Dear Lord,
Bless this food we are about to receive and the hands that worked hard to prepare it.
Guide us through our lives so we may be compassionate and empathetic to those who are struggling, because everyone is doing the best in their own situation.
Help my grandchildren to grow up to be happy healthy productive adults.
Keep your hand on my shoulder while I'm at work.
Protect our soldiers as they fight for our country's freedom and humane treatment of people in far away places.
Forgive my simple prayers as I only know how to pray from my heart.
Happy Birthday to your son.
Amen
Christmas Morning
Shhhhh. It's Christmas morning. It's so quiet. Can't hardly tell there are 8 people sleeping in this house. I'm in front of my computer, where I haven't been for awhile and all is right with the world.
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Here in Kansas we are having a white Christmas in a big way. We've had a blizzard!! Yesterday morning the wind started howling and in the afternoon it was snow. It is pretty to look at from the warm comfort of my living room couch. I had a secret wish that everyone would get snowed in at our house. But I know my son in law and husband. Hubster would get the tractor out and break a path to the highway so everyone could go home. Son in Law would drive out of his way and longer to get home.The alpacas are saying "Get your sorry, pansy, pampered butts out here and get us some feed. We've been out in this all day. You humans are wimps. Now get out here and get us some more hay!" Us humans just say, "yes, sir".
This is Trappers' first Christmas. I wonder what the chaos of last night seems like to him? "Wow, for me? Shiney paper to chase, colorful ribbon to pull on, bows to kick, and I can jump out from under this pile of paper and scare the dickens out of that dog! All for uh... what was is it I did to deserve this again?"
The dog says, "Christmas. That time of year they come to pet me and throw the ball!! Wow I love Christmas!"
Christmas Eve chaos!
I got a new camera for Christmas. So expect some good pics for a change. I am working with New Year's resolutions. Since I am having so much trouble finding quiet time to blog I'll just have to make time. I will get up at 5:00am(!?) and work on blogs. That is my ambitious plan right now.
I hear people starting to stir. Santa's been here!! ...farm living is the life for me. Merry Christmas to all. Sanetha
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Here in Kansas we are having a white Christmas in a big way. We've had a blizzard!! Yesterday morning the wind started howling and in the afternoon it was snow. It is pretty to look at from the warm comfort of my living room couch. I had a secret wish that everyone would get snowed in at our house. But I know my son in law and husband. Hubster would get the tractor out and break a path to the highway so everyone could go home. Son in Law would drive out of his way and longer to get home.The alpacas are saying "Get your sorry, pansy, pampered butts out here and get us some feed. We've been out in this all day. You humans are wimps. Now get out here and get us some more hay!" Us humans just say, "yes, sir".
This is Trappers' first Christmas. I wonder what the chaos of last night seems like to him? "Wow, for me? Shiney paper to chase, colorful ribbon to pull on, bows to kick, and I can jump out from under this pile of paper and scare the dickens out of that dog! All for uh... what was is it I did to deserve this again?"
The dog says, "Christmas. That time of year they come to pet me and throw the ball!! Wow I love Christmas!"
Christmas Eve chaos!
I got a new camera for Christmas. So expect some good pics for a change. I am working with New Year's resolutions. Since I am having so much trouble finding quiet time to blog I'll just have to make time. I will get up at 5:00am(!?) and work on blogs. That is my ambitious plan right now.
I hear people starting to stir. Santa's been here!! ...farm living is the life for me. Merry Christmas to all. Sanetha
A Quicky
I think the hubster is about to arrive so we can go on a little adult weekend to Silver Dollar City!!! My favorite place in the world! Hubster needs a little fun! I fed, hayed, watered, cleaned all the animals so we could blast off as soon as he gets home.
Just wanted to tell you we have so many plans coming up! My mother, daughter, sister and me are going to see Martina McBride & Trace Adkins next Friday. WooHoo! Second week of December, I am having our sorority at our house which I am really excited about. Only family have ever seen all our Christmas decorations, so having someone else seeing the tree is really fun!! Then we have a handful of Christmas programs with the grands. Then Christmas! In January, hubster and I will see Brad Paisley! WooHoo! I am just so excited about Christmas. We will do a little Christmas shopping in SDC so another WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Hey Susie you up for a visit? ...farm living is the life for me!!!!
Just wanted to tell you we have so many plans coming up! My mother, daughter, sister and me are going to see Martina McBride & Trace Adkins next Friday. WooHoo! Second week of December, I am having our sorority at our house which I am really excited about. Only family have ever seen all our Christmas decorations, so having someone else seeing the tree is really fun!! Then we have a handful of Christmas programs with the grands. Then Christmas! In January, hubster and I will see Brad Paisley! WooHoo! I am just so excited about Christmas. We will do a little Christmas shopping in SDC so another WOOOOO HOOOOOOO! Hey Susie you up for a visit? ...farm living is the life for me!!!!
HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
Thankfully, I am thankful.
I have talked to people that have become estranged or alienated from the ones they love. Thankfully, my mother, our son and daughter and their children were at our Thanksgiving table.
I feel the pain of families coping with cancer. Thankfully, we are not.
I see the homeless on television struggling to stay warm in a cardboard box. Thankfully, all of my family has a home and a warm bed to sleep in.
Many people had to get their meal from someone else's kitchen because they couldn't afford the luxury of such a big meal. Thankfully, I am able to prepare our feast in my own kitchen.
Many areas of the country are blanketed with snow, or dripping with rain. Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunny day.
Nurses in hospitals around the country are working on Thanksgiving day. Thankfully, I have the day off.
Thankfully we live in a country where we can choose our job, religion, political affiliation, how many children we want, and our leader. Please think of the military families that sacrifice so we can continue to be thankful. ...farm living is the life for me.
I have talked to people that have become estranged or alienated from the ones they love. Thankfully, my mother, our son and daughter and their children were at our Thanksgiving table.
I feel the pain of families coping with cancer. Thankfully, we are not.
I see the homeless on television struggling to stay warm in a cardboard box. Thankfully, all of my family has a home and a warm bed to sleep in.
Many people had to get their meal from someone else's kitchen because they couldn't afford the luxury of such a big meal. Thankfully, I am able to prepare our feast in my own kitchen.
Many areas of the country are blanketed with snow, or dripping with rain. Thankfully, we had a beautiful sunny day.
Nurses in hospitals around the country are working on Thanksgiving day. Thankfully, I have the day off.
Thankfully we live in a country where we can choose our job, religion, political affiliation, how many children we want, and our leader. Please think of the military families that sacrifice so we can continue to be thankful. ...farm living is the life for me.
Hurry up Spring!
Aaaah. This picture brings fun summer activities. Wienie roasts, cooking out on the grill. Shorts, flip-flops. Swimming. Flies, sunburns, sweat, mowing. Okay there are some nice things about winter. I can wear big buky clothes because I'm trying to be warm (not just to disguise the bulges). I just don't like snow, ice, wind-chill factors. Do you notice that commercials on TV change in winter? They sell cars in winter scenes, advertise warm drinks or cold drinks from snow skis? But I guess it makes me appreciate spring all the more. AAAH Spring! Hurry up and get here!
...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha.
Just a few random thoughts on a Saturday night.
I am sitting up tonight trying to drag the contents of a really cool brochure for our alpaca farm, out of my brain. Here's a few:
-Polly wanna 'Paca? (Truly dumb)
-LOOKHEREATTHIS2007MODELLOWMILEAGEONEOWNER!
-Happiness is owning an Alpaca. (Happiness is really SELLING an alpaca!)
-We have some HUMMM-dinger nice alpacas!
Yeah, I know! I know! I should just stick to listening to them.
The alpacas had visitors this morning! After we haltered them (the alpacas, not the visitors)they stood in a little group discussing amongst themselves. "Are we going somewhere? Who's going? Why are we going? How will we be going?" Then Amanda with her pretty white coat walked up to me and said "YOU SOLD US! DIDN'T YOU?"
