Closer To Home

Bramble in front and Bracken in the back.

This weekend we moved our girls to a farm closer to ours. The reasons for their move are many (which I won't get into in this post). Sunday was the big day and my brother-in-law was so kind as to bring down his mini van to help in the transport (yes folks, two alpacas fit comfortably in the back of a mini van). The transport went well; both girls just laid right down for the ride. Once we arrived, introductions were in order.  We weren't moving to another ordinary alpaca farm, instead we would be boarding with a few sheep and a goat.  I did a lot of research beforehand to see if a farm of mixed company is possible.  Some say 'absolutely not', others have found it works just fine.  It all boiled down to the fact that we really had no other choice, and a friend was kind enough to offer her barn and pasture.  Sometimes we just have to do what we have to do.

Mamma, Leo, and Bracken

Introductions went surprisingly well.  And while the girls first reaction was a resounding, "You've got to be kidding me!" (they were quite pampered at their previous farm), and they reluctantly walked the perimeter of the pasture with us, they were in the barn munching within the first hour of being there.  Of course, so were the goat and sheep once they saw the yummy vittles.  Soon the other sheep joined.  Bramble laid down and could care less that everyone was sniffing her out.  She sniffed back.  Bracken was a bit more apprehensive but snobbishly tolerated her new acquaintances.  By nightfall, everyone was bedded down.  If its not pouring down rain, the sheep typically stay outside.  Bracken and Bramble stayed in the barn, and when my friend Lisel went out to check on them, her one male sheep BG (short for Big Gulp - a 7-Eleven thing), was bedded down with them, protecting his new girls.  And all was well at the end of day number one.

The morning after.....eating with sheep.

The next morning started out just fine.  The girls followed the sheep to the hay and snacked with them. By afternoon, however, we discovered our first issue: sheep and alpacas (at least on this farm) eat differently.  The sheep, as far as I could gather, get fed twice a day.  They scarf it all down quickly then mosey on their merry way.  The alpacas are used to having hay available 24-7, and don't scarf.  We had a feeling this would be a problem the night before and actually went to Tractor Supply and purchased a hanging hay feeder.  We think that if we hang in high enough that the girls can still get to it, but the sheep cannot, it will solve our problem.  In the mean time, I needed to get my girls fed.  I put a small amount of grain in their bowls to get them to come into the barn.  They did, but so did Mamma and Leo.  Problem number two.  To give the girls a bit of grain, I will need to separate them from the sheep and goat.  I'm not going to lie and tell you that I had this all figured out in a matter of a few minutes.  I did not.  The girls ran back out into the pasture and wanted nothing to do with the barn.  I knew they were hungry, so had no choice but to lure the sheep back in the barn with a small flake of hay, and take a bucket out to the girls.

Finally, food!

That bucket was gone in ten minutes.  I went for another one.  By now it had started to rain quite significantly.  My reaction..., "Really?"  I was wet and cold, the girls were wet and wanted to lay down.  It was supposed to rain hard into the next morning.  This just wasn't going to work.  So I got their halters.  Bracken, of course, wanted nothing to do with it, but Bramble let me put her's on with little fuss.  Off to the barn we went, and Bracken followed.  And so did the sheep.  And it just just poured!  Bracken decided she wouldn't come in the barn.  The two cried back and forth to each other, and I cried too.  I didn't know what to do, but finally said, "Pull yourself together, Rachael!  It's not like you've never dealt with livestock before."   Goal #1: Get them out of the rain!  Bracken eventually came close enough that I was able to get her halter on and bring her in the barn.  Goal #2: Get them their own space, at least for the night where they'll be safe and dry.  There is another stall that Lisel uses during lambing season.  Well, no lambs now!  I took them out of the pasture, and over into the second stall (you can't get to it from anywhere else in the barn).  Long story long, my husband eventually showed up (I had been soaking wet and cold for three hours now), we fashioned a gate across the doorway of the stall, moved the water in with the girls as well as their minerals, dried them off, and got them hay.  SIGH!  We did it.  At least for tonight.  I'm sure we are going to run into more obstacles, but all we can do is take them one day at a time.  Thankfully I am done with school until the middle of next month.  Hopefully by then, we will have (most of) the kinks worked out until we can find our own place.

