Order In The...Bathroom

I finally found a system for keeping my toiletries organized and off the bathroom countertop.

Love my new IKEA Hemnes shelving unit. Makeup is in a 6" square Snapware cube that fits inside the plastic "wicker" tote from Walmart, along with hair products, lotions, powder, etc. Curlers, brushes, barrettes, bands, and other misc. haircare items are stored on top of the shelving unit in the white ITSO container from Target. Now, I can actually find the sink!

Remodeling the Kitchen

Our friend David is coming this weekend to remove and replace an old propane line so we can move our propane fireplace from the dining room to the living room, and also to install a propane line for our new dual-fuel Jenn-Air range. Can't wait to try out the new grill!

21 Jan 2014 Update: The project was not as simple as we thought, and the range was finally professionally installed in July 2012. The grill was a mess to clean, and we stopped eating meat in May 2013, however, our Coleman cast iron griddle fits perfectly on the grill unit, and we now love it.

Introducing Our New Cria (baby alpaca)

El Chocolate Blanco Tesoro, (White Chocolate Treasure), was born about7:30 this morning, and weighed in at a hefty 25.4 pounds. His father, Fir Cove Chocolatey, is bay black (very dark brown), and his mother, Fir Cove Flo Jo, is fawn. Chocolatey has only sired one other white cria, and, in that case, the mother was white. Tesoro is tall and strong, has lots of very curly white fleece, and is every bit as adventurous as his big brother, Marco Polo. He's also quite photogenic, so do check out the slide show. Mama, Flo Jo, is more than happy to have her pregnancy over with. She was miserably hot and uncomfortable for the past several days, and she was very grateful when I put up the canopy in her barn yard this afternoon.

2009 Shearing

Wow! It's been a very long time since I've posted to this blog! Time flies whether you're having fun or not.


I finally got my poor, miserably hot animals sheared on Tuesday, June 16th. Good alpaca/llama shearers are few and far between. This year my friend Sue and I were fortunate enough to have Ann Kizer, an outstanding shearer from Northern Idaho, come to our farms. Ann drives a long circuit through the Pacific Northwest each spring. Since we got on her schedule rather late, we had to wait until her return trip from Oregon, but it was well worth the wait. We started with my herd about 9:30 in the morning, and then moved on to Sue's farm about 1:00 in the afternoon. Check out my album "2009 Jun 16 Shearing" for some "before and after" shots of my animals and Sue's.



Buddy, although quite elderly,
still looks very suave and debonair
with his special "guard llama" haircut.

More Pictures of the December 18th Snowfall

One of the red barberry bushes near our driveway.

Our Neighbors' House

A Zoom Shot of Our Neighbors' Bird Feeder

The Nightly News, Except It's (Very) Early Morning...

Today I cleaned the two 12x12 animal shelters, and removed the straw bedding that had been exposed to the flood water. In the east (boys) barn, the water had only covered about the front 3' of the floor, so even with some wicking, I was able to save more than half of the straw. The west (girls and Buddy the Llama) barn sits several inches lower, so it didn't fare so well. I had to remove all of the straw and the pelleted wood bedding beneath it. The rubber stall matting now needs to be removed before we can add another layer of crushed rock to raise the level of the floor about 6". The sheets of matting are 4' x 6' x 3/4" thick rubber from recycled tires, and they are mega-heavy. Bill and I together can barely drag them, so I didn't even try to get them out by myself. Two young men from our church are supposed to come over tomorrow (make that THIS) morning, and help us take care of those two chores. Since Bill works for the state, he has Monday (MLK Day) off, so we are planning to bring all of the animals home that morning by making three trips with our Honda minivan. I will post pictures of that adventure on Monday evening.

The Suave and Debonair Mr. Santiago Meets the Ladies of Rosie Borders

We had such a bright and beautiful morning today that I couldn't resist when Sue's beautiful little gelding, Santiago, wanted to join my boys in their pen, and get an "up close and personal" look at the lovely ladies he's been eyeing from afar.

The Girls were duly impressed, and (their llama companion) Buddy was predictably unimpressed, when Santi strutted his stuff for them. The word "gelding" doesn't seem to be in their vocabulary!