Slowly, but surely, I'm getting some spinning done.  I've even dyed some of this.  My photography skills leave something to be desired, but someday (soon I hope!) I will have a real craft studio where I will have room to set up an area to take proper pictures of my work.  A place to set up all of my equipment and have things arranged so I can actually find something when I need it, instead of spending wasted minutes looking for it, sometimes finding it, sometimes not.  At least I have room for the really important spinning wheel!  Right beside the computer, so when the computer decides to take a nap while loading something, I can have a productive moment or five of spinning while waiting. ☺

Today was the first day of the general hunting season for big game.  It is bucks only in the deer department, so since there are very few of those up in this area any more, I didn't hear any shots fired.  Yesterday John and I went out and spent 3 hours working on the forest service road getting it ready for winter.  It was graded this fall, but the grader left a ridge of dirt clods and gravel along most of it, and especially in the turn-outs, so we cleaned it up and made it smooth so the plow wouldn't break hitting all of that when it's frozen.  The road is nice and wide and quite smooth to drive on.  It really needed work, it had been 6 years since it was last graded.  Lots of traffic and some torrential rains made for a rough road.  It's all better now.

The thinning project is all done, except for the slash burning, so the forester is coming out on Monday to inspect and hopefully approve it and sign off on it.  Then we will sign up for another section, maybe the rest of the property, for next year.   Our place is shrinking!  I can see the fence line from the goat pens now.  Before it was so thick out there, one couldn't even walk through it.  The goats are going to love it next year when they get out into that area.  They will be able to see clearly, there will be more vegetation to eat, and the predators have nowhere to hide in there.  Good things all the way around!

I am having all kinds of buck challenges this fall!  It's time to invest in some new fencing and get these guys fully contained again.  Today Midnight was out running with the herd!  I don't think anyone was in heat today anyway.  I wrote it down just in case.  What's that saying about the best laid plans of mice and men?  It seems not much is going according to plan this fall.  Oh well, I'll just go with the flow, remembering that everything happens for a reason, and not stress out about it all.  I might live longer that way. ☺  The goats enjoyed running out and eating the aspen leaves that are falling all over, munching on the slash piles, and then coming back into the pens and eating the wasted hay in each other's pens.  Saves me having to feed them hay in the evenings.  They were all looking quite fat tonight.
  Here are the Akbashes at a year old.  Hard to believe they are 1 year old already!  They are pretty good guard pups/dogs.  They have bonded with the goats and stay with them all the time.  Rocky is the one sitting and Cloud is laying down.  They get into some pretty loud fights at least once a day.  For being a brother/sister duo you would think they would get along good, but they really argue a lot.  Fortunately there is rarely any blood, just lots of growling and yelping.  Cloud is spayed, and Rocky is going in to get neutered next month. Hope that calms things down a bit. I wonder how much they will weigh when they are fully grown.  They are right around a hundred pounds now.  They eat a lot of food!  It's nice not having to bend down to pet them. :-)

   

Technology

This week I finally entered  the world of texting.  Yes, most people have been doing that for seemingly ages, but I am somewhat resistant to being too connected.  I like being up here on the mountain, isolated from most of the drama and angst out in the big world.  But, as more of my friends and relatives keep asking if I text, and that it would be so much easier to keep me "in the loop", sending me pictures and things, I decided to jump in and get a smartphone.
  We got a new phone plan, doing away with the "home phone" cell plan and John getting rid of his number he had back east.  Now I have the home number on my phone, and he has my old "traveling" cell phone number.   More phones added to our cell phone "museum".  We were one of the first people in the Flathead Valley to get a cell phone, even got to pick out our own phone number way back in 1994.  That really isn't that long ago, but it seems like it.  Amazing how fast and far technology has come!  That first phone was called a "bag" phone, and it was like a brief case size.  Not all that portable, no carrying it in your pocket or anything, but it worked good.  Then the phones got progressively smaller, and now they are getting bigger again.  Funny how that works.
  For being so resistant to it, I seem to be doing a lot of texting the last few days. :-)  It is nice to have more contact with my relatives that aren't close by.  Which is all of them, since the closest one is a good 8 hours away.  Most being at least 11 or more hours away.  It's easier to contact some of my friends, too.  So, I've entered the modern world.  Now I just need to become smarter than my smartphone.  I'm figuring it out fairly fast I think.  I know how to answer the phone now.  I have a Motorola, and one has to swipe it sideways to answer, not tap it.  So if you call me and I don't answer, it most likely means I didn't do it right. :☺  It also doesn't ring every time, which I'm not sure why.  Today someone called and the phone was right beside me and it just buzzed once after the person left a voice mail, no ring at all.  Not sure why it did that, but hopefully I'll get it all figured out soon.

