I got a Treasury!!!

I made it! At 1 in the morning I finally got in and made a treasury! You can see it at
http://www.etsy.com/treasury_list.php?room_id=26912

One of Those Days

Oh, it's been one of those days! My little phinny is walking!!! and while I am excited, lately it's not been as much of a good thing as you'd think. Today for some reason he is in a horrible, no good, bad baby mood.... He has been alternating between gleefully finding new and inventive ways to wreak havok and screaming angrily at the top of his lungs for no apparent reason. So I hold him and try to comfort him and nothing works, I get fustrated, I put him down and walk away for a moment, he gets up walks over to where I am and throws himself down at my feet screaming, I pick him up, he screams louder, I put him down and walk away, he follows me, and it just keeps going until he sees something that he could get into ( like eating the cat food) and then when I take it away it starts all over again. Add to that my two year old has decided that today is a good day to pick on everyone, no one is safe, the dog, the cats, her brother and sister, me.... usually she is so good, but today, she has pushed everyone's buttons and has a nice scratch across her cheek from the least tolerant of us (clyde the kitty) to prove it. multiple time outs and a nap have yet to solve the problem, and poor maggie actually asked me if she could go and stay at the neighbors until daddy got home. Needless to say that all of my fiber activities for the day have been put on hold, as has school because after the painting fiasco this morning where we got up for a moment to wash our hands and phinny managed to crawl across two rooms, somehow knock a thing of paint off of the kitchen table and paint himself turquoise in the time it took to wash the paint off of our hands at the sink I decided we could do the rest of it tommorrow. That was his first bath, shortly after that he got into the cabinet that someone didn't retie shut and got the lid off the cinnamon and spilled it EVERYWHERE!!! You have no idea how much cinnamon is in one of those litttle jars! So we took another bath. I am ready for bed and I've got hours to go. I have more than once seriously contemplated crawling under my computer desk to hide. Right now they are running and crawling at top speed back and forth through the kitchen and living room screaming at full volume and giggling and while my head aches and my sinuses hurt and I would like it to stop but I am afraid to tell them too because at least they aren't destroying anything right now. I still have a ton of alpaca and angora that I have dyed up and need to pick out the vm and post it. Maybe I'll get it done after the monsters fall asleep.
On a more positive note, I tried something new in the bunny shed that seems to be working really well, I started putting thier handfuls of hay in the door when I shut it so that it is accessable to them but it isn't all over the bottom of thier cages. It gets shut in the door and they can pull as much as they want through and now I know exactly who is eating thier hay and how much, not to mention there's not near as much waste. All the buns are doing well and buttercream is just about ready to be plucked. And in a few days I will try to feel around and see if cass is for sure pregnant! I hope so, I really, really want some baby bunnies!!!

Friendly ghost and other stuff

Well all the stuff I dyed up the other day is just about dry and I am posting it as I notice that it's completely done. I've gotten a spin a yarn kit up and I am working on another. I posted the yarn that I spun from the friendly ghost batt. Yesterday we went out and scrubbed every inch of the bunny shed, the cages, the walls, the floor, everything. It took about 4 hours because I wanted to be thorough and it is so nice and clean now! I had been putting it off but it was totally worth the effort. Trying to finish up xmas shopping but I've had some issues figuring out what to get my little phinny... What do you buy an 11 month old? He likes to eat.... He likes to put things inside of other things..... He REALLY likes to swim in our giant dog water bowl, other than that his sisters and I keep him pretty entertained and I really don't like many of the toys that I have seen and what I do like is so overpriced! Feeling uninteresting today, my whole kitchen table is once again piled high with wool and I am slowly getting it pictured, posted, packaged, and put away. There just aren't enough hours in the day and the weather has been cold and wet and unmotivating. Maybe I just need more coffee. Oh well, today was good even if I didn't finish too much. The girls are perfect, phinny is a five tooth owning, smiling little monster, my bunnys are snug in thier shed and the husband does not have to work tommorrow which means that I can beg and plead and get him to sit down and help me pick the vm out of the alpaca I just finished washing (not his favorite activity). A few more days and we will start baking and that is always so much fun and then the holidays will be over and I can relax and just enjoy the winter weather and the opportunity to sit around and spin, or play with the kids, or just bum around in my robe and slippers all day because it's cold and the garden doesn't need me.

