May G-d bless Israel.  This was too beautiful not to share.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=DyBToUaon2w

This is the IDF Chief Cantor and IDF soldiers singing the prayer "Unetanneh Tokef".  I don't know exactly what that means in Hebrew but since this is the Yom Kippur weekend I know it is about that.  Enjoy whether you are Jewish or not.

We found a new friend!  This little frog was hiding in an old tarp we were going to use to cover up the hay in the truck until we could unload the hay.  We have several of these frog or toads around on the farm.  We used to have one that was about as big as your hand, but haven't seen him in quite a while.

Dexter did find one one night while we were parking the car.  He was carrying it around in his mouth.  Ugh!  I'd think they wouldn't taste very good.  He dropped it but I think it may have been hurt, Dexter isn't very careful sometimes.

But we have several little ones up at the pool.  Sometimes in the pool.  Maybe its a 'she'?

This week we made some goat cookies for our new babies.  They are still awfully shy and don't want us to touch them yet.  That will have
to change soon if we are going to be able to comb out the cashmere when they start to shed their fiber in the spring.  They have to be able to stand and let us comb them, sometimes for quite a while. 

The other cashmeres we had were too friendly and would overwhelm me when I went into their pen.  They were very jealous and wanted to be the only one who got any attention.  These guys don't seem quite so needy but they are starting to eat out of our hands, that is if we have the right treats for them.

Animal crackers seem to be the favorite, so far.

Remember that picture I took of them in the pen right after we got them?  All green and tall, lush grass?  Well, check out the pen now.  It sure doesn't take them long to learn to like that grass.

They have eaten this down practically to the dirt in some places.  Fortunately, we are supposed to be getting around 4-5 days of rain this week.  I hope it greens up a little, at least.

These guys are so funny, they love chasing each other around in the pen, jumping up on or over the upside down wash tub I sit on when I'm out there.

And the picture at the very top of the blog was Smoky getting too nosy about my camera when I was feeding him this morning.  Ha!

The picture at the top is our kitty River.  She's crazy.

And what happened to all that green grass?!  Smoky says he has no idea.  He and his two pals have eaten everything green in the pen.  So now as the summer rolls on everything left is brown or dirt.  Such good weed eaters.  If they were just a little bigger I would put them over in the pasture.

But we can't do that yet.  GE is so little and his head and horns are so tiny he continues to stick his head through the wire field fence and get stuck.  He has just about figured out how to get himself loose, but not every time.  So we keep him close where we can hear him when he cries for help.

Otherwise these guys are soooo quiet.  Very unlike the pygoras who cried for us all the time.

We got up at 5am this morning so we could go get hay by 7am.  I always need time for coffee and computer fixes before I go anywhere.

Somehow he got 17 bales on our little short bed Chev Silverado.  Daughter went to pick them up.  We had quite a storm with heavy rain, thunder and lightening last night so until we can get them all unloaded we parked the truck in the carport next to the house.

We will be unloading them into our 'shed'.  It is on blocks so just about the same height as the tailgate and all we have to do is slide them over rather than bucking into the other little metal shed.  We will be putting a few in there but for the most part they will be put in the big shed and the rest into our barn out in the pasture.

That way they will be dry and safe all winter.  Just a few more steps to get them.  Oh well, at least we have them now.  And one or two (?) more trips to get the other half of the 40 I'm thinking will get us through winter.

I couldn't wait!  I just had to post this.  We went to the Fair today and it seems I have won not only a Blue Ribbon but a Special Premium Award.  I entered my white scarf I wove this year thinking I had really blown it on the fringe.  I guess not.

Anyway, I'm very thankful I can still weave.  And there were some really beautiful pieces there.  Lots of gorgeous quilts, yarns, clothing ... just about anything hand made.

My niece and I went and looked at about everything they had.  We saw the draft horses (my my, are they HUGE), goats, bunnies, alpacas, sheep, and food.  :-)

If it wasn't so expensive I would probably go every day, there is so much to see.

Our little goats are getting just a tiny bit more friendly.  The little guy, GE continues to get his head stuck between the wires in the field fencing.  He was so stuck the other day my daughter had to go into the pen, lift him up and turn him so she could free his little horns out the hole.  Easy to get into, but not so easy to get out.

Of course he was screaming and jumping around the entire time.  But she held on after she got him loose and sat down on a wash tub they like to stand on, holding him all the time like you would a baby or child.  I brought out some ginger snaps (they Love those) and he quieted right down.  Nibbled them all and figured out it wasn't that bad after all.

And we got a collar on him finally!  The other two will make a mistake and we will get them one of these days.  Smoky is the friendliest, he will come and take food out of my hand but I haven't tried catching him yet.  They are all much faster than I am.  Egypt continues to be very standoffish.  He is so beautiful!  And they don't yell at us all the time like the pygoras used to.  Ahhh, peace!