In The Middle of Autumn

Zendala Dare #28 (template from The Bright Owl)

As always, I am behind....on everything.  That old saying "two steps forward, three steps back".  Yep, that's me.  Slowly I am getting caught up on things around the farm, the house, fiber, and other crafts.  And I have to admit that one of the biggest contributing factors is lack of organization or prioritizing my time.  (Okay...that was two contributing factors).  So I've started making myself a list of everything that I need/would like to get accomplished the following day.  I don't always get it all done, but it allows me to cross things off as they are completed, and there is something encouraging about seeing things crossed off your list. 

Here's today's list, and as you can see, I've still got a lot to do!  Most are in preparation for family that is coming to stay at the farm for the Thanksgiving weekend.  But others are 'long overdues'.  Like plucking (angora) rabbits - starting with Runtdungus Fletcher (aka: Runt), getting some custom (craft) orders finished, and attending to our Kombucha brew.  Oy!  That one's definitely long overdue.  Both of our SCOBYs are about 3 inches thick.  If there is anyone other there locally who is looking to start their own kombucha, we can get you hooked up with a fully functional SCOBY!  Otherwise, my sister read and shared with me yesterday that the extra SCOBYs can go to our chickens.  I think I'm going to try that.  

Above is my Zendala Dare #28.  I am also behind with my dares, but I do have so much fun with them!  Can you see the octopus in the center with it's arms branching out.  I really love this zentangle, called Suckers by Lizzie Mayne.  I played around with adding the sharp Cephalopod beak in the middle.  Then I kept with a sort of sea monster theme and added portholes, planks, and seaweed (in mooka form).  I was pretty happy with it.  I've only recently (within the last couple of months) begun participating in Erin's Zendala Dares.  If you are interested in participating, check out the link on the right side of the screen.  

Frankenstorm

A recent screen shot from The Weather Channel.  

Who would have thought that living on the western border of Pennsylvania we would be closing things up for a hurricane?  I certainly wouldn't have.  I was living in Virginia Beach during Isabel, and that was quite an experience, but I never thought that in moving back to PA, I would experience another hurricane.  And here we are.  In the middle of what is being called Frankenstorm - partly named for Halloween, I suppose, and the other part because its such a monster of a storm.   Now we tend to experience ridiculous winds up here on the hill, but these experienced today truly beat all.  Fortunately I was able to get all the animals fed, bedded down, and all closed up before the worst of it hit around 5pm this evening.  The sound of the wind outside is tremendous!  The house is creaking and cracking under its force.

Surprisingly, so far we only lost power for about an hour earlier this evening.  It was of course while we were making dinner.  We decided to run down into town and grab a pizza, and of course came back to find the electric restored.  What are you going to do?  I have a feeling, however, that another outage is imminent.  So I think I am going to call it a night, head to bed, and hope to wake up with the house still in it's original spot!  =)

Zendala Dare #27

Zendala Dare #26 - an October Zentangle

Zombie Eyes, Skulls, Spider Webs, and Fanged Grubbs!

I think this has been my favorite zendala dare so far.  I too love October!  The pumpkins, changing leaves, cooler days, warm apple cider, frost on the ground, indian corn, and did I mention the colorful leaves!?  =)

New Etsy Listings

I believe that I listed my largest group of baskets last night.  That's not really saying much...it was still only 13, but that is a lot for me trying to work full time + and maintain my Etsy store.  I have to admit, I really do love to see all that color on one page.  Two found new homes with in an hour!  That will never cease to amaze me.  I now have colorful cauldrons all over the continent.  Happily sitting on shelves, filled with fiber or other goodies (or so that's what I imagine for them).  That's what I created them for - a vessel to complement all my colorful, handspun yarn.  I found I just couldn't stop making them.  It is a great stress reliever for me after a long day/week.  I'm drawn to color, and these are just an expression of that passion.

Tonight is not a cauldron-making night, nor is it a spinning night, however.  It's been a long week and I'm quite exhausted.  I think I will just sit back and knit for awhile, until these tired eyes just can't stay awake any longer.  With only four hours of sleep last night, I think that time will come sooner than I think.

Zendala Dare #25

Just getting caught up on Zendala Dares!  If I'm lucky, I'll have this week's dare posted BEFORE the end of the week.  I have so much fun with these that I typically fill in all three templates!

