This lovely creature is Donkey. Donkey has issues one is his tongue hangs out when he is having a slow moment also when he sleeps. He hates winter he looks very dejected and hangs his head down and dreams of warmer countries. He does love to be pet and he is very affectionate the first thing he dis when he arrived here several years ago is bellowed out a huge Heehaw and tried to stomps on some baby goats. You can not help but LOVE him even though he is quite useless and does not have to work a second for his keep.

Meet Handsome

My middle son's roosters

Oliver the duck, he likes to think he can fly but he is way too fat!

The dogs are all barking outside it makes me worried my dad saw a mother bear and three cubs at 9am this morning. It is the same route my son and I take to go to the big hay field where we meet for him to change pipes I think I will take a stick tomorrow my oldest son has bear spray I might borrow it. I love to see bears I get all happy and excited but I don't like to see them on my property I hope she doesn't have a taste for baby Alpaca's they are so little and helpless.
I am still painting my hall man is it a slow process but it does look nice it will be so pretty but I have a funny feeling I am running out of paint go figure. I have a bookshelf set on the wall I have painted a nice creamy white and it looks good against the green.
I have an amazing selection of books I join book clubs and I purchase these great books all sorts of gardening , beautiful home books, crafts, knitting, crocheting, spinning weaving felting, novels, a whole library on animals and farming 100's 100's.
If you ever got stuck at my house you could live for months on end and never ever get bored it is very good for ones spirit.
On that good note I am off to bed 3 hours sleep did not cut it last night I couldn't sleep if you paid me but I did read a nice book called Susannah's Garden.

My beautiful new cake plate

I bought this lovely cake plate in Kamloops on the weekend. It is so pretty.

Today I finally started to paint my hall not a fun job but it will feel so good to have it done. We also named our three baby girl Alpacas the oldest is "Wick" read that in a book, the middle girl is "Willow", and our new little surprise girl is "Feline" off Bambi. Tomorrow maybe I will get time to take photo's of them and post it for you all to see. I am still preparing the loom, I did not work on it today maybe tomorrow if I get a moment. Well I must go to bed so I can make sure all my workers get up in time for their jobs.

He thinks he is very funny!

This is what my youngest son is going to look like if he does not quit eating...

My first weaving

I have finally found time to take off my first weaving it took me awhile to get into it but after you stick with it for awhile it becomes quite fun.

This is Mohair and it has a lovely feel to it.
Now I just have to figure out what to do with the edges that hang out and what to do with the actual piece.

Good Morning
After a very sleepless night three hours sleep. My oldest son went to his first bush party not far from here about a twenty minute drive but non the less I worried, I stressed, I was grouchy, I felt sick ,I hate having to let my kids grow up!!!!!! He and three friends went they came to pick him up then they came here and stayed the night. I sat up and tried not to dose off he was to be home at 1:30am my husband set his alarm and had the phone with him in case he needed a ride 1:45 he phoned they were just leaving fine LATE but fine it was 2:08 when he drove up the driveway. I was so relieved then of course I could not sleep so I lay awake then woke up at 5:50am to get my youngest son ready to go to his job changing pipes.

I did take off my practice weaving off my loom last night so now I am putting those little silver bits with the holes for the wool to go through which is a bit time consuming and my goal is to make a blanket only time will tell and of course I am just going to wing it.
I was quite excited when I went to the Canadian Goat Society Register to see my Angora goats have been added to my name. Now to work on that darn web page it has been such a long winded process and no help can I find!
Well I am off to find coffee have a good weekend.

Busy, crazy week is nearly over where does the time go the days are flying by. Today we had a huge surprise today my Alpaca boys are always causing a commotion fighting, chasing the girls. So today was no different and I heard them fighting I kept looking out the window they were chasing the girls trying to breed them then my mom came over and said I had better go over there and stop them. Yesterday my one male Alpaca had his head stuck in the fence while the other one was fighting it and trying to bite it. So off I went and it had all settled by the time I got there except there was a tiny newborn Cria laying in the middle of the pen . I was in so much shock I could not feature she had a baby they were due this Spring I had taken the males out of the girls pen June 4, 2006 and then the shearer came June 17, 2006 so no other contact was made... Totally crazy. She had a a little red baby girl we were so lucky all three babies were girls.