Not too much

Not too much going on, my little terrorists have been keeping me pretty busy but today I got our water bottles and food bowls sterilized and hopefully when I clean cages tommorrow I will scrub down and sanitize cages. I got another one of my girls plucked today and it's some pretty good stuff, will hopefully get it in the shop in the next few days. I have a bunch of angora that I am getting ready to dye up in neat colors and some alpaca in white and black and... actually I have a room (yes, a whole room) of stuff that I should be posting... but I am sooo lazy! I have started crocheting again, it's been a long time since I messed with it but as usual I put it down for a few months and when I pick it up again I somehow have improved. I actually hadn't planned to do anything but spin for a while but the other day I ordered a set of bamboo crochet hooks from 8seasonknitting. They are shorter than most of the hooks that I've seen but not by too much, the perfect size to stick in a purse or something and I really like them, they are smooth and wonderful and inspiring! I plan on ordering another set because these were actually supposed to be a gift but the shipping was surprisingly quick so it shouldn't be a problem. trying to decide what recipes I want to add to the list this x-mas. We have our staples: white chocolate cranberry oatmeal cookies, eggnog cookies, buckeyes, caramels, butter mints, cakey bites, and margarita balls and every year I like to try something new to mix it up a bit but this year my neighbor (and most favorite person in the world) and I are going to split the cost and make goodie bags for her family and friends too which means that I can try at least 2-3 new things !!! Now, she's not really the baking type but it will still be nice to have help with all the clean up and such and I am thrilled about the new recipe options, I am considering some sort of chocolate drizzled/or flavored carmel corn/popcorn ball things, and a bunch of stuff that I've seen on etsy has been inspirational but I have decided that this year I absolutely have to have an apron. I'm serious, I've never been an apron type of girl but it's become a thing and now I just feel like I need one. Funny thing is, every time that I find one that I like and add it to my favorites list to come back and look at later so that I can make sure that I love it, it ends up getting sold. Oh well, just gives me more excuse to shop...

Bunny's on the way!

Well, I had tried to breed my favorite English doe and my Satin buck but she wasn't willing and I've always wondered if maybe he wasn't just a few fries short of a happy meal so it just didn't happen. So last night I decided to throw grumpy old Cass in with my Sam and see what they thought about it. Sammy is such a good boy! and it is always so comical to watch. I was jumping up and down and clapping and yelling yea sammy! and Cass was none too pleased but the deed is done and I will now be expecting a litter of purebred, pedigreed french on Jan. 2nd. Cass is a broken and Sam is a siamese sable with brokens in his background so I ought to get some colorful bunnies out of these too. I only have cage space for five more grown ones so if the litter is bigger than that I will have babies for sale at some point. Other than that I have not accomplished much, I am supposed to try out a new cresent roll recipe tonight, I am supposed to clean the house, I am supposed to pluck a rabbit, I don't really feel like doing any of it today. It is noon and I am still in my robe. I was planning on getting some more angora dyed up, and maybe some more spinning done, or some of the mountains of fiber washed.

This cold weather

This cold weather has got me in a spinning kind of mood! I have spun a mini skein of a really wonderful camel/alpaca blend. I got it from I sagefox on etsy and I honestly didn't want it to end. It was a dream to spin and I love how it came out. It's only 50 yards but it's a good 50 yards! My first experience with camel and I
LOVE it! Will definitly be buying more! Oh! my camera is dead! I had planned to post pictures of the batt and then of the yarn but for now it will just have to be a picture of the batt. Tommorrow when the batteries have recharged I will post some of the finished yarn. Then I was in such a good mood from spinning that, that I started on another batt this one from squambo

it's a sparkly wonderful mix of goodness with blue being the most predominant color. It was called friendly ghost and is made up up merino, alpaca, icelandic and tons of firestar and angelina .Plus it has the most awesome strands of novelty yarn cut up and added in and it makes for some really neat spots of extra color. I am almost finished spinning it upand it is soooo pretty and sparkly! On another note I am starting thanksgiving prep tonight..... as soon as I peel myself away from this computer. This is MY holiday, all the rest I could take them or leave them but thanksgiving, that is my day. It's just the five of us and my best friend and her two and my mother in law and I cook for two and a half days straight ( and eat for the next five) but I love every minute of it! Keep an eye out in the next few days, I will be posting at least two new handspun yarns to the shop and if I have time I will be plucking one of my girls and posting her wool too. Also, I will be sending samples to be included in the phat fiber box! hopefully for feb. if I can get moving and get a few more things done.

