Shearing & Bees & Beautiful Things......

Life has been busy this week, but not so busy as to make me ignore the beauty that spring brings.  I do find beauty in all seasons and I don't think I would be happy living where we did not see an obvious change.  Grover is posed on a moss covered rock and behind him is a rock wall and the face of it is covered with wild trillium.  

On the same walk, we waded through acres of these beautiful tiny blue and white wildflowers.  It almost looked like it had snowed.  Incredible.

On Saturday and Sunday, Sam and I got started shearing our 21 alpacas.  By end of day Sunday, we had only 6 to go.  We still have 6 to go.  Possibly tomorrow evening we will knock those 6 out and be done.    Saturday we sheared everyone I wanted to move to other fields.  We now have 4 older girls down the road across from the guest house.  Left to right we have Peg, who will be 15 in June and came to us as a weanling, Chiquita Margarita, who is 15 and also came to us as a weanling.  She was one of the first 3 alpacas we purchased.  And Tunita.  I believe she is 12 and we have had her about 10 years.  Peg and Chiquita are retired and will live out their lives here.  Tunita could still have a cria or two if someone would like to buy her.  We also moved 3 females to the garage pasture on Saturday.  Two of them are pregnant and showing signs of delivering soon.  Both are over 11 months along and they could deliver today or wait another 3 weeks.  Alpacas are so unpredictable in that respect.  I am hoping for happy hoppy skippy babies, as last fall's losses were devasting to me.

Here are our 4 males: Eclipse, Opi & Bodhi, (Lightning is hiding) in the barn awaiting their turn on the shearing table on Sunday.  I brought them down the road 1/4 mile from their pasture and shut them in and vacuumed them off.  

   


Here they are with me post shearing, preparing to go back down the road to their pasture.  On the left is Bodhi, who is now 15.  He has been with us since he was a yearling.  Eclipse was born here and has his butt to the camera, Opi is the youngest (grey) and Lightning is again hiding (behind me)

And here we go.  They don't seem too eager to leave the land of females for their bachelor digs down the road.    As you can see, we will need to be doing some mowing soon.  My horse used to keep all this grass pretty short.  He is missed.

 On Monday I picked up my 3 pound package of bees, but I waited until Tuesday to install them in the hive.  The weather was much warmer and nicer.  The box to the left is the package the bees come in.  It is screened on 2 sides and has a round hole in the top for a feeder can of sugar syrup.  You can see many bees on top of this box as it is difficult to make sure every bee gets shaken into the hive.  I leave the package box sitting next to the hive and the bees usually all move inside by the next morning.  I hope this hive thrives and we do not have as cold a winter as this past one.  I won't be getting much of a honey harvest this year, if I get any.  The bees need to build up their colony.

 Another beautiful thing:  asparagus!  What a treat.  Right from the asparagus patch to the steamer and the table.  I think I need to put in more plants.  My asparagus bed just does not seem to be spreading like I thought it would.  We eat it as fast as it grows.

I think this is pretty beautiful also.  This is a 5 skein batch of my alpaca/wool blend yarn that I dyed this week.  I am so happy with it.  I want to knit a sweater using this yarn, but I had already dyed some for that purpose.  I may have to change to this color.  I like it better.  We'll see.  Memorial Day weekend and the Great Lakes Fiber Show are going to be here before I know it and I still have a lot of yarn to dye.  I may not get it all done.  But that's ok.  There is A Wool Gathering to look forward to in September.

Here is round 6 of the Traveling Sock Round Robin.  I should be receiving round 7 in the mail any day now and that will be the last round.  I will finish those socks and mail them to their owner. The toes I knit in January and mailed out will come back to me with the rest of each sock completed by 7 knitters all over the US.  This has been so much fun.

One of my very favorite things  is being able to eat outside on our deck.  Sam and I manage to sit down to our evening meal together just about every day and have done so since we were first married.  It was always important to us to have that time as a family.  We still do it when we all get together and I treasure those times.  Even when it is just us two.

 

April's Showers Have Colored Everything Green!

I love seeing my neighbor's cows up on this hilltop

Everything is incredibly, vibrantly green.  The woods are carpeted in green once again and the wildflowers are everywhere.  I am amazed when I walk at how green everything really is.  Now if it would just warm up a bit.....

Other signs of spring include asparagus coming up in the asparagus bed, millions of little tadpoles along the shore of the pond, hostas coming up in the flower beds and my tulips in full bloom.  In my garden, the lettuce and beets I planted a couple weeks ago are also popping up and I can hardly wait to have fresh salad greens.  I confess I have already tested a couple stalks of asparagus straight from the garden.  Can't let those first ones wait around for more to be ready to pick or they'll be beyond their prime!