Earlier this week one of my Angora Goats broke both of her horns there was blood everywhere we put on this spray to stop the blood but what a mess. Then two days later my daughters young horse has put a gash in his leg about 7 inches long and about 1 1/2 inch wide. Then my parents were away so I was in charge of moving pipes looking after the pool so the hose to the garden has an inch long slit water spraying everywhere the pool pump quit working and water spraying all over the pool shed.
When I look back at all the disasters it is easy to see why Friday is coming so soon.

A very busy day, a very busy week. My kids have had a lot of friends coming and going plus they have been working and on top of it all we are doing many projects at home. My younger girls wanted to switch rooms and guess who is doing all the work...ME I really need to learn to say no.
I did move my loom into the main part of my house it won't stay here though because it is way too big but I would like to get off the projects I have on and start a new one. I am still plugging away on my lovely shawl I have been working on the wool is lovely. When I travel I have been working on crocheted freestyle flowers and when I get a bunch together I will think of something to make. Well off to bed must be up by 5am talk to you all tomorrow.

This was the entertainment in my front yard today while I was in town. I so hate absolutely hate, hate, hate, hate SNAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

A trip to the Lake

This was taken the day we went to pick up our girls. The water was beautiful.

I'm seeing Blue

Blueberries

My oldest daughter has decided to paint her room that is fine she picked the colour. I can read her like a book she is not sure on the colour but it will stay then she painted all the furniture from white to cream. It was just about done I went in the bath came out and she is painting it all white now... It is bad enough it is all lovely Antique furniture that we painted to start with.
I am seeing blueberries and raspberries I have spent all afternoon washing blueberries and freezing them and then picking raspberries and washing them then freezing them also. I do have a good bunch in the freezer now for winter and a good load of freezer jam too. Well I must go to bed off to get my girls in the morning.

Not a whole lot is new around here our days are busy with Summer activity yesterday I picked more Raspberries and today I should finish picking them. So at the moment in our sink is many Raspberries and Blueberries that need rinsing and them off to the freezer.
It is very cool this morning I froze last night while I was trying to sleep it is amazing how the weather jumps around cooking us one minute cold the next.
My two youngest girls come home tomorrow it has been three weeks since I have seen them it will be nice to have every one home for a while, give them a week or two and they will be ready to go visit my sister again.
I must run and go start my day have a wonderful weekend.

Rain, Rain all day it is very nice we so needed it. It gave me an excuse to bake I made chocolate brownies with fresh cherries mixed in and then chocolate chip cookies but certain young boys think it is okay to eat chocolate chips so I think there may of been 20 chocolate chips in the whole mixture so in went fresh cherries also.
I get side tracked outside very easy the main problem of my life is leaving the water running I think oh I'll just run and do this and before you know it several hours later my dad comes to hunt me down to find out what water is running. Sure enough it was pouring rain out which is no big deal but I was trying to get the boys in the house out of the thunder and lighting and I forgot the water for ... 3 1/2 hours. OOPPS !!
I have been washing a small bucket of Mohair locks it seems to be coming quite nice. My Mohair Fibre has me stressing out and I am not sure why I usually jump in with two feet and don't look back until a job is done. Maybe because I have never had this much fibre to deal with maybe I know I can't really afford it maybe I don't know over my head. I am waiting for my oldest son to get home from work he left home at 3:30 am and is still not home they had truck troubles in Kamloops my husband just went into Lower Nicola to go meet him.
Do you see a trend here I am always waiting, waiting for kids.
Talk to you all soon

Thought I would add a post as I wait for my oldest daughter to return form Kamloops it is after 9pm and she is still sitting in an Arena waiting for her boy friend to get off the ice... can you hear me fuming... damn kids growing up...
Today was a good day painted for my mom and dad sorted my wool and do I have wool actually Mohair so much and that is in the barn not counting what I have boxed up 67lbs of Kid mohair and in my house a floor to ceiling closet of processed fibre I could spin until I am 100 and still never run out then add on another 80 or so more years to stuff I have purchased. I am sure there is a name for people like me.
The other night my oldest son went to the river towards town and ran into 3 bears and two deer the one bear was ahead of them barrelling towards two other boys so my son and his friend started to shout at the bear the other two boys did not even notice him. My mom went out today and bought him some bear spray it is very expensive and she had to sign for it but if he ever has to use to save his life it will be worth it. Have a great night

Finally the last of the Cherries are picked some have been made into jam some with the pips taken out and frozen and many, many ate. there are still some raspberries to be picked but need a few more days to ripen. I wonder if you could dye wool with raspberries? I bet the seeds would get in the way! I have not done much in the craft area of things just can't seem to get motivated. I still have a headache right above my eyes not a huge headache just enough to put a damper onto things.
Anyways I am counting the days for my girls to come home it will be three weeks this weekend since they left and I need them home now. They are having fun I have talked everyday to them sometimes three four times a day.
Well I am off to find a bed morning seems to be coming early around here. Have a great night.