The visitors walked around the paddock with some of the 'pacas. They got to feel their soft fleece. Joy actually lived up to her name and let a seven-year old walk her around the paddock! It is getting a little cold here in Kansas. We got chilled and came in the house. We showed our visitors all the lovely things that can be made from alpaca fleece. We looked at alpaca socks, scarves, hats, gloves. Talked about care, feeding, shearing and the few needs that alpacas have. It was a good visit. We met a new friend.
Our chickens have taken a few weeks off. I got them the fancy scratch grains that they like, but they still aren't laying. They say "it is too beautiful of a day to stay inside sitting on a nest!" I say it's a beautiful day for fried chicken. We'll see if the pep talk helps.
Yesterday I finally finished the book WICKED. It was full of difficult to read names, symbolism, odd ball words I had never heard. I saw the musical. I watched "The Wizard of Oz". I am thoroughly enlightened on the plight of the Wicked Witch of the West. It's time for a nice light Harlequin Romance.
Now about that brochure??? ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha.
-Polly wanna 'Paca? (Truly dumb)
-LOOKHEREATTHIS2007MODELLOWMILEAGEONEOWNER!
-Happiness is owning an Alpaca. (Happiness is really SELLING an alpaca!)
-We have some HUMMM-dinger nice alpacas!
Yeah, I know! I know! I should just stick to listening to them.
The alpacas had visitors this morning! After we haltered them (the alpacas, not the visitors)they stood in a little group discussing amongst themselves. "Are we going somewhere? Who's going? Why are we going? How will we be going?" Then Amanda with her pretty white coat walked up to me and said "YOU SOLD US! DIDN'T YOU?"
The visitors walked around the paddock with some of the 'pacas. They got to feel their soft fleece. Joy actually lived up to her name and let a seven-year old walk her around the paddock! It is getting a little cold here in Kansas. We got chilled and came in the house. We showed our visitors all the lovely things that can be made from alpaca fleece. We looked at alpaca socks, scarves, hats, gloves. Talked about care, feeding, shearing and the few needs that alpacas have. It was a good visit. We met a new friend.
Our chickens have taken a few weeks off. I got them the fancy scratch grains that they like, but they still aren't laying. They say "it is too beautiful of a day to stay inside sitting on a nest!" I say it's a beautiful day for fried chicken. We'll see if the pep talk helps.
Yesterday I finally finished the book WICKED. It was full of difficult to read names, symbolism, odd ball words I had never heard. I saw the musical. I watched "The Wizard of Oz". I am thoroughly enlightened on the plight of the Wicked Witch of the West. It's time for a nice light Harlequin Romance.
Now about that brochure??? ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha.
Woops II
Okay, okay! I have mentioned how dumb we are about animals, right? This one really is tops!
We went to an alpaca show. If you haven't been to an animal show let me tell you a little bit about it. A judge stands at the front of the ring and watches as you (the anxious handler) guides the animal into the ring. They watch everything about the animal. How it carries itself, puts each foot down, the shape of its head, how much guidance it needs, fleece and finally the shape of its body. They tell us (as handlers)to dress down, dark pants and light shirt (they don't look at the handler?)Then we stand with our anxious alpacas and wait for the judge to get to our animal so they can can pull a pinch of fleece out of the animal, part the fleece, and feel the rear end to make sure we are presenting an exquisitly sexed specimen. Depending on the size of the class this can take five minutes to twenty minutes. Or in alpaca time five seconds to twenty seconds, (they lose attention quickly).
We were showing four alpacas. Two white males, one white female,one bay black female. The older white male (Zach)took a sixth place out of sixteen we felt was pretty good. The white female (Isis) took a fifth place out of eighteen which was just as good. Ebony took fifth place out of six which was: "Oh well, so glad we came" (pitiful sigh)! Zip took the walk of shame, (eliminated with a smile and thank you for coming).
We also took two of the grands (human boys - Peyton & Levi). The grands were great help. Standing with the animals when we needed a helping hand, emptying water buckets, even scooping poop!
Sunday afternoon was the end of the show. The grands were helping us load animals store equipment etc. Everything got a little confused. Everybody walked out toward the trailer with a white animal. To make a short story not so long, the lone white female Isis ended up in the back of the trailer with with one of her half brothers and Ebony was in the front half of the trailer with the other brother. When we got home and brought everyone out and put Isis in the boys pen and One of the brothers in the girls pen!! It was mass confusion/orgy/conception(?)
The next morning we realized what we had done --- CRAP!!!
When Alpacas are pregnant, then exposed to a male they will spit at him. Don't you wish that was a human alternative? (Not tonight honey, I have a ...SPIT! Think of the money that would be saved in birth control methods). So at this point (a week later) we are waiting for the fourteenth day spot to take the male to ALL of our females to do the SPIT TEST!!! If the half sister spits at the male she gets the shot. If Ebony spits at the male she will get the shot. But then the two white boys mother was previously bred to another sire but not yet spit tested, do we hope the previous breeding took? OMG!!!...farm living is the life for me?
We went to an alpaca show. If you haven't been to an animal show let me tell you a little bit about it. A judge stands at the front of the ring and watches as you (the anxious handler) guides the animal into the ring. They watch everything about the animal. How it carries itself, puts each foot down, the shape of its head, how much guidance it needs, fleece and finally the shape of its body. They tell us (as handlers)to dress down, dark pants and light shirt (they don't look at the handler?)Then we stand with our anxious alpacas and wait for the judge to get to our animal so they can can pull a pinch of fleece out of the animal, part the fleece, and feel the rear end to make sure we are presenting an exquisitly sexed specimen. Depending on the size of the class this can take five minutes to twenty minutes. Or in alpaca time five seconds to twenty seconds, (they lose attention quickly).
We were showing four alpacas. Two white males, one white female,one bay black female. The older white male (Zach)took a sixth place out of sixteen we felt was pretty good. The white female (Isis) took a fifth place out of eighteen which was just as good. Ebony took fifth place out of six which was: "Oh well, so glad we came" (pitiful sigh)! Zip took the walk of shame, (eliminated with a smile and thank you for coming).
We also took two of the grands (human boys - Peyton & Levi). The grands were great help. Standing with the animals when we needed a helping hand, emptying water buckets, even scooping poop!
Sunday afternoon was the end of the show. The grands were helping us load animals store equipment etc. Everything got a little confused. Everybody walked out toward the trailer with a white animal. To make a short story not so long, the lone white female Isis ended up in the back of the trailer with with one of her half brothers and Ebony was in the front half of the trailer with the other brother. When we got home and brought everyone out and put Isis in the boys pen and One of the brothers in the girls pen!! It was mass confusion/orgy/conception(?)
The next morning we realized what we had done --- CRAP!!!
When Alpacas are pregnant, then exposed to a male they will spit at him. Don't you wish that was a human alternative? (Not tonight honey, I have a ...SPIT! Think of the money that would be saved in birth control methods). So at this point (a week later) we are waiting for the fourteenth day spot to take the male to ALL of our females to do the SPIT TEST!!! If the half sister spits at the male she gets the shot. If Ebony spits at the male she will get the shot. But then the two white boys mother was previously bred to another sire but not yet spit tested, do we hope the previous breeding took? OMG!!!...farm living is the life for me?
Alpaca Show
We're taking the animals to a show this weekend. They will parade in front of judges and get 1st, 2nd, 3rd, etc. for the softness of their fleece, their shape, the look in their eye, their thoughts on 3rd world animal cruelty. Well maybe not the last one, but sometimes I wonder what else the alpaca tells the judge that makes the judge pick one over another when they seem identical!
We will have two 12 x 12 pens. One for the girls and one for the boys (because of course we can't keep them together!) We provide information about our animals and we network with other alpaca owners and breeders. Alpaca shows are held across the country! The one we are attending is in Topeka, Ks. I think this show will have 500 animals. Some shows have more than 1000 animals!
We are a small ranch. And relatively new at this. Sometimes we learn lessons the hard way. We tried to enter 3 of our animals in a best of sire competition. For this catagory you have 3 animals from one sire, except I missed the part that said they must have 3 different mothers. Two of our three had the same mother and we were disqualified. Boy did I feel stupid!