Zendala Dare #24

From The Mother Earth News Fair - Part 1

This was my third year attending the Mother Earth News Fair at Seven Springs mountain Resort in Pennsylvania. I have to say, it gets better every year! And it grows every year. There were so many excellent seminars and interesting vendors that I think I'm going to have to write about it in parts. This being Part 1.

We booked our cabin at Kooser State Park last January. It was the same cabin me and my sister stayed in last fall only this year there were six of us staying there. My husband and I, my sister and her husband, and our parents. It's a small cabin, but we made it work just fine.  Here we are (well, minus me - taking the picture, of course, and my husband who still had to work) on our arrival at the cabin Thursday evening.  We wanted to get there a day early to get all settled in, build a campfire, and just enjoy being in the mountains.

DAY ONE - FRIDAY

The fair started at noon on Friday.  We, of course, got their early.  I know from previous fairs that the best seating is had from getting there early.  I could hardly contain my excitement!  The first seminar I attended was on Perennial Herbs by Tammi Hartung.  I have to say, I really enjoyed her talk.  She spoke slow enough that you could take tons of notes (I like taking notes), and showed lots of pictures.  We learned about all sorts of different perennial herbs (of course), their uses, and how to grow and incorporate them into your gardens.  And while her book was gone by the time I made it up to the bookstore, it was definitely on my homesteading bookshelf wishlist.  I ordered it as soon as I got home, love it, and highly recommend it to anyone interested in perennial herbs.   My mom and sister both attended this seminar with me.

Next I headed up to a Crafting Herbal Salves seminar with Sue Morris of Sue's Salves, a fellow Pennsylvanian.  She gave a brief intro to making herbal salves, showed a great video of a walkthrough of her herbal garden, and also passed along her salve making recipe.  I picked up a piece of comfrey root, which she brought in from her garden.  I planted it last weekend, and to my surprise, it's already growing new shoots!  With the weather cooling off, and being past the fall equinox I hadn't expected it to do much of anything until next spring.  You can imagine my elation to see that new little leaf sprouting up from the ground, and only after a few days.  I suppose that just speaks to the healing power of the plant.  We later purchased some of her comfrey salve, as I didn't think I would have a chance to make some of my own until spring.  I've already used it for a skin abrasion and was amazed and how quickly it healed.  I'm sure excited to have this plant in my garden now.

My 4 o'clock seminar was on (Medicinal) Mountain Roots of the Appalachias.  Seeing a theme here?  I am currently completing a course in field botany online, geared towards identifying medicinal plants.  My main focus for the fair was to learn as much about these plants and their applications as I could.  How interesting to learn of all the plants locally available to heal us.  I imagine that this was something that generations before us already knew.  How quickly we forget with today's 'modern' medicine.  I didn't get to stay for the whole talk, though, as my husband surprised me with his early arrival!  We walked around for about a half hour as I acclimated him with the location of the various stages.

We finally ended up back outside for our last seminar of the day, Planting By The Moon, again with Sue Morris.  What a fascinating talk.  I knew that the moon influenced many activities here on Earth.  That was evident as I watched the changing tides during the few years I lived on the east coast.  Initially I would have thought that it was a bunch of hocus pocus, but it makes complete sense.  Afterall, if the moon can affect the oceans like it does, how could it not affect other living organisms.  We are 70(ish)% water.  I will be curious to see how planting by the moon changes the outcome of my garden from hear on out.

So there's our first day in a nutshell!  There was so much to see.  I was so glad that we had another two days to meander around the vendors between our seminars!

Zendala Dare #23

It was a very crazy and exciting weekend!  We attended the Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA.  It was excellent!!  I have a lot to tell, but wanted to get my Zendala Dare #23 posted (late again!).  I pondered over this one.  For quite a while.  But have to admit, this is my favorite zentangle so far.  I went for a steampunk theme, inspired by Molossus for the bike chain and gears, then added my own pipes, etc.  I finished it last Friday night but didn't have a way to post it from the cabin we were staying in.  Oh well, better late than never.  Here are a couple others:

I will tell about the Mother Earth News Fair soon!

