Our weather has been gorgeous the last few days.  The sunset tonight was spectacular, all hot pink and azure blues.  I finished a book today titled, "Stillmeadow Calendar" by Gladys Tabor.  It was published in 1967 and is about life on a 38 acre farm in New England.  The author talks about her life and her friends, her Irish Setter and cocker spaniels, the wildlife and friends and the experiences she has each month for a year.  It is definitely nostalgic and of a time gone by.  She has some profound things to say and I enjoyed it very much.  It made me remember my childhood spent in climates much greener and wetter than the one I enjoy now in southern Arizona.  

All that green and wet has it's darker side too, like more bugs and pests, bone chilling cold winters and views blocked by miles and miles of vegetation.  When I was outside this evening watching the sunset, I realized the great distances I can see.  The dark mountain silhouettes against a soft blue sky cannot be seen as clearly in lands where the trees are over one's head and the land is flat or the hills only rise gently.  Our desert is turning brown again, the only green being the prickly pear and stubby mesquite trees, but it has a majestic beauty all its own.

Tinker is taking his medicine without any problem and still eating like a pig.  We opened up the barn that had been divided when we had the goats so that the three alpacas would have more room and more shelter when the weather turns cold and rainy again.  I am still deciding about moving Stewie and Prince to the west side pasture.  They would have more room but there is no shelter there for them.  I am reluctant to move them without a good roof over their heads. 

I am trying to decide if I will actually prepare one of our turkeys for Thanksgiving.  I will have to kill it and dress it myself as no one else wants to do the deed.  They will all want to enjoy the feast once the dirty work is done, of course.  Reminds me of the "Little Red Hen" story.  Remember, whenever she asked for help preparing the bread, everyone said "Not I!"  Until the end when she has the soft warm wonderful smelling bread on the window sill to cool, then she asks "Who will help me eat the bread?"   The cat, the pig, the cow and the duck all shout, "I will! I will!"  Ha!  But the smart little hen says, "No!  I shall eat it myself!"  And she did.  The thing is, I don't think I could eat a whole turkey by myself! Ha!  Anyway, I wouldn't want to!  So we shall see.  Maybe I will just buy one at the store and spare the pretty birds.


I am beginning to wonder when my hens will start laying.  I will have to look at my records and see just how old they are.  Maybe they won't lay til spring.  It doesn't really matter as they are beautiful birds also and a pleasure to observe.  Now that Mr. Washington is getting the hang of crowing, it is probably in his favor that he is very handsome!  He may end up on the dinner table before any of the turkeys! Ha!


I found some really nice fabric at the store that I couldn't pass up.  Another of my favorite animals is the wolf.  Yeah I know, I should probably hate them now that I am a farmer, right?  Well I just can't.  Anyway, the fabric is a soft gray fleece with wolves all over it.  I thought I would make myself a jacket for the cooler weather.  I also have many other projects that I plan on doing now that the weather is getting cooler and my sewing room isn't so hot all the time.  I am looking for Christmas cards too.  As I haven't found any that I particularly like, I may have to make those too.  Cards are incredibly easy to make and much more cost effective than buying them.  Another, so we'll see!  


I took more pictures of the Amish country when I was in Delaware.  These people are real farmers who do not use electricity or machinery.  I loved seeing their big draft horses.