On to farm life...  The new chickens, the pullets, are really laying eggs now.  They are so small compared to the older girls' eggs.  They taste good, which is all that really counts.  They'll get bigger as the hens age.  Helpxers built a new coop for them with three nest boxes.  The hens were using the boxes just fine, then they started laying them all over the place, so John and I took the double nest box out of the other coop, since those girls quit laying in it, and put it down in the new coop.  Now the hens are laying in that one, and still in the corners on the ground, and quit using the three original boxes all together.  Maybe the triplex needs a bigger lip on the edge so the hens don't feel like their eggs will fall out.  It's two inches high, but they aren't using it anymore.

  The does are starting to come into heat big-time, so the bucks are making all kinds of strange noises to entice the girls over to them.  So far Fiddle, the youngest one, has the most musical voice.  Most of the girls are going over to him.  I don't want any of them bred before next month, so I hope the bucks stay in their pens!  The way they are bashing the panels, I don't know if the fencing will hold or not.  I swear bucks are harder on fences than bulls.  They rear up and come down hard on the fence, bending the panels with every hit.  Dang beasts.  I have 7 bucks now!  That's three too many.  The two little guys are for sale, will somebody please buy them?  They will be a nice addition to anyone's herd.  Both have nice cashmere coming in, and both are friendly.  One more than the other, but he's coming around now.  $175 each.   Red and Moonshine are their names.

  Well, that's it for now.  We are having some exceptional fall weather, too warm for this time of year, actually.  We need some rain!!  We have quite a few slash piles to burn this fall, and it's way too dry to do that now.

We got a little rain!

We got a little bit of rain yesterday, enough to settle the dust anyway.  It would be nice to get a lot more pretty soon.  

  Now that John is back home, we are getting a lot done around here!  We've had some good helpxers this year (as always) and now that he is here, too, I have more time to do my cashmere business.  At least I will in the next couple of weeks.  

 

This is the lower "triangle pasture" now.  We did a drastic thinning of it to prevent a forest fire from wiping us entirely out.  Once it rains a bit more, we will burn all these, and more, slash piles and get it all cleaned up for next year.  There are 17 piles in this section, and at least twice as many, if not more, in the bigger section behind the goat pens that we are working on now.  Thank heavens for helpxers!!  They have really been a big help in doing this project, and also the firewood.  For the first time ever, we will be a good two years ahead on our firewood supply, instead of always scrambling just to get enough to get us through the currant year.  

The goats are loving this, they get to eat all the tree branches without having to do much to get them.  Just go to a pile and munch out.  The aspen leaves are falling now, too, and the goats are inhaling those as well.  This is my favorite time of the year.  The bugs are mostly gone, it's cool out, the colors are pretty, and the days are getting shorter.  Back in the days when I had horses, this was my favorite time of year to go riding, too.  

The new chickens are laying eggs already, and they aren't even 6 months old yet!  Out of 14 hens, I'm getting 7 eggs a day now.  They are so small compared to the older chickens' jumbo eggs.  They will get bigger over time.  Occasionally I find a "double yolker".  

Dani, my old heeler cross dog, is still hanging in there.  I was sure she was dying a week and a half ago, but after fasting for an entire week, all she did was drink water, she's now back to eating a little and moving around again.  It's amazing how animals can pretty much heal themselves if given a chance.  I didn't force feed her or anything,  I just let her do her thing.  She didn't eat a single thing for a whole week, only drinking a little water, she's looking a bit spry and is eating a little.  We'll see how long this lasts.

