The Sun!!!!!

Wholly crap, the sun came out! It's actually summer again! The boys were loving it as you can see. They all headed out to the back pasture.

Nevis

Chestnut

Christopher enjoying a good roll.

I'm almost done the kitchen hand towels that are on my loom. I'm currently doing waffle weave. I have probably enough warp to do two more towels. I am anxious to get them done, off the loom & finished to see how they look. I did a two color stripe pattern at both ends of each towel.

I got some peaches today from a very generous friend's tree. I was so excited, this is the first year I've ever gotten local peaches. I made some jam today, also the first time I've made peach jam. I like that you don't really need to use any sugar because they are naturally so sweet. These still needed to ripen just a tad more so I did add a little sugar. It came out wonderfully! It was a very small batch so I will make a double batch tomorrow night after work. I just need to get some more jars. Don't they look delicious!

I also made Rosemary-Mint goat's milk soap today. I love the beautiful creamy tan color that goat's milk turns. I like to watch it as it sets up. My regular non milk soaps have to be covered up with a wool blanket so I don't get to watch to process with that kind. Goat's milk soap is soooo creamy.

Casey, my creampoint himalayan says goodnight. We are exhausted & I have to get up at 4:45am.

Still Rainy........

It's still rainy & dreary. My newly planted raspberries & Sweet Annie are doing great but my blueberries are slow to ripen & the wet weather is not so good for my poor lavenders. I am planning on doing our local farmer's market this Saturday which I will take yarn and my soaps to sell.





Here are some pics of a NICER day that we actually DID have this summer......this past July 4 when my family went to Echo Lake in the White Mountains in New Hampshire. It was a beautiful day, perfect weather.

White Horse Ledge overlooking Echo Lake

View from top of Cathedral Ledge

View of Echo Lake from top of Cathedral Ledge

Top of Cathedral Ledge (that's me, 3rd from left)

Sadie's Birthday

I'm 1 year old today!

Dreamy is the only alpaca who lays in the hay feeder. Well, I guess he has the right to since he is the head honcho around here.....translation - I can do whatever I want.....and if someone doesn't like it....I don't really care. That's his whole demeanor. He also is the only one who stands and lays in the duck's pool (which we don't have one this year). That's Christopher Gold standing next to him. Christopher was named after a Caribbean island, Dreamweaver was named after the song "Dreamweaver" by the Moody Blues.

Yep, this is my handy dandy hay feeder. It is some kind of storage bin that I got from my work. They weren't using them so they let me have one. It works great! .....and even better, it was free! You can see the two opposite sides fold down half way so it's perfect for the alpacas to feed out of. The other two opposite ends completely fold down but I don't have any need to open those ends. There were holes already drilled in the bottom to let water out. If it rains hard though and a lot of water gets in, I just tip it up and let it run out. It takes about 3 tries & all my weight but I can do it, no problem. Once I get my overhang built though, I won't need to do that anymore.

Soap fresh out of the molds. Orange-Oatmeal and Lavender. I'm going to make Rosemary-Mint this weekend and probably Maine Woods or Rose-Patchouli and I should make some goat's milk soap too before my milk goes bad.

Nevis (also named after a Caribbean island) earlier this spring.

Introduction

(Ok, this is last Sunday's post.....I ended up re-doing it.)

Hello and welcome to my blog. I am a fiber enthusiast who enjoys weaving, spinning, knitting, rug hooking and all kinds of other fiber mediums. I have a hubby, no children, stepchildren though, 5 alpacas, 2 dogs, 2 cats, 4 bunnies, and an assortment of birds. We live in south western Maine, about 40 minutes from New Hampshire's White Mountains and about 40 min. from Portland. Dreamweaver is my first alpaca who has AWESOME fleece, soooo soft & fine. He is the one pictured at the top of my blog page and hence, the name of my fiber business. I am just getting this year's fleeces skirted. I have the "seconds" for all five alpacas still to do. I am planning on taking some of them to the mini mill this week. This is Christoper Gold's "blanket".

Sadie, our boxer and Ben, our Yorkie snoozed next to me while I skirted my fleeces.

I'll probably post lots of pictures of Sadie....she is so photogenic!

Isn't that the most precious face.

Here is an action photo of Ben & Sadie that my husband took last winter. They were rough-housing in the snow. I love his photo. Doesn't Ben look vicious? You laugh, he can be quite vicious if he has a bone.....just ask my brother. Ben doesn't care that you're just teasing. He means business & doesn't think teasing is very funny.

I also have a little natural handmade soap business called Steep Falls Soap Co. I made lavender soap yesterday & orange-oatmeal today. Went outside to fill the flying saucer with water for the ducks & Dreamy decided it was for him. I didn't even get to finish filling it up. It's every 'paca for himself when it comes to getting cooled off. It was very humid today when the sun finally came out.

Then Sadie found the guinea hen's new nest & tore that apart, lost half the eggs & there were at least 12 to begin with. Naughty little girl.....

I hope Miss Guinea Henny doesn't abandon it. I put the remaining eggs back hoping she will still lay more & then hatch them. She hatched a brood of 13 earlier this summer. They were so cute! I found out right off how protective she was. I followed them until I could catch one, not even thinking about Mama.......well she came, seemingly, out of no where & scratched & pecked & beat me with her wings! I made sure I had something in my hand after that to fend her off!

Spent the past week dying Dreamy's yarn with Gaywool Bush Dyes. I just love them, they are such beautiful colors. I do the cold process method with Dreamy's fiber because it is soooo fine that it starts to felt if I simmer it. I found that I actually like doing the cold process better, with the Gaywool dyes anyway.

We had another thunderstorm today. Sadie was a little nervous, pacing with one of her stuffed toys in her mouth. Well, it's actually Sam's (my stepdaughter's) but Sadie makes regular trips into Sam's room to claim stuffed animals for her own.

Well, I guess I should end this for today. My mouth is watering for some ice cream..........

Guinea Nest Saved

Well, the guinea hen did reclaim her nest. She actually moved it back to where it was originally....guess she didn't like the spot I chose.....and there are a few more eggs. Now to keep the Sadie-meister away from it.....now there's a task.

Ah yes, fresh carrots for all the bunnies this evening. I try to give them something fresh every evening during the summer......carrots, dandelion greens, clover. Below is Bunny Fru Fru with the wild doo. He's a Lionhead bunny. The next pic is Hocus (who is shedding his coat). He's my husband's magic bunny. Yes, I said "magic". My husband is a magician, but that is another post.

So I had to choose a year with a ridiculously rainy summer to plant a bunch of lavender. They were starting to rot some about 3 weeks ago but luckily they appear to have recovered from that.

It's sometimes difficult to get good pics of Dreamy because he doesn't stay still long enough, so here's one I just took that I was happy with.



On my way to my hair stylist last night, what I think was a lynx crossed the road up ahead of me. One month ago, one crossed the road in front of my sister as she was going home from my house & it was in the same vicinity. I wish I could have gotten a better look. Several years ago, someone told me he saw one in the big field in back of my house. Now I can tell him I saw one in his neighborhood. Think I'll do some research online.