Summers finally here

 It's July and the summer heat is here!!

We have had a long shearing season and finished up on Monday July 15th it was way to hot for man & beasties..
We have welcomed 4 new Llama Babies three Boys one girl & are still waiting on an Alpaca to deliver…
We have a litter of Yorkie Poo puppies on the way, Due date some time between July 17-24… can’t wait to see them; we had so much fun with them last year.
The unfortunate part of farming is doing hard laborious work in this heat..,
as I sit here I dread the Hay wagons that will appear in the driveway soon…
this week I’m Working on washing, dyeing and carding of Fleeces, this is difficult also as it sticks to your hands, face and /or increases the temperature in the house…For some reason the heat this year bothers me more…
Some things to look forward to..
Our County Fair Americas fair in Hamburg NY
I will be demonstrating spinning and fiber arts at the historical building on Friday August 9th between 3-5 pm
I will have all sorts of fiber equipment, yarns, felts, and crafts to show & sell

First I would like to Thank all that helped make the open house a success!!

Some highlights of the weekend where

 

Peter & I had a secret ...look what we found hiding under the deck of the store:

   

 

 

 Peter & Dan out for a Llama walk with Kidd 

  Saturday: we, had Spinning Demos, face painting, felting soaps & Sheared a Llama

 

 

                                 

 Kal sporting his new summer hairdo after his hair cut

 

Sunday: We sheared our pregnant Llama Fanny Mae, had more spinning demos, then in the afternoon we sheared an Alpaca.                    

 

 

 

Barry all finished and sporting his new summer hair cut!!

 

 The Lady's doing the spinning Demos in the shade on the front lawn of the store

Farm Open House

Incubating some Chicken Eggs

We have about 47 eggs in the incubator, all colors shapes and sizes, from white to a dark brown..
They've been in there now for three hole days. I will be checking them for development at the end of Sunday. If you hold them up to a bright light you should see what looks like a spider/octopus inside with many legs  
It's been a family affair to keep them turned on time and, everyone checks the temp to make sure it doesn't very.
The humidity is another thing that needs to be kept at a pretty high level 50% for most of the time and it needs to be up to 80% on the last couple of days.. so the Chicks don't stick to the shells..
I plan on taking some pictures as soon as I can to add to this post.. So stay tuned for our Chick flick
posts..

Spring Has Sprung!!!

Hi everyone:
  Wow, time really gets away from you when you are busy with family and farm things!!
Winter is Over!! THANK GOD!!
Now we are concentrating on getting the farm cleaned up after the winter snows & winds, I have picked up a hole bucket of roof shingles!! Oh My we need a new roof soon or it's going to rain inside!!
Our chickens are laying like there's no tomorrow & I plan to put some into the Incubator to hatch.. I love having Babbie chicks around, and the guests at the open house in May will love to see them also..
Started The  Incubator at 1:57 pm on April 7th we need to adjust the temp and make sure it will stay at a constant 99.50 degrees before we add the fertile eggs..
then we mark one side of the eggs with an X and the opposite side with an O this helps you know what side to turn the eggs onto , because they need to be turned at the very least 3xs a day more if you can,every 8 hours around the clock...I will keep you posted on the progress and will post pictures of start to finish..

Mongolian Felt

My Grand Son & I Spent My Birthday Playing with fiber & teaching Him How to Drive my 4-wheeler

First we laid out the Bubble wrap and then the Fiber & wet it down well with soapy water, I used a shampoo 

Then we rolled it around a PVC pipe

then put an old tent post thru the center with a rope thru it. Then tied it to the back of my 4-wheeler

 

And That's Where My Grandson came in He learned to drive it as I helped with the brakes & steering

 We had an Audience who scrutinised everything & followed our every move

 we unrolled it twice and rolled the opposite way to even out the felting

 After we where done rolling it around the yard oh several times per wrap 

the two scarves where taken out to dry & look like this 

After they dried I used a felting Needle to Embellish some more color & some fall leaves on this one, it is still a work in progress & The other one is still waiting for inspiration..

 

Dye Day

We not only had a Baby Llama Tuesday But It was also Dye Day, I dyed up several Fall shades & some Brights to make batts all 100% Llama 

 Put Some Suri llama Locks in the dye pots too

 

 

 I even Dyed a custom order of Navy Blue 



 

 

It has been a Super Busy week and it's only Thursday Morning.. Can't wait to get the Fibers Carded This evening For My Barn Dance Fiber Club