Oh Yeah

Went out and got some more fleeces today! Beautiful wonderful dark brownish ones! There is a wonderful woman not too far from me breeding her own sheep, they are columbia x rambouilet x corridale crosses. The fleeces are nice and I can't wait to play with them a bit! It totally made my day!

My sinuses are acting up because of the weather and I am getting behind on everything again. I have rabbits waiting to be plucked and wool to be dyed and other various things to do, but I feel so horrible that I am not making much progress.

ugh, I am sick of being sick!

Increasing my stash

Found a wonderful little yarn shop yesterday, Heavenly Ewe Yarns. They are right in Arnold, tucked away inside of Parable Christian Store. An unlikely location maybe but here's hoping that they grow and grow! While there I bought somenice kaleidescope yarn and then decided to hit joanne fabrics on the way home. OMG! They were clearancing out thier Red Heart Symphony Yarn, all the colors. This stuff is awesome, an acrylic mohair imitation. It was on sale for $1.00 a skien so I bought 15 of them. Oops, kinda had to sneak them in the house to get past the husband! I got one of my french does sheared today and will hopefully get her wool posted on etsy today. Getting ready to handpaint some yarn for a friends crocheting project. Got the house cleaned and all (or at least most) fiber related stuff moved into it's very own bedroom.

Still behind

Well, I am still behind but trying to catch up. Maggie turned 5 this month, thankfully her party is not for another two weeks so I still have time to finish up the various projects that will be her presents. I am doing my version of fall cleaning, which means getting rid of the stuff that we have accumulated over the summer. I started yesterday and have two giant trashbags of clothes to take to the resale shop already. I have fallen behind on my shearing schedule, started my bun cass last week and she is still sitting in the cage half done. Reorganized my wool stash and have a bunch that I need to get posted to the shop. On a good note the kittens we took in are doing well, growing bigger every day and getting into everything. Litterbox training is going well. I haven't felt very interesting lately. I guess that explains the lack of posts. Sometimes I get so overwhelmed that nothing gets done. Life just goes on and I can't seem to get back in the swing of things. Today is better, I have a mild sense of accomplishment and a giant cup of coffee.

Better Today

Maybe I am finally breaking out of the rut! Yesterday I canned some wonderful orange marmalade, Plucked my beloved Tigerlily (5 1/4 oz . and she's a tiny little English!), cleaned the house, finished my book, did some laundry, transplanted my 2nd crop of peas, weeded the garden, and various other things. Today is wide open, though it is still raining! I really need to sit down and get some knitting done, and my kids could use a bath. Maybe I'll find time to groom another rabbit. Or post some of the lbs. of angora covering my kitchen table onto etsy so that we can eat there again.
We decided to start "doing school" after maggies birthday, in fact, it is one of her birthday gifts. I think it's awesome to start out very year thinking of it as a gift. But, I realized that I had this silly idea that we should all start getting up earlier in preparation (keep in mind that my children do NOT get up before 9 am) so for the last week I have been trying to drag myself out of bed earlier and earlier telling myself that it was so that when we started "school" we could start early. Then this morning it hit me. We as a family are night owls. We are not morning people. I tried to wake maggie up at 8:30 this morning and it was most unpleasant. So my epiphany was hey, didn't we decide to homeschool to break free of all those things?!? I realized what a gift that kind of freedom is! Instead of forcing all of us into an unatural schedule with hours of groggy, unfriendly waking up time I can just do things on our normal schedule. I don't have any set hours which means that if we want to start school at 4 in the afternoon we can. If we want to do it at 11 in the morning, we can. Then that makes me realize what an adventure we are about to embark upon! The world is wide open, we can learn what we want, when we want, how we want!
Life is good. The kids are wonderful, the garden is bountiful, the husband is agreeable, and the bunnies are wool producing machines! Now, if I could only get the house to come to some sort of agreement about it's level of cleanliness.