We're home!  These little guys are so adorable.  Very sweet but not too friendly yet.  The first day home was spent by them tearing around their pen running face-first into the fencing.  They were so afraid ... of everything.

We left them alone after getting the pen ready and being unable to not spend at least a little time with them.  They finally figured out they love the sweet grass and weeds, found their water and feed but stayed in the corner all night.

I left our Great Pyrenees, Bella, out in the yard so she'd be near them.  We have lots of coyotes roaming the woods around the house.  Her fur was very damp when she came in the house the next morning which tells me she laid out in the yard near them.

Then last night she was out with them again but barked All night long.  When I got up and looked out the window this morning, I saw two in the pen and one hiding behind the shed.  I believe Bella barked all night to keep predators away from the little guy who got out just in case any were around.

Here's a picture of me watching the babies, I can't stay away from them!  I am in the pen and outside the pen, pulling branches off our little maple tree that gives them shade so they will come over to see me.  I have missed our goats and alpaca so much these last couple years.  I feel like a mom again now.

Since they are cashmeres, we will begin combing them so they get used to it before they get too large.  Their cashmere is already Gorgeous.  The black one, Smoky, will have dark gray fiber.  The littlest one will probably have a light gray fiber and the beautiful beige one will most likely have beige fiber, but very light.

I was going to get all white ones, but when I saw these I couldn't resist.  Their colored fibers will be blended with the white alpaca I have and should make exquisite yarns.


While we were outside this morning, I took this picture of one of the many many chem trails they are spraying all over north Idaho and WA state.  No one will answer what they are for.  Do they know?  Will it hurt us, or our food growing, our animals, the grass they eat?  C'mon.  This is very suspicious, at least to more than a few of us up here.

I think someone should at least address this.  We can't even get our weather people up here to say.  These are not simply airplane exhaust up high in the cold air that we've seen for so many years.  Those actually disappear after a very short distance.  These trails go forever.

You can see in this picture the little puffs of whatever they are spraying.  It sure makes me nervous.  Well, have a good day!

We had the most incredible rain storm with lightening and a little thunder last night.  Watching our weather news this morning it was said the weather service had tracked 10,335 lightening strikes from 10pm until 2am this morning!  I wish I had thought to take a couple pictures.  It really looked like a war outside.

Our weather had been so incredibly hot (for us) and with the storm very muggy.  The humidity this morning around 7am was still at 71%.  We are usually really dry here.

I couldn't stand it another summer without some animals, so have decided to get three (I think) cashmere wethers.  These little guys are only 2-3 months old so we can train them to come and get their feed, sleep in the little goat shed and all the other things we want them to do.  My first two were females, Hope and Faith.  When I hurt my back I had to sell them to a wonderful new owner, also a spinner, and she has successfully bred them every year.  They are certainly fortunate to have Janice on her beautiful farm.  A lot nicer than when they were here. 

I will try to do things differently this time.  I have always fed our animals way too much.  With those little pygora rascals, it was so obvious!  They were wethers but looked pregnant!  This time I won't over indulge them.  Or spoil them.  Ha!

So here are the three pretty boys I'm thinking of getting.  They are cashmere so won't need shearing.  We usually trim their hoofs ourselves, sometimes need the farm vet to come out to give them vaccinations or check if they seem ill.  Pumpkin (in the can) is something we've used in the past for worm prevention, but our vet thinks its funny.  The goats seem to like it however.

I will be posting more if we bring these little guys home on Tuesday.  :->

 
On a another note, I love my Kindle Fire.  The other night I picked it up to use and it looked like this.  I thought one of us at home here had dropped it.  After my daughter checked it out with some friends we discovered the battery had exploded.  I'd never heard of that.  But its ok now, they are providing a new one to me.  Yipee.

 We've been digging potatoes for the last couple days.  The chickens had started to scratch around in the garden and had uncovered more than a few.  We finally decided to see just what we had out there.

We'd planted red, white, and had some volunteer purple ones from last summer.  They are all so beautiful!  Some of them have been eaten by a mole or vole.  They have tiny little bite marks in them and are nearly hollowed out with the skin still intact.

But these were perfect.  We have  about three large baskets so far.  We've had them for dinner last night and tonight in two different ways.  Oh my, are they ever good.

We also have onions, radishes and did have beets but something has eaten them.  First the tops went to the chickens along with the kale, then the beets completely disappeared.  No telling what happened to them.  Oh well, always next summer I guess.

Here's a picture of a bunch of potatoes my daughter just picked.  My niece was delighted to get the biggest one of the day!