The first show we went to we took our two year old male and our 6mo. old Sophia. They had been in the same paddock at home without any problems. We get them in a pen and they decided it's time to mate! WHAT! Along with Sophia's 6mo. old cousin Zak they were having a menage a troix! We got a phone call at our hotel from the show superintendent. She asks "Shouldn't we have ordered 2 pens since we had males and females?" Duh.
So we'll see how it goes. We have two pens. Just the regular halter entries. All the equipment. What can go wrong? ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
We will have two 12 x 12 pens. One for the girls and one for the boys (because of course we can't keep them together!) We provide information about our animals and we network with other alpaca owners and breeders. Alpaca shows are held across the country! The one we are attending is in Topeka, Ks. I think this show will have 500 animals. Some shows have more than 1000 animals!
We are a small ranch. And relatively new at this. Sometimes we learn lessons the hard way. We tried to enter 3 of our animals in a best of sire competition. For this catagory you have 3 animals from one sire, except I missed the part that said they must have 3 different mothers. Two of our three had the same mother and we were disqualified. Boy did I feel stupid!
The first show we went to we took our two year old male and our 6mo. old Sophia. They had been in the same paddock at home without any problems. We get them in a pen and they decided it's time to mate! WHAT! Along with Sophia's 6mo. old cousin Zak they were having a menage a troix! We got a phone call at our hotel from the show superintendent. She asks "Shouldn't we have ordered 2 pens since we had males and females?" Duh.
So we'll see how it goes. We have two pens. Just the regular halter entries. All the equipment. What can go wrong? ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
WICKED!!!
My daughter and I went to see the musical "WICKED" last night. We wanted this, we needed this, we DESERVED this. The tickets I purchased said row "C". Hey! 3rd row! Not bad! Row C was actually the front row and we could reach out and touch the orchestra. We loved every funny, dark, beautiful, revealing minute.
But to truly appreciate how much we enjoyed this evening you must understand what happened to us eleven years ago when "West Side Story" came to Wichita. My daughter and I loved this show. We talked about it for weeks. The night of the show I was on crutches, Sharon was 7 months pregnant and the sitter for Levi(1 1/2 years) cancelled at the last minute. We looked like some kind of weird war memorial. Crippled grandma, fussy child and pregnant woman. All we needed was gun smoke behind us for the picture to be complete. The hall monitor looked at us pitifully, like we must have traded our food stamps for these tickets and the law would soon drag our sorry butts out of the lobby. Levi had slept all the way to the show. As we sat in our seat Levi thought it was time to talk and play! We were ask to take him out side. We took turns standing with him in the hallway. Neither of us saw much of the show. So "WICKED" for us was wonderful!
But to truly appreciate how much we enjoyed this evening you must understand what happened to us eleven years ago when "West Side Story" came to Wichita. My daughter and I loved this show. We talked about it for weeks. The night of the show I was on crutches, Sharon was 7 months pregnant and the sitter for Levi(1 1/2 years) cancelled at the last minute. We looked like some kind of weird war memorial. Crippled grandma, fussy child and pregnant woman. All we needed was gun smoke behind us for the picture to be complete. The hall monitor looked at us pitifully, like we must have traded our food stamps for these tickets and the law would soon drag our sorry butts out of the lobby. Levi had slept all the way to the show. As we sat in our seat Levi thought it was time to talk and play! We were ask to take him out side. We took turns standing with him in the hallway. Neither of us saw much of the show. So "WICKED" for us was wonderful!
This is one of those evenings when I can sit and not feel guilty that I'm not doing something productive. Because as you know a blog is FUN! It has been raining pups and kittens all afternoon and I think its a great time to type and think. One of our grandsons was here this evening for a little birthday party. For his birthday he wanted a car from Wal Mart "that only cost a dollar"! Grandpa talked him into some lottery tickets too and he won $17. The guy is LUCKY!
This is a pic of our alpaca Joy with her daughter Ebony. Joy is one of our unpregnant alpacas. She had this name before she came to us and sometimes doesn't live up to it. Last spring when we tried to breed her to our brown male, she went alpaca ballistic! She ran. She screamed. She tried to jump the fence. She knocked me down trying to get away! (Nary a scratch on this old girl). So okay, that didn't work out well. Anyone that knows alpacas would say, "she is already pregnant", but she hadn't been with a male! I was a little scared about ever doing this animal breeding thing again (remember I am a city girl)! I was ready to pay someone! But yesterday I got a bright idea to let the two of them out in the field by themselves. They could just stay there until she was pregnant! Free to do what nature intended. I swear they were skipping as they ran to the middle of the paddock. She cushed immediately! They bred for thirty minutes. And again, later for twenty minutes. Yes I timed them! She even nuzzled his knee! Later they walked on opposite sides of the paddock occasionally glancing at each other, like they were in a singles bar. I think I heard the "Bee Gees" playing! (No wait, I'm confusing that with my own 1970's experiences in a singles bar, so sorry, could be dementia). Anyway, now it is raining and it may be days before I get her back to her girl mates. But I think she's okay with that....farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
This is a pic of our alpaca Joy with her daughter Ebony. Joy is one of our unpregnant alpacas. She had this name before she came to us and sometimes doesn't live up to it. Last spring when we tried to breed her to our brown male, she went alpaca ballistic! She ran. She screamed. She tried to jump the fence. She knocked me down trying to get away! (Nary a scratch on this old girl). So okay, that didn't work out well. Anyone that knows alpacas would say, "she is already pregnant", but she hadn't been with a male! I was a little scared about ever doing this animal breeding thing again (remember I am a city girl)! I was ready to pay someone! But yesterday I got a bright idea to let the two of them out in the field by themselves. They could just stay there until she was pregnant! Free to do what nature intended. I swear they were skipping as they ran to the middle of the paddock. She cushed immediately! They bred for thirty minutes. And again, later for twenty minutes. Yes I timed them! She even nuzzled his knee! Later they walked on opposite sides of the paddock occasionally glancing at each other, like they were in a singles bar. I think I heard the "Bee Gees" playing! (No wait, I'm confusing that with my own 1970's experiences in a singles bar, so sorry, could be dementia). Anyway, now it is raining and it may be days before I get her back to her girl mates. But I think she's okay with that....farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
Last night as I lay in bed I saw something shine briefly on my headboard. Okay just a fluke, my eyes playing tricks on me. Then my eyes were closed and I saw it again! I turned over in bed to see the time, and I saw the shine at my back door! Someone was roaming around outside my house with a flashlight! I got up and walked into the living room. What was I going to do if it WAS someone outside my rural house with a flashlight? Give them a blanket and pillow? Offer them my robe? I could see the alpacas in the beam of the security light sitting cushed on their chests, kind of like a cat. They weren't concerned that there was a strange entity roaming around the house with a flashlight! Then I saw lightning. duh.
We worked the yearling girls today. We put halters on them and walked them around the paddock. I was leading our bay black "Ebony". She's had a halter on before and didn't get the hang of it. But today I think she figured it out. I gave her enough lead that she could either keep it slack or tight, but she had to stay by me. Her mother watched proudly saying, "That's MY girl"! She started to cush. I firmly held the halter and she did not cush. What a milestone! She looked me in the eye and said "Now I understand what you want from me, and it's not that bad". We walked back toward the shed after a very good learning session. I removed the halter and she walked away. But not before throwing her back leg out for one good kick. Thankfully she didn't make contact. That would have left a bruise. I learn from these animals. They have taught me patience, perseverence, and how to dodge a kick!
I changed chicken feed a couple weeks ago and the chickens revolted! They have only laid about three eggs all week. I ask them what the deal was! You know what they said? Cluck. What did I expect? Excuses?
Trapper is earning his keep! Hubster found three dead mice on the floor in front of his work bench. Trapper plays with the mice before he goes in for the kill. I don't care how he does it, as long as he doesn't puke them back up. That would do it for me. Trapper would be a house cat. Rocky and Trapper play. Anytime I've seen a dog and cat in the same household they kept a respectful distance from each other. But not these two. I've seen Trapper's entire head inside Rocky's mouth! Then Rocky will roll over on his back and Trapper will get on top of his chest and nip at his fur! But they don't hurt each other!?
