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.

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