Too Short...

Gosh but the weekends go by way too fast! Today especially. Hubby left early today to get some work done, so the weekend felt even shorter. Seems like I could get a lot accomplished with the time to myself, but alas, I found myself just moping around the house. I tried to be productive: gathered some eggs, hung some apple sicks in the rabbit cages for them to chew, spun some fiber, knitted a bit, all the while avoiding the work that I "needed" to be doing. Does anyone else have the problem of avoiding the work you don't want to do, or is it just me?

The picture above is from the fiber I spun this weekend. Boy was it some amazing fiber! I couldn't believe how beautiful all the colors blended. I think I may have to request some more of this colorway. I also started to spin some alpaca fiber. I have a dream of becoming a 'fiber farmer' one day and owning my own fiber animals, especially sheep and alpaca. This fiber was so different from anything I had ever spun before. So silky and smooth that I could forget the fact that by the time I was done, I looked like a furry alpaca myself. I've only got about half of it spun. It will be exciting to ply and knit it.

I saw a robin this weekend singing its fool heart out up in a tree (and yes, I'm sure it was a robin). Though some would say that there are a few that winter over here, I will take it as a sign that spring is just around the corner. I need to believe that! It's not that I don't like winter. I really don't mind it. It's just that I am anxiously awaiting the day I can break ground for my very own garden! I can't wait to see what I can grow! Maybe I'll even have my own stand at a farmer's market this summer. It would be a great feeling to know that I can help supply someone else's meal. We'll see. One day at a time. It's always good to dream though.

Bunnies Coming Soon!

Well here it it is! The new home to my soon to be fiber bunnies (a.k.a. Angora Rabbits). Yes folks, my first very own fiber animals; and am I ever excited! This hutch was an amazing find on craigslist.com at only $45. I couldn't even built it for that price. This is someone's winter hobby and very well built. I might have to purchase another as I'll need to keep bucks and does separate. Hopefully next weekend it will have an occupant! More to come on that...

So the nice sunny weather that graced us intermittently the past few days has now turned into rain. I can't complain so much as most of the snow has melted and the chickens are enjoying having some grass to forage, rain and all. As I went out to retrieve the products from this morning's egg laying festivities I found my poor little silkie, Delilah seemingly soaked to the bone. She's the little hen that didn't know how to be a chicken when I first got her. She's certainly making up for lost time free ranging. Most days, she's the first one out and the last one in. She doesn't care what the weather's like (obviously), she wants to be outside enjoying it all. Fortunately it's still warm enough that I don't have to worry about her freezing. I've gone out on other occasions and found her with icy spikes on top of her head. This wouldn't be the first time I'd have had to take a blow dryer to her. Silly little hen!

Most of the weekend has been spent knitting and spinning. Oh how I wish I could make a living from this. What bliss that would be! There were other things I probably should have been doing, but my how that fiber kept calling my name. How gratifying it is to hold a finished ball of yarn in your hands and know that you've spun it yourself.

Some of the fiber I've spun.

Wool and Sunshine

I woke up this morning to the sunshine illuminating my bedroom. Even though I'm still trying to get over this cold, and even though I'm still coughing like an asthmatic ready to pass out, nothing could extinguish the joy I had as I walked outside! It's a rare site to behold here, folks! And certainly nothing to be taken advantage of in these parts. Apparently the chickens thought so too, because the all but plowed me over as I opened their door to give them fresh water. It was a stampede of 11 chickes; if chickens even can stampede. I was glad to see them want to get out, flap their wings and forage the farmyard. They've preferred to stay close to or inside their coop for a few weeks now. A little sunshine will do us all a lot of good.

So above is the newest addition to my fiber arts life! I'm so excited! I've been dreaming of a spinning wheel since I started spinning last winter! Don't get me wrong, I got pretty darn good and fast at spinning on a drop spindle. But nothing compares to this! It's like a luxury! Now she might not been all that much to look at, but she's mine, and for all I can tell, spins like a dream. I've been spinning up a storm since I got her over Christmas break. I'll make sure to post some pictures of the results.

In the Icy Grasp of Winter

Well, Old Man Winter has definitely wrapped his icy fingers around the landscape here on the farm. It's barely gotten into the teens these past few days. We ran all our errands on Friday, bought groceries for enough meals to get us well through the weekend then hunkered down at home for the rest of it. I don't mind the snow, really. But what I do miss is the sunshine. We got a little break from all the snow showers yesterday when I snapped this picture looking out across the fields and pasture. Sure was nice to see the sunset and the blue sky. The lack of cloudy insulation made the night especially cold though, but I'll trade it for the view! Talk around here is that it's supposed to warm up over the next few days.....I think that only means upper 20s! It's nights like these I'm certainly glad I'm not a chicken! They seem to be fairing the weather okay though. Well....all but Rose; we lost her last week. I think she was older than I realized.

Tomorrow I start back to work officially. Where did the break go? I've gotten a lot accomplished however. I purchased a second hand spinning wheel and have been spinning up a storm, and I just learned how to knit this past week (compliments of YouTube)! I didn't get to do much sewing, but I'm hoping to finish up a bag for my laptop this evening. And on that note, I will bid you goodnight and wish you warmth and good rest.

New Year Comes...

The new year will come, whether we're ready or not.
A new day will come, whether we're ready or not.
Life happens. We make choices. Some good, some bad.
We live. We learn.
We feel joy. We feel pain.
The sun rises and sets; so does the moon.
The earth sings to us.
God speaks to us.
Both can be heard if we take the time to listen.
It's all a part of this miracle we call....life.
It's the little things that matter.
It's the little things we tend to take for granted.

So as we look back on the year past and make our resolutions for the new year, resolutions that we think will make us happier in the year to come, remember the little things. After all, it's in the little things that we find true happiness.