Leaves are starting to turn red on the maple trees in front of our house. The bugs are almost gone. Rocky and I went for a walk last evening. It was nice not having to swat mosquitos or watch out for spider webs. But I always walk with a shovel. You just never know what other animals have decided it's a nice evening to walk around in the country! ...farm living is the life for me!
We worked the yearling girls today. We put halters on them and walked them around the paddock. I was leading our bay black "Ebony". She's had a halter on before and didn't get the hang of it. But today I think she figured it out. I gave her enough lead that she could either keep it slack or tight, but she had to stay by me. Her mother watched proudly saying, "That's MY girl"! She started to cush. I firmly held the halter and she did not cush. What a milestone! She looked me in the eye and said "Now I understand what you want from me, and it's not that bad". We walked back toward the shed after a very good learning session. I removed the halter and she walked away. But not before throwing her back leg out for one good kick. Thankfully she didn't make contact. That would have left a bruise. I learn from these animals. They have taught me patience, perseverence, and how to dodge a kick!
I changed chicken feed a couple weeks ago and the chickens revolted! They have only laid about three eggs all week. I ask them what the deal was! You know what they said? Cluck. What did I expect? Excuses?
Trapper is earning his keep! Hubster found three dead mice on the floor in front of his work bench. Trapper plays with the mice before he goes in for the kill. I don't care how he does it, as long as he doesn't puke them back up. That would do it for me. Trapper would be a house cat. Rocky and Trapper play. Anytime I've seen a dog and cat in the same household they kept a respectful distance from each other. But not these two. I've seen Trapper's entire head inside Rocky's mouth! Then Rocky will roll over on his back and Trapper will get on top of his chest and nip at his fur! But they don't hurt each other!?
Leaves are starting to turn red on the maple trees in front of our house. The bugs are almost gone. Rocky and I went for a walk last evening. It was nice not having to swat mosquitos or watch out for spider webs. But I always walk with a shovel. You just never know what other animals have decided it's a nice evening to walk around in the country! ...farm living is the life for me!
Mowing season is over! You know there is only 2 seasons - Mowing season & not mowing season. I do enjoy mowing believe it or not. There is an instant gratification to mowing. I see the results instantly. Nice neat rows of newly cut grass. When I am mowing I go into my own little world where I make plans, declutter my mind, forgive, enhance, discover and create peace in the world. I paint the house, remodel my home, buy new furniture, lose weight, color/straighten my hair, breed my alpacas to national studs, landscape my world. I conquer poverty, racism, sickness, greed, jealousy, and if Obama would just catch me when I'm mowing I could really help him out! When mowing season is over I can rejoice in laziness. Until April when mowing season starts again:(
My brother-in-law's memorial service was held here recently. He grew up here in Wellington, Kansas. His life took him all over the country. He was what most would call an "Old Soul". He accepted people, lifestyles, attitudes for what they were. He met life long friends after a five minute conversation. One of the funnest evenings I spent in my life was night fishing on Fort Myers pier with him. The hubster's mother had surgery on her back in 2005. I went to Florida to help out with her care. When she went to sleep early one night during the two weeks we were there, Roger dragged me out to "night fishing." We had poles, bait, beer, smokes and a "lets have fun fishing" attitude! We sat in a bar and listened to a live band until the sun went down. Then went out on the pier and put our lines in the water. He gave me coaching as to how to fish in deep water and I didn't catch a thing. But... he and everyone else on the pier caught shark, stingray and sea bass. I had only ever caught catfish, so I was in fishing heaven! About 2:00am we were presented with a meteor shower like I had never seen before! Shooting stars with red, yellow, green trails every few minutes. It was an amazing night I would have never seen if it weren't for him.
I really love my in-laws. I know all people can't say that but I can. They live in Florida. Kansas weather isn't always cooperative to their visits, and I hate that. They used to live here, but have been in Florida for 20 yrs. and feel the cold in their bones even when we're still sweating! My own father changed our family when my parents divorced many, many years ago. Another father figure was present for a number of years but became a false presence. But my father-in-law is rock solid at 89 years old. He cares for my mother-in-law which is challenging. They come to my house and and I think I helped them to be comfortable though I didn't have the things they really needed in my pantry, bathroom, kitchen. They accepted that we occasionally leave more lights on than we should, use the dishwasher when it's not quite full, wash small loads of laundry, and throw our aluminum cans into the regular trash. I love visiting them in Florida. I get Florida. If my ranch was miraculously transported to Florida I wouldn't appreciate the weather, but in Kansas I get it! It is always shorts and flip-flops in Florida. The Garden Shop at Wal-Mart is open year-round!
Once a year we open Sweet Grass Ranch to visitors. People can feed the alpacas, see where they live, and the care that goes into thriving alpacas. Our national organization picks a date for this event, but they don't ask us if this convenient. My husband usually works the weekend of the national event, so we have ours the next weekend. This is the second year we have opened the farm to visitors. I brought our alpaca stud Leon, into a small pen for everyone to see up close. He looked at me with a definite glare in his eye and said, "I will never forgive you for this!" I first had him within his vision of the girls paddock. He was pacing the small pen and trying to jump over his enclosure. My mother was a little nervous. She was afraid Leon would come out of his enclosure. So I moved his pen so there was a tree blocking his vision of the girls. He is really just a teen-ager in a very nice light brown coat. He and my mother relaxed.
My brother-in-law's memorial service was held here recently. He grew up here in Wellington, Kansas. His life took him all over the country. He was what most would call an "Old Soul". He accepted people, lifestyles, attitudes for what they were. He met life long friends after a five minute conversation. One of the funnest evenings I spent in my life was night fishing on Fort Myers pier with him. The hubster's mother had surgery on her back in 2005. I went to Florida to help out with her care. When she went to sleep early one night during the two weeks we were there, Roger dragged me out to "night fishing." We had poles, bait, beer, smokes and a "lets have fun fishing" attitude! We sat in a bar and listened to a live band until the sun went down. Then went out on the pier and put our lines in the water. He gave me coaching as to how to fish in deep water and I didn't catch a thing. But... he and everyone else on the pier caught shark, stingray and sea bass. I had only ever caught catfish, so I was in fishing heaven! About 2:00am we were presented with a meteor shower like I had never seen before! Shooting stars with red, yellow, green trails every few minutes. It was an amazing night I would have never seen if it weren't for him.
I really love my in-laws. I know all people can't say that but I can. They live in Florida. Kansas weather isn't always cooperative to their visits, and I hate that. They used to live here, but have been in Florida for 20 yrs. and feel the cold in their bones even when we're still sweating! My own father changed our family when my parents divorced many, many years ago. Another father figure was present for a number of years but became a false presence. But my father-in-law is rock solid at 89 years old. He cares for my mother-in-law which is challenging. They come to my house and and I think I helped them to be comfortable though I didn't have the things they really needed in my pantry, bathroom, kitchen. They accepted that we occasionally leave more lights on than we should, use the dishwasher when it's not quite full, wash small loads of laundry, and throw our aluminum cans into the regular trash. I love visiting them in Florida. I get Florida. If my ranch was miraculously transported to Florida I wouldn't appreciate the weather, but in Kansas I get it! It is always shorts and flip-flops in Florida. The Garden Shop at Wal-Mart is open year-round!
Once a year we open Sweet Grass Ranch to visitors. People can feed the alpacas, see where they live, and the care that goes into thriving alpacas. Our national organization picks a date for this event, but they don't ask us if this convenient. My husband usually works the weekend of the national event, so we have ours the next weekend. This is the second year we have opened the farm to visitors. I brought our alpaca stud Leon, into a small pen for everyone to see up close. He looked at me with a definite glare in his eye and said, "I will never forgive you for this!" I first had him within his vision of the girls paddock. He was pacing the small pen and trying to jump over his enclosure. My mother was a little nervous. She was afraid Leon would come out of his enclosure. So I moved his pen so there was a tree blocking his vision of the girls. He is really just a teen-ager in a very nice light brown coat. He and my mother relaxed.
