Babies and Bottles

Cocobollo is officially a bottle baby.

The mom refuses to cooperate and the baby lost some weight.

Frustrations were high and the decision was made.

So we have ourselves a little bottle baby for the next 6-7 months.

She's cute as a button.

Baby Season

Welcome to baby season on the farm!!!

Three crias have been born and a few more are on their way.

(All pictures are by my sister Andee)

 

"Pompy" was our first baby. He's a fun little boy that arrived 6 weeks before his due date and he's doing awesome!!!! His mom is Wea and Dad is Smoke Ring.

 

Next was Robusto. He was born right on time and his mom is Wdamo and Dad is Smoke Ring.
He is a big strong boy!

 Next came our first girl of the season, Cocobolo.

Her mom is Spicy and dad is Smoke Ring.

She's beautiful but mom is NOT A GOOD MOM. Mom won't nurse. Kicks and lays down on baby. She's done this with every baby and it's incredibly frustrating. My mom, dad and sisters have done everything they can to make it work. Baby is doing awesome because of all the love and dedication my parents give to these animals. Geneva is a wonderful mom on the farm and just weaned her daughter. She is sweet and has milk so the last try was to put these two together in hopes that Geneva would adopt Coco. So far, it's working with some help from us.

That's my mom carrying Coco to Geneva. 

And this BOOTIFUL girl is not new, but she is one of my favorites and is going to turn 1 very soon!

So just wanted to share this bootiful pic of her. Her photo is in the blog header with my son Chase.

Getting my knitting mojo back

Last week I was complaining that I was in a knitting slump. I really shouldn't put the words complaining and knitting in the same sentence. I mean really...how can I complain about knitting? Ok...but you all know what I mean. I was just kind of bored with what I had going on with my knitting. I'm finishing up the sleeves (yawn) on my sweater. So, anyway....I am teaching The Outlander Cowl class at the farm this week. My sister, Andee, designed this pattern and I made 10 or so over the fall and winter for our farm store. I sold everyone or gave as gifts but did not keep one for myself. I found this gorgeous yarn at Maryland Sheep & Wool Festival this year and I knew it would be the perfect yarn for my very own Outlander Cowl. I casted on with my awesome knitting student, Joan and got to work. And a funny thing happened. I felt my knitting mojo come right back. This pattern is perfect for me. It has just enough changes but is super relaxing and I don't need to constantly look at the pattern. My sister is a genius when it comes to patterns. And I'm not just saying that because she's my sister. I mean it. And this yarn is so luxurious. I've never knitted with yak or baby camel so I thought I would give it a try. Feels similar to our alpaca yarn. Very soft and light. Loving it so far.

So, that's it for today. Happy to be knitting happy fun projects again. The sleeves will be done soon so I'll have sweater pictures to share next week.

Happy knitting all! And have a great rest of the week.

Joining in with Ginny at Small Things for the weekly yarn along.

Shearing Day 2015 Photos

Shearing Day! Last Thursday the herd got their haircuts. Joel Mariacher and his crew arrived and got to work first thing in the morning. Here are a bunch of photos I took throughout the day.

Peanut Butter Dicken's first hair cut! Don't worry, she wasn't hurt in the process! Just looks like it. I think she's actually smiling.

The rain got us again for the second part of the day, but the job was well done and everyone pitched in. Now the fleece will be processed and made into beautiful alpaca yarn that we will sell at the farm.

Drama Mama

We have a beautiful girl here on the farm named Spicy. She's a gorgeous rose gray female. Beautiful? YES! Good mom? NO. Spicy is not a fan being a mom. She's full of drama, doesn't let babies nurse, delivers at wrong times of day/night and is a pain in the you know what.

So, round 3....and she's pulling the same moves.

Spicy delivered a girl on Sunday.

Her name is Cocobolo. Calling her Coco for short.

She's a cutie pie but the nursing is not happening. We're keeping her healthy and hydrated and milking mom (which is an event) and we just need her to nurse from mom.

Why nurse from the mean mom that kicks you when the nice humans have that super easy bottle? Ugh! We are trying every trick and obviously have not given up hope. Just nerves are shot and everyone has sore muscles from making the nursing/feeding/milking happen.

We'll keep you updated but as for now, here are some pics.

Doing everything possible to avoid a bottle baby. Think good thoughts!!!!

