A Merry Christmas

2010 Polar Bear Club (predunking)- Andy, Robert, Zach, Adam

Well, the birdhouse felting and shipments of socks finally got finished and it was time for one of our favorite nights of the whole year... Christmas Eve. A tradition was born many years ago and was reborn last year of jumping into the icy lake beside my parents home. (No, I didn't participate, though I have in the far past!). Doesn't every family celebrate Christmas this way? First, the guys had to do lots of chanting loudly to get themselves psyched up. They planned their route to the water and back carefully, as there was literally just a small area that was unfrozen!

I hope you'll enjoy this short video of the event! Things were somewhat more subdued after that, and unfortunately our daughter wasn't feeling well and was very quiet for the evening.

Our son Robert had the honor of reading the story of Jesus' birth from the family Bible.

We told lots of good stories and jokes, sang some carols, ate a wonderful meal, and then even did a bit of karaoke.

(Robert was the hit there, as he ad libbed Deck the Halls and had everyone in stitches.)

Munchie was dressed up in Santa attire, and he and my brother's cat Joe got along great as always. My brother Andy read us some great poetry, we opened gifts, there was a small wrestling match, and good memories were made! Our family has so much to be thankful for, and I'm looking forward to more time with them on our upcoming ski adventure!

Sushi dressed up for Christmas this year, too, and he's very proud to have launched his very own Facebook page- check it out!

Pin It Now!

Spring on the Farm

..... is a very busy time! Gone are my luxurious long days in the studio, and back are the days that I may not get to do any crafting for days on end- that can make me a bit "twitchy," but I have to remind myself that it will get better.
Last weekend, if you read our farm blog, you heard about our 2 crias in one day. I took some more photos of them with Mirian on Easter and couldn't help but smile to think of the people that pay "big bucks" for fancy photos of their children with lambs and bunnies!Of course, "Fergie", one of our barn cats, kept trying to get into the picture, so I must post her photo, too.
Not to be left out, here's Munchie with his spring haircut. If you look closely, you'll see a tiny object in front of him. This is one of his "pet rocks" that he occasionally loves to carry around when he's feeling extra playful! In this case, it must be an Easter Egg.
I may not be able to post again until after shearing, but wanted to remind everyone that our Shearing Day is this Saturday, April 10th and is free and open to the public from 10-4. We'll have spinning demonstrations, specials on yarn, fiber and products, and great sale prices on alpacas! Pin It Now!

A Perfectly Peachy Weekend

This was one of those five-star weekends when I feel so grateful to live in Kentucky, on a farm, with the country lifestyle that we are blessed to have. The kids were off school on Friday, and Mirian and her friend were happy to stay outdoors and enjoy the gorgeous weather. They decided to pick pears, an activity which set the stage for lots of kitchen time!

We have three century-old pear trees on the property, and despite their gnarly appearance they always produce a ton of fruit. This year we had such a good growing season and our renter fertilized the trees for the first time, resulting in a true bumper crop.

Our renters are so great, they truly appreciate their little home on our place and are very active in utilizing the resources at hand (as well as always sharing their garden)! I have enjoyed seeing their gourds hanging, and their wood stacked and ready for winter.On Saturday, we went on a trail ride at Cave Run Lake with the Kentucky Thoroughbred Farm Manager's Club. There were 33 riders and their horses (and mules) and the weather was stellar.It was good to see Paul on horseback for a change! (Normally, he likes to ride the two-wheeled sort!)

Sunday brought more great weather, but after picking yet more pears (about 60 pounds more!), Mirian and I spent most of the day processing them into pear sauce, pear butter, dried pears with the dehydrator, etc. I'm still looking for more interesting recipes!Then we got ready for the Blessing of the Pets at our church, since it was St. Francis day. This was the first time that Sushi had been dressed up in a while, and he took it all in stride.

He wasn't at all thrilled with the big dogs at the event, and I had to hold him as he struggled to get away from Mirian. It was a lot of fun to see the variety of pets! (No, we didn't take any alpacas along).

By the time the service was over, Sushi was pretty happy to be back in the car with Munchie!

The day was capped off by an impromptu dinner with some friends that had come out to shoot sporting clays with Paul. It was really nice... great conversation, good wine, a friend's daughter who's Robert's age, Mirian sharing some of her old Peru photos, etc. Guess what we had for dinner? Quiche (with eggs from our chickens) and potato-pear soup! You can find the recipe here. I think I'll try this chilled pear soup recipe next!

Maybe I should change the title of this post to a PEARfect weekend!

Pin It Now!

For Sweethearts or other special people!

