Wednesday evening we got hit with a major monsoon thunderstorm.  Lightning flashed and thunder crashed for hours.  And the rain!  Oh my!  Some places got 2 inches in a couple of hours.  Every day since then we have had clouds all day and/or a thunderstorm in the evening.  This morning I woke up to booming and crashing and my little red dog trying to hide under my covers.  Everything is soaking wet and the roads and driveways are rutted or covered with sand.  The sun is peaking out now but with Hurricane Dora sitting off the Baja we are expecting more downpouring tonight.

I received some of the alpaca stuff I ordered from Florida.  I am very pleased.  The blankets are 55% alpaca and 45% wool.  The teddy bears are very cute, as are the llama toys.  I hope I can sell them for good prices in September.


We have been having spectacular sunsets with all the storms.


Our roof sprung a leak near one of the skylights due to all the rain. Steve put a temporary fix on it  and it did not leak during yesterday's downpour.  We have had two contractors out to give us estimates on fixing the roof on the house and the garage.  We are still waiting on the second estimate as he was only just out on Friday.  The first guy to come out only does roofs so he would not even consider fixing the patio cover that Steve and Jeff removed last summer.  The second guy is a general contractor though, so he would do that and lots of other improvements I have in mind.  If only I would win the lottery! Ha!

"Make it your ambition to lead a quiet life, to mind your own business and to work with your hands, just as we told you, so that your daily life may win the respect of outsiders and so that you will not be dependent on anybody."  I Thes: 4: 11 & 12

I have been restless and trying to escape my life lately by looking at houses and buying things to sell and daydreaming about new places and "what ifs."  Then the other morning, reading my Bible, I read this passage and it was as if the Lord spoke to me.  I realized that I have a good life and it doesn't matter if I don't "make it big" with my business, or if I don't buy more animals or if I never have a vacation home on the beach somewhere.  I am surrounded here by my family and friends.  My husband loves me and my kids and grandkids do too.  I have plenty of food to eat, clothes to wear and a roof over my head.  These are not small blessings but large blessings.  All of my needs are met just as Jesus said they would be.  Hallelujah!  What peace this brings!  What freedom!

We have been having gorgeous weather the last few days, sunny and hot, cool breezes and pleasant nights.  I took some pictures of our sunrise and moonrise.  

Buddy is finally shedding his heavy winter undercoat.  I have been able to pull big hunks of hair off and also brush a lot of the dirty brown stuff out.  This usually happens in June but is a little late this year.  I will probably still take him to a groomer because I will not be able to get the mats and mess out of his tail.  He will get his teeth cleaned and toenails done too.  He'll feel much better.

Stewie and Kardigan got into a big fight the day before yesterday.  They were spinning around in circles trying to bite each others hind legs and undersides.  It looked like Stewie might have injured one of his teeth as his mouth was bleeding a little.  He is not showing any signs of trauma today and is still eating and spitting at his fellow alpacas.  It is always amazing to me how violent these docile creatures are when they fight.  I think they are trying to re-establish their pecking order.  Kardigan seems to be trying to be the boss and Stewie is no longer a baby and wants to assert himself too.  Prince acts like the big older brother and just kind of oversees their quarrels.  Cimarron rarely fights with any of them.  He's pretty laid back and minds his own business.

My big desert willow tree out front has had a daily visitor lately.  Every morning when I am on my Mobia machine doing my workout, I see a bright yellow and black oriole flitting around the orchid-like blooms on the tree.  I tried to get his picture this morning, but being extremely cautious, he would not let me get near enough to capture him even on film.  He is a joy to behold never the less.

It is muggy and hot this morning.  It is overcast too which makes it worse.  

I got the new alpaca halters.  Yesterday I got tired of waiting for Steve to help me fit them on the boys so I took matters into my own hands, literally! Ha!  I quietly went to the pasture and trapped all the boys in one side of their shelter.  I then managed to catch every one of them, try on his halter and spray bug spray in his ears.  I caught Prince first.  He is the oldest and seems to have had the best halter training (kudos to my friend Liz).  His halter fit pretty good and he stood perfectly still once I caught him and allowed me to do all that was necessary.  Good boy, Prince!  

The others were not so cooperative.  I caught Kardigan, the black one next, only because he seems the most desperate to get away and the least cooperative once he is caught.  Then, Cimmaron, who is white faced and rose gray.  And finally little Stewie.  He seems like he is the most afraid but also the youngest and not yet set in his ways.  I think, if I worked with Stewie, he might make a good ambassador alpaca for our farm.   

