What a beautiful Fourth of July.  We had a gorgeous sunny (albeit cool 70's) day after a week of on and off rain.  Yesterday we went to the parade and craft fair in the park in the next small town over from us.  It was such an inspiration to see so many local folks decked out in their patriotic red, white and blues.  Little kids waving American flags (yes, actually American! flags), large American flags on nearly every vehicle in the parade. 

People stood and clapped, or hands over their hearts when Old Glory passed by.  The only thing I was disappointed to see was hardly anyone removed their hats for our flag.  But all in all it was very old fashioned 4th with lots of patriotism showing.  It put tears in my eyes.  This is a drum corp that played together about 35 years ago and got together just for this year.  Amazing what they can do with just the drums.

We finally got a few nice-sized plants planted up near our pool and three in our front yard garden.  The yard is just beginning to look like I want it to.  This photo is of the wild campanula flowers that grow all over our property.  They are large plants that grow very tall and are extremely prolific.  Love them!

Sunny today as well, the rest of the week looks warm and sunny.  We are so blessed to have this weather when the rest of the country is sweltering.  Our summers are beautiful but they don't generally begin until after the 4th.  So WooHoo, here it is -- finally.

Maybe even a little pool time is in store.

Finally!  I have been locked out of my blog ever since the last posting.  Today after spending over two hours trying to find the solution, I had to change emails and now it works.  Thank goodness, I'm not much on that geeky-techie stuff.

We have had rain nearly every day or night in June.  Our garden is looking good, but the weeds and grass are growing fast also.  Sunny today so it may be possible to get out there and do some work.  Since the new fence was put up the sweet little doggies haven't been able to get in there and dig those elephant size holes they are so fond of.  What a great job those folks did for us.

Yesterday was daughter's birthday, she went to Montana to visit some friends.  Lots of rain going over but she got there safely to spend a few days.  Hopefully I am going to have time to spin and weave a little while she's gone.  That 'autumn' scarf on the loom is calling me as well as the beautiful brown alpaca I received from Serano Alpacas.  The darker brown is spun up, now the lighter colored one and it will be plied with the darker for a nice heathered look.  My favorite colors are always a mix of different hues.  Don't you just love the color of the lighter one!

I finally am back in physical therapy for my shoulder and really hoping I will be back to weaving very shortly.  I'd sure like to get that scarf done in time for the Fair, but that's only a couple months away and I've got two more to go.  It was a three scarf warp, one is done.  If I work every day I know it will be finished but the back / neck / shoulder pain really gets to me.

We had our TV disconnected this week.   We were paying nearly a hundred $ per month and figured out we weren't watching it.  Everything is getting so expensive - groceries, gas, eating out (pizza and hotdogs) as well as everything else, we decided to forgo TV for the summer.  We have the option of turning it back on anytime we want, so maybe this winter when we spend so much time inside.  But with the trash on the tube any more, that will be a hard decision.  We are both readers and have enjoyed the quietness that affords.  We've got windows open most of the time so birds singing, the wind in the trees, an occasional dog bark, mostly silence, this is the best.  If you've never tried it, do!

 More rain in our forecast.  But that's ok ... we finally got a fence around our new garden area.  This year we are going to have a garden!  Finally.  After six years of not having one I decided to pay to have a fence put up.  What a beautiful job these folks did.  Much better than we would / could have done.  He's even building me a garden arch for the gate.  I'm so blessed to have found such a nice, hardworking couple to do this. 

Today if it doesn't rain too hard we're rototilling our garden for the second time this year.  Then I've got all kinds of seeds ready to plant.  Also flowers to brighten up the garden around the sides.  In my mind it is beautiful.  I hope it turns out like I imagine.

Finally, this pic is the only evidence we had some kind of animal in our yard the night before last.  Bella our great pyrenees was barking like I've not heard her do before.  I got up to see what it was (2:30am?) when I heard another animal growling while she was barking.  I never did see the animal but did see a paw take a swipe at her when she cornered it on our porch.  Finally it escaped out the big doggy door and apparently went up our willow.  Next morning I was shocked to see all these branches down.  At least 6 or 7 that were about an inch or more in diameter.

We have a new baby!  Wednesday we traveled to Baker OR to look at a little border collie X.  He is so sweet and so cute.  Since our older border died a few weeks ago we have missed her so much and feel we need another dog.  We like to have an indoor dog as well as an outdoor dog, both to guard the property.  His name was Bernie but I think we have renamed him Dexter.  He responds very well to Dex and always comes when called.  After our Great Pyr, who is very aloof, he seems so smart and quick.  At only 3-5 months old, he is going to be a great asset here.

I took some alpaca fiber over to a farm to get it 'blown' out in her big tumbler.  It really did a nice job getting the VM out along with a lot of the shorter fibers.  Now I can either send it to the mill or wash and card it myself.  I don't have a de-hairing machine and its too tedious by hand, so it probably will end up at the mill.

