The day after tomorrow is Thanksgiving! Happy Thanksgiving y'all! I wanted to write a few lines now as I will be very busy preparing for the big feast tomorrow and may not have time!

The day before yesterday, Sunday, Tinker and Prince were having a huge feud. They were both tearing up and down the pasture. Prince chasing Tinker. They both had their mouths hanging open in the most disgusting alpaca way, green spit dangling. Tinker would try to stop and hide at the end of the field among the prickly pear cactus but Prince would find him and start the chase all over again. I went into the field thinking I would split them up and slow them down. Yeah, right! For about 2 seconds. They just finally ran out of steam. Well, now, is a good time, I thought. The two biggest boys are almost exhausted so maybe they will be too tired to hurt any of the new boys. So I opened up the gate between the pens and let them all go! We had some running and lots of exploring. Prince and Kardigan did one big up- on- your-hind-legs-belly-neck bump and then it seemed to be over.

They don't seem to have bonded yet to make one cohesive herd. They are just trading sides of the field. Tinker and Prince don't much like each other but they are obviously still a "herd." Kardigan, Cimarron and Stewie are also still a herd. Having seperate feeding stations is working out well. I filled up water buckets yesterday. Stewie immediately dumped the whole bucket over! Don't ask me why! It turned out to be a good thing. I found out that plain old vinegar works just as well as bleach to clean out gunky water buckets. Vinegar is probably better for the animals too.

Caramel and Little Bones are playing alot together through the fence. They are both pretty frisky in the cool morning air. It will be fun to watch when I put them in the goat pasture. They won't know what to do with all that space. Hopefully, we will get everyone moved, I'm thinking, the first weekend in December. That way it is easy to calculate birthing dates and the weather should be better for kidding in April or May. Maybe I better figure in the shearing too. That is supposed to be around March 27 this year. Since goats gain most of their baby weight in the last couple of weeks before birth, they shouldn't be too uncomfortable for shearing in March.

Have a great Thanksgiving and be Thankful, if for nothing else, at least for the food you put in your mouth! Ha!

Thanksgiving is only a week away! Amazing! Seems like the stores are already stocked and picked over with Christmas stuff. I don't think there will be anything left to buy on "Black Friday."

At the urging of several people I have decided to breed my goat does next month. I realize that I will once again have to bottle feed whatever kids Caramel has. She had beautiful kids this year though so we'll give her one more try. It will be Little Bones' first breeding so the outcome is rather unpredictable. I will also attempt to sell my bucks. I would like to have only does as they are easier to handle and not so hard on the fences. I hope to get at least one more doe from this year's breeding.

Next week, when Steve is off for Thanksgiving, we will move the goats around and put Falkor and the does together. They can stay together for 6 weeks or so. We'll have to see how Falkor behaves in a larger pasture. I'm hoping that he will be too interested in the does to try and escape or tear the fence down.

The alpacas have calmed down a great deal. I am starting to consider opening up the pasture between the boys and letting them all be together. I have also started feeding each of them in their own space. This seems to cut down on the fighting.

I was a little concerned with my neighbor this past week. They have a huge dog. I'm not sure what kind of a dog it is, maybe a Great Dane Lab mix. It is huge like the danes but colored like a golden lab. It also has the long skinny tail like a dane. Anyway, it is young and huge. The neighbors usually keep it penned up in their front yard. Lately I have noticed them letting the dog out and letting it wonder around their property. This is fine except when I see it racing up and down the fence line with the alpacas. The last time the alpacas sent out alarm calls, I went outside. I just watched the dog and watched the neighbor watch his dog until he called it away from the fence. I sincerely hope that is not repeated. Domestic dogs are the biggest killers of livestock. That is why I have my own livestock guardian dog, Buddy, to keep dogs and other predators away. I may have to consider changing the pasture set up so that Buddy can roam the outer perimeter and keep the alpacas away from the outside where they are vulnerable. That means more fence and, either moving the shelter or building another one. Money, money money!!! Sure would be nice to win that lottery! Ha!

Today is Veteran's Day. Thanks to my husband, brother-in-law, father-in-law, my dad and all others who have served and died to keep this country safe and free.

