June scenes

At long last, I do believe we can call it summer here in the Bluegrass.  The farms around us are cutting and baling hay (and I'm ever so grateful we don't do that anymore) and I'm trying hard to catch up on the mowing.  The garden looks hopeless and I'm not sure if I'm physically going to be able to do much about it this year.  We've eaten our share of asparagus, enjoyed a short-lived strawberry crop (the peacock somehow missed the berries this year) and until I get the beds in better shape, there's not going to be much happening out there for a while.

(Jim Dandy's current favorite perch - the top of the greenhouse)

But first, I'm bound for Squam!  Last week the whole idea of making this trip was looking extremely doubtful.  I had a major rheumatoid arthritis "flare" and couldn't walk for several days.  So now I'm on a rather large dose of prednisone for the next several weeks and the doctors have assured me that I will be able to stay upright and do the walking required to make my way around the camp.  I'm so ready to experience being on the lake and seeing friends from my previous two years there.  This year I'm taking Cal Patch's sewing class, the Sweetest Tunic.  Last year it was the Squam Smock and I've loved wearing it.  Cal has really inspired me to get back into sewing.  The other class I'll be taking is the Hap Shawl with Gudron Johnston.  I've heard so many good things about Gudron's teaching (and she's a good friend of Mary Jane's, so she must be special).  I'm excited about both of these classes, but to be honest, they are the icing on the cake, as far as I'm concerned.  It's the whole atmosphere of Squam that I love best.  If you ever have the opportunity to experience Squam, I can highly recommend it.

(I love how they've picked a nice hard rock outcropping to lie down on)

Meanwhile, back at the farm, Midgie and Phaedra are going to keep Mike straight about the feeding schedule.  We had hoped that Mike could go along again, take his fishing kayak, and spend some time on the water, but our college student farm sitter has gotten a regular job and we didn't have anyone to watch the farm and care for the sheep. To make it more complicated, we still have 7 lambs getting two bottles each every day.  Mike has generously agreed to take care of the babies, so I can go to Squam without worrying. 

If you want a good report on the 2014 Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival, please go read Mary Jane's blog post.  It sounds to me like she had a good time while she was here!  We loved having her and hope she'll come back again.

I'll be back soon with a report on Squam and on the fabulous eco-dyeing workshop I recently took from Nicola Brown.  Who knew eucalyptus leaves and rusty water could be so much fun?

Crazy time, lazy time

(under stormy skies last week)

It's that time of year.  The one when I feel I'm totally crazy for living this life I live.  So, so much to do and it all needs doing right now!  I'm sure I can hear the grass (and weeds) growing and it has rained so much that the ground is saturated and everything is too wet.  By the time it dries out enough to get on the mower and the tractor, another rainy spell is forecast.  Plus, the fiber festival is THIS WEEKEND!  (and, I am so not ready)  I'm giving myself a pep talk.  I'm trying to relax about it and just go with the flow.  I'm probably not going to get any more new yarn dyed or any more fibers spun up or any more felted bowls ready, but I have some fabulous natural colored roving and some freshly shorn fleeces that are lovely and I'm going to have a good time!  New to my booth this year are some really great yarn tools (and you know how we fiber people like to add new tools to our arsenal!)  Wes and Elissha Waltrip have designed some great "yarn buddies" and a very clever and affordable swift/skein winder that I'm sure many of you need to add to your collection. My wonderful grand-daughter, Jordan, is coming to help me again and we'll have time to sit and spin together or knit or just chat, so what more could I ask for?  Well, maybe some lovely weather so all you folks will want to be there at the festival with us.

I am excited about this year's festival.  It promises to be bigger and better than ever.  All the vendor spots are full and there will be even more vendors set up outside.  I'll be in the livestock area, which this year has been moved so that it's adjacent to the big vendor areas.  I'm going to have a few half Wensleydale yearling ewes with me that will be for sale.  Their fleeces are so bright and beautiful, they practically sparkle!  I'm even thinking about bringing Miss Luna along (she's a big girl now).  Come on by for a visit while you're at the festival.