Our plans of getting alpacas shorn early this year have not materialized.  The weather has been too rainy.  And wet alpacas simply cannot be shorn.  So we are waiting to start.  I did prepare the barn this morning for shearing.  Most of the dividers in our barn are moveable so we can rearrange space to suit whatever our needs may be, so I moved panels away from the built in shearing table so that we can walk around it, which we need to be able to do.  It gives the alpacas a bit less indoor space, but they really don't need it this time of year.  I hope to get started on that chore this weekend.  We have 21 to shear, 2 of which are due to have crias imminently.

 



I have gotten 3 batches of yarn dyed in the last week.  This is some of my 100% alpaca 2-ply sport weight yarn.

 These 3 are all "colorways" I have dyed previously and have sold well at festivals.  I keep good notes so I can come close to reproducing a color I like.  But there is always some variation.  Each one of these batches is 8 skeins of 300 yards each.  I still have 3 more batches of this yarn to dye and I am not sure what colors I will use.  I will likely try something new.  I also have about 20 skeins of an alpaca/wool blend to dye and I will probably do that in 5 skein batches.

Grover and I had a great time at our agility class this week.  We got to put a couple obstacles together and let him run it as fast as he could.  He really got into it and was quite revved up.  I think he likes it.  I have to put a couple jumps together here at home so we can practice.  Grover is not the only one who has things to learn.  

 Work continues on the kitchen down the road.  Sam has really been working hard.  He has jacked up the floor a bit and used some leveler  and has installed the backing board for the tile, which we picked up at Home Depot this week.  You can kind of see what it will look like.  I think it will look great.  We also purchased a new side entry door, as the one that is on the house has never been very functional.  A good wind would blow it open if it was not wedged shut with a screw in the jamb.  And Sam had a horse blanket in front of it all winter to keep out as much of the draft as possible.  I even got someone to come and pick up the old sink and haul it away and they gave me $30.  Pretty good deal if ya ask me!





 


Sam also put up new fence to replace the old fencing I tore down.  He is so handy to have around.  So whenever we get some of the older girls shorn, they will be moved down the road onto really lush pasture.  And I won't have to worry about them falling into the creek.

Meanwhile, the fracking (hydraulic fracturing) continues on the well site above our hayfield.  This shot is from our alpaca field at the main barn and shows our neighbor's house and the red beyond is the run in shed across the road from the guest house.  Amazingly, they seem to take Sundays off, but otherwise the noise reminds me of diesel engines idling in European train stations.  Rome. Constantly.  And that's how it sounds at my house, 1/2 a mile away.  I can't imagine what it sounds like up on the well site.








So I finished the shawl I have been working on.  It took me most of a week to do the bind-off (last row) alone, but it is SO worth it. It is spectacular.  I love it.  I need to get some photos of it being worn.  I don't think of myself as a girly-girl, but I sure do love lace and beads around my shoulders.  Now if only I had someplace to wear it.  

I have now started knitting some baby items.  I knit a baby blanket once about 8 years ago, but have not knit anything other than booties since then.  I have a couple babies to knit for right now and am making some fun things that I won't post about here, just in case.  But that will be the majority of my knitting for now.  Well I also have the last couple rounds of the traveling socks to work on and I will probably start a summer lacy sweater.  I'm also warping up my loom at the office for some rugs using a new to me pattern.  Time, I need more time........

This is Grand Design posing for me in the morning a few days ago.  

 

Mending Fences, Spring Break, and More

Life has been crazy, but in a good way.  I did not post last week as I had a houseful of family all week, but let me back up and start with the weekend prior to that.

Grover and I ran in our first 5K together.  It was a benefit for a local shelter for dogs, cats, etc.  There were a lot of dogs there and we really had fun.  I talked to so many people who were intrigued by Grover's looks and mesmerizing eyes.  And we did fabulous in the race, coming in third in my age category (out of 14) in 30:03.  This was a great time considering Grover took a poop break at about 1.4 miles which I stopped to bag!  Here we are at the finish line.  We have another 5K in about 3 1/2 weeks.  We need to get under the 30 minute mark this time, Grover!

Then family arrived.  First my mother with my niece and nephew in tow.  She was only able to stay a couple days, but she and I managed to get the kitchen walls painted in her house.  Next comes the flooring.   

