Waiting...

The alpacas are pretending to graze...it's spring, they love to stretch their legs. Actually, this picture was taken last week, and it has really greened up since then. Now that the ground is thawing, I'll need to keep them off the pastures as the grass tries to sprout.
You might notice Pepita, the fawn alpaca with her head down, is showing a bit of a belly...hopefully there's a cria in there!

I'm trying to spend more days at home doing my fibre arts. It doesn't always work that way. I'm a roadrunner by nature.

My car is in for repair and I turned this into a positive thought. I would be 'captive' at home without any errands to take away from my fibre arts projects.

I had a few distractions yesterday morning. The power went out and the generator didn't start up automatically like it should. With cell phone in hand and hubby on the other end, I was able to get it going. Then, I noticed the chickens were out of the pasture this morning...again...and went to corral them back in.

I was, however, able to accomplish some handpainting of sock yarn.

Also, I fulled some mittens that my knitter, Becky, knit for me. I'm lucky that I have Becky, who is a obsessive knitter, in my life. Becky is a better and faster knitter than I. Knit items that are sold in my shop and samples for my Misty Haven Alpaca yarns are mostly knit by Becky.

Here's a picture of Becky modelling a hat that needs to be fulled.

To all the people who admire her work in my shop, she remains..."The Unknown Knitter".

The shots of the mittens are before and after fulling in the washer and dryer. The perspective of the camera shot doesn't give an appreciation of how much they shrank, but you can tell by the tape measure. The mitts became thick and solid - they'll be warm, warm, warm...and with the natural fibres only, they'll repel the water.

The men's rust and forest colour pair are still quite large, but we'll find some big hands to go into them.

You'll notice the white cotton edging at the wrists of the berry coloured mittens? That will come off after the mittens are fulled, and a ribbing cuff knit on. Neat, eh?

This coming weekend (April 10th, 11th) will be the largest alpaca show ever in Canada. The Alpaca Ontario Show is happening at the Orangeville Fairgrounds in Orangeville, Ontario. It will be amazing. I haven't shown my alpacas in the ring for 3 years now, but I still like to get to the show to see the great animals and of course, my alpaca-lovin' friends.
It's a neat thing to see, if you are in a day-trip distance to Orangeville.
Here's the link to the Alpaca Ontario site, if it interests you.

If you tune in to my blog because you like farm blogs, you need to check out
Life on a Southern Farm.
This lady and her hubby in Georgia seem to have found heaven on earth it seems to me, anyway.
She shares lovely photos, her videos and her life. Her goats are having kids these days and they are cute, cute, cute.

Is Spring Possibly Here?

Temperatures here have been unseasonally warm and sunny here this week.
Everybody is asking "Is this it?"

Yesterday, I saw my first motorcycle of the year on the road. It was a perfect Northern Ontario spring day. Blue sky, clear roads and the snow on the snowmobile trails was still packed and hard enough to take a long hike through the bush with my daughter.

However, I remember that our members event on May 31 last year was cancelled due to a snow storm. Yes, that was a freak weather event, but having lived most of my life in Northern Ontario...I know not to put the snow tires or the plow away.

View of the farm from the back yard.

Pine trees and blue sky...this is where I always will call home.

My weekend dyeing, rose and denim 4 ply bulky 100% alpaca. It's available in the store now. I knit myself a afghan out of this yarn in natural cream....yummy, warm and soft. It does have a weight to it, which is perfect for a snuggly afghan.

This is my most senior dog, Molly. She'll be soon turning 14. We've had her since she was a pup from the pound, so she's been through a lot with me. Molly is the kind of dog would put herself in between me and a bear to protect me to the end. It's sad to see her getting tired and slow.
Thanks for reading my blog and I really appreciate it when people leave comments. It makes me feel connected.

I have a few favorite blogs that I follow. It is addictive. Check this one out when you have time. It's from a lady in Australia who is keen on living simply and it's chock full of good ideas. The funny thing is, with the time difference, I read her Friday entry on what is our Thursday night...
http://down---to---earth.blogspot.com/