As far as lazy time, that would be what all the animals who live here are enjoying.  Without lambs to raise this year, the ewes are doing nothing but eating and sleeping, eating and sleeping and then, maybe more eating.

(Pippi - all her spots revealed!)

 

And the winner is ....

It took me a little while to re-number the entries and then go back to double check myself.  There were some accidental duplicate comments and then my comment at the end that made the the blogger total off by a few numbers.  So, without further ado - random.org selected comment number 127, which belonged to lulu!  I've sent off an email and hope to hear from you soon, lulu!!  Thank you all so much for participating in this little give-away.  Kristin has so many, many fans and I know it gladdens her heart to hear how much you all appreciate her talents.  Sometimes, when you live on a farm and spend a large part of your days wearing boots and barn clothes, finding time to be creative can be a real struggle.  The fact that Kristin is able to continually amaze us with her sense of style is a real testament to how hard she works.

A common theme in the comments was how much we are all looking forward to spring arriving in our parts of the country.  Everyone is craving color and I'm especially longing for green right now.  We have run out of hay already and had to buy another load to get us through.  The grass in the fields is definitely starting to show some green and, if we can get four or five days of warm sunshine, I'll probably be able to start complaining about the mowing :-)  Those of us who live in the country are obsessed with the weather,  especially if we have livestock or seasonal crops.  We have no control over it, but have to learn to adjust our plans according to the latest weather report.

That picture up there, of Mrs. Dandy and Jim Dandy (Junior) has nothing to do with anything in this post, obviously.  It just happened to be what I saw when I walked outside a few minutes ago.  Sitting on the side of the truck is not where we like to see them - for several obvious reasons, but there you have it.  One more thing I don't seem to be in control of around here!

Inside-Outside

This picture is inside the studio, which is the only place the forsythia is blooming.  I brought a few branches in a week ago and the buds opened up to present me with some springtime hope.  I'm hanging on here and need all the hope I can get.  I'm telling you, this weather is wearing me completely out!

(Taken from my command post at the kitchen sink - through a not so clean window and the screen)

Outside, it's been looking like this.  We're running about 25-30 degrees below normal for this time of  year and have had lots of snow coming down. We've had snow on the ground most mornings, but then it's gone by noon and meanwhile we've had snow showers all during the day.  The sheep are not amused by this (and neither am I) because they are (un)dressed for warmer weather now.  Because I thought we were expecting lambs, I wanted the sheep shorn early.  Instead it's looking very doubtful that we are having any lambs this year.  I cannot even explain how sad this makes me.  Even though I had only exposed 6 ewes and wasn't expecting the normal big bunch of lambs, it just doesn't feel right to have none.  I don't think, in all my years of being a shepherd, I've ever not had lambs when I wanted to have them.  Mr. Bates seems to have let me down.  I'm not sure what we're going to do about him now.  The plans were to castrate him as soon as shearing was over, so that eventually I could run the whole flock together in one field.  Now, I don't know whether to keep him intact and try him again in the fall or look for another ram.  One of the things I like to tell new shepherds is to expect that if you are keeping sheep for a long enough period of time, eventually everything will happen to you.  This is one more of those things.

So, a little note here about the dye workshop.  It filled immediately and I've already received payment from all but two people.  There is a waiting list and I'm happy to add anyone to it, but it's looking as though we are set for this go-round.  This might be something I would consider hosting again at a later date (if Dagmar were up to it).  There are also some other workshops I would love to host here at the farm.  I'm going to think about that after this one is behind me. Thanks so much for the response to this first endeavor

Now for something fun.  As anyone who read this blog knows, I am a big fan of Kristin Nicholas.  Her bold and brave color sense is truly amazing (and she's a fellow shepherd!). Kristin has a brand new book out titled " 50 Sunflowers to Knit, Crochet and Felt" and I'm going to be offering an autographed copy (that would be personally autographed by Kristin - not me!) to the lucky winner.  Plus, I've added a little something to sweeten the pot.  Check back here before the weekend for all the details. 