Up & Downs of life.
I am a BAD girl. I haven't worked on my blog in awhile. We've had many events in our lives and I'm not going to waste time saying I'M BUSY!
I'm taking a weeks worth of vacation this week and it feels like a great big marshmallow canyon just waiting for me to jump into. Though it will be filled with work in preparation of Alpaca farm day next weekend; I still can't get the marshmallow canyon out of my mind. I'm gonna spend time with the 'pacas and my daughter, my mom, and as many grandchildren as have time for their grandma.
The hubster's brother passed away. If ever there was a good death, Roger's was. His children and loved ones were at his bedside. He even had a brother in law on a beer run for him! He was an old soul that just went too soon. Yesterday we had a military memorial service for him. His parents and friends here in Kansas were there to honor him. He served our country courageously in Vietnam. I'll miss his voice on the answering machine saying "Hey Sam!"
My daughter's grandpa passed away. Even though I've been detached from my ex-husband's family for thirty years, I
was still saddened by his death. He was a kind, playful person. It's funny about relationships. There is always some kind of a piece of rope that connects you to people even though they are not in your every day thoughts. The rope might become frayed and only holding on by threads but it is still there.
was still saddened by his death. He was a kind, playful person. It's funny about relationships. There is always some kind of a piece of rope that connects you to people even though they are not in your every day thoughts. The rope might become frayed and only holding on by threads but it is still there.So for happy thoughts!!! The weather has been beautiful in Kansas! We've had cool nights and warm days. The alpacas tell me, "thanks for cooling it off" (they think I also control the weather). We cut nails the other night. Our little Isis figured out several months ago that if she sits down on her chest we can't do anything with her and we leave her alone. Well we have been working hard with her because she is going to show the last of October and must present her beautiful fleece! So she has gotten to where she will walk on a halter and lead but our adult females have figured out that if they sit down on their chest we can't trim their nails!!! Zerlina sat and wouldn't move! She has watched Isis enough to figure this out. She just looks at us with a really stubborn glaze in her eye. The boys haven't woke us up lately though I have heard them occasionally neck wrestling. We know that if we go out there and yell at them and they break it up, it isn't too serious, but if we scream and they don't hear us it is a barroom brawl!
Trapper and Rocky are really best buds!? When Dad-Jack was here he was amazed how Trapper and Rocky play. Rocky will get his entire mouth around Trapper's head and Trapper lets him! When Rocky comes to Trapper saying "It's time to play", Trapper rolls on to his back and bats Rocky around with his paws!? (no claws, just paws!) They say "Mom watch!" as Trapper runs along the back of the couch, across the coffee table, and onto Rocky's back. Then they both look at me like they did the coolest trick!!
Well for today I'm caught up. Hope there was ups to even out the downs.
...farm living is the life for me!
Labor Day weekend
We are off work for the holiday so we agreed to baby sit the grands for the weekend. Here are 2/3 of the grands. Grandma & Grandpa are getting too set in their way to take all 6 of them for 3 days. Most are posing for the picture. In the chair is the usual camera hog, being moody. They came over for the weekend and we had alot of fun. They sewed leather bags, made mountain man necklaces with bear claws. They decorated door signs, hand bags, and birthday cards. Then we roasted weinies and s'mores and played in the hot tub. Levi spent most of the time with his video games and Cade learned to run the riding lawn mower. Luke played the I Spy computer game. Sis learned why you're not supposed to put a bead up your nose. I called to confess this incident to her mother (my daughter)and she ask if I had put the beads up out of reach, well - no, duh- I gave her more for the other nostril!? Anyway we had alot of giggles, silliness and fun with the grands. ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
Thoughts on Wednesday...
Life on the farm ... (didn't John Denver have a song that started out like that?) is a never ending list of things to do. Shots for dog, shots for cat, shots for alpacas, clean this, fix that, mow this, plow that. I wonder if a day will come when I can honestly say everything is done?!
My chickens gifted me with 5 eggs yesterday. I used to love it when my chickens would squat down and sit real still when I reached down to pet them. Then someone told me that the hen thinks I am going to breed her, WHAT?!!! I thought they just like my attention!
We are working daily with the youthful alpacas trying to get them halter comfortable. Just when I think they are O.K. to take a few steps with the halter on, they bolt on all fours straight up in the air! Reminds me of the wild mustangs on TV. Yesterday we haltered one of the mom's, thinking the youthful alpaca would follow mom on the halter... WHAT WAS I THINKING? Teenagers follow their parents? How many different directions can one p. o'd. youthful alpaca go?
If music is the balm of my existence, then snakes are the bane. I have dreamed away many moments of thought about one or the other. I fear walking through tall grass. I have a walking path I keep mowed around the back pasture. I dream about snakes, and I truly freak out when one invades my reality. I have a "no tolerance policy" regarding snakes. We had a redwood box on our back patio where I kept the hot tub chemicals. I opened the box one day and all I could see were black scales. I sat down about 20 feet away. Insanely calm, I called the hubster to come remove this serpent from my reality. Being the white knight, great white hunter, trapper extraordinaire, and my kindred snake hater, he immediately came home from work and dumped the box of chemicals out in the field and found TWO snakes in the box! Hate it when they appear out of nowhere like in the chicken coop, on top of a sign on my front porch or slithering across my patio. Love it when they appear right in front of my lawn mower! YEE HAW!
I love listening to the music produced by my wind chimes. Every day I have a song going through my head. Sometimes it is something I heard on TV or the radio. Sometimes just a thought racing through my jumbled brain will trigger the song. My favorite repeating songs are "Somewhere over the rainbow, their coming to take me away, it's only Monday Mr. MOM". Sometimes nursery rhymes, poems or just sayings I put to music. Like: "If I had known it was this much fun, I would've done ya sooner", to the tune of any song I want! OH! and my all time favorite repeating song is "Run boys run, Don't be slow, Fire on the mountain, Fire in the hole". Only SDC fans will recognize that one. Anyway...music is my smoother, relaxer, softener, extinguisher. But the chimes are the best. ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
My chickens gifted me with 5 eggs yesterday. I used to love it when my chickens would squat down and sit real still when I reached down to pet them. Then someone told me that the hen thinks I am going to breed her, WHAT?!!! I thought they just like my attention!
We are working daily with the youthful alpacas trying to get them halter comfortable. Just when I think they are O.K. to take a few steps with the halter on, they bolt on all fours straight up in the air! Reminds me of the wild mustangs on TV. Yesterday we haltered one of the mom's, thinking the youthful alpaca would follow mom on the halter... WHAT WAS I THINKING? Teenagers follow their parents? How many different directions can one p. o'd. youthful alpaca go?
If music is the balm of my existence, then snakes are the bane. I have dreamed away many moments of thought about one or the other. I fear walking through tall grass. I have a walking path I keep mowed around the back pasture. I dream about snakes, and I truly freak out when one invades my reality. I have a "no tolerance policy" regarding snakes. We had a redwood box on our back patio where I kept the hot tub chemicals. I opened the box one day and all I could see were black scales. I sat down about 20 feet away. Insanely calm, I called the hubster to come remove this serpent from my reality. Being the white knight, great white hunter, trapper extraordinaire, and my kindred snake hater, he immediately came home from work and dumped the box of chemicals out in the field and found TWO snakes in the box! Hate it when they appear out of nowhere like in the chicken coop, on top of a sign on my front porch or slithering across my patio. Love it when they appear right in front of my lawn mower! YEE HAW!