I did not sell anything at the Farmer's Market last weekend.  I think it is just too hot for people to even consider buying fleece.  So I have decided to order some finished products and go back in September.  Today I ordered some blankets, gloves and toys from a company in Florida.  Most of their stuff is imported and they have really good prices.  I have also contacted a company in California who says they make things to order from alpaca.  I am waiting for an email back from them so that I can log on to their site and order some of their products.  I am excited about this.  I hope that my business will grow and eventually make a profit.  If I cannot afford to buy more alpacas, at least I can promote their products and benefits.  And it is something I can do for myself.   
It is great actually touching the alpacas and talking to them.  I feed them everyday, twice, but I don't always spend time with them.  I should do it more often.

Monsoon, Haboob and Gila monster!  Oh my!

Hope you all had a great 4th.  All fireworks were canceled in our area due to the extreme fire danger and the fact that several wildfires were still burning.  That did not stop us from having a fantastic light show.  Mother Nature stepped in and gave us the best lightning, thunder and rain we have had in months.  And she hasn't stopped yet.  Yesterday we had another even more fantastic storm that had all the dogs hiding under the beds and all the rest of us covering our ears and moving away from the windows.  We had rain that caused a white out and flash floods.  We even had hail and hurricane force winds.

In Phoenix there was a "haboob".  That is a huge dust storm that was 30 miles wide and thousands of feet in the air.  If you ever saw the movie, "The Mummy", it looked like the dust storm in that movie.  I thought we were going to have one of those here tonight.  I could see lots of dust and sand over Tucson this evening.  We also had thunderstorms again but nothing like yesterday and the 4th.  I suspect we may get more rain during the night.  Clouds were building south of us again as it got dark.

Saturday night Buddy started his snake alarm bark again.  I went out and he was dancing around the stump of the old pomegranate tree.  I could see a head close to the ground that jumped at him a few times.  I yelled at Steve, "I think we have another snake!"  I then went toward Buddy and told him to "Leave It!"  which is a command to help keep him safe.  Of course, he doesn't want to obey immediately.  Looking down I realized that there was no snake this time.  It was a 6 inch Gila Monster.  Steve got the shovel instead of the gun and we put the monster in a bucket.  It was hissing and jumping at us the whole time and I already knew they are also poisonous so we didn't take any chances.  I wanted the grandkids to see it though.  So we kept it overnight and showed all the kids the next day.  We discovered from our reptile book that we had a rare banded gila monster instead of a usual randomly spotted one.  We also discovered that they are all protected and endangered.  Steve called the Desert Museum to see if they wanted the monster.  They said they do not take animals.  So after everyone got a chance to look at him we released him in the wash at the bottom of our hill.  I hope he lives long and prospers.


The crickets are everywhere.  There is no place to go where you cannot hear their chirping and it goes on all night.  I killed several in our bedroom last night but managed to miss one.  I did manage to sleep in spite of the racket.  We searched and found more of the pests tonight but I haven't heard the one in our room yet.  Maybe he moved out!  Praise the Lord for small miracles! Ha!

Our little bird did not last the second night.  I was sorry it died but wasn't really expecting it to live as long as it did.  It was just too young and still needed its mother.  We enjoyed its presence while we could.

One little black cloud.  Two little black clouds.  Three little black clouds rushing together to make one big thunder cloud right over our little hill.  The Monsoon it finally here!  Hurrah!  Hurrah!  Yippee! The whole sky to the south and east of us eventually turned dark and nasty with lots of rumbling and sparks of lightening.  We watched and "ooohed and awwwed." It is great to have the moisture again!


While we were watching the storm, a creepy critter close to the ground caught our eyes.  The first tarantula of the season.  She didn't like us coming close to take her picture.  She arched her back and raised her front feelers high in the air as if to say "Back Off!"  We did and she hurried under a nearby rock.


As the storm got closer and the sun faded we headed inside.  Just as the door was about to close behind me, Buddy started barking loudly and insistently.  I turned in the doorway and could hear the loudest rattling I have ever heard!  Yikes!  "We have a rattlesnake!"  I yelled to Steve and Sara.  Buddy was at the gate pacing and barking.  I didn't dare let him out.  I looked toward the pool but couldn't see anything.  I could hear him though, loud and clear.  Then I saw our cat, Mikie, jump away from the big agave by the pool.  And that rattling kept on going.  I grabbed a long handled rake from the garage.  Steve came out with the rifle and Sara with the big flashlight.  We crouched down searching the agave, the tree trunks and the cactus where the unique sound of danger continued.  Finally, Sara and I could see the distinct diamond pattern that gives the diamond back rattler its name. The body we could see was as thick as my forearm. But no head!  Where the devil is the head?  Then low to the ground, tongue flicking we saw it in the center of the beam from the flashlight.  Steve got the gun ready but said he couldn't see the head.  Sara, lower to the ground said, "I'll do it!  I can see it!"  Steve handed over the gun.  Sara tried to balance herself but got the giggles for a minute so she shifted and took aim.  "POP!"  A single shot. A perfect hit.  The rattling stopped and the snake slid into the hole it was poking its ugly head out of two seconds before.  What a relief!  We couldn't see any more because it was completely dark now and the thunder storm was getting ominously closer.  We vowed we would find the snake in the morning.