Not to much is happening here on the farm. I made more Raspberry Jam and Cherry Jam yesterday so that will be nice to have in the winter. It is nice to go outside and come straight in to make jam with such fresh berries. From our yard we can eat raspberries, cherries, lettuce, radishes, a few strawberries now from Dad's garden you can eat all the rest of the wonderful summer garden Veges.
I am waiting for my middle son so I can walk him down to neighbors field this morning he changes pipes with them for a few hours several times a week. So I should go get him organized and see if I can go find something for this headache I have had for three days.

Photo's from our travels

Today was a quieter day mainly because I have had a headache so bad I can not move my head so as soon as I type this it is off to bed. I have talked to all my children on the phone they all seem to be having fun I will be glad to get them home again.
It was very warm here today not as sunny but still hot we could use a good rain again there has been rain around us but not here. I am very close to giving up on my web page I am loosing heart very, very, very frustrating.
Anyways I hope all is well have a good night .

As many know I love rocks I have many, many rocks in our front yard. When mowing the lawn last night and watering I saw two snakes there is nothing more in this world that I hate more than SNAKES...I hate them they make me jump I get creepy crawly feelings, I can feel sick I HATE SNAKES!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! So I told my children loving little creatures that they are we are going to move every single rock out of the front yard it went silent, faces dropped and three young boys said I'm not doing I am not moving rocks... NO WAY we just moved them all in there...Ungrateful bunch. I have no intention of moving any rocks at this moment just like to see the reaction I would get:)
We have been busy just keeping the animals cool yard work and I have been working on a web page and that is slower than molasses in the middle of winter.
I should run have a good night.

Summer splash

Enjoy the moment

It's late I have finally finished my book work what a boring job remind me not to become a book keeper. Goodness I give people credit who can do that job day after day....I am thankful of my accountants if I had my way I would hand it all over to them.
I am thinking of how to do my web page it is very hard to know the right way to go about it I would like to add a shopping cart but I am just not sure if I should go PayPal or there are some available on the internet. I have the internet man coming out tomorrow to set mine to the web maybe I will ask what he recommends. Just thought I would check in now I must got to bed.
spell check had decided not to work tonight so if something is wrong just over look it.

The weather is just perfect for a swim I love summer holidays. When I take the kids swimming I do a little knitting while I watch them. We have one huge rule No swimming without an adult. All my kids can swim really good but as you can tell by the pictures there is one more hay wire than the next.

I was looking into my picture program I laughed so hard it seems the boys had the camera again. Some of the photo's are so funny. We are enjoying hot summer days of swimming, picking berries and a little work so it makes it all good.

You could not pay a million dollars to do this off a diving board.

Just a quick post to touch base. Today was a busy day weeding the garden, sorting wool it is amazing how fast the day's go. Tomorrow I am off to have lunch at one of the neighbors so that should be nice. My middle son has to be at the neighbors for 6am to change pipes I hope I don't sleep in and not wake him up in time. My oldest daughter is at day 2 tomorrow on her new job she is pretty funny heading off to work it is quite odd you can't hear her stomping her feet the whole way :)

well I must run and go to bed have a good night.

Burton's New Dog House

My oldest son built his dog a new dog house, he calls it Burton's Play boy mansion and told him he could meet girl dogs...

He does look rather happy heaven forbid if he chews it.

Lavender Cookies

Today I made Lavender cookies

and Lavender sugar. They are very pretty and taste good tool

I do not have a picture but they are iced in a lovely lavender colour butter icing. Today was warm but nice it would be wonderful if Mother nature would give us a good rain once week .

These Raspberries

Were made into this Freezer Jam. Today I made two batches of Freezer Raspberry jam. It is very easy to do and it tastes real good.

Summer Fun

Last day of school ... the start of summer fun...