Needle Felting

 Here is some of what I've been doing lately.  I can finally show the alpaca I made!  It was a custom order for Christmas, so I couldn't put it up till she got it.  This was fun to do.  I had a couple of pictures to work from, both showing the same side, so I hope the other side looked the same! :-)  Panda is the alpaca's name.

This dog is my Great Pyrenees Nellie.  She's 10 years old now and still going strong.  She still follows me all the way down the forest service road, which is 4 miles long, when I plow.  When I'm doing the turn-outs she lays down in the middle of the road.  Thank heavens nobody came around the corner!  

 I've done a lot of bears, too.  They seem to be popular.  Bear cubs and the parents are what I've been doing mostly.  I really like this needle felting.  It's fun to create realistic looking animals.  (some are more realistic looking than others)  I'll post more pictures soon.  I hope everyone has the best year yet in 2016!  Happy New Year!!!

A medley

It's hard to believe it's the last month of 2015!  A lot has happened around here this year.  John is finally home for good now.  I don't have to be by myself anymore!

I had a good bunch of helpxers this year.  All were good workers, and all were fun to have here.  I like meeting new people from different walks of life and different countries.  It's fun to compare lifestyles and things.  A lot of projects got completed this time around.  Some got started and are waiting completion.

Rocky is all healed up and back out with the goats.  He is so much calmer and nicer to his sister now.  They still have arguments on a daily basis, but it's not huge fights like it was.  He minds better now, too.

There is a packrat in the dairy barn that must be too big to go in any of the traps I've set.  I'm going to have to resort to a poison bar for this one, I guess.  At least it's not making a big mess in there, but I can smell it, and it does get into things somewhat.  Annoying beasts.

We still have some snow on the ground.  It's warmed back up again from the low teens and single digits, back to above freezing.  I plowed the entire 4 miles of fs road with the ATV on Tuesday before it warmed up and the snow was light and fluffy still.  My fingers on my right hand, running the throttle got quite cold, but the rest of me stayed warm.  One of the neighbors half plowed it, but didn't finish it for some reason.  They left big piles of snow right on the edge that would really cause problems by spring if left.  So I got rid of those, widened the road clear out to the very edge and made all the turn-outs.  Now it's good for the other neighbor to continue on with for the rest of the winter.  It's shaping up to be another winter like last, a cold spell, then a warm spell, then back to cold. etc.. We got the studded snow tires on the truck this week, so we're ready now.

The goats are doing well.  There are 10 does bred now, with two left to get bred.  Lots of kids next spring!


The turkeys are going in the freezer slowly but surely.  The one we had for T-day sure was good!  Tender and juicy.  I don't think I'll ever eat a store bought one again.  They just don't taste nearly as good.  Even the organic ones.  Ours are fed organic feed with no corn/soy/ or canola in it.  Good stuff!  The only downside to raising them is they eat a lot!!  Even free ranging, they still ate a lot.  The chickens are laying quite a few eggs.  The cold spell slowed them down, but they are picking up again now that it's warmed up.

Well, it's time to get back to spinning up the cashmere.  I just sold all the natural colored yarn I had spun, so now I'm spinning the last of the fleeces up.  Then it will be back to needle felting.

Happy Holidays!!