lazy end of summer

Still being lazy. I have on fingerless glove for maggies birthday on the 20th halfway finished. I have an assortment of other projects in similar stages of completion. I've gotten my 2nd crop halfway planted, but I am still waiting on a few packets of seeds to come in the mail. My 2nd crop of tomatoes has it's first green ones. The neighbor kids brought me a litter of kittens that they had found under the dumpster and after walking around the neighborhood with a mewing kitten I found momma and lured her back to my house. So now we are dealing with little kitty terrorists....pooping on the floor, attacking anything that moves, just being babies. They are so cute but I can't wait to get them fixed and find them homes. Today I will be canning some orange marmalade and hopefully plucking tigerlily and maybe spending some time catching up on all the things that I have been letting slide. It's damp and rainy and this kind of weather doesn't make me want to jump up and do things. The other day I turned one whole side of the overflowing compost bins. the very bottom was finished so I shoveled it into a barrel and turned the rest back into the bin. I had planned on shoveling out the other side but it has rained for the last two days so I don't see that happening until it dries up again. Phinny is 7 months old and into everything, he has started pulling himself up to standing and he crawls everywhere.
We are once again without a vehicle, the van was totaled a few weeks ago and we don't all fit into the truck so I have not left the house for quite a while. The jefferson county freecycle program is getting started, as is handspun with love, we have picked up some volunteers but we still need more. I'm not especially inspired lately, just tired and lazy.

Where did the time go?!?

I don't know how, but I have been so busy the time has just been slipping away! I have been knitting alot on the nifty knitter looms because volunteers for handspun with love have been less than I thought there would be. I picked up some decent cheviot wool today. Quite a bit of it actually..... I see a queen sized bedspread in it's future! Oh, that lovely sheepy smell that comes with bringing home a bunch of fleeces! No, I am not being sarcastic, I really do LOVE that smell. My husband thinks that it's a sign of mental illness. I sold all the buns that I am willing to part with and brought home three more. They are the sweetest boys, I love to bring a bun home and be pleasantly surprised with a sweetheart. I've gotten alot of things listed on Etsy and have alot more to take pictures of BUT one of my children decided to take my camera out of my purse and then step on it so my beautiful new camera is destroyed. The screen is not visibly cracked but when you turn it on you can see where it is ruined. Will go shopping for a new one this week but I am not happy about it.

LAZY

Oh, Have I been lazy lately! Took the kids to grandma's and have done nothing since! I've still got the two littlest ones but they are quiet and happy to read books and color with me all day. We haven't gone anywhere or talked to anyone.... or gotten any shop updates done, but it's so nice just to take a break. I did get some more wool and angora dyed up and tommorrow I am planning on getting some more roving dyed. My computer is not liking me lately so I am having problems uploading pictures here and on Etsy. I have kind of started a new project, I am in the process of sanding down an old desk, it will be painted and then decoupaged and it's just going to be awesome, so good that I don't know if I will sell it. Either way I am going to have to find a chair to match it and figure out how exactly I want to do it. I am thinking on a few different ideas. It's nice to get back to my first crafty love (furniture) It's something that I haven't had the time or ambition for in a long time, I still have that amazing vintage chair in my bathroom just waiting to be reupholstered but I can't decide what color and there are sooo many buttons on it, I think It will be in it's ugly but beautiful pinkness for a while longer.

Alpaca Field Trip

Today we went on a little field trip, I got my fiber fix for the week and some alpaca love too! Just 15 minutes down the road from me in Dittmer, Mo Big River Alpacas has alpacas of every size and color. We had so much fun, they are so beautiful and exotic, my girls got to pet them and they were very sweet and well behaved. Nothing that I love more than to not only get my fiber locally, but to also see how well cared for and loved the creatures providing my fiber are. My mind is made up, I must have alpacas! Not right now but , but as soon as we get a bigger chunk of property. I can only hope that Lisa will still be around when I am ready to bring

home a few of these sweeties. I took pictures and petted to my hearts content and then I got to bring home some more fiber, this time more suited to needle felting which is the next thing I am going to teach myself to do. I was once again impressed with the size and good temperaments of LGD's. They have both Great Pyrenees and Maremma and they are such wonderful dogs! All and all I would definitely recommend getting your alpaca fiber here and if you are close enough make time to go pick it up and visit for a while, you'll fall in love.