Yarn Along

Hello! Happy Yarn Along Day.

I'm in a knitting funk. Grrrr. I knit every day but I'm not excited about my knits right now.

I love how everything is looking, but I'm not loving the knitting. I need something a little more challenging, but my life is too busy right now for challenging knits. In fact, I have a beautiful sweater on the needles but the next step is so confusing and I'm a bit stumped! Been a while since I've been utterly confused with knitting. Hoping my sister Andee can help me.

Anyway....here's what I'm knitting and reading right now.

Taproot magazine and a new Barn Sweater by Carrie Bostick Hoge.

I am knitting this along with a knitting student. I made this sweater in the winter using Shelter yarn. I wear it every day. It's a great sweater but I'm wearing it to death. Even I am sick of seeing myself in it. But it fits great, super comfy and I like it. So making a new one made sense.

This time, I changed it up a bit. I am knitting it with an alpaca wool blend that we sell at the farm in an oatmeal color. I picked up some awesome purple yarn at Maryland Sheep & Wool and I thought it would be fun garter edge for the bottom, pocket linings and sleeves. Love it.

I was knitting at the baseball game and Chase was picking some leaves off of bushes and brought over a fun lime green leaf, put it on my sweater and I thought it looked so fun! So I think I"m going to look for some lime green buttons to finish it off.

Here are some in progress pics.

The half done sweater keeping us warm at Dalton's ballgame.

Joining in with Ginny at Small Things for the weekly yarn along.

What are you knitting and reading?

Alpaca Your Tux!

Back in the day, when I was in high school and going to prom, a boy asked a girl to the prom by saying..."want to go to prom with me?" It was usually on the phone, a passed note or in the hallway. Grand gestures for prom dates did not exist. But it's "the new thing" these days. Guys and girls asking each other to prom in elaborate over the top ways. 

No pressure when it's time for these guys to propose in the future yikes!

We had a couple and a "Promposal" on the farm this weekend.

She asked, he said yes! Have a great time at your prom!!!!

A New Week

Hello! I've been slacking lately in the blog world. Spring does that to me. Lots of running around, enjoying the kid's baseball games, playing outside, new babies on the farm...you know the deal. So I'm going to play a bit of catch up today. I'm babysitting my sister Liz's little guys right now. It's a perfect match. She goes to work a few days a week and we all pitch in with the kids. Last week, Wade, her oldest fell and hit his head and needed stitches. I was in charge at the time so I felt horrible!!! It was a total accident and I couldn't have kept it from happening, but still...so much blood! He is seated safely next to me right now while I type this. He and Chase are watching some Mickey Mouse Clubhouse and sitting still for the moment!

So....farm stuff. We have two crias running around, playing, nursing, sleeping and doing awesome. They are adorable and so much fun to watch. The two boys are waiting for 5 more crias to join the herd. (Cria is the word for baby alpaca)

My knitting lessons are still in full force. It's my pleasure to teach this wonderful craft to people. Watching people learn to knit is a gift. I can't get enough of it!

Work is always going on around the farm. The latest were some more fences, gates and final work on the "far barn" and "far, far barn". We're really original with our barn naming huh? Hey, what ever works.

I'm in a knitting slump. Not that I'm not knitting. Because I am. A lot. Every day. But I'm just not excited about what I am knitting. Every project feels like a chore. You know what I mean? I love knitting and every stitch is enjoyable, but I think I need something more challenging. But my life is a little to chaotic and busy right now for challenging knitting. So, I guess I should stop complaining and just finish up my knits that I have going on. I'm stuck on one of my sweaters because I'm totally confused on what to do next! I keep joking that I need "a Leanne" to help me! But honestly, I need someone to show me what I need to do. It's been a long time since I haven't been able to figure out something with knitting. I need to pin Andee down and get her to help me. She'll definitely know!

What else....hmmmm.....chicks. Yup. We have 8 baby girls and I'm loving every single second of them. I got the garden started this weekend. It's small this year, but larger than last so I'm happy. I'm also planning a large cut flower bed in front of the house. This will be beautiful and I hope to cut the flowers and sell them at the farm. I always love a fresh bouquet of zinnias for the house.

And here are some random photos off my iPhone from the past week or so....random and in no particular order. Kind of like life :)

Have a great week!