I love listening to the music produced by my wind chimes. Every day I have a song going through my head. Sometimes it is something I heard on TV or the radio. Sometimes just a thought racing through my jumbled brain will trigger the song. My favorite repeating songs are "Somewhere over the rainbow, their coming to take me away, it's only Monday Mr. MOM". Sometimes nursery rhymes, poems or just sayings I put to music. Like: "If I had known it was this much fun, I would've done ya sooner", to the tune of any song I want! OH! and my all time favorite repeating song is "Run boys run, Don't be slow, Fire on the mountain, Fire in the hole". Only SDC fans will recognize that one. Anyway...music is my smoother, relaxer, softener, extinguisher. But the chimes are the best. ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
Ketchup!
I'm getting caught up from so many little things that have gone belly up over the last few weeks. The 'puter is up and running which is way better than all the other stuff. The hot tub is running well and looks inviting. I dropped the cell phone in the toilet and got a replacement. The hot water tank went on the fritz and now that is fixed. My car window is permanently rolled up. It cost $40 to roll it up. (My little convertible's top is the same way, kind of loses its charm when the convertible just leaks and won't go down). Hubster's truck got its 3rd or 4th transmission in 6 months! So now all things come to an end and it is smooth sailing again!?
Our alpaca Sophia had surgery for a bowel obstruction (thankfully alpaca surgery is cheaper than human surgery). She came home with a K-State purple dressing around her belly. So now we are getting prepared for our open farm day on October 3, where we open up the farm to anyone that wants to see or feel the alpaca lifestyle.
The garden is about finished. Now its kind of a weed garden. But we have had the most delicious watermelon. We tried yellow and red watermelons and the red were better by far. The corn didn't do much but one particular kind was delicious, I'll try those again next year. I have babied my flowers on the back patio all summer. They must be watered everyday or they just dry up. Kansas summer is hot and dry. The chickens gift us with 5-6 eggs everyday. This is their 2nd summer so that makes them a little too old to put in the pot, but(!) Orschelns has some chicks for a fall chicken fry! Unfortunately I've never slaughtered chickens and have horror pictures of blood and guts roaming around in my head and I don't know if I can do it. But isn't that what we have husbands for?
We are planning to take four of our alpacas to a show in November. So on our fall list is working with our youthful alpacas. One hasn't yet had a halter on and were kind of dreading that. It means she's not a baby any more :( But her fleece is so dark brown and soft that we just have to encourage her to show it off! But she is laid back and shy so we'll so how it goes. I hope she says "I'm a star! Get out of my way"! Hubster and the kitten are getting along pretty well. I think Trapper likes him better. He is growing so fast (Trapper, not hubster).
The hay has been baled and ready for winter. Always a big job. Everything is mowed and looks so neat and tidy. (I like neat and tidy.) City engineers are building a new sewer system for our little rural town. Unfortunately it goes right through the middle of our property. They've spent the last week digging under the highway out front to make the final connection. I don't understand why they make the final connection first then they'll dig the ditch to put the pipes in through our farm. They say it will be done by Christmas! It will be a mess. ...farm living is the life for me.
Our alpaca Sophia had surgery for a bowel obstruction (thankfully alpaca surgery is cheaper than human surgery). She came home with a K-State purple dressing around her belly. So now we are getting prepared for our open farm day on October 3, where we open up the farm to anyone that wants to see or feel the alpaca lifestyle.
The garden is about finished. Now its kind of a weed garden. But we have had the most delicious watermelon. We tried yellow and red watermelons and the red were better by far. The corn didn't do much but one particular kind was delicious, I'll try those again next year. I have babied my flowers on the back patio all summer. They must be watered everyday or they just dry up. Kansas summer is hot and dry. The chickens gift us with 5-6 eggs everyday. This is their 2nd summer so that makes them a little too old to put in the pot, but(!) Orschelns has some chicks for a fall chicken fry! Unfortunately I've never slaughtered chickens and have horror pictures of blood and guts roaming around in my head and I don't know if I can do it. But isn't that what we have husbands for?
We are planning to take four of our alpacas to a show in November. So on our fall list is working with our youthful alpacas. One hasn't yet had a halter on and were kind of dreading that. It means she's not a baby any more :( But her fleece is so dark brown and soft that we just have to encourage her to show it off! But she is laid back and shy so we'll so how it goes. I hope she says "I'm a star! Get out of my way"! Hubster and the kitten are getting along pretty well. I think Trapper likes him better. He is growing so fast (Trapper, not hubster).
The hay has been baled and ready for winter. Always a big job. Everything is mowed and looks so neat and tidy. (I like neat and tidy.) City engineers are building a new sewer system for our little rural town. Unfortunately it goes right through the middle of our property. They've spent the last week digging under the highway out front to make the final connection. I don't understand why they make the final connection first then they'll dig the ditch to put the pipes in through our farm. They say it will be done by Christmas! It will be a mess. ...farm living is the life for me.
Just relieving myself.
All right!!! I'm back to my computer! We really are just slaves to our computers. When the 'puter goes pffffft, we (I) go into a down slide! I'm hardly fit to be with. So here I go!!
I don't know who will appreciate this little entry but I have to get this off my chest because it is my opinion and this blog is really about me.
Defensive weapons have taken criticism. I say "defensive weapons". An instrument to defend the ones you love. At a point in my life I did not understand the true purpose of weapons. I thought, as Americans in 2009 think, "guns kill people".
When this country was first conceived, citizens were bullied, threatened, abused, assaulted, blackmailed, murdered, stabbed and tortured, to become part of something they (our ancestors) didn't understand. Bigger and more powerful people thought they knew what was good and right. Our ancestors came from governments that didn't allow a raise of arms against their governments. They were forced to submit. Their jobs were assigned, their home was allotted, the number of children they bore was limited. They didn't earn money as we understand the spending of money. They earned esteem. If the government approved, they could buy their family groceries. If the government approved, they could rent a home, from the government, that would house their family. The government could come into their home and take their assets or punish their children and family for a perceived slight of the government. They could not protect themselves. They were not allowed to own "defensive weapons".
An entire country. Not just a city, county or island, but an entire country was opened to the freedom and development of people. They could exercise whatever kind of passion encompassed them. Whether it was the freedom of religion, spirit, agriculture or art it was possible to have an entire country to discover this without the encroachment of government wanting their conformity. They were able to do this because ...the people could defend themselves.
...just wanted to express my opinion. ...farm living is the life for me.
Canning, Roasting, Scooping in the Country
I think people that live in the country are supposed to do certain things. Like grow zucchini, have a cat, ride a tractor, feed animals, do chores and can. It was high time (people in the country say "high time") I canned. I had never "canned" anything in my life. I've sacked, stored, boxed, bagged, stuffed and tossed, but not canned. There are these little bags of herbs for canning that you can buy at Wally world. Then just boil the jars, cook the juice, cut the vegetables and CAN! I canned bread and butter pickles. Shouldn't they be sour? They were so sweet my little sour glands in my jaws tingled! I couldn't eat them. They just look so country sitting on my island, I'll just leave them there.
One of the many great things about living in the country is having wienie roasts. Cooking wienies over a charcoal grill loses something. But a FIRE! that's different. We all had long skewers and a roaring fire. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores too! My daughter and her children came over. They live in Medicine Lodge, Ks. (Isn't that a neat name for a town in Kansas?). I told her about the previously mentioned bread and butter pickles. She thought her husband might like them, (gosh I'll miss him). Our other two grandchildren live in our own town. We can just about see them when we want. So we watched the fire die down and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Until the skeeters moved in.
The grandhildren spent the night with us. and Sunday morning I had chores to do. I told the children of my child, the objects of my dreams, my visions of the future, that I needed help scooping poop. If we got the poop scooped early enough I would take them to the swimming pool. They agreed to help! Cheerfully we scooped, raked, shoveled and bagged the inside of the chicken coop. These boys haven't scooped alot of poop. I heard THIS IS SO GROSS! IT STINKS! and lots of little boy bathroom humor. But the best of the day was yet to come! We went to the alpaca paddock to scoop poop. By this time the only ones that had really stuck with the plan were the two oldest boys Levi & Peyton. We opened the gate and brought the wheel barrow, rakes and shovels in. Peyton says, "Grandma you know what the alpacas are saying"? "No Peyton, what?"I replied. "Their saying, where have you been? We've been waiting for room service for three days! " I cracked up. I laughed so hard I cried. Love them grands! ...farm living is the life for me.