Alpaca and other things

I got some alpaca from a really wonderful woman in dittmer the other day, very pleased with both the alpaca and the price! I love alpaca! Anyway, I've gotten everyone plucked or sheared except for two of the babies and they are getting done as soon as I get the chance, I've been so addicted to etsy lately I haven't been doing much else, I even have it as my start up page! I have been busy in the garden though. Picking peas and lettuce and spinach, using herbs with everything, anxiously watching the beans and peppers and tomatoes for ripeness, pulling weeds, and showing the trees in my flower beds who's the boss! Oh, yeah I was featured on someones blog!!!! So excited! here's the link http://sockpr0n.blogspot.com/2008/06/etsy-friday.html

The New and Improved Bunny Love Shack!!!!!

I'm so excited! The new bunny shed is here and all of the buns are safe and snug inside. Here is a picture of the new shed, I would show a picture of the old one but it was such an embarrassment i'd rather not! I have been really sick with a sinus thing and i'm still a little dizzy today, but much better overall. I've been very busy I've sheared 5 buns in the last two days because even with air conditioning the shed isn't fully insulated yet and they looked hot so I figured I would shave them all and this october when they are ready again whoever doesn't produce up to my expectations is going to be sold as pet quality and I will get to buy some better stock to replace them. I am making some huge cuts right now in the herd as it is so if you see someone you ike now is the time to let me know, I will do package deals and everyone's price is discounted. I have been busy dying wool like crazy (even doing the angora)and listing it to my shop, I figure I'll dye up everything that I have washed and then when it's all done and posted I will start washing some more. I am sooo busy, spinning and dyeing and knitting on the loom, I am stockpiling stuff for fall soft angora winter wear and lots of other stuff. oh well, I am tired. more later.

The Fiber Fair

Well we made it to the fiber fair, in spite of multiple issues and our van leaking fluids halfway there. It was a nice day though it was so windy I ended up putting alot of my things back in the van so that they wouldn't blow away. The vendors were great! So many and selling tons of great stuff! I forgot my wallet in the rush to get out of the house, so I didn't get shop as much as I would have liked but I did pick up a nice french doe. All in all in was a pretty good day, but I do have to say, Where were all the people?!? a great turn out of vendors and products, but fiber people? not very many, most of the people who stopped to talk to me were from right in town and had no real interst in fiber related things at all! They had just wanted to see what was going on. Did people just not know about the fair? Is the cost of gas the reason? I don't know but either way it would've been nice to have some more of the people that the fair was for actually show up. But on a lighter note, I have new spindles posted in my etsy shop, and new fiber will be up as soon as my camera batteries are done charging.

Beaded Headstalls

It has finaly stopped raining, I got some time in on my boy, the picture is of him last year, he's still a bit shaggy in spots now but he is starting to look good. I am working on hand beading a nice wide browband for his bridle because I just found out that we might be in a parade this year. I rode in it last year too but I ended up riding sunny instead of buddy because buddy is a bit of a fruit cake when it comes to crowds. So anyway I am making this beaded headstall, if it goes well I may be offering a few others on Etsy. I still haven't decided what other color to use, I am doing the black parts right now but by june he will have shed out to a not quite black bay color and I can't decide what color would really go well with that, if anyone has any color suggestions I would love to hear them, I need to buy him new ribbons for his mane also and I don't want to buy them until I figure out the perfect color. I was thinking maybe gold, or burgandy.... It's so hard i have tried every darkening shampoo and stuff on the market, he is just never going to be black!




Here is a picture of me on sonny last year, I did burgandy ribbons with him. Either way I am so excited about this summers riding possiblities, last year we tackled the water, at the beginning of summer bud was so scared of puddles he would do a dance as soon as you started to get close to one, and by the end of summer I actually had him swimming neck deep in the big river. This summer, well, there is a very large pasture full of unsuspecting cows and now that the last of the longhorns are safely in the freezer they are looking a lot less intimidating. Last year before the big pasture was finished we had to ride past the cows every day to get to the trails and buddy was so scared he almost tossed me a couple of times. Now we can ride into the cows with no issues, so I am thinking, how hard would it be to teach him to work the cows? Now, I really know nothing about teaching a horse to work cattle but it's just too tempting, I think that we could do it, the bull is the tamest of the group, none of them have horns, and I spent alot of time last year riding among them to get buddy over his fear that the cows were going to eat him. I am still doing research online but I think that this might be this years project.