I'm spinning some of the fiber my good friend Judi from Serano Alpacas sent me a couple weeks ago.  It is just incredibly soft.  I'm just about finished with four oz of Jasper/Alex, which is a dark burnished auburn.  I may just make something for myself with this!

Rain rain rain rain ... and cold.  We've seen snow in the low hills around here, none at our farm but its cold enough.   73° by Tuesday however.  Sounds really good to me!

We had our garden tilled this week.  Then more rain, so I haven't been able to get over there and finish the weeding part.  I have seeds to go in asap ... corn, onions, cherry tomatoes, eggplant, sweet basil, cukes and zucchini.  And I'm still babying my indigo in the starter tray in the house.   Hopefully it will warm up a bit and stay warm.

We've got wildflowers to plant, sweet pea and an old fashioned mixture ... just finding a spot for these beauties is a problem.  They are weeds for the most part and sometimes hard to get rid of in the following years if they are in the wrong spot.

We went down to the river last week to see how high it was with all the rain and snow melt.  We've not seen it this high before.  Usually you can just see it below the road.  It looks level with it from where we were.  What a beautiful sky!

A good friend sent me some of her alpaca for spinning.  It is from two of her animals that are both the most beautiful color ... dark brown / auburn.  I've wanted to spin this color for so long.  It spins like butter.  I'm thinking it will be a nice scarf, maybe a 5/2 rayon warp in black, using the alpaca for the weft.  Let me know if any of you want to buy some and I can give you her number.

Also the autumn-colored scarf on the loom is about 1/3 complete.  I finished enough for one of the three scarves yesterday.  With such a long warp, it may be a while.  But I'm anxious to keep at it, they will be soft and colorful and I may enter one of them in the fair in August this year.

Just realized I forgot to post a picture of the indigo plants.  This was taken outside last week when the weather was so nice.  Those little guys sure liked the sun.  They look like they grew several inches in the two days I set them out there.  They love warm soil, so it will be a couple more weeks before I transplant them.  We have had snow the first part of July a couple of times in years gone past.  Maybe Memorial Day will be a good planting time.

This weekend is going to be the warmest so far this year.  By Monday, possibly 75° or better.  It feels so great!  Got the mower back yesterday, runs like a dream.  Somehow the blades got bent??  I wonder who or how that happened.  Anyway, I mowed today.  Tomorrow early in the morning we are going to spread the weed killer around on all those pesky weeds that grow so well with a tiny little bit of grass in between.  Our animals sure like being outside when the sun is out rather than having snow and rain.  This is Breeze enjoying a little warm weather.

My indigo plants are getting big.  Not big enough to play outside by themselves yet, but certainly doing well.  I need to put them in a safe place outside tomorrow and daily now to harden them a little, then maybe by Memorial Day they can be placed in the garden somewhere.  Those darn kitties love to find a place where we've been digging or planting and plant something very unpleasant there.  Then Bella comes along to 'plant' her latest find in the same place.  Oh well, I may just use containers to plant in this year.

Got some great fiber from Paradise Fibers this week.  I can't wait to try them out.  This summer I definitely need to start skirting the alpaca fleeces from the last couple of years.  I started that project but had to stop in the middle, and I never got back at it again.  Interestingly, it will wait for me For Ever!

Spring has arrived in north Idaho full force this week.  I actually mowed our yard yesterday.  Seems a little earlier than usual but with the warmer weather and nice sunny day I thought it would be a good idea.  So glad I did since we had rain last night and looks like next week for several days also.  We are taking our mower into the shop tomorrow for a spring tuneup.  I usually wait for the weather to turn really nice and warm, then have to leave it in the shop for a week or two because everyone else wants to have theirs done too.  Ha!  I've outsmarted the crowds this year.

Not sure if its the warmer sunnier weather but I certainly have felt a lot more like working this week.  I've got my indigo seeds going strong with a plant light and yesterday afternoon I actually got my loom in the studio working.  You know which one with the beautiful autumn colored warp on it from last fall.  Some days its just to hard to walk all that way across the driveway.  Must be at least 50 feet from my back door to the shop door ... but its working now and I love it.

I also got the plying done on the two merino silk I've been spinning.  The one on the left is called Autumn, the one on the right is Sandstone.



I think I like this.  The bottom pix are the same yarn plyed, left one without the flash and the other with.  Check out how shiny the silk is in that bright light.





Ahhhh spring ... can summer be far behind you?