The same day my mother left (leaving niece and nephew), my brother, his wife and their youngest child arrived along with their 2 dogs.  For the next 3 days, the weather was perfect and everyone had a wonderful time.  There was dirt- and mini-bike riding, dog walking, dogs swimming in the pond, shooting, eating, drinking and just a darn good time.  It was so hard to see them all leave on Saturday to go back home to western Ohio.  They are going to be leaving Ohio and embarking on a new life in Phoenix, AZ once the kids are done with school, so this was a very special time for all of us.



And since they left, things have been back to "normal".  On Monday, I used the tractor to scoop out one side of the overhang on the alpaca barn.  There was a good 2 or 3 years worth of build up in there, mostly hay, but some poop as well.  It was packed about 2' deep.  I still have the other side to do, but I will have to tear down some fencing to get to it.  You can see in the photo where Buck and Star are in the cleaned out side and to the left, the side that still needs scooped.  I can't believe how deep it was!

I also started some fence mending on Monday.  We have a creek that runs through our property.  A lot of our pastures border this creek, which means we have had to build fences on a creek bank.  We always leave a good 2 or 3 feet between the fence and the creek, to facilitate weed removal, etc.  Each year, that space gets narrower and narrower as the creek banks erode.  This is how my fence looked in one of our pastures that has no animals in it currently.  6 posts were literally laying in the water.  I had to hook a logging chain to one of the posts and pull the whole fence up onto the bank with the tractor.  So then I dug 5 new post holes and re-set the posts, discarding the old fencing as it needed to be replaced anyway.  In this same pasture (where the fence was in need of replacing because it was cheap fence and it lasted its 12 years), a deer was run into the fence last week by a predator of some kind, and tore loose 2 sections of fencing.  So yesterday, I tore down the rest of the old fencing and all the fence on that side of the field will be replaced. The deer was killed, by the way, and mostly consumed by the time we found it.

And while I was working on repairing fences, the alpacas were enjoying the day in true alpaca fashion.... sunbathing.  It is about time to start getting the fiber off these critters.  Possibly this weekend.

 As far as fiber-y stuff goes, I did not get a lot accomplished while I had a house full of people and dogs.  I did finish up the next round of the traveling socks, however, once everyone left.  I have to say I think these are the prettiest ones I have had to work on.  I did do a little spinning on the back deck on Sunday afternoon as well.

I will close with a few photos I have taken around the farm in the past couple of weeks.

These 3 are part of the old oil well pumping station that is up on a high point on the farm.  These 2 pieces are about 15' apart and they used to work together to pump several wells.  
 
 
There are pieces of old belts and lots of old heavy duty cable that ran from this machinery to each well. The big link in this chain is about a foot long. I don't think nature will ever be able to quite reclaim all of this.

 I love that this fence post has a heart on it.

And I love how this walnut firewood, which is left from the timber we had harvested in February, looks all in a stack next to the house. 

Spring Has Sprung!

Morning pasture

Yes, it seems to finally be here.  It has been good outdoor weather most of the week, though a little cooler than last week and we have had some rain.  The rain, followed by the sunshine, just makes the green pop out everywhere.  I love it.  Unfortunately the first things that leaf out and turn green are the multi-flora roses.  They are an introduced species, I believe originally brought in to be used as natural fencing.  Which they are good at.  But they are very invasive and will take over a hayfield, creeping in slowly from the edges. They can get very large and formidable.  They grow long whip-like branches with thorns that are quite painful. 

We spend a lot of time trying to eradicate them.  They seem to have a life of their own and as I cut one part, another long whip will attack or stick to my clothing.  This is work best done in winter when one can wear heavy coveralls.  In a few weeks, the roses will bloom briefly all over the woods and give off a lovely fragrance.  Its not worth it.

Another pest however departs the first week of April.  At least they depart from my house and move back outside where they belong.  This would be the dreaded Asian Ladybug  which I have been vacuuming up by the thousands from my walls, windows and floors since they moved in in October.  I am glad to see the end of them.  I can now sit in bed once again and read with a light on without being dive bombed.  Have I mentioned I hate them?  And whoever introduced them to the US....

My herb garden is ready for new plants.  I have some herbs started in a little tray on my kitchen windowsill.  

 I have run the tiller in the garden and plan to plant some lettuce and maybe some beets tomorrow.  I can hardly wait to have fresh lettuce for salads!

