This morning on the farm
Dear Friends,
It’s a beautiful day on the farm today, a little breezy, but crisp and clear.
The rabbits and Dudley are spending the day outside today while their building is being de-bugged. I hate pesticides, but I hate creepy crawly bugs even worse. I think the rabbits like being outside, but the ride to get there totally freaks them out!
The goats have discovered falling leaves and so now have something new to nibble on.
Zeus
They are really getting woolly! It’s scary to think how much mohair we’re going to have next year! Our 2011 shareholders will be having mohair for breakfast, mohair for lunch… well… you get the idea!
Bert
Han Solo looks more like Blackie every day. How could you NOT love a goat that has a pompadour!
Han Solo
I finally took the vermillion fiber off the dryer, and replaced it with the light chestnut I cooked up a couple of days ago. In the crock pot at the moment is a beautiful batch of spruce.
I’ll be spinning this curls +wool yarn all winter. It is the Fancy Fibers Farm “signature handspun yarn” that we will roll out beginning in the spring. Spinning this will have to wait a while, though; I have some commissioned spinning and knitting I have to finish first!
MudBud is making little barking noises for no obvious reason. Princess, Buddha, and Bear are sleeping hard, resting up for tonight’s guard duty.
I have to go pick up some hay a little later, but for now, I think I’ll spin.
Monday, Monday….
I spent the morning getting the goats into breeding groups, only to have one of the bucks literally move one of the sides of my temporary pen just enough for him and all the girls in his group to escape. So I did it all again, but this time used more stable pens that even survived Zeus and Blackie head-butting each other through the center!
Fairly certain that they were secure, I started on the bunny shearing. Bless their hearts. This should have been done by now! Hercules wanted no part of it. He’s still a youngster and full of spit and vinegar. He bit me twice, but I prevailed nevertheless.
Cocoa was an angel. Thank you for that.
Caramel pulled a fast one on me! Just as I started shearing him, I noticed that he was molting which meant I had to pluck him instead. Otherwise I would have ended up with short pieces of his new coat mixed in with the longer pieces of his old coat. Not good. So pluck him I did while he wiggled and squirmed, knocking my shears off the table in the process. Still don’t have them put together quite right.
Anyway, plucking him is actually better for him because it leaves him with a nice covering of fur, but worse for me because it takes longer. Of course, he doesn’t molt on his whole body at once – that would be too convenient! So I did what I could, and put him back in his cage looking like one strange bunny rabbit. I’ll get back to him on Friday.
Off to blend batts! Hope your Monday went more smoothly than mine!
P.S. The latest talk about using bunny fur involves blending the mats in with some wool to make funky, chunky art batts. I don’t have any interest in this, but if YOU do, feel free to come on out any time I’m shearing or grooming rabbits! You can sweep up all the matts and short pieces and anything else that ends up on the floor. Come early and stay late! I could use the extra hands!
On the Farm – Week of Nov. 1st
Here’s what is going on this week on the Farm. Feel free to come on out if you’d like to participate in the goings-on out here!
Monday November 1st
- Farm store OPEN.
- Set up breeding groups for another week of “see what happens.”
- Shear the remaining bunnies.
- Crock pot dyeing for batts.
- Heart worm medicine for the LGDs.
- Set up the tent over the rabbits in anticipation of Tuesday’s rain.
Tuesday November 2nd
- Farm store CLOSED.
- Road trip to Cleveland, Texas, to visit the Bluebonnet Spinning Wheel production facilities! Look for details on the blog when I return.
Wednesday November 3rd
- Farm store CLOSED.
- Mary’s day off (after feeding, of course) to spin with her friends
Thursday November 4th
- Farm store CLOSED.
- Running errands in Dallas.
- Then over to spinning friend Liz’s house for private knitting lessons – learning something new!
Friday November 5th
- Farm Store OPEN.
- Focus on fiber! Lots of batt making. Working the carder like crazy!
Saturday November 6th
- Last DYE DAY of the year! Come on out and join in the fun!
- Ken will be working on creating new garden beds.
Pet the Bunny!
It was a fantastic morning this morning at the Button United Methodist Church in Little Elm where the Li’l Angels Mother’s Day Out kids and teachers were having their Fall Festival (under the supervision of my DD#1, Amanda, who is the Director of the program, and yes, I am beaming with pride). [Note: I also beam with pride over DD#2 who is a teacher, but that story is for another day.]
They had great little games set up for the 2-4 year old kids to play. It was So.Much.Fun. for them all!
My contribution was the “Pet the Bunny” station. For this job, I brought one of my very fluffy English Angora rabbits, Earl Gray, and he was magnificent as he sat calmly on my lap and was petted and hugged by these adorable little children!
Many a mom got a cute little picture of their darling feeling the soft, soft bunny! Great fun for everyone!
Callie and the Cat Bed
This is Callie, one of the original two bunnies I bought to start my rabbitry.
She recently endured her quarterly haircut, and as a reward, I let her run around in the Bunny Barn for a while afterward. Eventually she found Dudley’s cat play tower, and made herself right at home.
She also had herself a little snack.
I guess when you’re as big as the cat (although not NEAR as heavy), you can settle yourself down just wherever you please.