Mother Earth News Fair

It's finally here folks!  This weekend at the Seven Springs Mountain Resort in the southern mountains of Pennsylvania people from all over will gather to participate in all sorts of sustainable living activities and seminars!  This is the third year for the fair to take place in this area, and I'm super excited!  The past two years have been incredible.  This year they have extended the fair from two days to three days; Friday - Sunday.  There are so many excellent seminars I can't wait to attend.  And you can find something to interest just about anyone.  What I love so much about this event is that it doesn't matter your walk of life, we all gather with a common goal: To live life more sustainably.  To become part of the solution, not the problem.  To rekindle that fire for a simpler life.  To share in our experiences.

I'm even more excited for this year as my husband will be able to attend with me.  Not only that, my sister and her husband, and both of our parents are coming as well.  My sister attended with me last year.  But I'm really looking forward to having the whole crew there this weekend.

So if you have nothing planned for this weekend, and your in the area (or if your not), hop on out!  It's sure to be a grand ole time, folks!

Many Irons in the Fire, Zendala Dare #22, and Diva Challenge #86

Hmm....I can't remember what this pattern is called...

I'm a little behind on posting my (second) Zendala Dare #22 from last week.  Talking to my mom earlier this evening I told her that I wasn't just burning the candle at both ends, I felt like I was burning a stick of dynamite at both ends.  I just have too many irons in the fire at the moment and need to slow down.  While it may seem that taking on new "challenges/dares" would just be adding another iron, it actually helps me to slow down a bit and focus my thoughts, something I so desperately need right now.  Unlike many of my other creative ventures, I don't zentangle for anyone but myself.  And this week I had so much fun with the "monodala" dare that I had to decorate all three sizes of the template.  

What I like to call, "Zombie Eyes"

Triangle Variations

I then moved on to the Diva Challenge, to "break free" from the confinement of the lines.  I actually drew a string for this one, thinking that my "box" would be what I break free from, yet still stay within the lines of my string.  That, however, did not happen.  The string was completely disregarded, and this is what came out.

This one felt very organic!

My First Zendala Dare

...which is actually Zendala Dare #21.  But who's counting?  I'm still new to all of this, but thought, "this looks like fun!"  Somehow through my Zentangle searches I happened across The Bright Owl's blog.  The author puts up a weekly zendala template with a 'theme', so to speak.  So here are my attempts:

Lilly Bug

Welcome Lilly!  She is our newest addition to the farm.  And what a cute little bug she is!  Last September, when my sister and I attended the second Mother Earth News Fair in Seven Springs, PA, she purchased two Silver Fox does and one buck.  Lilly is their offspring from earlier this summer.  She is the blue variety, but they are often seen as black with the silvering developing as they grow.  They are an endangered breed of rabbits primarily grown for meat.  When I explain this to people, the most common response is, "Then why do you eat them?"  Well simply put, if they're not being bred for meat, then they are not being bred at all.

On our farm, we are working to be as sustainable in our food production as possible.  It is a process, and currently we can only produce a small portion of our own food.  But each year we are adding more and more.  Starting a rabbitry for meat is our next step.  Lilly is still a youngster though, and we're not planning on eating her.  She will be one of our breeding does once she is old enough.  She's just barely two months old.  In the mean time, I am phasing out of raising angoras.  While I love the fiber, they are a lot of work.  I have four at the moment, and plan to rehome three, keeping one.  Four is just too much for me right now.  Their fiber is fantastic being 3/4 English and 1/4 French.  If anyone is interested, please contact me.  Here's my girls.  They all have wonderful dispositions.  Especially the sisters.  And an angora or two is a great way to produce and harvest your very own fiber for spinning!

Mrs. Buns - 3 years old (mamma to Grey and Ginger)

Grey Baby - 1.5 years old (sister to Ginger)

Ginger Snap - 1.5 years old (sister to Grey)

This has been a tough decision for me.  I love all my rabbits.  But my initial intention was to sell Mrs. Buns offspring.  A few I did.  Three I kept.  And I still plan on keeping their brother, Runtdungus Fletcher.  He's my baby!  As I mentioned above, angoras do take a bit of maintenance, so please only serious inquires.  =)

Summer has gone fast!  I'm back to work full time now, which leaves a lot less time for the farm, garden, and shop.  Perhaps one day I will have more time, but for now we do what we have to do, and plan for future change.  It's all a process.  I'm enjoying the cooler nights (and sometimes days), but can't wait for the frosts of fall!  Autumn is my favorite time of year!  I much prefer the cooler weather.  Most of the garden vegetables have been exhausted, though we've still got a few things growing.  I planted some cabbage, onions, and cilantro earlier this month for (hopefully) a fall harvest.  I'm still trying to figure out what I can grow into the fall to extend our season.  Again...process.

