Wednesday, January 26, 2011

January 26, 2011

I got busy this morning and made an apron for my sister.  I also took some new pictures of the animals and changed my format on this blog.  It is a new year so seems like a new blog is appropriate.  


I think I am going to make some changes this week end.  I want to put all the alpacas together again.  Maybe I will move the Royal Palm turkeys to the pen in front after I move Prince and Stewie.  I also found someone on Craig's List selling pygmy goats so I am thinking about getting a few of them.  I miss my angora goats.  Pygmy goats would be smaller and easier for me to handle and generally less trouble, as they would not have to be sheared.  I'll have to talk to Steve and see what he says.  I can probably talk him into looking at them this weekend at least. Ha!


I am also planning dates for trips this summer, looking for the best airfares and hotels.  Everything looks more expensive this year compared to last.  


Yesterday I boiled about 8 dozen eggs.  Some of them were too old for us to eat or sell.  They are being smashed up and fed back to the chickens.  This replenishes their calcium needs and gives them back the energy and minerals they need to produce the eggs in the first place.  I know it sounds cannibalistic, but it is good for the hens, and they don't know they are eating their eggs as they are ground up and unrecognizable.  I gave some of the fresh boiled eggs to Steve to take to work and the rest will stay home for the grand kids to eat. I plan to move my for sale sign today.  It is on the ground by the end of the driveway and a little difficult to see.  I will put it up higher, probably on the old newspaper box.  Maybe I'll sell more eggs.


Sewing has been fun.  I have a few more projects I plan to make before the "bug" leaves me.  I should try to do some more spinning too while it is cool. 

Monday, January 24, 2011

I was sicker than a dog this weekend.  I'm still not feeling "normal."  My stomach feels better but there are still complications in the intestines.  Oh well!  this too shall pass!

I made my sign for selling the eggs and had one customer the first day.  The eggs are still piling up though.  I will get rid of some old ones, boil some for Steve to take to work and keep trying to sell the rest.  Mr. Washington has gotten pretty aggressive.  We have to watch our backs whenever we collect eggs or feed in his pen.  He likes to act cool and then surprise attack.  One day I got a shock when he came after me so fast and then, whoosh!  He slid on his behind and looked rather startled himself!  What a laugh!  Did you ever see a rooster slide on his butt?  What a crack-up! 

I have started sewing again.  I made two Renaissance vests or bustiers for my daughters.  I made a long skirt for one of them too.  Today I started on a project that I promised my sister way back in October.  I actually forgot all about it until I started cleaning out that room, and there it was!  Oh my gosh!  I should have had it done for my sister's birthday this month.  Her birthday has passed but I still may get the project done for her this month.  She will be surprised when she gets it! Ha!


We continue to enjoy beautiful weather with sunshine and warm temps.  The weatherperson says that should continue until next week.  Then there is a chance of rain.  We could use some rain.


I have compiled all the figures for our taxes.  I hope we will get some money back again this year.  I only put a value of $500 on Tinker because alpacas sales were so down last year.  He will be counted as a loss anyway.  I can also claim the payments I made on the new boys last year.  It is hard to beleive I only purchased Kardigan, Cimarron and Stewie a year ago in October.  I was still making payments on them until July.  This time last year Tinker and Prince had those awful foot injuries from the barbed wire fence after their fighting.  Now Tinker is gone.  


Prince is still a fighter though.  He got into it this morning with Stewie.  I threw a nerf football at them in the morning darkness.  Waste of a good throw!  They didn't even flinch.  So I let Buddy in the paddock to see if he could make them stop.  He didn't even go near them, just walked around the pen looking for tasty crap to eat.  But his presence did make them stop fighting.  They were worried about that big white predator in their space more than they wanted to fight each other.  There is always more than one way to skin a cat or in this case, stop an alpaca fight.

Tuesday, January 18, 2011

Our weather has been absolutely ideal the last few days.  Calm winds and temperature about 74 degrees made hanging clothes outdoors an enjoyable task.  Steve had the day off yesterday in honor of Martin Luther King so we decided to take advantage of the great weather and took a drive out to the Cochise Stronghold near Dragoon, AZ.  

The Stronghold is a secret little place surrounded by mountains and granite monoliths.  A dry stream bed runs though the area and looked like it had seen some fast moving flash floods.  There were several different kids of oak trees and other trees as well as manzanita bushes, shin dagger plants, agaves and cactus.  I tried to get a picture of a red headed wood pecker but it was elusive and the camera was not designed to capture little birds far away.  

Steve and I had a quick picnic lunch there and then took a short hike along one of the many nature trails around the area.  It was peaceful and beautiful.  I enjoyed getting away from all the responsibilities of home and civilization for awhile.  

On the way home we looked at another property that I found online.  It was about half way between Elfrida and Tombstone.  The house was pretty and there were 40 acres along with it.  However, it was dirt road most of the way which ended up being 12 miles of dirt from Tombstone.  It was really out there in a place called "Lonesome Trail Estates."  Some of the houses were monstrosities and did not enhance the surrounding countryside.  More, they suck out like sore thumbs.  It was definitely too far away from anything for me to want to live there.  