One of the many great things about living in the country is having wienie roasts. Cooking wienies over a charcoal grill loses something. But a FIRE! that's different. We all had long skewers and a roaring fire. We roasted marshmallows and made s'mores too! My daughter and her children came over. They live in Medicine Lodge, Ks. (Isn't that a neat name for a town in Kansas?). I told her about the previously mentioned bread and butter pickles. She thought her husband might like them, (gosh I'll miss him). Our other two grandchildren live in our own town. We can just about see them when we want. So we watched the fire die down and enjoyed the peace and quiet. Until the skeeters moved in.
The grandhildren spent the night with us. and Sunday morning I had chores to do. I told the children of my child, the objects of my dreams, my visions of the future, that I needed help scooping poop. If we got the poop scooped early enough I would take them to the swimming pool. They agreed to help! Cheerfully we scooped, raked, shoveled and bagged the inside of the chicken coop. These boys haven't scooped alot of poop. I heard THIS IS SO GROSS! IT STINKS! and lots of little boy bathroom humor. But the best of the day was yet to come! We went to the alpaca paddock to scoop poop. By this time the only ones that had really stuck with the plan were the two oldest boys Levi & Peyton. We opened the gate and brought the wheel barrow, rakes and shovels in. Peyton says, "Grandma you know what the alpacas are saying"? "No Peyton, what?"I replied. "Their saying, where have you been? We've been waiting for room service for three days! " I cracked up. I laughed so hard I cried. Love them grands! ...farm living is the life for me.
WOOPS!
Went home for lunch yesterday. As I drove down my drive and looked toward the alpaca's paddock, I saw our latest two alpaca "teenagers" comfortably mating in the field. Unfortunately they are cousins and we can't have this! I stopped my car and jumped out to break this up, (WOOPS! jumped back in the car, put it in park and turned off the motor, again jumped out to break this up). They ran for the far side of the paddock. Where our female again assumed the position. I ran for them and they ran for the shed. (I'm sure they thought they would be safe from this intrusion if they were inside. I think I heard some version of the 60's song "I think we're alone now".) I grabbed the halter and tried to finesse, cajole, sweet talk the boy to within my grasp. Got Him! (WOOPS, again! That was the girl, They look alot alike from above.) Snuck up on him, just as my (work) shoes slid through the mud and muck, and got him! Haltered him, and took him over to fend for himself with the big boys. Big boys don't tolerate teenagers well. But at least there won't be any more "WOOPS"! I really am so dumb about all this. ...farm living is the life for me.
Bad stuff seems distant when you walk through the wildflowers
Walked through the back pasture this evening and gathered wildflowers. Beautiful evening. Makes bad stuff seem distant. Walked around the front pasture, where our friends have horses. The horses come to the fence and say "where's treats?" I tell them I'm sorry I didn't bring anything, and they walk to the other side of the pasture. Will defininitely bring treats next time.
Walked through the alpaca paddock. Alpacas came running out to follow me. They discussed between themselves where I was going. "She'll give us treats! hose us down! open the gate!
...no she's just walking through. " Ooh! Disappointment!
So anyone that knows the hubster, knows he doesn't like felines. It is funny that this new kitten butters up to him. Trapper lays on his leg or arm and HUBSTER LETS HIM!!! I'm amazed!
...farm living is the life for me!
Walked through the alpaca paddock. Alpacas came running out to follow me. They discussed between themselves where I was going. "She'll give us treats! hose us down! open the gate!
...no she's just walking through. " Ooh! Disappointment!
So anyone that knows the hubster, knows he doesn't like felines. It is funny that this new kitten butters up to him. Trapper lays on his leg or arm and HUBSTER LETS HIM!!! I'm amazed!
...farm living is the life for me!
Day after America's birthday.
How did you spend your 4th? Were you camping? Boating? Traveling? Then I'm envious of you. Though mine wasn't bad. When you don't do anything, it's a good day!
Today we have been packing up our alpaca fleece to be processed. Not a simple project. We have basically three colors: brown, black, white. Then we have 2 or 3 categories of fineness. The cria (baby alpacas) have very fine fleece, the older ones have more coarse fleece. The hubster bought a loom and is interested in weaving. (He can weave a good "yarn." hee! hee!) I would like to make some felt for a possible project. Then the rest we send to a place back east and buy pre-made alpaca products. They just throw all the fleece in a pile and make stuff out of it - socks, scarves, hats, blankets etc. Have you seen the alpaca coats at Dillard's for $750! My goodness! Hubster says will last forever!
So at 2:30 am last night I woke to a funny noise. First thought it was my husband's breathing machine not quite perfect. I sat up on the side of the bed and NO it wasn't his breathing machine it was a girl screaming! NO it was the alpacas screaming! I got the the gazillion watt flashlight and went out in my night gown (again) thinking I was going to protect my animals from anything! We have three male alpacas in one paddock. Herdsire Leon, non-breeder Alex, teenager Zach. Teenager Zach is munching the hay in the feeder. Alex is chasing Leon around the paddock. Kind of reminded of Captain Jack Sparrow running away from the natives on "Pirates of the Caribbean." Alpacas don't have teeth on top, only a gum. But males have these vicious fighting teeth just for ripping the reproductive organs from an opponent. We had these removed so they couldn't hurt each other, but that doesn't stop them from trying. Leon is screaming and snorting. I turn the spotlight on and everyone freezes! "Busted! Alex walks over to Zach and munches hay like I wouldn't notice he just tried to rip the reproductive organs from the paddock stud. ...farm living is the life for me. Sanetha
A short fat greyhound
I look at my sheltie and I melt for him. It is the beginning of summer and he seems hot. He looks like he is wearing an alpaca blanket. I have heard horror stories about shearing shelties. They get fungal infections, sunburns, mosquito viruses, or they just keel over dead! The other day he looked at me and said, "Mom I want to look like a short fat greyhound". I said, "Hey bud, I'm here to serve." Made an appointment with the groomer and now our sheltie with the beautiful sable colored fur is a short fat greyhound!
The short fat greyhound was strolling his fence near the alpaca neighborhood. The alpacas ran up to the fence and stared at him. One even put out the danger alarm! They said, "Warning! Vicious short fat greyhound strolling the fence"! The short fat greyhound doesn't know he isn't still the beautiful and handsome sable colored sheltie. I'm not going to tell him.
The short fat greyhound was strolling his fence near the alpaca neighborhood. The alpacas ran up to the fence and stared at him. One even put out the danger alarm! They said, "Warning! Vicious short fat greyhound strolling the fence"! The short fat greyhound doesn't know he isn't still the beautiful and handsome sable colored sheltie. I'm not going to tell him.
...farm living is the life for me.
I love my dog. He is a sheltie. If you are not familiar with the breed, he looks like a small collie. He understands English! He has toys, some for outside and inside. We come in the house and I say "leave it out here," he drops it and runs in the house. How smart is that? He knows that if I'm putting water in the big green "Gain" detergent bottle, I'm going outside to feed chickens and I will kick the ball. He starts jumping around and whining. "Come on mom lets go, lets go, lets go!
Husband has always had dogs, mostly for hunting but some very special. He's not a cat person. He hates cats. (You know where this is going). Husband is out of town. We have talked about our problem with mice in the garage in the winter time. So... there's a kitten in the bathroom. I have done all the preliminary data collection. It's name is "Trapper". It's in the little bathroom, where it can stay until I'm sure it's litter box trained. I have provided "Trapper" with mouse like toys. I really want to tell my husband that I found it in the driveway, I won't tell him it came out of a pet carrier! ...farm living is the life for me!
Husband has always had dogs, mostly for hunting but some very special. He's not a cat person. He hates cats. (You know where this is going). Husband is out of town. We have talked about our problem with mice in the garage in the winter time. So... there's a kitten in the bathroom. I have done all the preliminary data collection. It's name is "Trapper". It's in the little bathroom, where it can stay until I'm sure it's litter box trained. I have provided "Trapper" with mouse like toys. I really want to tell my husband that I found it in the driveway, I won't tell him it came out of a pet carrier! ...farm living is the life for me!