Oh, almost forgot.  We have eggs!  I've never seen such small eggs though.  They are shorter than my thumb and could almost slip through my thumb and index finger.  So far this week we've gotten about 8.  I dropped one on the kitchen floor.  That one went to the dog.  He LIKED it.  :-)

Also our pasture was mowed by our neighbor!!!  He came by the day I was trying to do it with my riding lawnmower.  Told me it would ruin my mower and he'd be back the next day with his brush hog.  He was and that thing is fast.   He finished it in no time.  Maybe I might just have to get one next summer if I have any money.

I've nearly finished the baby gift I'm making for my niece's baby.  Her baby shower isn't until Sept so I won't be showing it before then.  I'm not sure I'm entirely happy with it but its nice and soft so that part is ok.

My niece is going to camp Sunday.  She will be leaving in the afternoon heading up to an old Forest Service Work Camp in the mountains.  They will have swimming, horseback riding, campfires, cookouts, Bible studies.  Just lots of fun stuff.  This will be her first time at camp and she is very excited.  I remember going to camp as a child.  What a great memory!

And she loves s'mores.  We made them a couple years ago, she never had had them previously.

 This week we've had the pleasure of picking cherries from our little cherry tree in the orchard!   It has really grown since we moved here and this is the first crop we have had.  Well, last year we had about five cherries and they all got eaten while we were standing there admiring the little tree.   This year we have a bumper crop.  We still have more beauties at the very top but the tree has grown too high, even for our 20' ladder and its not very big around so not too steady when leaning the ladder.  Here's a picture of my daughter near the top and some (yes,some) of the cherries we picked.

Our little chickens are finally getting close to full-size.  They are still a little skittish but will come when we take their feed out to the garden.  I'm still mad at myself for putting them in the garden.  They have eaten the tops off everything we planted (kale, radish, beets.)  The only thing they haven't bothered is two huge sunflowers that grew as volunteers, and the potato plants.   We planted purple potatoes last year and have several of those coming up.  This year we planted red potatoes (my favorite) and have lots of those growing.  Potatoes are so easy.  Thanks to the chicks, they scratched up the rows where we planted so our veggies are spread everywhere.  But no bugs. 

Our blue berries are coming on strong now.  I actually picked two ripe ones this week that were very sweet.  The rest are getting big but are still the pale light blue color.  The apples and pears are still fairly little, their harvest season is in the fall.  Right now they're getting bigger and sweeter. 

Can't wait!

On our way to 100 °

I'm so happy our beautiful blue flowers are once again in full bloom.  Since we've had so much rain this spring they are really in abundance.

I'm still not sure what they are called.  Anyone have an idea? 

They have rather tall stalks with the clusters of purple trumpet flowers at the top.  I found one yesterday that had clusters all the way up a very tall stalk.  They seem to grow wild around here and I've only seen them one other place near us. 

We have a little place not far from us out on the hwy that has plants and veggies.  They set up a small stand with information, some plants and a money tube.  There's lots of plants out in the driveway on benches that they've started.  Boxes to put them in.  Prices are on signs so you know what you owe.  Then you just put your $ in the cash tube slot.  Its all on the honor system.  I love it.  You just don't see that much any more.  Anyway, she had some of these plants in little pots for sale but I never got to ask if they knew the name of them.

 Bella in her favorite cool spot, under our stairs with her food bowl where she can see it.  Dexter on the other hand, is sitting where he knows she can see him and get excited with him close to her dish.  They play a game every day.  She lays down, he sits on the stairs and torments her until she barks and growls and chases him away.

Even Emmy the chihuahua gets in on the act, running back and forth, hiding under the wood stove that's sitting nearby until she is noticed, then barking loudly at both dogs and Runnnnnnning as fast as her little legs will carry her.  Usually into her mom's arms for safety.

Funny thing, if no dogs or cats are around and Bella wants to play the game, she will find one of them and bark a few times, run back under the stairs until they all are playing the game.

Drives me crazy!

Well, here's what is left of my starter plants.  I had them sitting on our stone bench in the yard for more sun and watering.  Dexter must have found them and decided they looked like food.  This is all that's left.

I have found them all over in the yard (the 2-1/2  acre part), under leaves, in the driveway ... well you get the idea.  But never found any plant starts in them, just unrolled tp rolls with possibly some starter soil in them.  He must have had a real good time tossing them up in the air and trying to catch them before he ate them.

This is not a farm.  It really is a zoo!

 Just because I love looking at the woods so much I take pictures all the time, watching how they change with the months.  This is certainly a spring picture, so nice and green.

We've had so much rain lately that everything is growing in abundance, especially our weeds.  Not so much knapweed.  I think it likes the drier weather, actually hot and dusty.  Right now they are green and tender shoots that you can even pull.