The article about me in the October issue of Montana Woman Magazine is pretty good!  I like the way the writer, Andrea Blair, made sense of my rambling answers and wrote a great piece on my lifestyle and adventures up here.  

Well, that's all the news around here for now.....

Too Many Bucks!

I have seven bucks on the place now!  Time to sell a couple of them.  These two are Red and Moonshine, two of this years' kids.  They were born in April, Moonshine is a couple weeks older than Red.  $275 each.  Red is out of Spot and Snowflake.  Spot is white and Snowflake is black.  Both of them have excellent fleece, so Red does, too.  Moonshine is out of Midnight and Miss Kitty.  Black, and red. Both have beautiful fleeces.   Interesting what colors the kids come out, isn't it?

I am tempted to keep them, especially Red, I like his coloring, except they are related to most of the herd, so there aren't enough does they could breed to warrant keeping them.  So, my loss, your gain!  If you are interested, I can send you pictures of the parents.  Miss Kitty is one of the prettiest goats on the place.  Nice conformation, beautiful head, and a nice deep red/brown color, like Red, only a shade darker.  Snowflake is a pretty goat, too.  Solid black with a soft grey fleece.  Red's great grand dad was a red color, too.  So if you'd like to add red to your herd, either of these bucklings carry that color in their bloodlines.  Moonshine has a creamy colored fleece.  He's like his mom, you can't see the cashmere till you start combing it out, then there is a lot of it!

The dehairing machine left on Sunday.  It is a relief to have it gone.  It was just too big of a machine for my situation.  It is made to be in a mill, and that is where it is now.  It used too much electricity for an off-grid homestead.   I enjoyed doing my own fleeces, but it is one of the slowest processes on the planet, and it's not why I'm here.  Now I have time to do all the other things I need to do around here that always got put off for the last 4 plus years.  I am open to whatever happens next.  It's all part of the journey called life!  Who knows, maybe I'll develop a "personal" sized dehairing device that anyone, anywhere can use and it won't cost an arm and a leg to buy.  That is what is needed in the cashmere world.  So, we''ll see what happens in the coming months.....

If you are interested in either of these boys, let me know.  Thanks!

Combing Nellie

After one hour and 45 minutes, Nellie is a fluffy hairball instead of a matted hairball.  She finally let me comb her out!

 This is all her hair that came off.  That's one of the Akbashes in the goat pen watching all the proceedings.  Probably glad they shed out much easier!

 Nellie was worn out after that and had to take a nap.  She was not entirely sure of the whole thing, but decided to let me work on her.  I guess she was tired of all the hair matts, etc.  For the longest time she wouldn't let me touch her, she'd head for the hills as soon as I had a hold of the comb.  But, today was the magical day.  We both feel better now, although I have a blister on the hand that was holding the comb the most.  It's worth it though.

A few years ago she "blew" her coat and was almost bald.  She did not like that at all, so she hasn't let me get near her since.  Now she sees that she can get combed and pretty and still have hair, so maybe from now on she'll let me comb her more often.  After that one time, she hasn't ever blown her coat again.  Feeling the air on her skin just about drove her crazy, I even had to remove her collar for a while.  Nellie is a wonderful dog, but I don't think I'll ever get a Great Pyrenees again.  It is too much work grooming them.  I like the Akbashes better, they don't bark quite as much either.  They shed out easier and have shorter hair.
 
Well, that's it for now.  More as it happens....

Rain is falling!

We are finally getting a good rain!  There is almost 3/4 of an inch in the rain gauge and ti's still coming down.  It's quite chilly, too.  43° is all.  The wood stove is going and the heat feels good!

John is enjoying being back home again, and I am enjoying having him back!  Thanks to helpxers, the wood shed is 95 % full, and John has about 2/3 of the trees that were cut and left in piles out in the woods all cut up into firewood.  They just need to be stacked and left out there for another year and brought in next summer.   It looks much better out there now.  It's nice to be able to turn the gardening over to John and I just have the animals to take care of now.  I'll have truly tame goats again!  The last three years the kids haven't been handled much, I haven't had the time, so there is almost half the herd that won't let me touch them easily.  Time to work on that!

