We had a dynamite Dye Day at the Farm today when 10 of us gathered together with our silk, bamboo, wool roving, sock blanks, and dyes and put some color into our fiber.  It was like having rainbows in all shades and hues laying out on the tables for us. The color combinations and mix of fibers was exhilerating!

We started early so the bunnies could spend some time outside in the world. I don’t think they were particularly impressed, but they tolerated our intrusion into their space.

To keep the heat down, we also put the roasters outside. Thank goodness for extension cords and plenty of plugs!

With every single color of Acid Dye and Procion MX at our disposal, we mixed a standard 2% solution into quart jars then painted and squirted and squished and blended those beautiful colors onto our soaked fibers.

Spinning buddy Liz brought shared foam brushes she had brought.  They worked wonderfully, and I will definitely have these on hand before our next Dye Day!

Liz also brought sock blanks that she had made on one of her wonderful knitting machines, and it was really neat to watch her and Kay straighten them out with blocking wires and paint them in various patterns.

Ravelry friend Laura painted two rovings in beautiful blues and lilac. She’s promised to post pictures of how they spin up. This was her first adventure in dyeing, and she did a beautiful job! She has an eye for complimentary colors.

Because we started super early, we also had all the fiber in the roasting pots fairly early, and friends Laurie and Laura helped me to the hard manual labor of moving the bunnies back into the building.  They were so grateful to be back in the air conditioning!

We also worked in a little spinning and knitting, and a couple of barn tours, before everyone had to go their separate ways.

Edee became close friends with Stanley, one of the barn cats that keep the Bunny Barn free of unwanted visitors!

It was a super fun day, full of creative energy, laughter, coffee and donuts , and Dairy Queen treats for the wicked, and veggies and fruit for the healthy-minded among us! I’ve made everyone promise to post or send pictures of their finished fibers!

And the greatest thing about Dye Days ….. There are different possibilities every time! Hope to see YOU mixing it up with dye really soon!

We love, love, love sunny Saturdays on the farm.  The animals wander around the pasture munching on the new green grass (weeds), and the sunshine just calls to us to come outside.  Mother is here for the weekend, and we all made good progress on our various chore lists.

Tomorrow we have strong, able-bodied help coming, so there will be LOTS of good work done.  Our new friend Daniel, a local high school boy, is bringing one of his friends to be  ”hired hands” and earn money for their upcoming mission trip in June. I’m excited to have such good (and polite) help, and I’m pleased to be supporting these young men’s mission trip.

Why isn’t Ge’mar here this weekend, you ask? He had to take a trip to Oklahoma with his grandmother to visit a sick relative. We miss having him here with us this weekend, and hope he’ll spend some time with us during his spring break!

The Welder will also be back tomorrow. He will decide whether it’s time for the next step of his roofing project, and he and I are going to have a serious discussion about fencing options.  I would really like to fence in an additional chunk of the acreage we own farther back from our existing fenced area, but the cost may be too much right now.

Back to today, we started early by taking Ken’s car in for an oil change and tire rotation. Then it was off to the vet to get the CD&T vaccine that we will need on Friday for the animals’ annual vaccinations, and some B-Complex Injectable for a goat with a runny nose.

Then there was a $$$ trip to the feed store.

The Barn Cats ladies brought us 3 new cats that really will live outside in the barns (if they ever come out of their little house).

Ken moved the winter alpaca poop from the barn to his newest garden bed.

Mom and I worked on organizing my gigantic pile of receipts into files for the tax guy.

I took some eggs across the street to the neighbors’ house and tried out my new grooming brushes on a few of the goats. They are actually special brushes for the Suri alpacas, and I hope to work on them during spring break. Then, to be honest, my headache and I took a nap! Tomorrow will be my day to pitch in 110%.

Ken put the perfect end on a perfect day by making sure we were all fed well with some vegetable soup and cornbread muffins.

Looking forward to tomorrow!

Tonight Ken disassembled, stacked, and packed all the cages, carriers, and other gear that had been temporarily loaned to us with the arrival of Stanley and Dudley, our “barn cats” living in the Bunny Barn Workshop.  Tomorrow Peggy of the Barn Cats organization will pick it all up to use the next time someone wants to try out one of her captured, neutered, healthy cats on a “trial run” basis.

Our new additions, Stanley and Dudley, have definitely made themselves at home, and their performance has been great.  Although we love most creatures, there are a few four-legged critters, most notably little gray ones with long tails, that we would prefer live outside. Stanley and Dudley have the responsibility to make sure that rule is followed, on penalty of death!

Still, there are a few “kinks” to work out.  Dudley and I are experiencing a difference of opinion about his sleeping quarters.  He seems to favor one of my bottom baskets of yarn, despite the fact that he has to flatten himself out substantially to get into it! The squished “nest” of sock yarn was a definite clue that he had found himself a cozy spot.

He knows I’m after him for it, too! You can almost hear him say, “You can’t keep me out!”

Dudley is probably right, too, and it will probably be me who will alter my yarn storage system long before I am successful at convincing Dudley to give up his yarn basket!

That’s ok, Dudley boy. Just keep on showing the mice who’s boss!

This morning we were happy to have Peggy of Barn Cats, Inc. come out and bring us a couple of cats to live in the Bunny Barn a/k/a my workshop. Once they become accustomed to their new surroundings, they will be our mousers in that building!

Our newest animal acquisitions, Dudley and Squealer, were formally residents at the home of a “hoarder” who had 22 cats total, each living in small animal carriers. Peggy showed us pictures of the house, and it was undescribably filthy. As with most hoarders, cats weren’t the only thing being hoarded in this house.  To say you couldn’t walk through the house is a gross understatement. In addition to the mess, there had been no water service to the house in two years.

But all that is behind them now, and they are here checking us out.  Peggy brought everything they need with her — temporary cages, food, water,  litter.  This organization is organized!  First she set up the cages they will live in for the first week just to get used to us and to the environment. You can see right away that these are not ordinary cages! They are double-wide dog cages that used to be available at PetsMart although they are no longer available. They break down and set up easily for travel.  And take a look at that rug!  Even in a cage, these cats are living large!

Once the cages were assembled, the cats (in their carriers) were set inside, as were the litter boxes, and food and water containers. At that point, Peggy put the tops on the cages and everything was set.

Did that cats come out? Not even, and that is to be expected. They will come out most likely when we are not around and check out what they can see of their surroundings.  We will keep them in their cages for a week. That will give us an opportunity to round up a couple of cat beds, a litter container, and food and water containers.  Then we will open the door on each cage for another week. By the end of the second week, we hope they will be acclimated to us and their new home. They already know one another, and have a history of playing together even though they are 5 to 7 years old.

If, for some unforeseen reason, these cats don’t work out, they will go back to Barn Cats, and we can try other cats.  We are keeping a positive attitude though!

In other farm news, we’re dealing with ice again, but the animals seem to be taking it in stride.  This time it should move on through pretty quickly, so other than the chickens, we haven’t hooked up any electric water trough heaters.  Ken is in and out throughout the day, and breaks ice for the animals when he’s outside. Inside the house, it’s time to knit!