My Dad - Hunting Season in Colorado

This time of year I miss my Dad the most! He is the handsome hunter on the far left. That picture is of him and his two best friends in the world - Frank and Betty Dines. It has been over 16 years since he passed but during hunting season is when he seems so close. For most of his life he loved going hunting, fishing and camping - that is why I love the outdoors so much. Hunting was not a sport but a way of putting food on the table and also honoring what Mother Nature provides for us - not something wrapped in plastic on a foam tray. My Dad had very strick rules while hunting - NO DRINKING, NO SWEARING and the biggest one - NO Taking the shot unless you could do it in one!!! He also never shot a female deer or elk - as he said "They continue the herd" My Dad taught me many things but his Love and Respect for the outdoors is the base for all that I am..

As I see the hunters moon this week I think of my DAD - Miss You Much!

I am in a Etsy Tresury - check it out!!!

I hope you might stop in and few the wonderful Tresury that my yarn was included in:
http://www.etsy.com/treasury/4cc51a86dca38eef704b23ef/wheres-my-hook-and-needles

A very Sweet lady "Jen" from Spinners Tale has selected one of my favorite handspun yarn - it was pure joy to create and I hope that someone decides it is worth their time to make it into something incredible.

Thanks Jen for including me in such a great selection of artists.

Are you Howling??

Last night my three Great Pry's joined in with every other wild creature and howled at the Moon all night long!! I had even the owls adding their voices to the song of "Harvest Moon". I worked into the wee hours of the morning skeining yarn and washing Cashmere fiber from my sweet goats. This type of moon keeps us all going.

Do you find yourself moved by the Moon??

Chick Update

Not a peep, crow or squeak from my mystery chick !!! I think "IT" got the word that it is better to blend in then stand out at this stage of the game. That is not what I believe should be in life but at this point in time I am not willing to except I have a male in the hen house. "IT" is a very interesting color pattern and as today I still have no idea what breed it is. Once "IT" is a bit bigger I will take another picture and hopefully someone will be able to tell me - for now all I require from "IT" is to blend in and cause no waves. I admit "IT" is a charmer and as with all my males here I will still love him and find a way to make it work but really GOD you just could not cut me a break just once!!!

Need your ideas! PLEASE

It seems as if my little gray cells are just not firing this week and I need your talents and help. For those who might have purchased items from me know, I always tuck in a special something in addition to your paid items. I make them all by hand and put as much love as I can into each of them. I am now needing to make another round of goodies and I am plain out of ideas. In the past you might have received hand stitched ribbon flowers, pom pom sheep magnets, lavender sachets, hand felted, hand stamped book markers, mixed media art tags and handmade felt items.

So, here is where you come in - What would you like to receive in your package? I like giving something that represents this farm but also has a usage. My DIL suggested holiday gift tags with either an animal or fiber art theme. I love that idea but need to have more suggestions because I do change the tuck in by the price of the purchases, if it is a return customer (don't want you to get bored with me) and also the season....

So how about it - any thoughts???? I might just have to send the person with the best idea a special gift... Now I got your attention!

I'm back in printing business!!

I want to give a big SHOUT OUT to my DIL Brooke for being a DEAR and doing a ton a research and leg work in getting me up and running with a new printer. For those who do not know when my computer started acting up it fried my printer.. I have no clue how but as all things techno it was a pain in my side. So I got out the old receipt book, pens and papers, real stamps and went old school. After spending much time without one Brooke informed me that she found the perfect printer.

The "WorkForce 610 Series" from Epson now has a new home in my office and is just a marvel. It not only prints black and white but color too. Now here is the rest of it's talents, it copies, faxes, scans and can even prints colored photo's - WOW, that is a lot for the money.

Once I got it home I was a bit scared of trying to get it all hooked up to the computer and working but with my glasses on and taking slow, deep breaths I did it!!! I forgot how easy it was to process a purchase order, print a packing slip, print out the correct shipping and get an order out the door. I am still reading and learning about all the bells and whistles but I just wanted to say "MANY THANKS BROOKE" you saved the day, month and year for this techno challenged gal...

Guess What???

Saturday after painting the chicken coop I went inside to calm them down and given them dinner. While I was bent over the big feed bin a horrible sound rang through the coop - almost like someone strangling a cat.. I spun around real quick and look around to see what was going on. Everyone was frozen in their tracks except for this lone chick. She was looking straight at me and puffed up her feathers. I asked "What is wrong sweetie"? and just then out came that horrible sound again from this sweet little girl - GIRL?? You got it right - this is my FREE Exotic Chick - you know, the one free one that I swore was going to be a boy because I only wanted girls. You remember the one that really does not look like my other girls so I tagged that one as my lone chick - well guess what SHE/HE was doing - that's right, crowing. SHE/HE was challenging me - WRONG THING TO DO!!! Now, it is not that I do not like boys - heck I raised two human boys and have a farm with more male goats then female but roosters are not what I wish to raise. I do not eat my charges here at the farm so before everyone tells me to make Sunday Chicken Pot Pie just know that is not what I do here..

I stared at HER/HIM and warned it that if I where it, I would keep a very low profile and not call too much attention to itself... I must admit it is a cute looking thing - not like any of the others and up till that day was just one of the crowd. Even my black hen looked at it as if to say "OH MY, YOUR SCREWED".

So for the past two days SHE/HE has done just that, not a peep, crow or challenge - who knows maybe it was just a fluke but I sure will be keeping an eye on this one... Some FREE EXOTIC CHICK - just call it what it is!! TOO many boys and you need a way to unload them. I guess I will find a way to love it but never challenge this old bird - I am the cock of the walk at this farm.