I'm busy spinning and needle felting.   Today is a good day to be inside.  The goats are all staying under cover.  Most of them have a good cashmere coat growing already.  I love petting them now, they are so soft. ☺

We are having to run the generator today.  It hasn't been run for months, but it's been cloudy for a couple of days and lots of electricity has been used, so it needed to be started up.

We've started processing the young roosters from the batch of straight run laying chicks I got in May.  They sure are scrawny compared to the meat bird crosses!  A bit tougher, too.  But, they still taste good.  They are either Jersey Giants, or Buff Orpingtons.  So far we've done more of the Orps than Giants.  I was going to wait a few more weeks, but they are starting to fight a lot and harass the hens too much. So it's time to downsize the rooster crop.  I'm going to keep one of each breed and all the hens and go from there.  I'll let them hatch out their own chicks next year and keep the flock going now without buying more. I do think we will get some more meat birds.  They are easy to raise and it only takes 8 weeks.  It truly is only 8 weeks, too. 9 weeks or more and the quality goes down.  I kept two to them longer to see, and 8 weeks is the best time to process them.

I lucked out and got into a feed co-op here that buys organic feed at wholesale prices.  That has really helped with the feed bill on the birds.  The turkeys are eating us out of house and home.  They are getting huge, too.  The toms spend most of their time fanned out and strutting around.  The two hens stick to themselves most of the time.   It's funny how the toms gobble at any noise they hear.  Forget about trying to carry on a conversation with someone anywhere near them.  Every time a person starts to talk, they gobble.  Silly birds.

Well, that's all the news from here for now.  Time to get back to spinning....

Another Chapter in the Book

Yesterday was a rather sad day around here.  At 1:30 am Angus died.  Nellie started barking quite fiercely over towards Angus' pen, so I went out there in my pjs and bathrobe with the flashlight and here was Angus upside down with his horn stuck in the ground.  He was making little grunt/groaning noises.  I ran over and got him upright, but it was too late, he died a couple minutes later.  He lived to be 16 years and three months old!  That's pretty old for a cashmere buck.  This picture was taken last year before I combed him out and got him all pretty looking, or I should say handsome looking.  For as old as he was, he still had some really nice fleece.  Lots of crimp, it was still very tight.  The microns were way over the limit to be cashmere I think, it didn't feel very soft anymore, but it sure had style!   I saved his horns, then we hauled him away.  The last of my original goats.  I have quite a few of his daughters, so the line will continue.  

Another big change is the dehairing machine is leaving any day now.  I have it all cleaned up and ready to go.  I have quit deluding myself into thinking that this was actually working.  The machine is just too big, takes too much electricity, and is too expensive to justify keeping it for personal use.  I don't want to do other people's cashmere, it's too slow of a process, and I have other things I want to be doing.  While I did like to dehair my own fleeces, they came out so much better, this machine is just too big, it needs to be in a mill, which is what it is designed for in the first place.  Now that I decided to let it go, I am so relieved!  Now I will have time to really take good care of my goats again, and take them out into the woods to eat the neighbor's places down for fire control and all of that good stuff.  

I also got a sizable grant to get out of debt with!  Now that the machine is going away, I am out of debt and back in the black instead of deeply in a financial hole I didn't see a way out of!  That is such a relief, my mind is working much clearer and I can think properly again.  Which is why the machine is leaving, I admitted it wasn't working the way I envisioned it would be when it first came.
Now I'll be sending my cashmere out to mills to be dehaired like I used to before the machine came along.  I'll just be picking out the remaining guard hairs with tweezers before I sell or use the fleeces.  I'll still know what goats the cashmere comes off of, if the mills run it through like I will be asking for, they will just be in combinations instead of individual.  So, it will still be basically the same good stuff my customers are used to.  I probably won't have it back as early in the year as when I was doing my own, but since it took me a long time to get mine done anyway, it might not be all that different.  We'll see.   A little course correction on the path of life.  It's all good!