No snow yet! I'm so glad, I still have work to complete outside before it does. Yesterday I took six of our chickens to be butchered. They certainly looked a lot bigger with their feathers on. She does it so quickly. It would have taken me most of the day, it took her about 1/2 hour total. Thank You! I can't wait to eat them. If you've never had fresh chicken, you are in for a real treat if you ever get the chance. A few weeks ago I was blessed with a Clemes carder by a friend. I've been carding a Gotland fleece I started several years ago. Gotland wool is from New Zealand and is what they made those beautiful capes from in the movie Lord of the Rings. It is so crimpy that I didn't want to use my big carder, afraid it would be too much. This carder is just perfect for it. Now I can spin the beautiful silver fiber either alone or blend it on the big carder with something else. That's my favorite, a gorgeous natural fiber blended with a dyed or over-dyed fiber. That's what makes the heathered yarns I'm so partial to. Pictures if I ever get it done. Nephew coming this weekend from out of state. Hope he likes the farm.

What a tragic day. At 4am and again at 4:45 am this morning I heard a chicken squawking. Since it is very dark up here at that time I waited until it was light to see what was wrong. I found two dead chickens, one in the yard and one out by the orchard. I think I've finally figured out there's an owl that hunts at night that may kill them and partially eat one. Then in the daylight we have a very aggressive hawk that will swoop down right next to the porch and try to get the chickens. So far this month I've lost about six I think. Some were babies, but some were the moms that were trying to protect the little chicks. Our last remaining mother chicken I rescued today from the hawk. She looks like she has been through a windstorm with her feathers half gone and the rest all sticking out. The goats and alpacas are all doing so well together. I had a three-sided shed built so they can get out of the weather. They seem to like it ok, but this morning everyone had frost on their coats from laying out in the freezing air in the pasture instead of inside the shed. Silly things. With everything going on ... leaves to rake, apples to pick, chickens to rescue I haven't had much time to do much fibery stuff, although I did start spinning some of Oso's beautiful and soft black alpaca fiber. The two scarves on the loom haven't been touched since way last summer but I'm hopeful I can get back to finish them before too long. After all, Christmas is coming!

The month of Sept has flown by. Already we are putting away the summer tools and preparing for winter. How quickly time passes when you are so busy. I was in Arizona for a few days. The heat is oppressive, 92 degrees on the porch at 8:30pm, air conditioners still going strong. Our nights up here are so cool and fresh with the days in the fall warm and sunny. I was so glad to get home to both families ... human and otherwise. Yesterday my wonderful friends Mary and Stan from Aspen Alpacas brought me two more beautiful gelded alpacas named Raulito and Coop. They are both a rich copper color and the fiber is incredibly soft. It will be next spring before they get sheared and I can't wait to start spinning some of it. The turquoise dyed alpaca and apricot silk yarn I made a while ago was from another of Aspen's geldings, Diego. I gave the yarn to Mary for a scarf she will be making. How fun. You go girl! Here's a picture of the two latest additions to our farm.

I just realized today is the last day of August and I haven't done anything here this month. It really feels like fall already, last night was cold at about 39 degrees. The weather is usually so beautiful this time of year, dark blue skies, warm sunny days but cold nights. We are hopeful that this winter will not be as brutal as the last one. Just in case it is, today my daughter and I finished putting up the cattle panels on the new alpaca pen. It is next to the goat pen and much closer to the house than the barn and pasture are. There were a few times last year I couldn't get the gates open so I could feed the livestock because the snow was several feet deep. This year if that happens, at least the animals will be on this side of the property. Our little foster kittens are so cute and ready to be re-homed. Little Princess has already found a loving home with a big sister that is so delighted to have someone to play with. Reggie and Mr Comfy are still looking to be adopted by loving families. Since they didn't have a mama cat, they are so friendly with people. I've been so busy this summer that I forgot to enter anything in the Fair this month. I didn't finish my projects this summer either so maybe next time I will have a new scarf to post. I have started spinning the black alpaca's fiber. It is incredibly soft. For a black alpaca, Oso has remarkable fiber. I hope to be able to weave a scarf from it. We'll see what happens.

Last week the new rescue pyr got a new 'forever' home. I'm sure he was so happy to finally be in place of his own. Today I tried taking a picture of the yarn I just finished along side the Campanula flowers that I dyed it to look like, but the flowers were all gone! They only last a couple of weeks. Our weather has been warm but not hot so I was hoping they would last a little longer. I took it with the lavender instead. This coming weekend is Art of the Green and the craft fair in Coeur d'Alene. Its always one of my favorite things to do. They have tons of food booths in the park, lots of shade to sit in and its right next to the lake. I can't wait! Our little foster kittens are about five weeks old today and are so cute. They have just learned to eat soft cat food from a bowl and insist on getting inside the bowl. Their faces are covered. It won't be long before they are old enough to adopt.

What a beautiful weekend we've had. Saturday we went to the parade in town, the Farmer's Market and the Lavender Festival. Summer in north Idaho is so much fun! Everyone is doing well and surviving the hot weather. The other day I was squirting water with the hose and our two alpacas were competing to see who could get the wettest. They love me to squirt their front feet with water. That's how they cool off. Well, they must have been really hot because they got in the spray from head to tail. They were soaked. Then a good roll in the dirt made them feel so good! Good thing I have a great mill to send their fiber to. The dogs are getting along very well. Bo seems to be adjusting to having so much room to run. He seems very happy and Dolly doesn't seem bothered by having him 'help' her do her guarding. She takes it very seriously and does a great job. The little pygora goats have figured out how to open the old cooler where I keep the pellets and grains. Snowball knows how to use her horns to pry open the lid. Yesterday we had to get a long chain and actually tie it to the stall wall. Oh well, this now gives them something else to figure out. They are so smart. Yesterday was the first day in a week we actually had time to swim in the pool, maybe today we won't be too busy to enjoy it.

