with what she likes to do best....eating. (She's a girl after my own heart.)

As you can see, Strawberry has quite the baby belly now. I'm not exactly sure when she is due, because I can't remember when she started spitting off the male who was here to breed her. (A female llama does not ovulate until she is bred and once she is pregnant, she will spit at the male llama, if he tries to approach her.) I believe that she is due sometime around Christmas or early January. Once again, this is a case where the faintest record would be better than my fondest memory! I don't know why I didn't write down when I first observed her not being receptive. Good thing Strawberry is an experienced mother. I'm hoping for another appaloosa female cria. Wouldn't that make Pippi happy to have a sister who looks just like her? Pippi is quite the young lady now. She is still in with this year's ewe lambs and I'm loving the way she interacts with them.

Tomorrow is the big day......barn clean-out day!! (It's also my birthday, and sad as it might seem to some of you, getting the barn cleaned out is just the way I want to spend the day.) I'm so happy we are getting this done before cold weather. My friend, Teresa, made some wonderful minestrone soup that we will have for lunch tomorrow and a birthday cake with very unusual ingredients (another post). My friend, Mary, made a fabulous oatmeal cake (complete with one candle!) that we enjoyed at Wednesday knitting. What more could any woman ask for than to have a clean barn and such good friends (who are great cooks!)?

Hope you all have a productive and happy weekend. I know I'm going to.

Not yet....

That's right. No lambs yet. I sure wish these ewes would just get on with it already! But,looking at them, I know they wish it even more.

This has been a busy week, so far and it doesn't look as though it will ease up. Monday was shearing day at Lindy's (Seldom Scene Farm) and she graciously allowed me to bring my little gang of alpaca boys and Strawberry and Pippi. Lindy had about 90 alpacas to do and she had a long, long day of it. She uses a team of specialists and they are so efficient and fast, I had to scramble to get the "blanket" of fleece I wanted from each of my animals picked up and bagged before the shearers were on to the next animal. (The blanket is the fleece from around the middle of their bodies--generally the leg wool is not kept.) And, even better, they trimmed toenails and even Strawberry's teeth, while they were at it! I'm sure Lindy will have a great post on all this when she gets a chance. The above picture is of the boys waiting their turn and then here's the after. Such a difference. (And those impossibly skinny necks!)

And look at Strawberry and Pippi. Can you believe the markings on Pippi and how big she looks now? I hadn't intended to shear Pippi this time, but she has a habit of reclining under the hay feeder while her mother eats and so her coat was already trashed. Oh well, maybe next year.

Shearing for the yearlings should happen this weekend and then we will be finished with that for a while. It always feels so good to get shearing behind me. Then I can re-focus. Next on the list---the garden.