Rain.... uck

All this rain is killing me, though I did have fun teaching my daughter to throw mud balls yesterday. We saw some of the neighborhood boys starting up a mudfight and just had to join in, though I was probably the only parent who was laughing about it. We had so much fun! I haven't had a mud fight since I was little! But it's been three days straight of on and off rain and while I should be geting things done around the house, I've done little but browse etsy and dye wool.... which has come to a temporary halt because it's too wet outside to dry it. On a better note my lilah b. is looking about ready to pluck, hopefully in the next few days and then maybe carmella will be ready before the marshfield fiber fest, call me greedy but I would really like to get the wool off of her before she goes.

Standing over the dyepot

I hvae been standing over a dyepot for the better part of two days now I've got a huge amount of roving, some corriedale cross, and an unknown but really nice wool that I have been using to perfect my color recipes. I am mostly working on getting that really awesome look with tons of different shades of the same color. I think my favorite is the moss green, though the salmon color is my 2nd favorite, it just doesn't have as many different shades. These two and many more will soon be available at my etsy shop and I am even considering selling some of my preblended dye (in powder form) so that you can do this at home. I've got a really nice purpleish color in the dyepot right now, it's more of a solid color though if it comes out how I want it to it will have a slightly darker shade in spots. The girls and I are having so much fun, we are even considering doing up a bit of angora, I just can't decide what color to do it!

The Garden

Well, after weeks of work I am finally seeing a light at the end of the tunnel. I have everything besides my peppers, melons, pumpkins, peanuts, and some flowers in the ground. I ran a bit short on compost as I decided to top dress all of my raised beds with another layer this year so on monday we will go out a buy a truck load to fill in the last of it. The bunny play area has a nice thick covering of dandelion and clovers so that when they get out to play they have good stuff to munch on and I have been trying to make sure that at least one "playgroup" gets out each day. My husband thinks it's ridiculous that I have organized them into groups but certain bunnies only get along well with certain other bunnies and if I try to mix it up too much it ends up as bunny battles instead of bunny playtime. I am so happy now that its warm again. About two more weeks and the bunnies will have their new shed with AC and more space. I've gotten my first Iris blooms from the 200 or so ( not kidding) that I dug up and brought here last year and my empty lot beautification is going well, I can see the seeds that I planted sprouting up all over the place. It's going so well that now I am wondering if I could maybe plant some other things there like a few pumpkins that I may not have the space for. I may just try it. Every morning I go outside and look over the gardens to see what new miracle has begun to sprout or grow or bloom I am constantly amazed at what a miracle it is to plant a seed and watch it grow.

Just have to brag

The other day we went to pick up two beautiful French angora does. I am very, very happy with them I had never seen or felt french angora fiber before and was surprised to find that it is silkier than that of my English bunnies. It is also a bit longer, most of it is about 7 in. long, and the best part, on the way home I put one of the girls in my lap and started to spin straight from the bunny and it is actually a bit easier to spin than the angora from my English. I paln on selling 1 oz. on etsy, but the rest I am totally keeping for myself! It's just too good to sell it all. Now I am thinking that when I get my numbers down a bit I may breed one of them and try to get either broken or white babies because wool that long and white would be awesome.

The Marshfield Fiber Fair

I have just received confirmation that I will be able to attend the Marshfield Mo fiber fair. I will be there selling a few bunnies and buying wool and I hope that you will be to I will be offering a discount on multiple bunny purchases while there. This will be my first fiber fair and my first time taking the buns out in public, i'm so excited!

Looking Back

Wow! I've been looking back at my blog and it's amazing how time just moves along. I started making bread, finally got around to it 2 days ago and it was wonderful, my 2nd attempt is baking right now. I still haven't touched the sewing machine.... but I will. I have gotten 4 out of 20 lbs of wool washed and it looks really good. I've made three sales on my etsy shop, you should have seen how excited I got, especially the first sale, the bunnies are paying for their own food and what more can I ask for, I get all the bunny love and less of the bunny expenses. I am so happy. I ordered and received our new homeschool curriculum and it looks great, I can't wait to start. Baby phinn is huge and fat and healthy, the girls are slightly less bad, the garden is going great, I am constantly reminded of how good it is to be alive. Oh! and we got a van! We can finally go places as a family! I love it! Tommorrow I go to pick up two new girls, french angoras, which I've wanted forever. It all started with the german/english doe she made me realized that my bunny addiction might possibly be more fulfilled if I included other kinds of angoras too so now I am going to include two more girls into the herd and squash the last bit of opposition to the brand new bunny shed that I will be using our stimulus check as a down payment for. Now I just have to figure out some way to convince the husband that I should be able to use the rest of the money for a drum carder.... oh, how I want a drum carder, angora blends, color blends, I want one sooo bad! I guess that's being a bit greedy. goodbye for now.