The main activity

There's been a whole lot of the above going on around here and not much else.  My appearance is apparently the highlight of the day for lots of critters!

(Some girls are pretty, some are just pretty in the fleece!)

The "little girls" have joined the adult ewe flock and when I look out on the pasture, I can hardly tell the young ones from the older girls.  It's bittersweet for me because I enjoy the time I spend with the lambs as they grow, but pretty soon I'll have new lambs to fuss over.  Gabby should lamb around the first of March and that's not long at all now.

(It's painful for me to see all that hay being shared with neighboring fleeces!)

One way to help with identification from a distance is that every year I order different color ear tags and along with the color, I start the numbering on the tags with the year....so tags for this year will begin with the number 1301.  Picking the color is trickier than you might think.  I don't want those humongous tags that will pull a lambs ear down, but something large enough and bright enough that I can read it from several paces away.  I'm thinking I might go bold this year - maybe red or purple, just because I like to live on the edge!

I've spent more time than I would prefer seeing doctors, going to physical therapy and having x-rays and an MRI.  The verdict is that I have quite a variety of rotator cuff tears (at least five).  Not exactly the kind of over-achieving I can brag about!  I'm scheduled to see an orthopedic surgeon soon but, in the mean-time, I'm working diligently at physical therapy and hoping, hoping to avoid shoulder surgery.  Surgery does not fit into my plans for spring!

These pictures were taken last weekend when we finally had a little snow.  The sheep and I enjoyed it immensely.  These two - not so much!

Transition time

When I went up to the studio yesterday afternoon I found Carson listening to what this little lamb had to say.  Carson is just the best cat ever.  If you are thinking of a new pet, please consider adopting from the Friends of the Animals of Jessamine County.  They do such wonderful work and I personally know of many success stories concerning animals they've pulled out of shelters and placed in happy homes.  I have no idea what Carson's circumstances were before he came to live with us.  He was about 8 months old and pretty timid around other animals and people.  The only thing that seems to intimidate him now is our witchy female barn cat, Sadie.  She's maybe half his size and is only occasionally pleasant to him, but he's so laid back he usually gives her a look that says,  "What is your problem?"

The last few weeks have felt very much like a time of transition.  Summer is a (somewhat unpleasant) memory and winter is on the horizon (and I'll go on record as saying I really,  really hope we have a winter this year.)  Until today we've had a long stretch of nearly perfect fall weather.  I spent yesterday cleaning up the garden,  taking down the tomato cages and putting away hoses.  The last big rain and wind storm brought down most of the leaves and I need to get busy raking up the yard and putting all those leaves on the garden beds.  The animals have all been busy, busy during daylight hours,  searching,  scratching,  always on the lookout for an extra morsel of food.  They all get fed grain,  but you'd never know it the way they scurry around.  The Dandy family can often be seen together,  teaching the baby how to go about finding food.  He/she is the only surviving chick and gets plenty of supervision.   People ask me all the time about how noisy the peafowl are and at this time of year about the only thing I hear is the peep-peep-peep of the little one.  When Mr. Dandy has his full compliment of tail feathers he makes quite a lot of racket,  alerting us to any and all movement.  We're so accustomed to it now that we rarely even notice.  Once he sheds those feathers in the fall,  it's as though he becomes mute.  He rarely makes a sound.  I think he doesn't want to call attention to himself when his gorgeous feathers are gone.