This morning we searched for the snake.  We found the hole and figured he was dead down there under the agave somewhere.  That is probably a good thing as the smell will be hidden under all that dirt.  Funny how big the snake has gotten with the retelling of the story though.  Steve told Shawna today that, "We only saw the thing because it was so big it was trying to eat my truck!"
 

The fires seem to be almost under control.  It is a relief but we still must be vigilant until the rains come.   The weather has been extremely hot, over 100 degrees every day this week.  I noticed the wind had changed this morning when I was out feeding the animals.  It has been coming from the north or southwest for this whole dry time.  This morning it was coming gently from the southeast.  That is usually a sign that moisture and the monsoon rains are coming.  July isn't far away.  I hope the weather people are wrong and the rain comes at the usual time on the 4th of July instead of waiting two weeks into the month as they are predicting.  Many cities have canceled their fireworks because of the extreme fire danger.  That is just fine with me.

I sold another fleece at the Farmer's Market yesterday.  This time it was a fleece from one of my little angora goats.  It was the first sheering from one of them.  I got $20 for it, so a profit this time since it only cost $10 to have him sheered.  I also sold some rolags that I had made from some white alpaca fleece.  That was one ounce of fleece for $5.  Many people are stopping to talk about alpacas or the fleece.  My business cards are being asked for and given out.  All of this is a good thing for my business.  I also found a company that I can order alpaca products from wholesale.  They are having a special sale if I order by July 19.  Then I will have hats and gloves, scarves, socks and toys available for sale in the fall.  I am telling people that too.  This week I hope to have time to make a couple more aprons and maybe some Fourth of July pillows for sale next week.


The girls went to another Steampunk event.  They looked great as you can see by the pictures.  The grands and I played in Steve's pickup while the girls got ready to go.


Steve and Logan found the tiniest baby bird I have ever seen in the yard yesterday.  I was at the Farmer's Market and they texted me a message that one of the turkey eggs had hatched!  Ha!  I knew as soon as I saw that tiny thing that it was not a turkey!  I put a quarter next to it so you can get an idea how big it isn't!  I think it is a quail baby.  We have lots of Gambrell quail running wild around our property.

It is still extremely hot but the winds have died down significantly.  I did not see any large plumes of smoke anywhere when I looked over the landscape this morning.  However, people were still being evacuated today.  The firefighters started a back fire in the Huachuca Mountains to try to keep the Monument fire away from population centers and the Army base.  It is still a dangerous situation.  

I got our important papers together today and placed them in a metal box.  My alpaca halters arrived and I bought two leads for them.  I looked online and found a place in Tucson that sells livestock trailers.  Steve and I will go on Saturday after the Farmers' Market and see if we can get a good trailer.  We may not ever have to use it but I will feel better having it available just in case.

We celebrated our granddaughter Eden's 4th birthday on Sunday, along with Steve's birthday and Father's Day.  I made Korean barbecued steak and chicken on sticks.  Shawna made a beautiful cowgirl boot cake for her daughter. And both birthday kids got lots of gifts.  It was a fun day.

On the front porch, we have a new swallows' nest.  Looks like they hatched the first batch of new babies this year.  I can see 3 baby birds in the nest but was not able to get all 3 in a picture.

It has been at least 100 degrees everyday and we have been in the pool every day.  It was much nicer today without the blasted wind.  Steve and grandson Logan have seen one rattlesnake so far.  No one else has seen one on our property this year so far...knock on wood.  The one they saw went off down the hill so I hope it stays away.  

The ground is so dry it fairly crackles when I walk across the yard.  Whenever we do get rain, it will probably not soak in because of the months of dry.  We will probably get catastrophic flash floods at first.  We are on a big hill so mostly it will run off our property.  We may have trouble getting across the arroyo at the bottom of our hill.  At this point, I wouldn't really care.  I would welcome any rain that comes our way.