Frost + Sweat = a Perfect Day

Around the farm the change of the seasons means a change in the work load. Just before our first frost I finally received my hay order. A Good News, Bad News situation.. I am thrilled it is here but it means putting it in the barn and out of the weather that is coming.. That is two ton of heavy bales to place one by one on my little pull trolley, pull it to the largest barn and then start stacking them so they are ready for winter feeding. All of this is done by me, one bale at a time and without the use of a tractor. While most would think this is a horrible way to spend my Sunday - I find the work rewarding. With each bale I give thanks that I have the health, strength and time to give to this work. I give thanks that I will have feed for my wonderful four legged furry family members when the wind is blowing it's subzero temps and they are growing the next generation of babies soon to arrive in the dead of winters night. This is the work that reminds me that I am alive, well and living unlike most folks - besides who needs to go to a gym when you move two ton of hay in a day?? This means a hearty dinner, hot bath and a warm heating pad in bed for this farm gal... Hope your day was as great as mine!

There's a FOG BANK out there!!!

Quick - do you know what movie that line is from???? Yes, I had to pull it out and start watching it while answering emails and pulling orders - one of my fav's.

With a little bit of snow showing on Pikes Peak this morning and an erry fog coming thru the pasture it was a PERFECT morning for me. Yes, I had to have a hat on to do the morning chores and my Icelandic Sweater to ward off the chill in the air - just my kind of morning. Even the animals where thrilled with the change in the weather, that is except for my sweet little hens. They are not sure what to make of this thin layer of ice on their water container but soon it melts off and all is back to normal. Fall is here at the farm and life is FANTASTIC!

Magical Mushrooms

Did you think I got lost again?? I have been one busy gal here just trying to get caught up. While the weather has been so dry here at the farm I was so amazed to find this clump of mushrooms under one of the big pine trees in the yard. They measured 8 " tall and the group was also over 8 " wide. Since I am highly allergic to mushrooms I hate to say they went into the compost bin but I must say what an incredible find. You just never know what the Funny Farm will come up with - maybe a unicorn next!

Chick Alert!!!

Can you believe how big my girls are getting?? They are now 38 olds old and doing fantastic!! I have everyone that arrived here and I must say I am thrilled. There is one that has no tail feathers to speak of - little tiny ones but the others all have full long tail feathers. I have added a hugh waterer in their section of the coop because I was having to fill their baby one every hour. It took them a day before they would use it but now they enjoy having five gallons available at all times and so do I, for as much as I love them to pieces I really needed to get things done and get a few hours of sleep would be nice.

The lone black older hen goes over the gate to eat their food and at first they were really scared of her. She did nothing to them but bully them at their feed dishes. I warned her that soon they would realize there was more of them then her and work together to force her out... Well, today was that day. As I filled up their dishes and Black Hen hopped over and started eating a few of the bigger ones came up behind her and pecked her on the butt. She jumped, letting out a startled sound and jumped over the gate to her side. She gave me a look as if to say "Mom, did you see what they did to me"? I gave her fresh food on her side and again tried to explain that bullies get bullied.... I am not sure she was listening - fresh food and popcorn clouds the mind of this sweet gal.

I hope you enjoy the pictures and I promise to keep you up on all the coop goings on.

There is the little Mink - what a cute one..

I hope you can make out my sweet little carmel colored mink...
He is right behind the piece of wood - his little head is peaking out of the top left edge. It is ever so cute and he just moves so fast that it is hard to get a picture of him. I call him a HIM because that is what I seem to have the most of at the farm and after raising two sons I think in those terms...

He has been watching me while I paint and twice has gotten into the house while I had doors open as the paint was drying. This day he desided that Sophia was getting to close to getting him so he was especially fast. I am keep a close watch out that he does not get any designs on the new little hens but for now he is more scared of them then anything. The Black Hen even chased him two days ago because she caught him too close to the screen door of the coop. I hope he behaves himself or it will be a nice furry cuff for me....

BEWARE of Big White Dog with the Big White Teeth!!

For those who have not met my Sophia she is one of my three Great Pyrenees who work this farm and live close in my heart. Since my power house Kasha is getting up there in age and I worry about her health so I have forced Sophia to step up her game around the farm to relieve the pressure off of Kasha. Sophia is now guarding close to the house and has taken over the duties of not only watching over the animals but she will be guarding the shop during business hours... She has really come into her own with these new responsibilities and I was so proud of her the other day as she kept at bay a stranger who wondered onto the farm without notice. This man had no intentions of shopping for fiber goods, nor did he have an appointment to view animals for purchase - not sure what he was up to but Sophia took care of him and sent him running... A special scrambled egg dinner with sausage was Sophia's reward for a job well done.

What a pretty girl and look at those big white teeth!!! The better to eat you with my dear..

It's that time again - PAINTING!

Over the years I have had many homes and have painted countless rooms, windows, doors, barns and rabbit hutches but this year I find myself very tired of the whole process. However, I admit it, once I am done I stand back and love the finished work. Now there is just one problem - I am scared to death to be on a ladder so this makes finishing this home a bit tricky. I have four levels to this log home so NOW WHAT?
These are the doors to my shop which is on the ground level. This was half way thru but I finished them late last night by head lamp - Yep, I have been known to do such things - I ran outside between commercial breaks so I could watch Bones and Fringe - Again, Yep I do strange things but it works for me...

Once I finish cleaning the glass and getting the front all spruced up I will share a picture of that too but for today I will be finishing up this and then moving on to the chicken coop. OH HAPPY DAYS - MORE PAINTING!!! Really my next place will be a Yurt where NO PAINTING is required!!!!