Good Morning Sunshine!

I just had to share this most beautiful sunrise with all of you. My hubby and I were just getting up this morning when we caught it. Sometimes even God amazes me with his extraordinary gifts...this was one of them!

Scarves and More Scarves!

One of my wonderful Etsy customers, Jackie, sent me this picture of a new scarf she is working on called "Olivia and Mr. T Go To Coney Island"! She's using some of my onion skin mohair yarn, but also some multicolored yarn with sequins that have been cut from soda cans! I love all the different textures and shades. See the little mohair curls? Doesn't it make you want to reach out and touch it?! I so love it when people send me pictures of the finished product. I'm not such a great knitter myself, so I'm always amazed :) Here's a couple more from past customers who were good enough to send me these pics...

Hey, what are you guys doing?!

Here's a pic of the llamas hurrying to see what all the fuss is about. Yesterday was "Big Holes and
Bigger Poles Day". Note the next pic of a proud hubby with Pole #1:) I think that all in all, it was pretty successful. We actually accomplished exactly half of what we set out to do, but like my husband so succinctly put it, "It's not like we're professional barn builders you know"! So it's all good. The only bummer is that it began to rain last night, effectively turning our barn pad into a giant Mud Wrestling Pit, and that means that we'll have to put off progress for a few more days. The upside of this is that both my hubby (bless his heart), my best friend Kim (double bless her heart) and myself are so sore that we can hardly move. This should give us time to recoop!

The final picture is of Llama Playtime. Sassy and Cholula decided we needed some break-time entertainment (Note: no llamas were harmed in the making of this post)!

Happy 3 Egg Day!

Ok, I admit it...I DID put all of my eggs in one basket! But really, today is the first day this year that we have gotten one egg from each chicken! Woo Hoo!!!! It's amazing how little it takes to make me happy.

And no, we did not get our poles in the ground today. We did get the lumber delivered, and we did spend the last few hours trying to measure and get all the corners straight on the barn pad. We finally gave up when twilight approached and we could no longer see, but we are determined to give it a better shot tomorrow!

Bless this Mess...

I thought this was a great picture to describe what the "lady of the lake" is probably thinking right now..." God, bless these crazy people who have decided to build a barn in February"! The Mary statue is a whole "nother" story, best left for another time, but suffice it to say that I had to move her to make room for our latest "pipe hole" and when I went to snap this pic of our project, there she was!

My beautifully greening pasture is now one huge mudhole in the shape of a cross. I am hoping that the KKK doesn't see fit to set it on fire in the near future. But the water and electricity are almost there, and Thursday has been tentatively scheduled as "big holes and poles day". Another big storm is scheduled for this weekend so we figure we better get a move on!

Oh, and everything is COVERED in mud. These boots are only two pairs of probably ten. The good news is that even a leisurely stroll is bound to wear off five pounds, when wearing an extra 3 pounds of mud on each foot...got to look on the bright side :)

Progress?

So...here's a picture of our barn pad looking exactly like it did on Saturday, only now it's covered in snow. It looks like nature is conspiring against us yet again! Even my patient and longsuffering husband refuses to dig post holes in the snow...go figure.

The next pic is of "Llama Lock Down" with Blue Skies in the foreground..."Mommmm! I thought we were getting a NEW barn!" We did rent the ditchwitch for this next weekend, ordered the siding (some really nice 1x12 rough cut boards) and decided on the roof color today. Green. I won :), so I guess some progress is being made!

The Groundbreaking!

Well I really haven't felt up to blogging since the goats were taken, but I knew that I needed to jump back in here eventually, soooo...I thought it appropriate to start with today. We have been over all the possible options for keeping our remaining animals safe, and getting some new does (after all, there is Mr. T to consider!) and my hubby (bless his heart :)) and I have decided to do a number of things different this time. We're looking into LGD's and have put our feelers out for one who will suit our needs, and our pocketbook. But first we're building a new four sided and lockable barn, the prospect of which is both invigorating and terrifying! Of course there is the cost to consider, and since our business is pretty slow (understatement) right now, taking a loan out for a barn almost declares us certifiably insane. But we've wanted one for a long time, and we figure if we're going to have the animals, it's only right to house them properly. The barn will provide better shelter and a place to lock them up at night if necessary, and will raise our property value. It will also give us tons of conveniences like LIGHT during the winter months, lots of hay storage, and even catch pens, kidding and grooming stalls...I'm swear I'm giddy just thinking about it! So here are the before and after groundbreaking pics plus one of the llamas looking on. Blue Skies was all for the change but the others were having serious doubts. This picture is of Blue Skies and Cholula "discussing the matter". I'm not worried though... with a little "treat persuasion" they'll all come around eventually!

Les and I are going to build the barn ourselves (double bless his heart), so I'll keep you posted as we make progress. Tomorrow we go shopping for plumbing and electrical piping and Monday we're renting a Ditchwitch. If nothing else, the physical exercize ought to make us sleep better :)

Oh, and an update on the Mountain Lions. We haven't caught them yet, but I think we're on our way. A neighbor told us that if we have an attack, and contact the Oregon Fish and Wildlife Dept. that they could help. Well, last week the lions came back and tried to attack the llamas (thankfully noone was hurt) and so I called the OFW and to my wonder, they actually have a trapper on call who will come out and eradicate the cougars! He is professional and experienced and I feel sure that he will trap them given time. I thought I would throw out that info for anyone else who might have the same problem.