Yesterday I was lamenting that I had to get all my fleeces skirted and cleaned so that I could list them for sale or send them off for processing – BUT I didn’t have a skirting table!  Since we had an Easter lunch, instead of dinner, we had the whole afternoon to ourselves and Hubby decided to head up to the barn with skirting table plans in his hand (thanks to bide a wee farm!).  He knocked it out quickly, and it’s portable, all I have to do is fold it up and take it where I’d like it to go which will be handy for the piles of wool at the house still from last year and the piles of wool in the barn from this year!

So here’s Paisley’s fleece being cleaned – second cuts, and dirty wool being pulled off.  The second cuts were allowed to fall through the chicken wire and pile up on the floor leaving a beautiful fleece behind.  One down, 40 more to go (give or take a few.)  Here’s to hoping I can get it all done within a reasonable amount of time – and boxed and sent to a fiber mill!

So thank you to Hubby, Shannon, and bide a wee farm for the making of my skirting table, and fleeces – may you continue to smell like wood dust and lanoline.

Of course my mom has embraced this idea and bought my first lime, a “Mexican” which is sometimes called a Key Lime in Hawaii.  She also talked my Aunt Denise in to buying us a Mandarin, “Satsuma” (thank you Aunt Denise!) and I bought a “Meyer” Lemon. 

I’ve been reading up on what Citrus need / like and think I can actually pull this off.  I just need to find a good sale on pretty pots now (glazed in large sizes are expensive!) 

My Mandarin already has a lot of fruit on it.  That will be fun – some fresh vitamin C in the winter!

Gracing the Sun Room with it’s presence is also another favorite plant of mine – Bougainvillea.  We cannot grow this plant in the mountains too as we get too cold and our freezes are much too hard.  This beautiful vine grows all over the place in more mild California climates and is prolific in Mexico.  I’ve always admired its and bright cheery blooms and hope to train it up a trellis on a wall in the Sun Room.

We’ll see how I do… Now back to reading.

My friend, Laurel, uses all her llamas as pack llamas… Well, all except Ethan because he refuses to have any sort of dealings with such hard labor.  Smart guy.  But seen above is her trusty llama, Raisin, who is very reliable and very sweet. 

I can’t remember this guy’s name but thought it was “Susan” until I checked the under carriage and found out that more than likely not HIS name.  I love his face though, so beautiful with all the colors and swirl.  Even Hubby commented that “she’s pretty.”

This is “Journey” and he wants to grow up to be an Ewok.  I think he just may pass… As an Ewok/Yoda creature.

And here’s Raisin, with all his hair.  So cute and they’re all so inquisitive!  They’re such fun to hang out with and they’re so curious about everything.  They just loved Annie’s stuffed toys she was carrying around.

Of course, Harry, our dog-like-cat cannot stand to NOT come with us on our walks.  He is so cute, look at that smile!  And of course the llamas like to follow him all over the place, noses down to the ground.  Thankfully they haven’t been a real big threat to him but just curious and he’s smart enough to run when they get too nosey.

The rams, or “Dudes,” as we call them have adapted already pretty well.  Hudson wasn’t sure whether to flirt with the llamas or to take them as a threat.  He stomped his foot a couple of times when this photo was taken and then promptly took all the Dudes away.

They willingly follow, for the most part as they’re all just this year’s lambs and Hudson is a “big kid” being a year and a half old now.  Raider is currently out of the picture as he’s in a breeding group of about 16 ewes across the street in our big pasture.

I am curious to see now how the llamas and sheep adapt together.  Will the llamas become protective?  Hard to tell as not all llamas are protector quality but it’ll be interesting to watch and see how things develop.

But right now it is still THEM…

vs. US.

I think “nosey” wins out.

It seems that Annie has adapted very well and is enjoying having so much room to play in and really loves the big tire swing out on the weeping willow in the back yard.  We also both enjoy having Daddy so close by in the metal shop just a few feet out our front door.

The cats have adjusted remarkably well and Harry is up to his hunting and of course, continuing to keep up his dog-like characteristics.  He follows us everywhere we go.  We are so close to our main road through town now that I do worry about the cats crossing the road but also can’t keep them cooped up in the house, no matter the square footage they have to roam.  My cats love the great out doors, I’ll just have to have faith that they’ll be smart about the cars.

We’ve got some beautiful fruit trees, cherry, apple, plum and pear though the plums are certainly stealing the show right now.  They’re so good, in fact, that we’ve had a visitor.

Upon seeing this clump of hair, I would think it was a horse initially… Except that my horses are not this color, and that they really wouldn’t be this high in a tree, and that well… They’ve never been in this yard before either.  I also know that Abby has been keeping us up at night barking her head off.  Yup, my suspicions are most likely true… Bear.  Talk about the Wild West!  I’ve lived in this town my whole life and have never had so many encounters with wild predator-types as I have in the past 10 months.  I’ve yet to see the little booger but know that it’s a matter of time… He’ll be back to pick some more tasty plums and will more than likely leave another “present” out in the grass, full of pits.

Hubby’s plan is to pick all the plums out of the tree before Mr. Bear gets them all but we’ll see how that plan goes… As good as it may sound.

And though change isn’t always initially welcome in my book, it has a way of worming its way in to your heart and making itself welcome after all.  I’m so thankful for all our blessings and living with the bears at our new home is certainly one to be counted.

More on the house hopefully sooner than later… Life has a mind of its own these days.