As promised, here are some photos of the llama (and our other farmyard creatures.)

Mmmm… Cuuuuud….

I see you over there, standing by the gate…

I’ll just sneak by real quick…

What ARE you doing???

Oh! You’re in the yard! Treats???

No treats??? See how you are?!

We’re just going to come over to the gate; just in case you’re waiting for us to arrive, before handing out the treats…

Well… It doesn’t really SMELL like a treat…

I’m just going to come over here and pretend that I’m getting a drink, just so I can be ready when you start handing out the treats…

I’m just going to inspect this area, in case you gave us treats and I didn’t notice.

This week, things on the homestead have begun to return to normal. Sweetie is feeling MUCH better and is pretty much back on track. Thank the Gods! I know it seems trivial, but I really enjoy that extra 10 minutes of sleep in the morning.

Sunday, we got a new addition to the zoo… A llama (pictures this weekend)! I’ve been wanting one for a long time (since we got the goats). We got her from the same gal that we got the horse from. Her name is Dolly Llama – and no, I didn’t name her. I thought about changing her name, but she does react to it, so I think not.

She’s about two-years old. Her basic color is black, but her long hair is brown – basically, she has the same coloring as Frank. She does have long hair, so I will be able to get some lovely fiber from her. Well, I assume it will be nice. She’s terribly felted, right now and in desperate need of shearing. This will be her first time. I don’t know when I’ll be able to make it happen. From what I understand, they fight for their lives, for the first 10-15 minutes of being shorn and then they calm down. I really do think we need to make it happen, before summer gets full-blown, though.

She is very shy and quite skittish, but not aggressive in the slightest. When I walked her down to our place, she didn’t spit once. She drooled an awful lot and it was yellowish-green, so she wanted to spit, but she never did. I’m not even thinking about touching her, for the time being. She’s never been handled and I don’t want to stress her more than she already is (and I know that spit happens, I just REALLY don’t want to be spat at.) So, I’ve just been hanging out in the pen, with a good distance between us, and hand-feeding her as much as possible. She will actually take a couple of bites of grain from my hand; and she’ll readily eat from the scoop when I’m holding it. I think that’s a great start!

Dolly gets along great with the goats, but not so much with the horse. She is quite intimidated by Dizzy and runs to the opposite side of the yard, whenever she sees her heading her way. And I think Diz knows that she’s afraid and kind of exploits it. Yet another stressor for the llama. So, hunny has been removing the horse from the pen in the mornings, to allow the llama to calm down and relax in her new home. I think it’s helping.

I’ve finally been able to start on shearing the goats – and Dolly watched with much interest, by the way… Their fur was just too matted to be able to salvage, but underneath… Oh my goodness! So soft and cuddly! I’ve done them twice this week and took off about 75% of the length. They are much better, but they still need more work.

Amazingly, the boys are LETTING ME DO IT!!! I don’t know if you remember me describing the difficulty that I had last year; but this year, I’m the one who gets tired of the job and has to stop! They stand right there, perfect little angels, letting me trim away. I think I’m going to go ahead and pick up some electric clippers. The dagging shears are just too painful for me to use.

In other news…

Work has been incredibly stressful this week. People are quitting because of all the unpleasant changes that have been taking place. I’m seriously considering leaving, myself. But, all of us temps will probably be out of a job come July anyway; so I might not. Haven’t decided.

School is going well, but I think I need to see if I can get another extension. I really don’t think I’m going to be finished by mid-June.

I haven’t done any crafting at all, this week. My time has been spent either out with the critters or reading about llamas. By the way, if you know of a good website or book where I can get information regarding training shy and fearful llamas, I would be most appreciative for the info. I am having a really hard time finding anything!

Pictures this weekend!

It has been a seriously busy week, for me.

Mom, you know I don’t like the camera!

Sweetie was really ill last weekend – spiking high fevers. On Monday, he went to the emergency room and was admitted with a pretty bad case of pneumonia. He was there until Wednesday.

Since James wasn’t able to help out around here, I had to do everything by myself. Whew! This little mini-farm doesn’t run very easily with only two hands to do everything!

But, my hunny is home now and feeling MUCH better! Today, I let him get off the couch and am allowing him to be as active as he feels he can be. I’m making him check himself though. We don’t want a relapse!

Though I don’t want him to do too much, his activity has been reassuring for me. It tells me that he is on the mend and I’m finally starting to relax a little.

Oh, you’ll give me candy if I let you take my picture?

In other news…

I still haven’t shorn the goats. They’re starting to felt. This year’s fiber crop may end up as useless as last year’s. Ugh.

MMMM… I like candy…

In the meantime, the cleaning bug has bitten me. I’ve been organizing, purging, rearranging. I’m in nesting mode, big time. I don’t know if it’s the warm weather we’re experiencing right now, or the relief that James is feeling so much better. But, I have a lot of energy today.  🙂

My grandmother was quite the seamstress. She made most of her outfits and things for us kids, as well. My favorite thing was a dress that she made for me…

Back in the early 80’s, Gunne Sax was a very popular style of clothing. Kind of a formal-country style. My sister and I were getting portraits made and I wanted a Gunne Sax dress to wear. My grandmother made one for me. I was so happy to have that dress! It was quite similar to this dress, but in brown.

I remember my grandmother was always sewing something; from drapes, to tablecloths, to slipcovers; there wasn’t one room in her home that didn’t have something in it that she had made.

She tried to teach me to sew, but to no avail. I can sew a crooked hem and that’s about it. I do wish I could sew and I do intend to practice. I would love to be able to alter my clothes.

The two buttons above were a couple that I remember my grandmother using on blouses.

My grandmother is currently in a nursing home. Sadly, she is quite senile and no longer remembers her own children (let alone her grand, great-grand and great-great-grandchildren). Well, she is nearly 100-years old, I think she’s entitled!

When she moved out of my father’s house and over to my aunt’s, in Texas, I was given her ample supply of sewing stuff. This included a rather large collection of thread, elastic and as you can see, BUTTONS.

The three above she used on robes that she made for herself. The last button looks white, but it’s actually green. She also had this particular style in pink; those were the two that she used most often.

I didn’t take a picture of this one when I did the other individual buttons, so it’s a crop of another photo. This is one that she used on a jacket that she made.

Everything that she made was of the highest quality. You wouldn’t know that it was home-made. All of her finishing techniques and the materials she used were quite professional looking.

The above two buttons I don’t recall her using. I just thought they were interesting.

I had seen a knitting ablet and was searching the internet for less expensive options. There were some very cool items on etsy and then I had an epiphany… I could make one and I had just what I needed!

I strung the buttons on two strands of tatting/crochet thread that I have on hand.

I put the big buttons on one side and the little buttons on the other. I separated them with a bead at the bottom.

I then tied the ends together, beneath the green and gold button.

As you can see in the picture above, I have placed a short length of knotted elastic around both sets of thread.

For each row of knitting and/or crochet that I do, I move one of the small buttons up, through the elastic loop. I can count up to nine rows, with the small buttons.

When I get to row 10, I move all of the small buttons back to their original position beneath the elastic loop and I move one of the large buttons up. Rinse and repeat.

Conveniently, with this abacus, I can count up to 99 rows. No more paper and pens to worry about. No more relying on my (increasingly unreliable) memory. I can put my work down, return to it days later and be able to quickly figure out where I was when I left off.

It didn’t cost me a thing and every time I use it, I relive happy memories of my grandmother.