Wednesday was a sad day for us.  We had to put down our wonderful, smart, loving border collie Savannah.  We bought Savannah for our daughter in 2000, when she bought her house.  Savannah has been her constant companion for 12 years.  Good bye sweetie, we will miss you so much.  You were the best dog ever.  07/04/2000 - 03/29/2012

Last Sunday I got my Japanese indigo planted in the little starter trays.  It took a few days, but the seeds are just starting to come up and look healthy, although I thought there would be more.  Probably after a few more days more of them will be showing their little heads. 

Our weather has been so cold and constant rain so I set them on my bed upstairs where I get sun most of the day.  The east facing window is perfect for lots of light after the sun passes overhead.  Can't wait to get these guys planted out in the garden.

Exciting news for fiber-aholics or anyone who dyes fibers or cloth.  I received two packages of Japanese Indigo seeds this week.  As soon as I can get down to the hardware store to buy some seedling starter mix I will be planting some of these little beauties.  I'm hopeful we will have enough warmth this summer to get some nice plants with nice leaves and seeds to make indigo dye from.  I've dyed with prepared indigo powder but never from scratch.  It is rather amazing to watch as the fiber is placed in the dye water, which is a slimy-looking greenish mixture, and then when removed as a light green color will turn to darker and darker indigo as it dries..  More pix as this happens this summer.

I've been working on more of the merino silk yarn.  This time I took a very light & blended color called sandstone and spun up a spindle-full, then I started spinning another color called autumn that will be plyed with the sandstone.  I think the two colors will look very interesting together.  I still have enough of each color to also do a hank of each.  The three colors could then be coordinated together in a knitted or crocheted garment of some sort. 

We've had an entire week of hard rain, snow this morning, but its supposed to turn back to rain all next week.  And to think the rest of the country is 'suffering' in an early summer.  Too bad.

What a beautiful day.  We have been having a snowstorm the last couple of days.  Not more than 10" but certainly enough to get our driveway plowed by our nice neighbor with his BIG tractor.  Not as much as those living around the Great Lakes but enough for us.  Now our local weather calls for another foot starting tonight.  Phew!  Its getting pretty late in the winter for this much.  So far its been a very mild one.

I've started spinning the soft superwash merino for my sister's friend.  It spins up very nicely and will be great for next to the skin items, such as a neck scarf or mittens.  Think I will spin more of this right away and have some yarns available.

We're getting a new force-air heater with a heat pump this week.  This is so exciting.  We haven't had a furnace of any kind since we moved here nearly six years ago.  Wood stove, a couple small Cadet heaters in the walls for heat and open windows in the summertime.  Since we live on dirt roads out here, this is a very dusty place.  This system will have a whole house air filtration system, plus our all-electric bill should be a lot less than we're paying now.   I can't wait to try it out.

One last note, when they were cutting through the wall from the pantry to the small room off the kitchen for ducting, they found a wall that looks like a log cabin.  You just never know with this house.

Its no wonder I don't get anything done these days.  My calico kitty River, has chosen my desk or my printer to take her day-long naps on.  I just love her and think she is so beautiful!

I should be starting a new spinning project soon.  A friend of one of my sister's wants yarn, so when she picks out the fiber and color she likes I can get started on it.  Its been so long since I really was very inspired to do anything fiber-y.  And I still haven't worked on that autumn-colored scarf I've got warped on the Mighty Wolf loom out in my studio.

We are currently working on getting our house straightened up as we are finally having a heat pump and forced air heating unit put in.  With no furnace or anything forced air, this place is so dusty at times, especially in the summer when we have to keep the windows open.  We also will have cooling for those few weeks in the summer than can get to 100+ at times. 

I can't wait!

Life on our farm is quiet.  Winter is still with us but the forecast this week is cold but clear.  I took these pictures a couple days ago.  The day had been drizzly and cloudy.  All of a sudden the clouds parted and we were blessed with this fantastic view.  It only lasted for a few minutes, just enough time to snap two pictures.  Then it was gone.

This time of year we concentrate on getting the inside of the house fixed and cleaned.  In just a few weeks it will be time to start on the outside and the yard.  With 10 acres, that can be a daunting task.  But with all the alpacas and goats re-homed now, we can concentrate on our yard and finally on our garden.

We have several blueberry plants, asparagus, raspberries, an orchard with about a dozen different fruit trees, and an entire pasture of mulch in a big pile thanks to the alpacas.  That should suffice to energize all the veggies and fruit.  Now just to have that ground unfreeze.

Friends at Serano Alpacas got a new great pyrenees puppy a couple weeks ago and named him Abe.  He died yesterday of unknown causes.  We are so sad!  They don't know why or what happened.  Farm life can be tough at times. 

-------------------

A late update on little Abe.  Apparently he dug out under the fence and was killed by a fox.  They found him with a neighbor's dog laying next to the little guy like she was trying to protect him.  So sad.

 The picture on the left is Abe with his big buddy Thor.  The other one is little Abe inspecting his new yard.  Such a loss.  Goodbye little guy.