Holiday Break

Webshots photo by Don Paulsom
This is the photo I have on my screen savor.

Fall Color

We still have some trees with autumn colored leaves on them.


This one caught my eye like a beacon in the back of our property. The sun was shining through the leaves making it glow golden goodness.

Clearing Property

We hired someone to clear a section of our property. I picked a handful of trees I wanted to save and marked them with pink ribbon so he would not bull doze them over.


It only took the guy 2 days and he did an awesome job. We plan to build a barn next year on this cleared land and put some fencing up to add more pastures. With the land cleared it will be easy to plant some grass seed next spring.


Chris found this huge antler on the back of the property. It has 5 rungs which means I think 5 years. Our neighbor whom is a lumberjack told us that our ranch is on old Native American tribal grounds. If you look hard enough you can find arrow heads. If we actually wanted to dig deep enough we might be able to find some pottery and objects they might have used in their day to day living.

Christmas Stocking Update

I cast on for the Scandinavian Christmas Stocking. I am working on the Cuff. I love the color combo, makes me want a cup of cocoa with some raspberry syrup.

Chris and I are heading to Oregon to spend time with my In-laws for Thanksgiving. I might even get a chance to go to a LYS in Portland Oregon. I decided to make up a list of future knit projects and yarn requirements to bring with me so I am not a deer in head lights walking into a large yarn shop.

Have a wonderful Thanksgiving and may all your wishbone dreams come true.

Time for Treats

Here is a photo of the alpacas lining up around the 4 wheeler for a treat of alfalfa. Alpaca babies will milk their moms for about 6 months. Some of our moms have been milking since spring. Around this time when the grazing material is not that nutrient filled, we will give the alpacas a bit of alfalfa as a treat. Alfalfa is too rich to give them on a regular basis. If alfalfa is available to them they will always choose the alfalfa over any other grazing material. It is not good for them to eat too much of the stuff. Boy do they love it. We give it to them on occasion to help some of the Moms that are still milking to replenish some of their nutrients and to help them maintain a healthy weight going into winter.


Here is Radley trying to figure out what the big deal is about grass Hay. He is still too young to fully process the hay but he is giving it a try. They are just like babies they kind of explore their world with their mouths. You will often see them tasting the fencing and sticks and whatever else is around.



This is Macho Latte. Remember him? He was born last July 7th. They grow up so fast. He is my problem child. Out of all the babies born this year he gives me the hardest time. He has lived up to his name since birth. When he was born he needed absolutely no help from us and has been calling the shots. Thankfully his Mom is a no nonsense alpaca and will keep him in his place when need be. Back when he was born he gave me the hardest time for his regular weigh ins. Picking him up and carrying him over to the scale was like carrying a Tasmanian devil. LOL. I was so happy when he reached 25 pounds then I did not have to weigh him regularly anymore. He and I are starting to come to terms. I have started harness training the babies born this past spring and summer. Of course he is the one giving me the most grief.

You want to harness train your alpacas as soon as you feel they are old enough to fit in a harness. The older they are the harder it will be for you and for them. If your alpacas are trained on a harness it makes certain activities so much easier. Like when the vet comes, or when you need to move them to a trailer for transport. Or even just trimming their nails.

Pumpkin Seeds

We just finished up the last of the Pumpkin seeds Chris baked up from the pumpkins I carved. They were good. He made a spicy batch and a garlicky batch. He is still not completely satisfied with the end result. I let him mess with them I refuse to make them anymore. Mine never came out right.

Christmas Stocking

My yarn finally arrived from Webs for my Scandinavian Christmas Stocking. I chose to use Classic Elite Classic One Fifty, it is 100% fine merino. The colors are Orchid #7232, Chestnut #7238, & Daisy #7202. I am hoping to get started this weekend. Where does the time go?