 This bucket is hanging in the male alpacas' building.  Can you see where a little wren has made a nest in it?  Under where the green baling twine is?  There are eggs in there and mama bird flies out every time I come to feed the boys.  This bucket was used when the water trough froze this winter.  It is a heated bucket when plugged in.  I'm not sure this is the smartest place to have a nest!

 


 See the bucket?  It is a nice dry spot, but easily bumped.  I guess I cannot yet put it away for the summer......











Work continues on the kitchen.  Sam finished the drywall and I primered the walls and re-painted the ceiling.  Mom plans to come next week and we will paint and then it will be time to do the tile flooring.




Grover and I have had 2 agility classes now.  The second one was more fun than the first.  I know I had fun and I think he did as well.  He and I will be running in a 5K this Saturday morning.  Looking forward to that!

No new fiber-y stuff this week.  Too much outdoor time.  Here are some photos of my world this morning!
                                                                               
 


A low flying plane  got the dogs' attention       

I love this willow tree behind my neighbor's barn.  It is starting to turn yellow green with new buds. 

It's The New Year

Grover is a handsome fellow!

Since living on the farm, I have always felt April 1st is like the beginning of the New Year.  Winter is hopefully behind us and it is time to be outside instead of curled on the couch next to the woodburner with spinning or knitting or a good book.  

So spring prep is under way.  I have bees arriving in less than 2 weeks, so I need to get my boxes and frames ready for that.  I hope to get the garden tilled  up when we get a dry day.  Lettuce can be planted in a week or two.   I belatedly sent all my combs and cutters for the alpaca shears out (I usually do that at then end of shearing and I just forgot) for sharpening.  Shearing season is near.  We have mountains of poop to spread on the hayfield.  I expect we will have 2 crias born to first time mothers sometime in May.  I have yarn to dye for the Great Lakes Fiber Show, which is at the end of May.  Oh, and Grover and I have just started a beginning agility class!  We've only had one class, so more on that later on. I have also registered for 2 5Ks in the next 6 weeks, which Grover will run with me. This is a great time of year.

 The tail end of March seemed to bring spring in with it.  We have had some lovely weather in the last week, though it has been rainy the last 2 days.  That is to be expected in spring.  It is guaranteeing that when we do get some sunshine and warmth again, everything will burst into color.   The alpacas were happy to spend a couple days enjoying the sunshine on a fresh pasture.  I only give them a day or two at a time on pastures this time of year.  Can you see the hints of green?

I did some dyeing this week.  I have some alpaca/wool blend yarn that I got back from MorningStar Fiber Mill in February and I have to admit, I plan to knit myself a sweater from it.  I do not have a lot, only 23 skeins of it.  My sweater will likely use 5 of those.  I experimented with immersion dyeing the skeins and then splattering them with other colors once they were dyed.  The results were not as colorful as I wanted, the purples are very subtle and I had hoped they would pop a bit more on the blue.  The greens are more visible.  But this was a test run and I think it will make a lovely sweater for me.  I have the rest of this yarn to dye as well as 48 or so skeins of 100% alpaca.  I need to find 2 or 3 really nice wool fleeces this year because I want to do more of the alpaca/wool blend yarn.  I think it has more practical uses.  

Here is round 4 of the Sock Circle.  I used a variegated green yarn and a free pattern on Ravelry called "Shamrock Sock" in honor of St Patrick's day.  I am considering knitting these socks for myself in the same yarn.  Cuz I have so much free time in the spring and summer. Right.

I also finished up my  Montana Tunic 

Or I should say almost finished. I need to weave in yarn ends and wash and block and sew on buttons.  It has been a long time in the knitting.  I had to buy another skein of yarn.  It used a good bit more yarn than the pattern called for.  I don't usually have that problem.  

Check out the buttons I made for it:

These are cut from a deer antler "shed"  We like to collect the antlers that the bucks shed in January and I chose one I thought I could get good buttons from and went at it with a hack saw.  There has to be an easier way!  It was also hard to get the darn thing in the bench vise I used to hold it while sawing.  And then it was difficult to hold the buttons to drill the holes.  I'd like to make more of these, but I have to find better tools.  These are about 1" in diameter.  I'm quite pleased with them.

Work continues on the kitchen in the guest house.  Sam says it will be ready for me to paint by this weekend.  The ceiling needs painted since when the new roof was put on there were a couple accidents with things going through the kitchen ceiling and those have been patched.  I will only be putting primer on the walls as Mom wants to paint it the same color the paneling was painted prior to the demolition.  She will be here in about 10 days and we will be discussing cabinets, etc.  But the floor tile has to go in first.  That won't be done before Mom visits!