I'm happy that the holidays are nearly here.  I've begun my Thanksgiving grocery shopping list and made plans for decorating the tables.  It's my favorite time of the year,  though I never do feel as though I'm quite prepared.  I love the decorating and cooking and having family all here at the farm.  Even with everything else that's going on,  I've managed to squeeze in a tiny bit of knitting and hope to get some decent photos to post soon.  As for Christmas knitting ..... I don't have much to say about that  :-(   How about all of you?  Finished already?

I believe it's going to be Mr. Bates

This is Olive's boy.  He's still waiting for his "Downton Abbey" name.  I'm thinking it might be Mr. Bates.  He has a kind face, don't you think?  He's been acting as the ram of the year for a few select ewes.  That red stain on his chest is from the marking harness he was wearing to help me determine when the 2013 lambs will be due.  The harness holds a wax crayon that marks the rump of the ewe as he mounts her.  I mark the date on the calendar and count forward 145 days.  That becomes the date to watch for new lambs.  It appears he's done his job,  so I pulled him out over the weekend and he's awaiting his appointment for "tutoring".  He's a lovely boy with a sweet temperament and a gorgeous fleece and I don't want to keep him around here as the solitary ram.  Sheep are flocking animals and they don't like to being alone.  We'll castrate him soon and after a brief period of recuperation and time for the testosterone to get out of his system,  he can go in with the little girls.  He's still a growing boy and needs to be getting some grain every day,  as they are.

(That face!)

(I have high hopes that Mr. Bates will pass this fleece along to his babies.)

Speaking of little girls,  I've finally remembered that I hinted at a near disasterous event that happened here at the farm while we were gone to Vermont in September.  It was Marilla .... my funny little bottle baby.  We'd only been away for a few days when I got a text from the farm sitter,  saying one of the ewe lambs was not eating normally.  The next text was that she was having convulsions.  By that point,  I had decided I was not supposed to ever leave the farm again because it seemed to invite tragedy.  Long story short,  we called Mike Griffitt (the closest veterinarian who still does farm calls)  and he came out to look at her.  (Because my husband Mike is a veterinarian,  we don't really have another vet who sees our animals and we were so grateful that he was willing to come out.)  She was unable to stand or walk and he couldn't figure out what the problem was but decided to try treating her with vitamins/minerals and a strong antibiotic.  I stayed up most of the night researching and while we never found anything conclusive,  we decided to put her on a modified treatment for meningeal worm.  It is fairly uncommon in sheep in our area,  but we have plenty of deer visiting our pastures and it can be a problem with the alpacas.  Honestly,  we felt we were probably not going to be able to save her and the treatment regime was a last resort.  Amazingly,  she showed a little improvement every day after that.  Thanks to diligence on the part of Sue,  our farm sitter,  Marilla was able to stand and even walk around a little by the time we returned home.  We still don't know what her mystery illness was.  It took her several weeks to return to "normal" (or as normal as she can be),  but now you'd never know she'd been close to death.  She's my miracle baby and more spoiled than ever.

(That's little Marilla all the way to the left)

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!

Abundance

( this is how our week started )

Yesterday I drove up to Ohio Valley Natural Fibers to pick up yarn they had spun for me.  (Of course, I had to make the obligatory visit to Ikea while I was that close.)  It was a miserable day.  It poured rain all day and I got soaked every time I got in and out of the car .... not to mention how nerve-wracking it was to be on the interstate in heavy rain with all those tractor trailer trucks.  Today,  it's a brand new scene,  just very soggy under foot.  The sun is shining brightly and I'm feeling the urge to get the dye pots out.  The Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival is not that far off and I need to get myself in gear to actually have some things to sell.

The abundance I'm referring to is that pile of yarn.   That's almost 24 pounds of yarn just waiting for me to do something.  You know you're a fiber junkie if,  after driving in the rain all day,  as soon as you get home you wash a sample skein,  put it on the heat vent to dry and knit a swatch immediately !  This batch of yarn is another sheep wool/alpaca blend and is a combination of white and black fleeces to create a beautiful gray heather.  Most of this will go into the dye pots,  as soon as I can decide on colors.

