I'm Ready For Christmas, Except . . . .

As you can see, I'm ready. Every year we hold a big Open Farm (House). We serve refreshments, give tours, and have a sale in our store. We usually get a big crowd in and have alot of fun. We build a fire in our little fire pit, and friends lead the alpacas around. I'm turning one of my scarecrows into a country hick Santa Claus, and as you can see, I will be one of his helpers. I'd like to start decorating the farm, but we need to get Thanksgiving out of the way.

This is making Thanksgiving a little more special for me. I won this over at Calamity Jane's Cottage! Isn't it adorable? I don't prepare the turkey or much of anything, since that is my hubby's domain, but I will be wearing this!! It will make me feel warm and motherly. My kids are all joining us, so that is wonderful, I can hardly wait.

Big news. Yesterday we bought a stacking washer and dryer and a new gas range. Right now, the washing machine is in the kitchen, and the dryer is on the back porch. We are going to put both on the back porch, and hubby will finally have his gas range. It's a beauty. More about that later.

I need to get out to the barn, treat Eve, and take care of some breeding issues.

Report on Eve

I know many of you have been wondering how little Eve is doing. Yesterday we took her in to the vet's to have that ear irrigated. She was brewing up another infection with the ear just full of junk, so our timing was perfect. Perry feels really good that he got everything cleaned out. Now we have to put a solution in her ear twice a day for two weeks, once a day for a month, and twice a week for a month. This is the first time they have performed this procedure on an alpaca, so they are excited to know they can do it in the future if another case like this presents itself. The picture above shows Eve with a pressure bandage on the place where the catheter was. We took it off this morning. The vets all said she was a good patient. She was so happy to see us when we got there to pick her up, but she was also very hungry and tried to eat the buttons off my jacket.

I found a packet of these fabrics with a big section already stripped at a thrift store this week. There is over a 1/2yards of each fabric, plus what's already sewn. The colors are much nicer than this picture depicts. I paid $2.99.

And today, I was in the fabric department at Walmart, buying some white thread, when a woman says "Hi Linda". I look up and see someone I don't recognize. I said Hi, but then asked if I know her. She says "Jo". Jo who? From Bellingham. A few more questions and I realize it is Jo from Pieceful Afternoon! Go figure, we meet in the fabric department. Ha! So we had a nice talk. I wasn't hard for her to recognize: I was even wearing the jacket I'm wearing in my picture on the blog!! You know, this blogging world is small and tight. It's quite a clicque. Aren't we lucky?

They Call the Wind Maria

Maria? I think I'd call her a big pain in the ass. What is this, the fourth day of high winds? Had Tim the Tree Surgeon out to day and he gave me a nice serving of peace of mind. I have been terrified that this one pine tree was going to fall on the house. Pine trees can be so brittle and dangerous. But this is a shore Pine, and very sturdy. He did remove some broken branches and cleaned out alot of dead ones. I paid him with alpaca sox. Oh, don't tell the IRS, okay?

This is Sumas Mountain, my barometer. We use the snow level to predict what our day will be like. I also use it as a compass of sorts. As I'm driving around the county, I can always see the mountain and know which way to go if I'm lost, which happens.

This is a picture of my FIL's family, shortly after they arrived here in Whatcom County from South Dakota. FIL is the littlest one on the right. The road they settled on is the Bylsma Road. I have shown pictures of the old house, now abandoned.

I have the picture out because it will be part of a display I am doing for the Library. Every December, they have a Silver Tea. They choose a theme, and then people decorate a table, using the theme as inspiration. This year the theme is Family History in Whatcom County. I've started getting my table set up in preparation.

Above are the only dishes we have left of Jantze Bylsma's. And, you will likely recognize the tablecloth. It really looks nice with that glittery green fabric under it.

Our stove is dead. The biggest burner won't sit flat unless you have a pot on it. And, the heat is slowly wearing low. We are going to go looking for a new one tomorrow. For now, I'm tired and am going to go to bed.

The Aftermath

Last Night I had no sooner published my blog than the power went out. It came back on at 1am, and then went out again until 5 am. It was a scarry night, with winds so violent, I could hear them coming like a Mac Truck. In the picture above, you can see we have a subdivision that went in right along our south property line. After a wind storm, I have to scout the fields and collect all the garbage that is blown in from their houses. I had an armload this morning. Plastic bags, paper plates, magazines, etc.

Here are the little boys enjoying being outside this morning. All the alpacas were inside all night, so it was a huge mess to clean up. If you look at the roof of the barn, you can see a big hole. Poor hubby has to figure a way to repair it. The metal roof is so old, they don't make metal roofing with the same profile anymore, nor do they make the fiberglass skylights in the same profile. So, to keep the roof from leaking, he is going to have to be really creative. We are going to wait until the boys are here for T-day to help. I don't want him up there by himself.