One foot in the city, one foot rural.
I was raised in the city, if you can call any town in Kansas, "city". I always believed rural people were more down to earth, friendlier, more sincere. My husband's brother lives in Portland, Oregon. Definitely a big city. He has lung cancer. My husband (a rural person), has gone to him to visit possibly for the last time. Hospice, friends, family have visited his brother with well wishes, good food, good memories. They invite him to birthday parties, and to the pub . People are the same everywhere, friendly, giving, sincere and supportive. Doesn't matter where you live, you just have to surround yourself with people for you, and for them.
We had rain last night!!! We've had 100 degree temps. last 2 weeks. It was nice to sleep to the sounds of rain and distant thunder. Got an inch of rain! Alpacas don't look in my direction this morning. They are quite happy with the weather. We have only 9 'pacas at the ranch right now. Two are off being bred. We are very excited about the breedings. Breeding alpacas is like breeding cows. You are trying to improve the next generation. There are so many things to consider. You want the next generation to have better fleece, better shape, more cooperative and breed well. It's like dealing cards and you hope the "cria" (a baby alpaca), gets the best hand possible. I watch them, trying not to interfere with their family gatherings and they look at me and say "Watch Out! The human is standing at the gate".
The chickens have picked up a little. They gifted me with 7 eggs last night. We also have Chinese Golden pheasants. They can have fertilized eggs. I have left the females sitting on eggs. Our usually diligent female was off her nest last night. I confiscated her eggs. Started to bury them and they exploded all over me with a putrid odor. Cleaned alpaca poop, fed the chickens and then a rotten egg explodes on me, guess it's time for a shower. ...farm living is the life for me!
We had rain last night!!! We've had 100 degree temps. last 2 weeks. It was nice to sleep to the sounds of rain and distant thunder. Got an inch of rain! Alpacas don't look in my direction this morning. They are quite happy with the weather. We have only 9 'pacas at the ranch right now. Two are off being bred. We are very excited about the breedings. Breeding alpacas is like breeding cows. You are trying to improve the next generation. There are so many things to consider. You want the next generation to have better fleece, better shape, more cooperative and breed well. It's like dealing cards and you hope the "cria" (a baby alpaca), gets the best hand possible. I watch them, trying not to interfere with their family gatherings and they look at me and say "Watch Out! The human is standing at the gate".
The chickens have picked up a little. They gifted me with 7 eggs last night. We also have Chinese Golden pheasants. They can have fertilized eggs. I have left the females sitting on eggs. Our usually diligent female was off her nest last night. I confiscated her eggs. Started to bury them and they exploded all over me with a putrid odor. Cleaned alpaca poop, fed the chickens and then a rotten egg explodes on me, guess it's time for a shower. ...farm living is the life for me!
June 26, 2009
When I first heard of Michael Jackson's death last night I ran out to tell the alpacas. They "pretended" not to know who I was talking about!
I planted my garden late. We've already harvested the radishes. The variety was terribly HOT! I'll try another variety. The corn looks good and healthy but not tall. Tomatoes are the same. I changed the feed for the chickens. They had been presenting us 6-8/day, I only got one last night. A couple chickens are sitting on unfertilized eggs. I didn't want to hassle with a rooster last year so we only got hens. Don't have the frequent crowing or fertilized eggs to be given away. I gather each evening so there would never be a developed egg.
We sheared alpacas in May. We have two trash bags of fleece per animal. 22 bags of fleece in our spare room. Some will be sent back east to buy alpaca products. Now I need to decide amount and color to send to the mill. I would like to try my hand at making a vest or a purse or both out of alpaca felt. I have an alpaca cookie cutter to needle felt an alpaca on to the felt.
It is around 100 degrees here in Kansas. The alpacas have a carport to park under when it is this hot, for shade. But then they lay out on the ground in the sun?! I know they are really intelligent animals but...?
I planted my garden late. We've already harvested the radishes. The variety was terribly HOT! I'll try another variety. The corn looks good and healthy but not tall. Tomatoes are the same. I changed the feed for the chickens. They had been presenting us 6-8/day, I only got one last night. A couple chickens are sitting on unfertilized eggs. I didn't want to hassle with a rooster last year so we only got hens. Don't have the frequent crowing or fertilized eggs to be given away. I gather each evening so there would never be a developed egg.
We sheared alpacas in May. We have two trash bags of fleece per animal. 22 bags of fleece in our spare room. Some will be sent back east to buy alpaca products. Now I need to decide amount and color to send to the mill. I would like to try my hand at making a vest or a purse or both out of alpaca felt. I have an alpaca cookie cutter to needle felt an alpaca on to the felt.
It is around 100 degrees here in Kansas. The alpacas have a carport to park under when it is this hot, for shade. But then they lay out on the ground in the sun?! I know they are really intelligent animals but...?
June 22, 2009 My first blog!
My first blog!
We share our little bit of the country with 11 alpacas, 9 chickens, 7 chinese golden pheasants and the obligatory dog. Sometimes the things I think they say to me are worth repeating. Like when I pick up to the tail of a soon to deliver pregnant alpaca and she turns her head around and looks at me and says, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT"! Or when we are trying to get a hen off her clutch of non-fertilized eggs and she flaps her wings at me as if to say "YOU HOME WRECKER!! I have a garden I am struggling with. I try not to use chemicals on it only hard work.
I am really a former city girl and I sometimes find myself in over my head. I have ran outside, at night, in my nightgown, to the alpaca boys paddock to break up a fight between the boys only to find they have instantly stopped and are just looking at me with smirks on their faces. Last night I cleaned eggs out of the pheasant pen. Thinking I would bring in the eggs for the dog, (he likes an egg on his food) I put them on the tailgait of the truck, accidently cracking one. I walked away and was looking at the garden and came back and something smelled horrid! My husband says "you better bury those eggs" I gladly dug the hole and buried them deep.
In the beginning of our alpaca adventure , we only had one small paddock for three or four animals. We had pregnant girls in with teenage boys. I was inside when one boy tried to... , with our pregnant female. I started screaming at him, and trying to pull him off her without endangering our girl! The neighbors heard my screams and came running thinking I was in some kind of trouble. They barred the door and I got hold of him, haltered him, and walked him to his own man cave. We now have the boys area and the girls area.
So anyway this is my first blog. I'm excited about sharing my country lane.
We share our little bit of the country with 11 alpacas, 9 chickens, 7 chinese golden pheasants and the obligatory dog. Sometimes the things I think they say to me are worth repeating. Like when I pick up to the tail of a soon to deliver pregnant alpaca and she turns her head around and looks at me and says, "WHAT ARE YOU LOOKING AT"! Or when we are trying to get a hen off her clutch of non-fertilized eggs and she flaps her wings at me as if to say "YOU HOME WRECKER!! I have a garden I am struggling with. I try not to use chemicals on it only hard work.
I am really a former city girl and I sometimes find myself in over my head. I have ran outside, at night, in my nightgown, to the alpaca boys paddock to break up a fight between the boys only to find they have instantly stopped and are just looking at me with smirks on their faces. Last night I cleaned eggs out of the pheasant pen. Thinking I would bring in the eggs for the dog, (he likes an egg on his food) I put them on the tailgait of the truck, accidently cracking one. I walked away and was looking at the garden and came back and something smelled horrid! My husband says "you better bury those eggs" I gladly dug the hole and buried them deep.
In the beginning of our alpaca adventure , we only had one small paddock for three or four animals. We had pregnant girls in with teenage boys. I was inside when one boy tried to... , with our pregnant female. I started screaming at him, and trying to pull him off her without endangering our girl! The neighbors heard my screams and came running thinking I was in some kind of trouble. They barred the door and I got hold of him, haltered him, and walked him to his own man cave. We now have the boys area and the girls area.
So anyway this is my first blog. I'm excited about sharing my country lane.
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