Mourning the loss of my youngest cat, Domino aka “The Demon”. He will be missed.

Roughly last Tuesday, Ray got sick… Ray is my little gray goat, in case you’re wondering…

Anyhoo, we thought maybe he had bloat. He wasn’t eating (oh, he’d pretend to eat by taking one piece of hay and chewing on it, but I knew better.) He was lethargic (completely opposite of his normal playful self) and he wouldn’t let us near him (again, a complete reversal from his typical, lapgoat personality.)

We didn’t recognize that something was really wrong for a couple of days, so we didn’t try to treat him for it. Finally, on Thursday, we decided that he wasn’t getting over it (whatever “it” was) and that’s when we guessed bloat. His tummy wasn’t as big as I’d expect, but we figured we’d go ahead and treat him for it, regardless.

Thursday night, we force-fed him some olive oil with baking soda mixed into it. We probably managed to get a whole three tablespoons into him (we didn’t have a drenching syringe, just a tiny child’s medicine syringe.) For someone who wasn’t feeling well, he could still run and jump to evade us! We also set some baking soda in his house for free-feed. It seemed to help a little tiny bit, but not enough, so the next day we got him some Therabloat. That really seemed to help a lot.

He seemed to want to eat, but at the same time, he seemed to be having trouble eating. Then we noticed that he was sneezing out large volumes of snot. My friend who is very knowledgeable about animals suggested it may just be an upper respiratory thing. But, each time he sneezed, it seemed that more and more mucous was flying out of him.

We decided that it was probably pneumonia. The shearer had been out and of course, the day after everyone was shorn, we had a cold snap (that’s still with us!) So, my animals are naked and chilly. Pneumonia made sense. So, we got some penicillin and my sweetie treated him twice a day – religiously – for five days. That did the trick! Whatever he had, is now gone and he’s back to his old self again.

Some things of note…

At the beginning of the week we had another goat here – we were goat-sitting, if you will. I’m not sure what type of goat Booger is, but he’s a lot bigger than my boys (LaMancha or Nubian?) Anyhoo, he played rough and essentially ruled the roost. That was a stressor. Then a few days later, the shearing. Right after the shearing, a wet, cold snap. The poor llama has been shivering ever since!

I think the stress of the other goat, combined with being wet and cold (goats and chills aren’t a good combination!) was all it took to make him sick.

But, he’s all better now and we have a supply of vaccines and medicines on-hand for next time – and a drenching syringe!

I really have to give kudos to my hunny… Since ALL of this stuff was happening during the week, he had to deal with it pretty much on his own. I was at work and only home in the evening. He was the one running back and forth to the feed store to pick up medications and supplies, asking for advice and then acting on it. He did a great job of taking care of my sweet Ray and I’m truly grateful! He saved his life.

In other animal news…

The llama thinks that stealing her coat was a dirty trick and particularly mean considering that it’s now back to early spring weather.

The horse is on a diet (she went from starving to death, skin and bones, to being overweight!) and she is not happy about it. She knows that her grain and hay rations have been cut and she protests whenever she thinks we’re listening.

The pigs are still alive. They were scheduled for slaughter, but there was a miscommunication regarding the day, so it hasn’t happened yet.

We have plotted out the new horse/goat/llama pen area and are preparing to build the fence. It will be about twice as much room as they have now and it has convenient things like a spigot. It’s a little farther from the house than their current pen, but I suppose they’ll be fine. James is going to put in a driveway for me, so that I can look at them as I drive in (like I do now,) I’ll like that.

The Hound is doing well. He’s currently curled up in a ball, sleeping on top of a down blanket.

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.

Sweetie had to take our elderly friend to the hospital yesterday afternoon. He didn’t get home until 11:30 last night! The poor gal has diverticulitis, a very painful intestinal problem. She is usually able to control the symptoms with her diet, but she’s getting worse. Thankfully, they only kept her overnight. She’s back home now.

While sweetie was gone, I decided to make a yarn bra. A yarn bra is something that you put your center-pull ball of working yarn in and it holds it in place, nice and neat.

I used this pattern for my ball keeper. It was very simple. It took me about an hour and a half to make.

I don’t remember what kind of yarn I used. I bought it at Walmart and it was the only turquoise yarn they had. Of course, I threw away the ball band. (I really have to stop doing that!!!) But, it’s a bit chunkier than typical Red Heart Super Saver. The yarn is acrylic, but it is super soft. I used a size J hook.

This shot was taken indoors, so the lighting isn’t great. But, you can see it in action. The dark object on the circular needle at the bottom of the frame is the sock that I’m working on – pictures of that to come, eventually.

My work in progress fits perfectly inside the little bag, along with the ball of yarn. The little bundle fits in my purse and is always handy. I added a wrist strap, so I can work on my socks wherever I happen to be – no worries about having a place to set it down!

The animals are doing well…

The goats are ready to shear; and I suddenly find that I will be in need of carders, very soon! They’re as cute as ever and playing an awful lot. It’s so cute!

The horse is back up to her normal weight! No ribs! I need to take some more pictures of her. She’s Little Miss Sassafras, to be sure. We need to get a saddle and start riding her. Well, we need to LEARN how to ride her… We know that she doesn’t like having a bit in her mouth (but really, who would?) so we are thinking of going bitless. We’ll see…

The pigs are getting bigger and we plan to harvest another next month. We found a local smokehouse (in the town we live in!) and we’re going to have him do it up for us. We know we got someone else’s pig, our last order. We don’t know if it was a mistake or intentional, but we aren’t using that smokehouse again.

Well, that’s about all I have for now. Have a good night!

Hi!

I have for you another practice sock ta-dah!

I used the same yarn (white, acrylic baby yarn) and needles (size 6) as my first (and frogged second) practice socks.

Please excuse my dark photos. It was nighttime when I shot the pictures. I attempted (poorly, you have my apologies) to adjust the colors in Photoshop.

This is a shot of the cuff. It’s just a few rows of K2 P2 ribbing.

The heel was done in the Eye of the Partridge pattern. It’s hard to see in this picture, but it has raised diamond shapes.

And here is a shot of the entire sock.

I have made my calculations and re-written my pattern to suit my next pair of socks. I have cast on and finished the toe (am on to the foot!) of my REAL socks.

I’m using a size-1 yarn and size-0 needles. I want the fabric to be a lot more dense than these practice socks have been. The stitches are teeny-tiny and I feel like I’m knitting with toothpicks, but it is coming along great (albeit slow because the stitches are so small). I think they are going to be quite comfy, indeed!

It’s too dark to try to take pictures of my progress; it’s a dark-colored yarn and I know my photos won’t do it justice. I may be able to get some shots soon, though! To be continued!

In other news… I have finished the textbook portion of school and am on to the externship portion! These first few units are review, which is great because I need it. But, there’s light at the end of the tunnel! I’m almost finished! YEE-HAW!!!