My Etsy

Well, I've fianally gotten around to starting that etsy shop! I am adding new things as they are made, Have sooo many ideas, It's just a matter of having the time and getting the materials to get it done. But I have posted a few things from the garden, the type of stuff that is really hard to kill and will grow anywhere because otherwise it wouldn't be worth selling. And I posted my first bunny card, I am making more of different shapes, sizes, and colors and they are all so awesome! I have been looking for cute cards/stationary with angoras on it for a long time and AI just couldn't find anything that I liked So I started making my own and they are just so cute I had to share it with the world.

Countryside Lines

I am getting country side lines! 12 more bunnies to be exact. Soooooo excited and I should be rushing around trying to get things ready but instead I am sitting here typing! I will most likely be selling another one of my does and a buck very soon to help make room for our new additions. I almost don't know what to do with myself! and Lilah B. is due to kindle today! So I am going to (hopefully) have beautiful harlequin babies really soon. Well, it's nice outside today and I have a four foot tall compost pile calling my name.

So Busy

Rozie went to her new home today! I hope that they love her, she is such a sweet girl. I spun some more yarn, washed some more wool, and got two bunnies groomed. Was contacted by an old friend. Life is good. Soon it will be time to pluck my bunnies again, I love my bunnies and I love their wool! As you can tell I am in a good mood.

Handspun with Love

There is a new page explaining about our little "Handspun with Love" project, you can click on the link in my sidebar to go see it and to get to the photo journal for the project.

Overwhelming Newness

I am typing this from my new-used computer...I got a power Mac G4, now I know next to nothing about computers so I picked this one (now don't laugh) for three reasons, 1st it was THE prettiest computer on craigslist, 2nd it was in my price range, and 3rd the really nice person who sold it to me was willing to take the time and show me how to transfer my files and give me a walk through on how a mac is different from a pc. I'm still working out the kinks, but it is going well, today after having a tear filled mini nervous breakdown I realized that it HAD come with manuals so I started reading them and low and behold, most of the things that I was having a hard time figuring out were right in there! To add to the list of new stuff I did go out and buy that sewing machine, it is still in the box, on my coffee table with patterns and fabric to make pajama pants for the whole family, I figure I should probably figure out the computer before I get going on another new project. AND today we went and bought a new digital camera so that I can take better pictures of my bunnies and other assorted things, It's charging right now but in about an hour or so I will be going crazy taking pictures of everything available. All is well, counting down the days until the lovely Lilah B. has her babies. She is due on the 9th of March but she usually goes a couple of days early. I love baby bunnies! All for now.

Wonderful Wool

The other day a wonderful woman sold me a little over 20lbs of unprocessed wool for the very low price of $15, It's dirty, and has been sitting forever but it's usable. I am taking pictures as I go, through each stage of processing it, If all goes well this wool is going to be the start of the Handmade with Love project that I am working on, which helps needy families have gloves, hats, and scarves for the winter season. But that's a whole 'nother post. Anyway, this is decent enough wool, not counting that someone kept thier sheep where there where a whole lot of pine trees. I am so excited, I have never processed wool from scratch before so this is a learning experience for me. I just can't wait to start spinning it, I spend the first part of every day now cleaning the house and washing fleece. I can only do small batches at a time because my washer is front loading so I am stuck with the sink but so far all is going well. Waiting for my favorite fiber site to update so I can buy myself some more goodies! AND in a little bit I am going up to walmart to buy a new sewing machine! yes, that's right folks...at 25 I have finally decided to teach myslef to sew....a little embarassing that I don't yet know how but this is the year, no more saying oh, i'll do it sometime, I'm going to go buy it and some patterns and just start sewing! It's funny, I find that the more that I heap upon myself the happier I am. All the bunnies are doing well, Daisy seems depressed about her baby but I can't blame her, so am I. Thinking about breeding Sweetie, not sure if I want to deal with two litters at once...I'll have to think about it for a while.