( and this is how it ends )

The shearers are supposed to come next week and then the task of sorting, weighing and washing fleeces will start.   Lambing begins in a little less than three weeks!  You'd think after all these years, I would not find that exciting, but I still do.  I can hardly wait to see what the Wensleydale ram crossed with my ewes will produce in the way of fleeces.  You can expect that the Lamb-cam will be back on line in about two weeks and even that is exciting to me!  I love being able to spy on the sheep when they don't know I'm watching.  It has felt a little like I've been in hibernation since the end of the holidays, but soon, very soon, a lot will be happening around here.

Morning

This time of year,  the routine is the same every morning and yet there is always something new.  

 

So many personalities ...... the possibilities are endless.

Spud & Chloë at the Farm Giveaway

To celebrate all that is happening on my farm these days; many new lambs (you can watch them on the lambcam-there's the link up there on the right), warmer weather coming our way (finally) and most of all the fact that Susan Anderson is coming to the Kentucky Sheep and Fiber Festival this year to teach and to sign her new book, "Spud and Chloë at the Farm", I'm going to have a Spud & Chloë Giveaway. All you have to do to be eligible is leave a comment between now and Monday evening at 8:00 pm Eastern time. The winner will receive a copy of "Spud & Chloë at the Farm", plus enough Spud & Chloë yarn to knit your very own Spud & Chloë characters! (How many more times do you think I can put the words Spud and Chloë in this post?)

This little book is so sweet and the cast of characters are so cute.....I want to knit them all. I'm going to start with Chloë because I've always loved dolls and then I'll knit Spud. He looks just like the kind of plump little sheep that would fit in around here very well. So, who else wants to join me?

It's raining, it's pouring.....

Just in case it hasn't been wet enough this winter, a few days ago we received two and a half inches of rain and now it's at it again. If the sun ever does come out again, the grass should green up and grow like crazy, which would be a welcome relief from the brown/beige/gray landscape.

I'm obsessed with looking for hopeful signs of spring. One sure sign is that Mr. Dandy has started vocalizing again. People often talk about how noisy peafowl are, and it's true, they can be. We've found that they seem to go through cycles. When Mr. Dandy moults and loses all his tail feathers, he gets pretty quiet. (I think he's embarrassed and doesn't want to call attention to himself!) Just in the last week, he has been making noise when there's activity around the barn.....a sort of early warning security device. It seems that Mr. Dandy has romance on his mind these days and that's a sign that spring is coming, for sure!

I'm pretty sure I'm the cause of all this rain. I was finally able to schedule the shearers to come on Monday to shear the pregnant ewes, which means I have to keep the ewes penned up in the barn to keep them dry. After spending most of the winter outside and having beautifully clean fleeces, a few days stuck in the barn on bedding can add a lot of vegetable matter to their wool.

The good news today was that I picked my first daffodils and this evening I heard the peepers!

Best Babysitter

She's just about the best baby sitter around here, though she isn't really watching after babies at this time of year. Actually, her job is even harder at the moment because she's watching after a bunch of silly teenagers. Pippi is a grown up girl now, but still as sweet as ever. She and Strawberry are in with those silly teenage ewe lambs. Strawberry just barely tolerates the nonsense that these girls act out every day. As I've said before, Strawberry has a "serious" personality. She doesn't go in for much goofing around. When we have little bitty lambs, she will let them use her back for climbing-jumping-king on the mountain games, but only for a little while. Then, it's "don't bother me". It's actually kind of amusing to watch Strawberry try to make these girls stay out of her hay feeder. I've never seen her do a full-on spit (not ever-regardless of what you might have heard about llamas), but she does do a spit-spray kind of thing....more like a sneeze, really. The ewe lambs are usually totally oblivious! They have a pretty secure sense of entitlement. If there's food out, it's theirs to share.