Today I needed to take our cria Belle to the veterinarian, one whom I hadn't seen in a while since she'd been on maternity leave. I was feeling badly that I didn't have a baby gift (I like giving baby alpaca handknit hats), but then it occurred to me that it might be nicer to give something to the new mom instead.
I had just completed this adorable knitted Sweetheart Washcloth that I saw on Susan B. Anderson's blog (she designed the pattern and you can purchase and download it there), and I wrapped it up with a nice soap and bath salts. The idea is one of many I have gotten from Susan's blog. She is such a wonderful and creative knitter with some awesome books to her credit including Itty-Bitty Hats: cute and cuddly caps to knit for babies and toddlers. She's also a mother of four and I am consistently inspired and awed by all of her neat projects and her generous spirit. There are some great tutorials on her site as well, and I have learned a lot reading her blog.

I knitted the first washcloth with yarn from my stash, including inexpensive Sugar and Cream dishcloth cotton that I bought a while ago at either Michael's or WalMart and nicer Crystal Palace cotton chenille. I thought that the crocheted edging in the chenille really set off the rest of the cloth. I haven't done crochet in years and I'm not sure I did it correctly (it's not identical to Susan's), but I liked the way it turned out nonetheless.I had to run into the store for something on my way back from the vet's, and I was awestruck by how much Valentine's merchandise was out already.... give me a break! I love LOVE, and I adore pink, red, white, hearts, flowers, ALL that mushy stuff! But.... somehow we're being waylaid yet again to buy, buy, and buy some more! I will do my best this year to keep holidays in the proper perspective, and particularly NOT to be manipulated into turning everything into a buying frenzy..... (or at least if you're going to give, TRY to make it handmade every once in a while).

Well, since I'm on a pink streak, I'm going to show another Sushi kitten photo since most enjoyed the last one so much (don't worry, Sarah, this one isn't the least bit scary!) Pin It Now!

An ex-teacher has been reading my blog!

I have an official resolution after re-reading my last blog post. I am going to make a concerted effort to minimize the use of REALLY in my writing. TRULY, (not really), I am. In addition, early-morning posts will be re-read at least a few times before publishing to the web so as to improve the precision of my communication. My old English teachers would have cringed to see that I used REALLY an entire 3 times in the first sentence of my previous post...

Some creative blogs that I read have suggested that people should choose 1-3 words for the year that somehow describe or define who you are or what you want to be, or to set a goal... I hope that my word isn't "REALLY." I was thinking more along the lines of ..... adapt or inspire or optimism. In these quickly-changing times (both in the greater world and within a home with two teens), I choose ADAPT.

What will your word or words be? I want to know, really! (whoops)....

P.S. The photo is one of many I have of our housecat, Sushi, whom Mirian has always loved to dress up. He is incredibly tolerant of it and loves her the best as a result! I know it doesn't have anything to do with this blog post, but I think it's incredibly cute, don't you?



Pin It Now!

A Weird and Wild Adventure

I'm SOOO glad to be home all in one piece from our final alpaca event of the season (the Belleau Wood Auction and Carolina Classic Show in Concord, NC). It was exciting from start to finish! First, we brought along an extra pussy (get your minds out of the gutter now), MB's cat Stevie-Y, who had his leg amputated the week before. MB couldn't leave him to travel, as he needed a lot of extra care and bandage changes. Seems he used up several of his nine lives when some low-life shot him. I know that God must have a plan for Stevie, as he survived at least 3 shots- the one that eventually took his leg, another that pierced his ear, and a third that went cleanly in and out of the surviving front leg.

Stevie was a model patient and traveler (except for the time that he hid himself in the cupboard and scared MB to death), and we were glad to have him along! It's very inspiring how quickly he is adapting to his loss, and he was nimbly jumping around on counters and upon the bed, where he gladly kept my feet warm!
Because we were leaving so early on Friday morning, MB and Stevie came the night before and were going to stay in the RV. We were already hooked up to the trailer and ready to pull out from the barn, and had the RV plugged in to an extension cord for heat. MB called to say the heat was malfunctioning, and then quickly called again to say that she smelled smoke! We told her where the fire extinguisher was and Paul and I flew up the hill to find that the electrical panel had partially melted due to an improper plug-in. Paul eliminated the problem by turning off several breakers and felt we were safe to still take the RV, and MB and Stevie stayed in the studio for the night.

The auction and show were successful for us, and you can read about the details here. We were extremely grateful to get good prices for our animals in this unpredictable economy, and it was reassuring that the foundation we laid for our farm/alpaca business 14 years ago is serving us well through raising top-quality alpacas.
On the way home, we began losing power going up big hills and the warning light was coming on in the coach. We immediately stopped for the night outside of Ashville, NC and were very fortunate the next morning to find an engine service provider that could fix the RV on our 3rd try. It was a long and uncertain wait, but we were able to get home in time for me to tuck the kids in and crash before my usual bedtime. Above, MB is showing off the cria that we had along, Eye Candy, to the mechanics at the first RV repair place. Below, at the semi-tractor repair place, the alpacas got lots of weird looks as we let them out of the trailer for fresh air and to stretch their legs!Thank you, Lord, for another event that ended up with a good outcome and that I can chalk up to experience, once again! Pin It Now!