Sunday of leisure

Yesterday attended the women in agriculture conference where I realize that I have to be very serious and deliberate about writing a business plan and really defining future plans for the animals and fiber.  Today sorting fiber is at the top of the list.  Off I go.

Regular Sunday

Well the tractor is sitting unable to move at the hay barn again.  Will have to call my "vehicle go to guy" and see if he can figure out what is going on.  Will also have to get some screws to attach the separated sheep wall back to the sheep enclosure. For now baling twine is keeping the boards to the studs.  The wall fell during the rain, snow, wind, flood and street wash out storm last week.

I returned sorted fleece to  a client and had discussion of what can be produced from coarser fiber since we are not mating our animals to get new fine cria fleeces.  Outerwear, carpets, wall hangings, mulch were some of the projects mentioned but we need more.  The fun of creativity.

Wrong place

My alpacas decided that they should not stay near the hay barn or the three sided lean to but instead hopped the fence and went to a field where they should not be.  I think they were trying to cure the alpaca version of cabin fever.  As I went to my vehicle to go to work, I saw them running to an entrance that would return them to where they should have been with the sheep.  The problem was that I would have to travel over there to open the gate.  Well, I didn't.  They will just have to wait until tomorrow and enjoy the sparse vegetation and the puddles made from the rain and melting snow.

Snowy day

It snowed very steadily today with an accumulation of over one foot.  I watched while Windy (a llama/alpaca mix) watched my friend plowed out my driveway since the diesel in my tractor gelled with the low temperatures.  I kept busy by satisfying my tactile senses with sorting fiber into length, micron width, grade and color.  Some of the fleeces were fine and felt really good.   After I finish this client's fiber harvest I plan on working on sorting sheep fleeces to become a certified wool sorter.  I love natural animal fiber.

Introduction

This morning I woke up chuckling about the events that emanate from these these twenty acres.  This acreage is inhabited by me, a fifty-two year old  ex urbanite who escaped to the pacific northwest fourteen years ago, twenty plus alpacas, two llamas, twenty plus sheep, just under twenty rabbits, twenty plus chickens, two guinea hens, one dog and two cats.  Those are the animals that I know live here.  I suspect that there may be others but they are hiding.  There are several fields surrounding the various buildings and my home.  The most peaceful area is the pine tree forest where the only evidence of human habitation is the perimeter fence.  There is always something going on.  For example my tractor is sitting by the gates to the hay barn not moving because I suspect that there are gelled areas in the diesel even though I put 9-1-1 in with the diesel to get rid of any water and there is about six to eight inches of snow and more is expected.  Things will be taken care of.