Bad

I lost a baby bunny today, This morning I found him out of the nest and really, really cold....I tried for three hours to save him, he stopped breathing four times and each time I rubbed and rubbed and got him breathing again but the last time was just too much.....I am so dissapointed. It's so hard to lose a little one, I know that it happens and I suppose I shouldn't take it so hard but I do. Poor little guy, he was only two days old. I tried so hard...

This Computer......absolute crap

Well, I have been working hard on updates all day long, and I have come to the realization that my computer is getting worse and worse. I am now looking at used computers, because being frugal I cannot justify paying $1000 or more for a new mac (which is what I want) soooo even though I have heard time and time again that buying a used computer is just buying someone else's problems I am searching for a slightly less crappy problem box with an internet connection. On a more positive note, I got tons of spinning done this evening while I sat and waited for my computer to unfreeze from the multiple issues it has been having all day.

Yes, she was

Last night at 10:30 after having built her nest and plucked a fair amount of wool I noticed Miss Daisy sitting in her nest, at 10:47 she had her baby, it is only one but a perfect one all the same. Looks like it may be a harlequin, though it's too soon to tell. She is a good momma, sitting on the nest almost constantly since he was born, usually rabbits have very little to do with thier babies other than feeding once or twice a day, but Daisy seems to know that her single baby could get cold and die easily so I am thinking that is why she is sitting there, to keep him warm. I'm thrilled that she was pregnant and happy to have any amount of healthy babies butI really wish that she had more than one, the survival rate of just one can be sketchy just because there are no other bunnies to help generate body heat.

Maybe she is!!!

And my day just keeps getting better!!! Last month I bred Daisy to Einstien, the other day on trying to feel her tummy for babies I didn't think that I felt any, but I have been wrong before so I put her into a flat plastic bottomed cage with all the hay to make a nest and everything, just in case. She was due on the 18th and when no babies, or nest making activity, or anything else happened I wasn't too surprised, but today she is definitly engaging in nest building activities!!! Now I am surprised! This is awesome, now i won't have to re-breed and I will have baby bunnies again! I love baby bunnies! It's a good thing too because I was planning on rebreeding her in the next few days. But it seems now as if I will not have to. Yea Einstien! See, he's figuring it out. It's just taken him a while.

The Return of Creativity

Looking at other peoples pages and finally having phinneas (the 23rd of Jan. 9 lbs. 8oz.) I am starting to feel like myself again. I am working on numerous craft projects, acumulating an admirable amount of fiber in various stages of preparation, working more with the bunnies, you name it I am trying to get it done. Sooooo, in that vein, I am going to be totally overhauling the website, stupid earthlink has a limit on content of my page and such so that means I cannot post the pictures like I want to and all sorts of other things so I am starting to stumble through and find a solution between blogspot and flickr and earthlink that will better serve my needs. It might take a while but it will be done! Some of the projects I am working on are basketry from recycled things, learning to crochet, and lots more handspinning! I am working to get a stockpile of things to open my etsy store so that I can sell some of my wonderful yarn and other things, And, I have found some wonderful peopleto trade my angora for other fibers with. Life is good. On the bunny aspect of things Lilah B. and Einstien are expecting a litter around the 9th of March and I will be re-breeding Miss Daisy either to Einstien or to Floppins in the next few days. I have two babies for sale from a December litter, a Pointed White doe, and the beloved Mr. Floppins. He is getting older now and his bloodlines don't really fit with what I am workng towards so it is time for him to go to a nice cushy pet/wooler home. I am working on plans to rebuild the bunny shack (complete with air-conditioning) and getting ready to buy some much needed new bunny equipment. I am also planning on hitting some fiber fairs this year and maybe pick up some new bunnies with some new bloodlines, I want more wool! more! more! 'Tis all for now. Keep checking on me, it's going to get better and better.

still no baby but this time it's me!

i am really late! even after the dr adjusted my due date to jan 3rd i am still 6 days late. and i thought it was bad waiting for my bunnies to have babies, now i m waiting on myself and it's way worse. bunnies are doing well though.