Combing, dyeing and puppies

 Here are my favorite tools for combing my goats.  The brush has a nifty button that pushes the fiber to the end of the teeth, and the comb gets most of the cashmere off the goat pretty easily.  I use the comb first, then the brush to go over the goat a final time after I'm done combing.  I've tried lots of different combs over the years, and these two work the best.  I just got the brush the other day. I had one that didn't have the button on it, but the pups chewed the handle on that one pretty good, so I got this one at Petsmart.

 My dyeing didn't turn out quite like I was expecting, but they are pretty colors anyway.  I had a little too much water in the pan and the dyes kind of blended together.  I started out with a nice blue, peach, and canary yellow, and it's mostly green and tans.  Not what I was trying for, but it turned out good, maybe even better than my original plan. ☺

   

   

These are my three puppies, two Turkish Akbash livestock guardians, and a tiny Russell Terrier.  Cloud, Dottie and Rocky.  Cloud and Rocky are a brother sister team, and Dottie is my all around terrorist.  I've never had a dog this small before, always had medium to big ones.  She is the littlest creature on the place, and she's taken over the whole place.  She has a Great Dane attitude in that little body. She is fearless, even around the goats.  I got her to keep the rodents in check around here.  She is best buds with the cat, too.  Maybe they will team up and get the rats, too!  That's what I'm hoping for.   All three were born in October, 10 days apart.  The big pups are already barking at deer  and people that come around.  I think they will be great guardians of the goats.  They don't try to herd the goats, either.  Now I am set for dogs for the next 8 to 10 years!
  Our winter has been fairly mild, over all.  We've had a few cold snaps, but it's been above normal for a while now.  It's rainy today, and supposed to be for the rest of the week.  Last week we were a good 10° warmer than down in the valley, and sunny, too.  They were in a foggy inversion and we were in the sun.  It was nice!  I got a lot of the goats combed then.  I think I'm up to 19 that are done now.  There are 28 left to do.  They seem to be shedding earlier this year.  I've always had a few that started early, but this year everyone is.  Guess that means I'll get it all done and processed earlier, finally! There is less guard hair in it when it's combed out this early, too. That will give me time to get some other projects done around here that have been put off for too long.  Hope I get some helpxers here, especially late summer into fall.

  That's all the news for now.  More as it happens....