The air conditioner was fixed and it is much more comfortable in the house now.  We did not have to get a new system...yet.  The technician informed me that we will have to get a whole new system eventually because no one is manufacturing old ones like ours anymore, nor are they making the parts.  So he suggested that I start saving for a new system and call him when we are ready to install it.  I said, "Yeah, right!  Every time I try to save for something, another disaster happens and there goes the money!" He just laughed and said he knew all about that!

It was somewhat cloudy when I got up today.  The weatherman says we have a chance of rain and that the monsoon should really hit this weekend.  I hope the monsoon hits harder than it did last year, but maybe I should be careful what I wish for! ha!

I am still bottle feeding Casper.  I will be supplementing his diet until the end of September when he will be 4 months old.  By then he should be eating hay and pellets just like all the other goats.  I have decided that all the goats need to be out in pastures now instead of being penned up by the barn.  Steve and I got some supplies on Monday to make this happen.  We plan on dividing the alpaca barn and putting the female goats, Little Bones and Caramel, in that area along with Mouth, a wether, and Casper, the new kid.  I decided to put Stewie and Prince, alpacas, in the other field next to the buck pen.  I'm afraid if I try to put them in the back with Tinker, Kardigan and Cimarron, they will still try to fight each other even if the pasture is divided.  It will be better to put them where they cannot see each other.  

The turkeys are getting so big that they are feeling crowded.  That is another reason to move the goats.  I will put the turkeys in the larger goat pen until I can get Prince and Stewie into their new pasture.  By then the Delaware chicks will be ready to move to a larger pen and the turkeys can be moved to the old alpaca pen.  Eventually all the poultry will be put in the same pen.  

I am also hoping to get my alpaca fleece screen/sorter made this weekend.  I really need to get the fleeces sorted and ready to ship if I am going to get them to the Alpaca Blanket Project this year.  It is not a difficult item to make so I will make sure Steve does it.  Then I can start my task.  With the economy going the way it is, any source of revenue will be a good thing.

Happy Fourth of July!!!

Happy Fourth of July!  We celebrated yesterday because the City of Benson had their fireworks display last night instead of having it on Sunday.  We bbq'd hamburgers, hotdogs and bratwurst.  I made a macaroni salad and someone brought apple pie.  We all went swimming and everyone went to the fireworks except me.  I never go to the fireworks any more.  I prefer to stay home and keep an eye on the animals and have a little quiet time.

This morning we have lots of moisture in the air.  It was almost foggy when I went for my walk at 5 am.  It reminded me of the coast, the "marine layer" that comes in off the ocean.  I really enjoyed my cool morning walk.  Then I fed the animals and decided to take some pictures.  Someone asked about Stewie and Little Bones so I took some new shots of them.  The turkeys are bigger still and so are the Delaware chicks.  I don't know if you can really tell how much the chicks have grown.

There was a big jack rabbit on the other side of Stewie's pen.  I took a couple of pictures of him, but since I was facing the sun, I couldn't see him very well in the viewfinder.

Of course, there is always a little dirt around to mess up a perfect day.  Our air conditioner went out yesterday.  So money I was planning on spending for new fence and other stuff for the animals will have to be spent on getting the air fixed.  I think we just need a whole new system which will cost even more, but I think we just got this fixed less than a year ago and here it is broken again.  Oh well!  At least we can cool off in the pool and we can survive, even live well without the AC.  I know because we did it most of last summer.  Maybe we can get a tax credit or something if we get a new system.  We'll see!

Hope you all have a great Fourth and remember the people and veterans who made it possible!

The monsoon is warming up!  We are having clear cool mornings and then gradually as the sun climbs higher and the temperature rises, the fluffy cumulus clouds start building up to the south.  They get bigger and darker and closer until they are right on top of us with lightening and thunder and rain!  Blessed rain!  But we've only gotten a smidgen of rain so far.  The weatherman says we will get more after the Fourth.

Another diet bit the dust.  I could not stay on my "smoothie" diet.  It had too much fiber and was messing up my routine, if you get my drift.  Ha!  Anyway, I am still walking and trying to eat a regular diet without overeating so, hopefully, I will lose some weight and be healthy.  Being healthy is the main thing after all.  I'm certainly in a better mood.

I decided that the new kid will be named Casper, The Friendly Goat.  He acts a little spooky and skid-dish even after all this time of bottle feeding him.  At first I thought of "Spooky"  but I remembered I wanted to name this year's kids with "C" names, hence "Casper."  I don't think I am going to like him as much as I like "Little Buck".  He is my friendliest buck and greets me every time I go out to the pasture.  He likes to have his ears rubbed and his neck scratched and he's never lowered his head to butt me like all the others do.  

I have been contemplating about what direction I want to take with the animals and our little farm.  We are spending a lot of time, energy and resources on the animals without much financial reward.  I plan on sending some, if not all, of the alpaca fleece to the Alpaca Blanket Project.  We'll see how much they pay for the fleece.  I also hope to sell some of the angora fiber with my online store.  The angora fiber is more difficult to work with than the alpaca because of the lanolin in it.  It has to be washed in very hot water and it smells more than the alpaca.

I have a couple of sewing projects going.  I am making myself a sundress for the Fourth.  I also just finished two aprons.  One I gave to a friend as a thank you gift.  The other will probably be posted for sale on my Etsy store.  I want to make another one for another friend and then make several more for the store.  