What a surprise! Yesterday afternoon one of my missing chickens came walking out of the woods with 8 or 9 little tiny chicks! I have been feeling so bad about Bo killing the other ones. I thought there were three gone, but this little hen was doing her thing in a safe place. As soon as she feels confident enough for me to come close, I will get some pictures. They are so cute. Since we have these HUGE crows she probably will keep the chicks pretty close to her for a while. Our weather has been in the upper 90's and last night we had a very strong rain storm. Just west of us they had nickel sized hail. The lightening and thunder were incredible. Since we are not air conditioned in this old farm house it got pretty warm when I had to close all the windows because of the rain and wind. This morning its sunny and beautiful and everything looks so clean. I'm so glad I got my yard mowed just before it rained. This flower is called Campanula. It grows all around the house and is quite large, about 1-1/2 to 3 feet tall. So pretty and only lasts a couple weeks.

I can never leave well enough alone. For some reason I thought I needed another dog. I received an email from Sharon at the great pyr rescue org saying there was a young male dog who needed a home. I made arrangements to meet him and his owner in Missoula MT Monday. He is a wonderful dog ... friendly, obedient (as much as a pyr can be) and just loves to be loved. Things don't always turn out like you think they will, however. On the way home (4 hour drive) he decided he should have used the bathroom in Missoula and proceeded to urinate in the back of my Lexus. Oh well, not his fault. Then we got home and I walked him on a leash for some time showing him the fence line and all the 'fun' places he could find. He was being such a good boy that I let him off the leash to see what he'd do. After being so good for so long, he took off after my chickens and killed three before I could get to him. I only had six to start with. Then my other pyr Dolly, won't have a thing to do with him and snaps at him when he comes close. I can't put him in the pasture with the goats and alpacas for fear he or Dolly might jump the fence and leave. I've decided he deserves a better home than this one and a lady is coming tomorrow afternoon to look at him. To her credit, she is even more of a dog lover than I am and the meals she hand prepares for her dogs, I could go for! Hope she takes him. He's such a nice boy.

How many days in a year? I think this is the 366th day of rain so far. We start to warm up, then it rains again. More this week and very cold. Since the snow is down to 4000' today, maybe that's the reason? There is always a rainbow, though. At least with this weather, working outside isn't something that I'm needing to do. So, that means I get to weave and spin without feeling guilty. I'm working on the Bamboo12 scarf with the tiny little spiderweb-y yarn from Cotton Clouds. It is so beautiful, but so tiny. Hopefully it will turn out as delicate as it seems. It is supposed to be very soft. The warp is long enough for two scarves so it will be a while before I get to take the first one off the loom. Maybe I can get a picture of the first one in the next couple days. The pattern is not as hard as I first thought, so maybe it will be ok after all.

We found the most beautiful moth earlier this week. Its official name Gloveri (Hyalophora gloveri) moth, or silk moth. I was able to snap a few pictures before it went away. Very large, maybe five inch wingspan. Uh oh, now my little maple tree is being eaten by something and I suspect the female laid her eggs in the tree. Not sure what I should do, ordinarily I would spray for bugs, but this moth is just too impressive. We'll see. After last night's rain storm, maybe they were all washed away because I sure can't see anything moving this morning. I'm wondering if it actually has a type of silk cocoon that can be boiled and spun.

Wow, it is already past Memorial Day. Summer is right around the corner. Goats and alpacas are enjoying the warmer weather and being able to graze a bit. We've been working on getting stuff put away upstairs in the new bookcase I had built this winter. Finally, after two years I can put my stuff away. Weaving has gone by the way side, I continue to spin on the dyed BFL I started. I'm almost done with the second batch and plan to ply the two together. I tried plying the first one with some white but it looked too much like a sporty yarn, so hopefully I'll be able to get the colors to coordinate. Actually being able to find supplies and lots of fibery stuff after so long is like Christmas in May. Our kitten has been going through all the fiber and yarn, she's quite the little nosy one. Just one problem, she likes to eat string, I keep pulling long pieces out of her mouth. Hope it doesn't make her sick. I guess I'll just have to be better at housekeeping now. A picture of River ... we should have named her Bandit.

The alpacas got sheared Saturday. They are so cute! It is amazing how different and small they look without all that fiber. Diego's is so white and shiny. They thought it would probably be graded 2, which is pretty good. Oso is a true black. What gorgeous fiber he has too. It is almost as fine as Diego's and there may be more of it. Off to Going To The Sun Fiber Mill in Kalispell to be cleaned and made into roving. Diana does such a beautiful job. I always want to sell some, but enjoy spinning it myself so much I don't usually have any left over. I got to mow my lawn today for the first time this year. It looks pretty nice, considering how much snow we had last winter. I also see lots of dandelions out already. Maybe I will pick some for salad before I spray them with weed killer. On second thought, maybe the goats would like to come over and do the job instead.