On our way out to the Stronghold we stopped to get gas at the closest gas station.  One of our neighbors who has alpacas was there and I got to speak with her for a little while.  Seems she lost a couple of alpacas this year too, one to cancer and one to Valley Fever.  She also said she had one come down with a form of alpaca aids.  They did not breed any alpacas this year.  It has been a tough year for selling alpacas and her farm has about as many animals as it can handle so no babies this year.  It was good to see her and talk alpacas for awhile.  We talked a little about shearing too.  I gathered that she is no longer sending all the way to Australia for a shearer as in previous years. This year she is getting a new guy a little closer to home from New Mexico.  I will probably get my guy from Missouri again if he is out this way.  

Right now I've got to try to make a sign and start selling my chicken eggs.  They are filling up the frig!

Wednesday, January 12, 2011

"Praise God from whom all blessings flow..."  That is how I felt as I watched our breath-taking sunrise this morning.  "Praise Him all creatures here below..."  That is how I felt as I watched the herd of mule deer run by while I was taking my morning walk.  I wished I had taken my camera on Monday on my walk.  I had the privilege of seeing 5 coyotes, 4 of them ran across the road just in front of me.  They looked healthy and strong with big bushy tails and the typical coyote grin on their faces.

I accomplished the task I set myself yesterday by getting my closet cleaned out and I started on the Echo room.  I'm still working in there.  I was a little lazy this year.  Usually I file all the bills alphabetically and with the bill from each month of the year together by month.  This time I kept the ones that were filed together but the rest I just dumped in a box.  I have boxes from years past because I have always been told to keep stuff for 7 years or so.  I have never had to go back and look anything up to prove anything so I figured I'd save myself a little time this year.  I also saved all my Christmas cards and letters in the bill box.  Next December I will go through those, checking addresses and remembering everyone who has been special to us over the years.  I also review my Christmas letter and try to make the new letter a little better than the last.


Today will be check book balancing and bill paying day.  I will also make my grocery list and menu for the next two weeks.  Most of the time I stock up so that we have supplies for more than 2 weeks but the menu is just for 2 weeks.  Makes it easier to manage the daily chore of figuring out what to have for dinner.  


I'm sure everyone has heard more than they want to hear about the terrible incident in Tucson.  It is really shocking and saddens me a great deal.  I nearly voted for Ms. Giffords because she is such an outstanding person and, I believe, she has the peoples' best interest as her agenda.  I pray that she will have a complete recovery and be able to resume her place in Congress.  I do not believe all the rhetoric and political BS that is being spouted in the news.  This young man is a psychopath and nothing anyone said "made" him do what he did except himself.  The spirit of independence and self reliance is still alive in our state and this incident should not be used as a political tool to promote things that would limit those traits and restrict the freedoms we still hold dear here in Arizona.  That said...


The end of the worship song goes, "Praise Him above ye heavenly host.  Praise Father, Son and Holy Ghost. Amen."

I

Monday, January 10, 2011

Out with the old, in with the new!  Happy New Year a little late but better than never!  Have you made resolutions?  Have you broken them or not really started them already?  I'm sure you are not alone.  I made the usual resolutions, you know, exercise more, eat less.  So far so good on those.  I walked 2 mornings last week and worked out with my weights twice.  I bought myself a couple of 8 inch places so that I would eat less.  I even lost 2 pounds.  I just hope I can keep it up.  The walking certainly isn't easy anymore.  I have arthritis in my knees and walking is rather painful.  It is probably the best thing to do though, until it warms up enough to swim again anyway.  I love swimming.  It is the only exercise that is pain free.  


I have also started cleaning out closets and getting rid of stuff.  I do this every new year.  Stuff still accumulates though.  Must be those little elves that hide in the cupboards.  They like to hoard things.  Not me though.  I cleaned out the kitchen cupboards and rearranged stuff.  Now there is more counter space and less clutter.  I took down the curtains in the kitchen window.  I will wash them today and put part of them away.  The rest will be returned to the window that has also been cleaned.  So much more light comes in now and I can see my alpacas easier.  I still plan on cleaning out the bedroom closet and drawers.  Out with the old clothes, in with the new!


The project I am really dreading and, I guess, working up to, is the Echo Room.  That is what the grandkids named my library/workroom when we first moved in here almost 7 years ago now.  When we first moved in, there were no books or furniture in that room and voices echoed in there.  Not any more.  Those little elves have just filled and filled the space.  Now it has lots of books, furniture, fabric, fiber, boxes and paperwork for our home and business.  I will have to file all the paperwork, sort though all the books and magazines and somehow restore order out of chaos.  I will love it when it is done.  The hurdle is just to get started.


I have been thinking of finding another place, one with flatter land, a site built home and closer to the Fort where Steve works.  Out with the old, in with the new!  The girls and I drove all over yesterday looking at places that we found in the local real estate paper.  We drove to Huachuca City and beyond.  We found about 7 places.  None of them were right.  Funny how an ad can make a place seem so desirable but when you actually get there it just doesn't work.  They all had something wrong.  The neighbors are too close or the place is in need of lots of repair or it's too far away from where you want to be or there are no fences for the alpacas etc., etc.  Oh well, it is fun to look.


Since it is Monday, I will get on the scale and see what damage I did to my weight loss project over the weekend.  Then I will get dressed and feed the animals and go for my walk.  Can't get rid of all the old, I suppose, but it is a new day!