I have also been researching cashmere goats.  Some people who have cashmere goats comb out the usable fiber from these goats or they can be sheared.  It sounds like more trouble than the angoras but the fiber is worth more money.  The industry is still developing in this country, just like the alpaca fiber industry, so I don't know how soon I would be able to make a profit from that source either.  One thing about farming, you have to have lots of patience.  Nothing happens over night. 

Today we are supposed to hit 107 degrees and 110 tomorrow.  I have been out several times to make sure the animals have cool water and shade.  The turkeys really seem to dislike the heat.  They pant and run around and then collapse in a pile.  They have shade inside and outside but it is still difficult to escape the relentless heat.  I sprayed the alpacas with the hose.  They love that and will stand for as long as I squirt them.  The goats, on the other hand, hate to be sprayed and will run away and hide.  

I got some creative work done today and hung some red and white lanterns on the patio for the Fourth of July.  I hope to find some blue lanterns or stars or ribbons or something to hang between the lantern strings.

The baby swallows were out of the nest and flying around this morning.  Several of them landed on the wire that connects the lanterns.  I can tell that they are the young ones because their breast feathers are a lighter color than the adults.  They are pretty much the same size as the adults and I cannot tell them apart in the sky.  There must be about a dozen swallows darting about this morning.  There were three hummingbirds too.  They took off when I hung my asparagus fern out near the feeders.  They will be back this evening.  

Grandkids and moms will be coming over to swim this afternoon.  I'm looking forward to a dip myself.  I started a new diet this week.  I also started my morning walks again.  The diet is a "smoothie" diet.  I get to make a special smoothie for breakfast and then another one for lunch, and eat a normal dinner.  I am supposed to be able to lose 20 pounds in two weeks!  We shall see.  So far I have lost 2 pounds in two days instead of a pound a week.  I like the smoothies but I have difficulty not eating between lunch and dinner.  I blew it yesterday by eating some of the grandkids snack cheese crackers.  I couldn't resist.  My downfall is not sweets, you see.  It is salty snacks. So far today I have been good.  It is because I did some sewing and I drank the smoothies over a period of time while I worked.  Maybe if I go swimming, feed the animals and make dinner, I will be able to refrain from eating until dinner today.  Then, I have to be careful not to overeat at dinner too.  The diet does say to eat a "normal" dinner.  I blew that yesterday too.  Oh well, we do the best we can, don't we!

We had a very busy weekend.  It was my husband's birthday, we won't say what number. Ha!  We also celebrated our only granddaughter's 3rd birthday and Sunday was Father's Day.  We had family and friends over for a taco bar/buffet prepared by my oldest daughter.  Yummy food and fun company!

On Saturday I also got our new Delaware chicks, 11 poults and a rooster.  They are all so tiny and cute compared to the turkeys.  The turkeys are getting quite big.  One of them has a huge red waddle (chin skin)compared to the others so I'm assuming it is a tom.  He is displaying already, strutting his stuff.  


We have two swallow's nests over the patio this year.  One of them has 3 or 4 big babies in it.  The other has smaller, younger babies who don't poke their heads out far enough to take a picture yet.


Our weather has been hotter than blue blazes but perfect for swimming.  The water feels great after working in the yard, hanging out laundry and feeding the animals.  The wind continues to blast us all day long with nary a break.  I suppose that is the price one must pay to live in desert.

Hallelujah! It is good to be home.  I had a fun time in Colorado but it is good to be back with my own family and my own animals.  I actually lost 3 pounds this week! 

We did some fun things, like shopping at local wool and quilt stores.  We went to the Este's Park Wool Market.  There were lots of cool animals and lots of yarn and fiber there.  I saw some cashmere goats and they were impressive.

Colorado is a beautiful state.  The Rocky Mountains were an awesome backdrop looking westward from my friends' big picture window.  We had a few days of sunshine and a few days of rain and wind.  It was a nice cool change from Arizona.  I saw prairie dogs, pronghorn antelopes and elk.  The Big Thompson River on the way to Este's Park was swollen to the banks and very fast moving, another big change from the dry river beds in Arizona. Thanks to my friends for a good time!


My turkeys have grown noticeably larger since I was away as has my little buckling.  The temperature here today is close to 100 and it is sunny and bright.  The yucca are blooming everywhere along with the palo verde and desert willow trees.  I seem to have extra energy today, especially this morning feeding the animals.  I think the extra altitude in Colorado affected me more than I thought.  My surgery seems to be mostly healed and I don't have much pain at all.  I have stopped wearing my belly support. 


All the grandkids were here for supper last night and I really enjoyed all their sweet faces and noisy play.  I went swimming after they left and it felt wonderful.  They say that the day you go on vacation and the day you get back are the best days of your vacation!  I believe that!

 

It wasn't any cooler today than it was yesterday.  I filled water buckets several times.  We were under a heat advisory all day.

I forgot to say that Steve and I also clipped the wings on the young turkeys before we moved them to their new pen.  This is to prevent them from flying out and getting injured or killed by predators.  They were outside this morning checking out their new surroundings but went back inside as soon as it heated up. 

We also have a nest full of young swallows.  I can see about five little heads peeking over the edge of the nest.  Unfortunately, one has lost its life already from falling out of the nest.  They look pretty stressed from the heat too.   


I am going away for about 7 days.  I am flying to Colorado to visit some good friends.  I will take lots of pictures and tell you all about the Este's Park Wool Festival and whatever else we do when I get back.  Not to worry about the animals or grandkids.  Steve is staying home from work this week to take care of all of them.  I trust he will do an excellent job.