Just before the Storm . . .

At least that is how it feels . . .the weather is so nice, the days are bright, warm and breezy, so a storm must not be too far behind.  I guess the harsh winter, last year has made me very cautious at this time of the year!  I know it cannot stay this nice forever, though I secretly hope so.  I really enjoyed the weekend with happy alpacas, my husband working in the garden and an un-planned hot dog cooked over the camp fire.  It grounds me to have  a weekend like that. 
I know I need to get organized for winter, yet I find myself putting off all I have to do.  I did get the rest of the windows in the cottage covered in plastic and I am really liking the results.  It is warmer, yet the light comes in and I am happy about that.  I need to get out there and finish my triangle loom shawl, that way if the plastic does not work on the windows, I will be able to easily bring the triangle loom into the house.   
The barn chores were easy this A.M. and my aching body was grateful.


I am off to mark some items that I want to take to Good Nature where they sell many of our farm items and to get ready for our Columbia Weavers and Spinners' Guild meeting tomorrow night.




           

Bess

When we put Arbuckle back in with his dam, Bess, she let him nurse briefly then started  kicking him.  she knows this big baby needs to be weaned!  Her weight is way down and he is a  big boy.  We will continue to separate them in the day time and put them back together at night for a while.  But soon we will separate him from her.  It is hard for me to watch, but I know it has to be done.  I think it will really be hard for him when he has to separate from Priscilla.  Being only two days apart they have never been separated and are best friends.  Priscilla is not ready to be weaned.    We will have to watch that Arbuckle does not start nursing off of Freja.  I have seen him do that several times and she has not seemed to noticed.She too is very thin and nursing an additional cria would not be good for her health.


We got some rain later in the day.  The rain is not much, but we are so dry, anything helps.  I worked in the fiber cottage for a good part of the day.  I have a shawl on the 7 foot triangle loom and I am spinning up the fiber I dyed with pokeberrys.  The pokeberries sure made colorful fiber that is making a slubby yarn.

Catchin Up

It has been along time since I posted anything.  I do so like the feel of journaling , so I am going to post at least once a week.  Maybe, now that I have stated that publicly I will hold myself to it.

The farm really had a good summer with 5 one week long day camps.  They really make me smile and I find they give me purpose.  I seem to a have  a need to be involved with teaching children about the wonders of my little world.  Some of my campers have attended all five summers and at least 12 camps.  I have so much respect for these kids.  Our camps were hot this summer, one day reaching 107.5 degrees!  Not one child ever complained about the heat.  Instead they draped themselves with cold wet hand towels and wash cloths and played fashion show.  They were creative, fun to be around and eager to learn all I had to share.

Weaving Day

I spent most of my afternoon working on a shawl for my sister. The shawl, made from fiber from our alpacas , is being woven on a triangle loom. It is so pretty and I feel so good about it. I spun all the yarn. The yarn is from Dalcie, a dark, dark, rose-grey that we recently sold; Bess our beautiful medium brown dam; Royal Sigmund, an extremely shiney true black who we sold this summer.