Officially Phat!

Well today I bandaged up the fingers so that I could get some work done. It stil hurts and I have some amazingly huge blisters ( I know, gross) but I am coping. I have finally finished my phat fiber contributions!!! Yea me! I had meant to take more pictures but honestly I put so much work into them that by the time I was done I just wanted to put them in the box to be done with it. I am exhausted, spun two yarns today and got a bunch of other things done too on top of the last of the phat stuff. It's been a long day. I am saving things up for a huge March update so that when the phat boxes come out my shop won't be empty. So far I have two art yarn rovings and four handspuns done plus fiber in natural colors and I am hoping to get a bunch of stuff dyed up in the next few days. Then I will start updating like crazy! The husband has grudgingly pitched in, sanding yarn sticks for me and keeping me (mostly) sane. I really do like working this hard. It's so awesome to have a sense of accomplishment at the end of the day and luckily my yarn does not unspin itself in the way that the house seems to unclean itself. Oh well, I am off to take a nice long soak in some of my bath salts and try to relax...

A day in the life of

Okay, so I am pretty boring. I know it, I've come to accept it.... Lately I have been trying to pick apart my days so that I can figure out a way to get more done, of course, I've been unsuccessful. Maybe I just need stronger coffee. My average day: Wake up between 7:00-8:30 (Phinneas is my alarm clock in the morninings and throughout my day)I Feed phinny and then I make coffee, feed kids, dogs, cats, myself, and check on rabbits. by 9:00 I am seated at me computer with a giant cup of coffee checking emails and planning my day, sometimes if the coffee is especially good I am also spinning on the drop spindle at the same time. Usually by 10-ish I ask the kids to clean up thier dishes and shut the tv off, the radio comes on and I attempt to clean the disaster that we call home, by 11:30 I have at least got the kitchen cleaned up enough to start dying or washing whatever wool I had prepared the night before and I do that for at least 20 min. Next I am on to whatever I did days before and I take what's dry and either put it in a bag for later use or photograph it and package it up for sale, then it's back to the computer to post whatever I just took pictures of and I usually knit or crochet or spin while sitting. Then I finish up whatever wool project was going on in the kitchen and lay it out to dry. We start working on school and go until we are hungry and then it's time for lunch. After lunch phinny gets fed again and takes his nap, on a nice day it is straight outside with the girls and the dogs to change rabbit cages, shovel compost, or otherwise work on the gardens. by 4:00 we are inside and phinnny is waking up, we finish up whatever school stuff we had been doing and get anything that needs to be mailed ready to go, I tend to slow down, get the kids a snack and we play or read or do something together. I also try to groom at least one rabbit a day. sometime between 6:00- 7:30 we have dinner, sometimes the tv comes back on if channel 9 has something interesting on and I get out the beast and try to work on spinning for a bit, the kids pick up thier toys and are supposed to clean up thier rooms. We do baths for the ones that need it and then brush teeth and read stories and tuck in, I sit down to feed phinny and try to get some reading time in for myself, usually I end up reading out loud because he gets upset if I don't. Phinny is in bed by 10:30 and I get whatever wool I want to work with tomorrow in to soak and try to finish up any projects that are almost done. I feed the rabbits and sweep out the shed, I fold the days laundry, and do the other things I didn't get to during the day until I am tired and then I crash. Today I am trying to finish up my phat fiber samples, I have run out of some bags that I had planned on using and I am having trouble with writing up the labels but I have some really neat stuff and I am really excited about sending it in!

My Great Camel Adventure!!!

Okay so about a week ago I came across a man

in possesion of a camel and after talking for a while this wonderful, nice man he offered to let me come and attempt to get some fiber off of said camel. So I thought long and hard about who I could possibly tell about this potential adventure, I don't know alot of local handspinners and I was just so excited I had to tell someone, so I told my friend Anne, who lives pretty close to me and we had been emailing for a while but we had never actually gotten to meet and we decided to go on our great camel adventure together.

So as the day was approaching I was starting to worry, I realized that I have never even touched a camel, and I couldn't find any information about how to remove the wool from a camel, not to mention that I had never met Anne in person, so anyway, I was kind of freaking out.

The day comes and I am prepared. I have scissors, and brushes and we meet and head out. Turns out Anne and I have so much in common that we talked non-stop all the way there and back (and it was a four hour round trip). So we get there and The camels owner was nice enough to have caught him and brought him into a trailer to shelter us from the brutal winds blowing that day. As we approached the camel, I was a bit intimidated, trying to figure out how we are going to get this fiber off of him and into our bags without angering the camel, I walked up and started petting and it was SO soft! So I grabbed a small handful and gave it a light tug, and it came right out!! So we started just plucking away, just like he was a giant rabbit! So here's where I am thinking, oh thank god Anne is with me, Because she also has rabbit plucking experience, and we are standing there plucking this camel, practically jumping up and down with joy over how soft and wonderful this fiber is and how amazing it is that we can pluck it off just like a rabbit and how awesome this camel is. So after we were all done and had taken some pictures we thanked Roy and started on our long trip home. When we got back we split the fiber 50/50 and said our goodbyes and agreed to talk again soon. I am so excited to have met Anne and I can't wait for our next adventure. When I got home I weighed my fiber and I had 12 1/2 oz.!!! So that means we got roughly 24 oz. of the softest camel fiber that I have ever felt and all we had to do was drive out and pluck it. Who would have thought it would be so easy?!? It came right off! Just like a rabbit(albeit, a couple hundrend pound rabbit) It was arguably the best day that I have had in a long time and I am still so excited about my fiber! Oh, but what to blend it with?

Another Wonderful Day

Today has been another wonderful day! My oldest is spending some time with grandma so I am getting so time with just me and the little ones. The weather is nice and we've had alot of fun. I even got some bonding time in with my new Satin Doe, who has not yet earned a nickname but I really really love her. I think that she likes me too, so let's hope that Mr. (my Satin buck) will think she's nice enough. He is the bunny that just won't do it and I am very fustrated with him. I haven't introduced them yet, I want to get her in better condition and then when I pluck her I'll introduce them and hope for the best! I sold my English Doe Fudge Cake today and she is on her way to her new home to be a house bunny. So I am getting ready to go and order our new tattoo equipment and then maybe some goodies for me too! I am just in the best mood, though the house is kind of scary messy and I don't really feel like doing anything about it. I think I will get my phinny down for a nap and then head out to the shed to love on the buns. I am posting new stuff to the esty shop today too so keep an eye out and We still have one French baby and an English Doe for sale that you can find on our meet the buns page and our for sale page.

Too cute!

I just had to share some pictures of my girl tigerlily in her little coat! She looks sooo cute! I plucked her the other day and I was just too worried that she would be cold so I made her a little bunny coat out of some sweat pants that didn't fit maggie anymore. She is all warm and snug now and while I don't think that she is altogether pleased about the whole situation I just have to smile everytime I see my pouty little bunny in her little coat.

Looking for

I am in hot pursuit of a used battery operated tattoo gun! If anyone has one for sale or trade please let me know as soon as possible because I am getting ready to take the plunge and buy one and I would rather find it used. More coming shortly.

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.

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.

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.