My Zentangle Story: A Visual Journey

This past week has brought us record high temperatures for our area.  Truly, I'm not sure if I can ever remember days so hot!  (North)western Pennsylvania is typically known for its rather mild summers.  But there was nothing mild about our triple digit highs and oppressive humidity the past few days.  You can imagine my sheer joy to walk outside this morning to feel the low 60s breeze blowing across my face.  The chickens are happier, my angora rabbits are more than thrilled, even the corn seems to be thanking mother nature as they gently blow in the wind.  This post is not however about surviving the weather, but about the creative journey which has led me to the discovery of: ZenTangle!

I have always been a doodler.  I have more sketchbooks than I can count.  And I have always been drawn to sketching in a repetitive sequence.  Repeating patterns over and over, until I've decorated the entire page.

I don't think there is even a notebook you could pull off my shelves that hasn't been doodled in.  That's just what I do.  I doodled in class, during seminars, even throughout church services.  It wasn't that I didn't pay attention, but it helped me to keep my hands and right-brain busy so that I could actually pay attention (even if it looked like I wasn't).  I could never just sit still.  Doodling allowed me to do that.

My doodling has evolved over the years, as I've tried to find what works best for keeping my mind occupied.  I played around with portraits for awhile, but never felt very good at them.  They took too much thought and attention to detail.  I wanted to just be able to let my mind wander free, with my hand being the instrument that translated.

I love to draw nature!  Insects, mushrooms, trees.....

More insects.....

And more mushrooms!  They are just so much fun to draw!

Then about six years ago I discovered henna!  I can't even remember how, but I was drawn to all the amazing repetitive patterns.  I began to fill my sketchbooks with them.

The pattern for this hand can be found here.  How much fun it was (and still is!) to sketch inside those hands!  I even did some actual henna on skin, though I think I found greater enjoyment out of just doodling them on paper.

A few months ago I was searching YouTube for who knows what (maybe knitting or fiber dyeing tutorials), when up pops a video for a Zentangle Mooka.  I'm always looking for new patterns to draw.  And I was fascinated!  So I drew my very first Zentangle.

It wasn't great (in my opinion) but it was my very first.  I'm not sure why I didn't continue zendoodling then; perhaps life just got busy.  But a couple weekends ago I decided to use a few dollars of my allowance to buy the latest Mary Jane's Farm magazine.  And one of the articles was all on Zentangle.  I was re-enchanted.  Initially I was just doodling in my regular sketchbook.  Filling up page after page...

After page. 

Eventually I realized that I really needed a different kind of sketchbook with thicker paper (these pages were curling).  So I found a couple coupons for Michaels and bought myself a new book and some more pens.  I had used up the ink in three pens at this point.

ANYONE CAN ZENTANGLE!

I really mean this.  I shared my tangles with my sister, who in turn drew some of her own.  They were fabulous!  The true test of this "anyone can tangle" theory was conducted on my mom.  My parents came down this weekend.  The weather (as I mentioned above) was ridiculously hot and humid.  There were no campfires, cookouts, or sitting outside enjoying nature.  You could hardly breathe.  So I decided to teach them to zentangle.  My mom, who truly is a creative soul (though she would tell you she wasn't), often looks at what I'm doing and says, "That would stress me out too much!"  Yet she has always admired my sketches.  When I showed her my zentangles AND told her that she could do it too, she didn't believe me.  So I sat down with her and my dad, gave them both a piece of paper and pen, and began showing them step by step how to create each pattern.

And low and behold they did it!  Right before their eyes transpired these beautiful creations.  They were hooked.  Later that evening, they each purchased their own sketchbook, we spent our free moments this weekend doodling.  Mom even said she found it "relaxing"!  Hooray!  

There are a number of excellent resources available out there for those of you interested in learning to zentangle.  Two of my favorites are the actual Zentangle.com website and TanglePatterns.com.  There are also a number of YouTube videos - just search for Zentangle.  So to leave you, here are a few of the tangles from my new sketchbook.

And that's my journey so far!  I imagine from here it will evolve as all things do.  But this is where I am, happily doodling, enjoying the creative process.