Here is the first slough, almost full. If we get more rain with the wind they predict for the night, this just might flood. It will sometime this year. Especially since the neighbors are dumping their yard waste in the slough. Not cool.

And, here are the yarns drying in the wind. It's a pretty color. I think I need a WHOLE Lot more of cochineal to get a scarlet. By the way, Gene pointed out that cochineal is used in food now. Yes, I read about that. It is replacing red dye whatever that number is that was so controversial. So, we are eating ground up pregnant female cochineal beatles. They call it carmine. How's that for a piece of trivia that might make you sick.

Now, does this look comfortable? Leroy has claimed the back of the recliner, Dad's chair, as his own. He's so fat, that if no one is sitting there and he jumps up on it, he almost knocks it over. Last night, he was bound and determined to maintain his roost, despite DH reclining. At one point he had his tail wrapped around DH's head. I tried to get a picture, but he found out.

So, the jetstream is working up another storm for us, so it is literally time to batten down the hatches. Why does this always come at night?

Giggles and Aprons

Sivje over at Goosegirl Sews is giving away the cutest apron she designed to celebrate her 100th post. I am so glad I learned of this, because her blog is really terrific.

I was really amazed at the humorous comments my last post elicited. I mean, I love puns, but you guys really outdid yourselves. funny.

Now, Pat at Ooglebloops told me she googled cochineal (now why didn't I think of that) and learned a few things about dying with it. So I gave it a try, and I learned that you need to let the yarn dry for a couple of days before rinsing it. I have always rinsed it right away. And yes, Sharon, I use vinegar as a mordant. I've also used potassium and uric acid. So, I added two white skeins to my dyepot and they are now drying. The weather is helping, because it is soooooooo warm and we are having 65mph gusts. Had a couple more big branches down from the pine tree this morning, so I'm calling the Tree Doctor tomorrow to have him come out and assess our gigantic trees. If one of them comes down, we are goners.

I'd Rather Dye Laughing

That's actually the name of a book about dying! I have it here somewhere.
This washed out picture is of a huge hank of yarn I finished spinning yesterday. It's really nice. I'm running out of colored rovings, and all of my white fiber is at the processors being made into rovings. When they are finished, I'm going to be on a dying frenzy.


I couldn't wait any longer, so I put a skein of beige yarn in the crock pot with the cochineal that I got in Peru.
I could swear I've written about this already, I have a real sense of deja vu, but oh well, you'll get this twice.
This looks nice in the pot, but when I took it out and rinsed it, most of the color came out. That is the problem with natural dyes. We shall see how it looks when it dries.

This is how they dye in Peru. I think I'll stick to my crock pots.

I don't think they rinse the yarns after processing the dye bath. That is why his colors are so bright. I don't know, I'm not sure. But here we are with the fellow who gave me the cochineal. He was so excited when he found out I dye my own fiber, he gave it to me. This is a good picture to show the difference in the size of the Peruvians and the "healthy" Americans. I think at this altitude, about 12,000 feet, the air pressure pushes down on them so hard, they can't get any bigger. I know by the fifth day, I thought my heart was going to burst. I was very happy to get back down to sea level.

This is where you get cochineal. You can see the dusty grey that looks like mold. It is a bug that lives off the cactus. When you squish it, it bleeds brilliant scarlet. Just beautiful.

Last thing, I have a new follower: Labrador Retriever. Now what kind of name is that? I'll never figure out who it might be. I love Labrador Retrievers, so hey buddy, leave me a comment, woof woof.

Who Has Time for Housework?

It was a gorgeous sunny day today, the kind of day that makes you happy to be living in the Pacific Northwest. The girls were enjoying a sunbath, being fed up with the many days of rain we have seen.

After washing up the barn and doing some halter training, I made some phone calls and then went to work in the studio.




I was pretty happy with this little number until I photographed it and saw it was crooked.
I can't do any quilting other than in the ditch until I get my Brother repaired. My little old
'90 year old repairman seems to be out of town.


I've been working on some strip quilts, too. Fun and easy.
I have so many WIPs, I'm having a blast finishing things.




Here is a felt hat I made. It is sewn from alpaca felt from our critters, I needlefelted the flower, and I trimmed the edge with bias cut fabric.

I'm still working on this wallet, made of felt.

Gonna add some more contrast to this one.

A trivet. Sort of practiced my buttonhole stitch on this one and it is now much improved. Might do this over.

And, another hat. These look just adorable on young girls, but awful on me. I'm a real hat person and can usually pull any hat off with flair, but not these little skullcaps.

One last item. I had my colonoscopy a couple of weeks ago. Got the results back and the four polyps removed were pre-cancerous. They were entirely removed, but now I have to have the procedure done more frequently. Oh, goody. Hey, they can prevent the cancer, so I will do what I have to.