Shearing Day 2023

We had a very successful Shearing Day last Friday. We had a new team of shearers and they were extremely efficient and strong! All hands were on deck to help and it was very nice to have Liz back in action! She had just had knee surgery last year so she had to sit and direct us. This year she walked over 20,000 steps taking alpacas back and forth to different fields!

Shearing is essential for the animal's health. If you don't shear them, the hair will grow too long, could cause heat stroke and damage their skin and muscles. They are shorn once a year, usually in May before it gets too hot. They are roped on their legs and spread out on a map. This does not hurt them. They don't love it, but if you didn't do it this way it would be impossible to shear! Some alpacas just lay there and don't seem to care at all. Others scream from the second they lay down until they're done! Drama QUEENS! Lol. While they're down for a haircut they also have their teeth grinded down and toe nails clipped. Spa day for the pacas!

Paige helped us this year and it was so nice to have her. Wade was the only grandkid that got to skip school to help and he was a HUGE help. 

All the fleeces were bagged up and my mom will go through them to "skirt" them (clean them by picking out dirt, hay, etc.) Then she and Liz will decided what fleeces will be sent to the fiber mill to be made into yarn. Mom and Dad will drive it up to Vermont in June and we should have our yarn back to sell early September. It's a long process but so worth it! 

 

Thank you, Pittsburgh

I still can't believe it! My oldest son graduated from The University of Pittsburgh on April 30. I'm beyond proud of him. He loved Pitt and it was so good to him. We went out to Pittsburgh for the weekend to celebrate his achievements. It was a weekend I will never forget. I overshared his grad pics on instagram and Facebook, but I realized I never really posted on here! But my followers here are more into knitting and "farmy" stuff. So I thought I would do a Purple Debbie post and share photos of the most beautiful store in Pittsburgh's strip district. Roxanne's Dried Flowers is a gorgeous shop filled top to bottom with things that I wanted! My shoes matched a lot of the dried flower bouquets and I loved that :) 

We also went in a chocolate store that had the coolest packaging! So many pretty chocolate bars. 

And had to include a few grad photos....how can I not? My baby boy is all grown up.

 

Take Me Out to the Ballgame (so I can knit!)

The best part of spring is baseball season...and baseball KNITTING season! Many hours at a ballfields equals lots of hours of knitting time for me. We recently traveled to Maryland for the Ripken Experience tournament. It was a wonderful weekend watching our son and his team play. They did great, winning 2nd place out of 16 teams. The facility was beautiful, the kids, parents and coaches were wonderful and it was a weekend we'll never forget! I got A LOT of knitting done. I made a ton of progress on my Le Pouf sweater. I finished up the bottom hem and one sleeve. I had to bring my food scale into the stadium to weigh my yarn as I went. My husband thought I was nuts...but he's also not surprised! 

This is the first "fade" sweater I have ever knit. It's been fun to see the colors fade into each other. Now time to pick up sleeve #2!

Outside

 

Spring is here. Summer is close. I can't wait to plant seeds in the dirt and watch everything grow...

Happy Friday, friends!

Spring Has Sprung!

The weather has been beautiful the past week or so. We were treated to summer like temperatures! I took a much needed day off of work last Friday and spent the morning on the beach. I walked the dog and then my husband met me for a few hours. I knitted, read, soaked up the sun and then we headed to Spring Lake Seafood for a nice lunch. My friend Purple Debbie recommended it to me and I loved the food. Cute spot! So glad we went. We spent some time walking through town. I love Spring Lake and walk through or around the lake a few times a week with Buddy. It was nice to actually go in a few stores!

My mom made another fun hat on her loom. I loved the colors of this one! She uses ribbon fabric from Knit Collage, some of her handspun yarn and alpaca yarn. They're so fun!

The trees and flowers are starting to bloom and it's beautiful. Buddy and I took a nice walk to the silo today and the wildflowers are starting to say hello!

Hope the weather stays nice :)