(That's brother Finn and Flashpoint in the background)

One of the best things about having animals, besides their interaction with me, is observing their interactions with each other. It's not exactly the Peaceable Kingdom around here.......more like a United Nations with on-going negotiations.

Say hello to Frenchie

Frenchie is my new outside working buddy. I've been quite stupidly spending time outside the studio building, planting bushes (stupidly because the heat index several days this week has been over 100 degrees). The bushes have been waiting for several weeks now and are getting root-bound in their pots, so I decided I may as well start sticking them in the ground. (I was hoping some young, strapping lad would show up to do the digging, but, alas, that doesn't seem to be happening.) Anyway..........while I've been digging the holes and soaking the plants in water, Frenchie has been hanging out with me and I like having her around. Last year when I ordered chicks, I got two Cuckoo Marans (they're French--get it?), but this girl is the only one left. (An unfortunate incident with a stray/neighbor's dog caused a four hen reduction in my flock a while back.) Cuckoo Marans lay lovely chocolate brown eggs and are calm, friendly hens. Honestly, I hadn't paid that much attention to Frenchie until a few days ago when I noticed the biggest, most aggressive hen in the flock seemed to be picking on her and that Frenchie was scurrying around and trying to keep a low profile. Now, anytime I'm out working around the barn or the new building, Frenchie is right there with me. Clucking softly and walking around looking for treasures (bugs). She even lets me pick her up and carry her. I think she's decided I'm good for some protection.

The politics of the hen house are a never ending mystery to me. It seems everyone is getting along just great (including the two resident banty roosters), then next thing I know, there's all sorts of squabbling and pecking going on. I was gone from the farm yesterday and left the hens confined to their fenced yard. When I fed this morning, it was clear that Frenchie had experienced a rough day. Today, Frenchie is out and about (after some doctoring to her battle wounds) and the rest are under house arrest.

Further poultry news: Wally has disappeared. I hadn't mentioned it earlier because I was hoping he might show up, but it's been several weeks now and I'm about to give up hope. He was the most personable peafowl we've ever had and I miss him greeting me at the feed bins every morning. Just as so often seems to happen here on the farm, a new addition came along just a few days ago. Mrs. Dandy hatched out one chick earlier this week. I've put the two of them in the big dog kennel and hope that she will be diligent in watching out for it. Every day brings the unexpected around here.

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!

And that's the week that was

In a word...frustrating! I have been without internet service more often than not and seen Windstream technicians more than I would ever hope and still don't think the problem is completely solved. The kicker in all this is that my husband, the least internet savvy person any of us might know, was the one who figured out what the main problem apparently happened to be. We have a satellite dish television receiver (there is no cable located within 10 miles of here) and it is also connected to our phone line so that the receiver can be updated continuously. Turns out, there should have been a filter on the line and there was not. Yesterday's technician said it is a common problem, yet none of the guys who have worked on our system thought of it!! Go figure. I tease my husband a lot (and sometimes complain) about how he wants to over-think almost everything, but I will admit this is one time when all that pondering came in handy!

Anyway...........the high point of the weekend was that we put the boat in the water for the first time this year and it was great. No hitches. Everything worked just as it should, even after sitting in the barnyard all winter! And, aside from the fact that there was still a fair amount of stuff floating around from our recent flood, the river was wonderful. I actually felt myself relaxing completely for the first time in weeks.

This week is predicted to be almost unbearably hot and my main concern is keeping my animals, if not comfortable, at least healthy through the worst of it. The sheep are good about finding a shady spot and staying there during the day, then doing their grazing during the night when it is cooler. The alpacas and llamas are my biggest concern. They are not built for 95 degree weather. This morning I let them all into the barn aisle, where there is cross-ventilation and put two fans on them. I'll be checking on them throughout the day and, if they need it, I will mist them down with water to lower their body temperature.

As for me, I'm not complaining about being stuck in the house working on patient files today, though I might consider going outside, if I could hang out like these guys.