NML&WF- Day One

Day One of the Northern Michigan Lamb and Wool Festival is officially over, and it was a busy one!

We met some old friends, made some new ones, and renewed some acquaintances. People shopping to fulfill their fiber addictions were a pleasure. Many folks had visited with us last year and some are blog followers! Thanks so much for stopping by to say hello to us! Some had checked out our Etsy shop to pre-shop which was pretty clever I thought! The folks that run the festival here are very friendly and do a great job taking care of us; a big thank you to them for making this a fun event.

Had the traditional vendor dinner tonight and met our new potential alpaca shearer....a young lady who was trained by her well experienced alpaca shearing father. She is going to NMU in Marquette and would be available to shear next year, trim toes, and grind teeth.

I had a near miss with a French angora rabbit; a broken black with the sweetest freckles on her face! Fortunately someone else bought her. :)

Tomorrow we get to sleep in and I will take Lila out for a big breakfast before we start in earnest again tomorrow...and do our own shopping! I have some gifts in mind for friends and family and will pick up some new dye colors.

Tonight, we are parked in front of "Ice Age-The Meltdown" at the Super 8 and soon tucked in to sleep.

Good night!

 

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"They call me MR. Big"

I had a phone call yesterday from an elderly woman who asked me if I would take the Angora rabbit she could no longer care for because of her deteriorating health. Of course, I said yes. I expected him to be a mess (based on past experience) ...but he is not. He is a well cared for and very sweet bunny and his name is "Mr. Big".

The lady was very happy I could take him...she was afraid a non-angora person wouldn't know how to take care of him. I was touched by her gratitude (and felt a little sad too).

I think he is a tort, but he has steel grey tips on his fiber! Annette? Lisa?

He loved being groomed and fell asleep upside down on my lap. Welcome, Mr. Big.

 

 

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Basil Musings....

...why, why, why SIX basil plants?

(32 degrees F predicted this evening so a mad rush to save it all...)

 

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The "D.L.B"

The so called "Dirty Little Bastard" ends up being my lap cat!

(I knew it all along!)

 

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An unsuspecting day...

Today was alpaca moving day...from the pasture down the road to home base. The first surprise was the newborn cria to an alpaca we had no clue was pregnant...she is a white huacaya female and she gave birth to a white Suri male cria. In my crazed, though logical (given the circumstances) mind this leads me to believe that ANY of them could be pregnant.... The second surprise was the 15 month male cria practicing his male craft on the unsuspecting Peggy Sue while we were worming and trimming toes, and the third surprise was that Igraine the llama REFUSED to get on the trailer despite all the cajoling and threats. She is sitting there by herself tonight and we hope her solitary confinement will convince her to tamely walk into the trailer tomorrow...(please oh please oh please oh please.....whimper whimper).

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Cooler Weather

Last evening and this morning the temps dipped down into the upper thirties.....cool enough for a fire in the fireplace, but not cold enough to light the furnace.

I love this kind of weather! This afternoon it is sunny and in the mid 60's.

 

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Wistful Uist

Uist would still like to be someone's herdsire this fall. He wanted me to mention, that his Daddy, Wintertime B.o.B took Grand Champion in the rooed fleece category under the British judges at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool festival this past weekend with his shepherd Karen Valley and that he could make some fine fleeced babies for you too!

His fleece is consistent from neck to britch and is super soft and fine. He is a single coated Shetland ram with a modified moorit fleece. He has beautiful striped horns that are clearing his head nicely.

We won't be keeping him intact for long, so if there aren't any takers he will be banded soon and be a sweet fiber wether. We are asking $200 or best offer for him intact. He is NASSA registerable.

He is too cute for his own good!

 

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Basket/Fruit Fetish

DJ- better get prepared.....you need baskets and fruit,

And maybe a box or two.

Don't forget the tomatoes!

 

 

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Scatach's Forever Home

This morning I had an email from DJ saying she had settled on Long John Silver (impeccable timing!)...and this afternoon I received a phone call from a neighbor and friend saying she heard we may have a kitten that needed a home. Her young daughter's 17 year old cat wandered away a few days ago and didn't come home and she was hoping a kitten would ease the pain a bit.

And while "Checkers" won't replace their lost old kitty, she will keep a little girls heart warm.

We will get to see her grow up too! Checkers/Scatty will only live five miles away.

Big smiles all the way around.

 

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For Cro and Will

Both Cro and Will have these two favorites in common....hard to resist finding them both together.

 ON THE TABLE!!!

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Milk Sucking Parasites

I am amazed that Snickers is still letting the kittens nurse.  It looks so bizarre to have five largish kittens nursing on her!  They are 10 weeks old now and ready to be weaned.

The kids decided to keep Sulu (the calico licking her chops), Billy Bones (the orange tabby) & Spotty Spock (or DLB- Dirty Little Bastard, so named by Will). 

Kittens to find homes for include:

Scathach, aka. Scatty

and Long John Silver.

Both are beautiful kittens and are very playful.  They also seem to stick together oddly enough!  Silver is going to be a big Tom cat while I think Scathach is going to be on the smaller side like her mother.

DJ gets first pick if she wants either; then the greater universe has the option to choose.  :)

Today I am making an appointment to have Snickers "fixed"....she is yowling around the house searching for a way to escape and get herself into another muddle.