I like this old rotted stump.  Its so serene and peaceful looking.  This is where the deer and moose come down to irritate the dogs I think.  Its just on the other side of our back fence.  We've never fenced it off, really no need to right now.  And we like the wildlife using it and keeping it as natural as possible.  A logger friend really cleaned it up a few years ago, getting rid of all the dead, dying and down trees.  Most of it got used for firewood.

A nice way to clean house!

The woven baby blanket for my niece is getting there, very slowly.  I couldn't figure out what colors to use so decided it will remain white, unless I come up with something in the mean time.  You just never know.  Sometimes I wake up in the night with a really brilliant idea.

Of course its always more meaningful for me at 2am than during the next day.  But ... you never know.

Tomorrow is supposed to be 80 something.  We were enjoying nice weather until last week when it turned very cold (40-50's) and rained.  Did I say rain?  You can bet it didn't stop for several days.

This next week rain will be back, but only for about three more days.  Then summer.  We always have a nice couple months right after the 4th of July.  Let's hope that happens this year too.

 Our garden is already a non-entity.  The chickens have eaten the seeds we put out, and whatever plants have grown to any size have been nibbled to death.  These on the left are just about the only ones we have left right now.  They are red potatoes planted early this spring.  I guess I got a picture of my daughter's little dog at the front.  She's a pure bred chihuahua, but looks like she's a little chiweenie.  Under five pounds, and a little ball of dynamite.

We also have a bunch of other potato plants that are what we call volunteers.  Ones that we somehow missed last fall when we were digging them, or possibly pieces of potatoes left in the frozen ground until they woke up and decided to sprout.  Those were the purple potatoes we had so many of.

They must be very hardy.  Our winters are usually dark, cold (around 0 degrees) and pretty long.  I have to admit that last winter was a pretty nice one by our standards, but still.  To hang around all that time and still be able to grow six months later is pretty remarkable.

Also still growing is the tiny little whats-left-of our rhubarb plant that has been rototilled nearly to death the last few years.  And it was so pretty.  Finally moved it to a pot and will try to grow it as a potted plant.

The picture on the right is some our blueberry bushes that yield the most glorious berries you've ever seen.  The are as big as your thumb, dark blue black and sooo incredibly sweet.

We had so many a few years ago that I froze them unwashed on cookie sheets, gathered the frozen berries into several very large zip-lock bags and tucked them into our big freezer in the carport.  We have enjoyed them so much.

Just take enough for your meal out of the bag, put into a colander and rinse under cold water to wash and also thaw them.  They are not mushy or too soft and you can sprinkle them right on your cereal in the morning, or eat them right out of your hand if you prefer.  I know you're probably not impressed with the way these bushes look, but every little round spot on them is a cluster of delicious blueberries.

One more note, at the top of the blog is a picture of some awesome dark clouds.  We took this picture this last Thursday as a storm was rolling in from the west.  I'd never seen these types of clouds before, at least not this low or close up.  It looked like you could reach up and touch them.

 Driving near our house every day there is a beautiful bison ranch just off the highway.  Silly me, I should have lowered the window in the car before taking this picture.

See how green and fresh everything is this time of year.  And these bison are LARGE.  They move them around to different pastures as time goes on.  Unfortunately I waited just a little too long to get the picture as last week they had been up closer to the road.

But you can just barely seen them over near the lake.  What a life!

 Ahhh, sweet little Emmy, my daughter's dog.  She is almost two years old now.  What a doll.  She is good natured, thinks she is a real meanie but she's not and isn't afraid of hardly anything.  When the Great Pyrenees and the border collie start barking at something outside, she is the first one at the door.

And she's the only one who gets to come into the chicken yard garden area.  She runs into their coop to see what morsel she can find.  Fortunately she's not much on the 'organic' kind if you know what I'm talking about ... the kind the chickens leave behind.  But she will find scraps of food and veggies they've missed and carry it around in her mouth.

At under five pounds, she is a little stick dynamite on four legs, very quick, very loud and verrrrry sweet.

Ok, so here's the start of my next weaving project.  I always mount my warping board (the big square with the round pegs) on the back of my Ashford loom.  Its just the right height for me and doesn't make my shoulder hurt going back and forth.

To warp (measure your length) you have to figure out how long your project will be and wrap your warp threads back and forth over the pegs.  You can see the cross at the top I'm doing.  This is all to keep the warp threads from getting tangled when its taken off until its ready to wind on the loom.  I will be taking some short pieces of a different yarn and tying these cross threads.  This will help me keep everything straight and tidy when I'm getting it from the warping board to the actual loom (which in this case is currently connected to the board).

Tune in later for more.