Field 'work'

While the guys were busy working, the animals looked on. The alpacas have adjusted to their new haircuts and spent most of the day basking in the sunshine.

When we purchased this play yard for Jonathan five years ago I never imagined that we would use if for rabbits! It has become quite handy for giving the 'guys' a place to hang out in the nice weather. We used the 'alpaca pool' as a shade from the sun and they happily nibbled on the lawn and dug a few holes.

When the rain returned the boys reluctantly returned to their 'bunny barn' cages and the alpacas decided that they'd continue to stay in the field and soak up some 'liquid sunshine'.

A Busy Day

This a.m. the sun started breaking through the clouds and encouraged the guys to get outside and do a couple of the tasks on our "to do" list...

Last winter a strong wind tour off some of the siding on the end of the garage. Today the rest of the siding was taken off and newer boards put up so the replacement siding would have something to be fastened to. We also had some storm windows that used to be on our front porch that Wayne thought would be a good addition to the end wall (it's south facing). As Matt and Nathanial worked the wind picked up and the black clouds started filling the sky. They pounded in the last board as the first sprinkles started and the 3 storm windows were screwed in place just as the rain picked up. There's no "after" picture yet, but you can be sure it looked a lot better than it did when the guys first started.

Marc worked in the garden. He helped fill in the raised beds that he, Rachael, and Wayne put together Thursday.

And here's the latest picture of 'the flock'...currently 37 chicks. They can get quite noisy in the mudroom. Wayne and I are looking forward to them 'graduating' to the workshop...hopefully within the week the brooder can be moved. Jonathan says they are whistling. He also calls them "chicken children".

Shearing Day!!

Our first shearing on the farm has been an adventure...a woman was supposed to add us to a list of farms that are serviced by a shearing team out of Ohio. They do many of the alpaca farms in the area as they make the circuit around the state. The team is highly recommended and we were assured that they would make our first shearing experience a pleasant experience...We never got on the list and I just found out about that a few weeks ago. A scramble to locate another shearer began. Many calls, many dead ends, and much frustration. Wayne took over the search and finally located a llama owner/shearer in Schoharie (about 45 minutes away). He was willing to come and was scheduled to do the shearing last Tuesday. Then it rained. We rescheduled to Friday...and showers developed. The shearer put us in the schedule for today, the weather said, "partly to mostly sunny"...I was hanging clothes on the line this a.m. and looked to the northwest where big, gray clouds were forming. "Oh no!" We hurriedly erected a tarp over the barn area so we'd have a semi-dry place to shear if it started raining. I tried ignoring the drops that hit while we fought against the wind to tie down the tarp without stressing the animals who were watching anxiously through the barn door.

The power of prayer was once again proven...by the time the shearer arrived the clouds had passed and the sun was shining brightly. We had a refreshing breeze keeping us cool as we learned the fine art of putting an alpaca in restraints and holding him still while the shearer did his thing. So here they are...the before...the during...and the after.

I'm so-o-o thankful we have a year to pass before we get to experience this adventure again! I think they are, too.

First of the new chicks

The first chicks arrived on the farm yesterday. These are Araucana chicks that Marc is raising for the woman who is selling him the goats. She doesn't have success with chicks so he's raising them until they are a couple months old. We ordered 10, we got 8, and she's getting 6. The other flock Marc is raising for her should arrive on June 2nd.

Matt and Marc also ordered some for their own endeavors...Matt for pastured poultry/eggs and Marc for additions to his laying flock. His egg business has grown so much that he needs more ladies providing eggs.

Here's Jonathan reading on the back porch and Ian wandering around the back yard checking out how things are progressing on the farm. He looks like a little old man wandering around with his hands in his pockets.

Fruits of our labor...

This weekend the 4 middle kids completed a major project. We have had a big stack of logs sitting in the backyard for 3 years. Each year we'd cut up a few more logs and get them split for our winter supply. This year was declared "the year to finish the pile". (We needed to move it to make room for the new goat barn) I forgot to get a before picture, but here are the after pictures...actually, the after is cleaner than this since they hauled all the pieces of bark off to the "fort" by the river and the big logs have been moved to our new log stacking location. We have more logs to be moved to the 'stacking location' but that's for another day. We're all very happy to see this neatly stacked pile of wood ready for next winter.

The gourds are cleaned and ready for the next step in the crafting process. The fleece above them is a batch I washed up this week. I received four free fleeces via the local "freecycle" website. Today I spent the afternoon carding fleece. Hopefully, I'll get some spinning time in this week. At the very top is a stack of Wayne's grapevine wreaths made from grapevine he and the kids harvested on our property.

Tuesday the alpaca are supposed to be shorn. We're praying for dry weather...we don't have the indoor space to do the shearing and wet alpace shearing is NOT good. We're all a bit nervous about our first shearing day...stay tuned for a blog detailing the experience.

Brothers and bubbles

Friday Matt and the two youngest took advantage of some beautiful sunny weather. They broke out the bubble solution and the big bubble wand. They made some great bubbles...and memories...Matthew patiently helped them as they struggled to make bubbles like his. Jonathan actually had some success. Ian just loved being a part of it. Matthew brought out a smaller bubble wand later which was more Ian's speed.

We had a very productive weekend...the perimeter fence of the 'permanent' alpaca field is up. Matt and Nathanial worked hard getting that done while the other kids helped get firewood split and stacked. Yes, we're already dealing with next winter's firewood! Actually, the wood needed to be moved before we could move onto the next project...moving the chicken house away from the garden and over to the area where the new goat barn is going to be. We're trying to condense all the outbuildings and enlarge the vegetable garden.

I have peas planted and we've started several different types of seeds indoors. The tomatoes are off to a good start. Lowes donated a flat of cabbage plants to area churches...not many people from our church took plants so we brought home the leftovers...if all of them survive, everyone we know may be getting sauerkraut for Christmas!!

Everyone into the pool!

It was a beautiful sunny spring day today with temps at 70. The humans on the farm donned short sleeve shirts and left the jackets inside, but the animals didn't have that luxery. Matt felt bad for the heavily coated alpacas and brought out their pool and the hose. As soon as he started the water "the boys" were there. As you can see, they plunge right in and enjoy the cool water...I think they'd appreciate a bigger pool, but for now they'll have to be content with what they have.

This afternoon I "skirted" some wool that Mary had given me last fall from her southdown babydoll sheep. It washed up beautifully and is drying on our warm side porch. I'm thinking of trying some solar dying with that wool since it's such a nice white and should dye nicely.

Arthur provided some more angora for our collection. I'm trying to decide "who" to blend the angora with. I'm thinking probably "Mystifier" since I have a bag full of his fleece washed and ready to card. If tomorrow is as nice as today, I plan on taking my carder outside and process lots of fleece.

So many projects...so little time.