Today I have to replenish the feed for all the animals and do some Christmas shopping. Of course, there is the usual challenge of juggling funds, prioritizing and finding the best bargains. The thing about living in the desert is that sometimes, even if you have the funds, you cannot find the product for which you are searching. Our local feed store is currently out of timothy pellets. They don't think they will get any in for a couple of weeks. I have been feeding the alpacas alfalfa blend pellets and bermuda hay this week, the same as the goats. Steve and I will drive to Tucson, about 35 miles, today to another feed store that carries timothy hay at $23 a bale. We will purchase enough bales to, hopefully, last until our feed store gets in more pellets. I don't think the alfalfa pellets and the bermuda hay will hurt the alpacas but it will not be the nutrition they really need either. Alfalfa is really too rich for them. At least the pellets are not straight alfalfa, but a blend.

I have tried to import some picture of the beautiful gypsy horse that I fell in love with at the Celtic festival this past weekend. See if I did it right.

The yard sale was a great success by yard sale standards. I sold quite a few things on the first day and had a steady stream of visitors. The second day I decided to actually count people. Over 100 people came the second day but they did not buy as many things. I didn't sell any of the pillows I made. I did sell 2 of the bags for bags and an ounce of alpaca rolags in a bag! I was thrilled about that because I didn't really expect to sell any fleece. I met some funny and interesting people. One lady said her husband still wears a tie she bought from me 3 years ago. The most fun was showing the kids the animals. The kids loved the young buck goats and seeing the alpacas. One man said he bought 2 goats in Oregon several years ago to clean up blackberry bushes on his property. He was shocked because I am trying to sell my pygora buck and wether for $100 and $75 respectively. He said goats have really gone up in value. You'll never guess what he paid for his! $5 each! It must've been a hundred years agao! Ha!

I decided not to put the money I made back into the farm this time. I decided to take the kids and grandkids to the Celtic/Highland Festival in Tucson instead. It was a fun day. Men in kilts were playing bagpipes, girls were dancing Irish folk dances and there were frisbee catching border collies. We also met a lady who had the most beautiful horse I've ever seen. He was a black and white purebred Gypsy stallion. We took the grands on a buggy ride pulled by that horse. He was the calmest Stallion I've ever seen. Turns out the lady who owned him lives near us so I hope to visit them again soon.

I'm sorry I did not take any pictures. My donated Sony digital camera doesn't hold a charge very long and is cumbersome to carry. Steve promised to get me a new camera for Christmas. I will takes loads of pictures then just to post here for all of you.

Mikey showed up last night in time for dinner. He and Loki stayed in the barn last night. I didn't notice Buddy barking all night. The moon is still up this morning and the sun coming up is making the few clouds all hot pink. Gorgeous!

I am out of alpaca pellets this morning so they will only get hay this morning. A trip to the feed store will be necessary. I'm also out of chicken food and have to pick up a prescription at Walmart. Sometime today I have to finish setting up for the yard sale. I guess I will go to the bank too and get some money for the sale. I'm thinking ones and change.

I just finished a book by Jon Katz titled "Soul of a Dog: Reflections on the Spirits of the Animals of Bedlam Farm." This man is an award winning writer who has published several books. This was a rather small volume and easily read. The whole thing is about wether or not dogs and other animals have souls and if they go to heaven. He is specific, though, only using his animals as examples. I enjoyed the book, although, I don't know that he actually decided the issue or not. I guess it is something about which people will make up their own minds. I have liked all of the books I have read by this man. I would like to find a copy of the first one he wrote about his farm and then I will know how he ended up on a farm in upstate New York all by himself. I have an ulterior motive for reading his books too. They give me ideas about my own farm and writing about it one day.

Writing has always been something I do. I write in a jouirnal. I wrote stories in college. I even had one published. I have written children's stories. I haven't made a name for myself or gotten anything published for money. I am not a professional but I enjoy it just the same.

There goes Buddy! Barking his head off again! Better go see what's up!

Seems like Buddy barked all night last night. The moon is full and the weather is mild again. I guess that makes all the critters happy to be out at night. The cats did not come in to be fed at the usual time last evening so they ended up outside all night. I've noticed that Buddy barks more when they are out all night too. I think he knows what they are doing or if something is after them so he keeps up a protective racket.

I was startled when I opened the front door to let Penny, our little red dog, out, and Loki, my favorite gray cat, was crouched at the door and came running in. It was still pretty dark so all I saw was a gray blur, could've been almost anything. Then he acts all grateful to be inside, purring and climbing on my lap to be stroked. I don't mind. He is my favorite cat afterall. I wonder where Mikey is though and hope he is OK too. Mikey is bigger and wilder than Loki. I didn't see him last night either and haven't seen him yet this morning. I won't worry unless he doesn't show up for supper again tonight. He seems to have enough sense to stay pretty close to the house when coyotes are about. He will come in the yard and stay close to Buddy if he feels very threatened. I always feel bettter when both cats come in for supper and stay in the barn all night.

Steve got the garage all cleaned out yesterday. It was full of cobwebs, mice stuff and loads of spiders! Yuck! He did not complain even though it took most of the day. I feel so relieved now and grateful to him for doing it. All I have to do is put the clothes and books out there and get ready for the garage sale. Before he did the cleaning I just felt overwhelmed and worried that I would not be ready for the sale. Steve is the best!

I got a lot of sewing done yesterday while Steve cleaned the garage. I felt like the best thing I could do to help him was just to stay out of the way. I tend to tell him what to do and give advice on such projects which drives Steve crazy. So yesterday I stayed in my work room and did my own thing instead. I got 6 pillows finished and about 16 bags for storing paper bags. I hope to sell the bags for about $5 each but may have to go down to $3. The pillows are sets of 2. I will try to sell them for $15 each or $25 for the set. I am not confident that people will think these are good prices because of the economy. We shall see.

Today I will be keeping my youngest grandson again. I don't know how much work I will get done. I hope to get all the books moved and start putting price tags on things. Maybe at nap time...

Our weather did change. We got to about 29-30 degrees a couple of nights in a row. We didn't have much rain, only enough to make the car windows spotted and dirty. It has warmed back up to about 40 at night and 80 during the day. This time of year the human family takes precedence over the animal population.

We took the grandkids and most of our family to Apple Annie's in Wilcox,
Arizona. It has become a tradition. We all pile in our cars and drive the 30 miles or so to Apple Annie's Pumpkin Patch. Once there we take a hay ride to the huge field of pumpkins. There the grandkids find their own unique pumpkin. They all love running around finding that special one. Then we load all the kids and pumpkins back on the hay wagon and pay for the pumpkins. I'm sure it would be cheaper to just buy pumpkins at Walmart but it wouldn't be as much fun. After the pumpkins are selected we go to Apple Annie's sprawling apple/peach orchards for lunch and gift shopping. There are always tons of people, but we went early this year so it wasn't so bad. We got hamburgers and kettle popcorn. The best part is dessert, which is a huge slice of apple pie topped with an even bigger scoop of homemade vanilla ice cream! I bought a whole pie to enjoy at home later. I also bought some pumpkin butter and a small jar of flavored honey.

We ended up with about 6 or 7 pumpkins. On Halloween they all got carved up into various scary faces and lit with candles. After that everyone got into their costumes and went to Benson for Trick or Treating! We has a knight, a ninja warrior, a pirate and a princess. Cute, cute, cute! The little ones got the hang of things very quickly and came home with their sacks full! Enough candy to last a year! Great fun and great memories for all!

Now it's time to start thinking of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Sometimes it seems overwhelming this time of year. I have agreed to participate in the neighborhood yard sale this year too. I have been cleaning out closets and trying to get organized for that, which is this coming weekend. Steve is taking a day off from work to help clean out the garage and set up for the sale. I'm making pillows and bags for bags to sell. I have gone through my book collection and clothes but I still feel like there isn't a whole lot to put in the sale. I will put out some of my fleece from the alpacas and the goats but that doesn't seem to sell in a yard sale. People usually want a "bargain", which means the lowest price they can convince you to give up your stuff. I have to think of it as cleaning out and getting rid of stuff I don't want any more. A little change in my pocket for "junk" is better than paying the dump to take it. And there is always that old philosophy, " One man's junk is another man's treasure". So we do the work and hope for the best.