He thinks his tractor's sexy!!

"HE THINK'S HIS TRACTOR'S SEXY"

TRACTOR DAYS AT A-SQUARED RANCH

Here it is at 6pm arriving on the property. There's Jerry walking over to see what he got himself into!

Yes, Jerry bought himself a tractor.

Ah, but remember, there's a 50% tax break on this, it actually only cost us $12,500!!!

Well we finally got there, Jerry has his tractor. Of course, I didn't go with him to buy it so he purchased a MUCH LARGER one than I was expecting! Boys and their toys!

So, What's this?

Here's Billy Bob, the salesman, unloading the tractor from the trailer. NOTE: He didn't want me to take his picture, but he smiled all the way through this painstaking ordeal!

Now we had our choice of a green, red, orange or blue tractor (that's the different brands available) Remember, our farm color is blue (check out our website at www AardvarkAlpacas dot com) you'll notice our logo is BLUE. As a child my mother dressed me in red all the time to match my red rosy cheeks, ugh! Green is the money color but the salesmen were obviously not eager to make money as they didn't show their faces when Jerry went by to see the machines. Orange, who wants an orange tractor????? Oh, I get it, it's so the hunters won't shoot it during hunting season?????

Here's my favorite shot. It's something they call an engine. Who cares???

(I guess the guys drool over this.)

OK, here's the studman backing up. Now this picture is very exciting isn't it?? You can tell, Desi the alpaca is very excited about it.

NOTE: The green you see are WEEDS, not grass. Can this expensive tractor cut them? Not if you want to fool the neighbors into thinking that you've slaved all year to get you GRASS to look that good. After I took these pictures I got out the regular hand-push lawn mower and cut them so it looks like a golf course out there. Did I take pictures of the lovely pristene grass? NO!

Isn't he cool?????

I think we got a great deal!

Knitting, animals, teddies, rabbits

Although I meant to keep my blog general I must post about what I am currently working on. I got inspired by this web blogsite http://littlecottonrabbits.typepad.co.uk/ and was hooked. Just had to make some teddies, rabbits and more. I searched and found just the right teddy for me to knit and so have been working on them for the past two weeks.
I am in transition from the old house to the new house so knitting these teddies is a small project that I can take with me from old to new house. I absolutely am having the most fun working on them. Once I get them all stuffed I'll post some pics. Why aren't they stuffed you ask? Well if you saw our garage you would understand that not everything is at my fingertips. It is organized into categories, kitchen, bath, livingroom, crafts and fiber (lots of fiber). It just happens that we have been too busy putting up fences, both new and old, in order to get the alpacas all moved down to the new property.
So during the week, while I am at the old house, I sit and knit teddies and sew them together awaiting their final stage. Wednesday's and weekends I am at the new place working with Jerry on fencing.
We had rain yesterday. So much rain in fact that I could not even get out to the alpacas to give them dry food. It was one giant puddle for acres and acres. This morning most all of the water had soaked in and the alpacas got extra rations. No complaints though, we really needed the rain.
Well once we get up and settled and the "office" painted we'll have the computer set up and I'll start trying to get some pics posted on this blog as well as my ramblings!

MOVING TIME!

Well last April we moved from Arizona to Texas. After filling two, yes two, ABF trailers with all of our "stuff", driving over two days with the alpacas in trailers behind us, we SWORE it would be "the last time we ever move!". Famous last words!
Jerry got a promotion and it included a moved to San Angelo, Texas. It was all prompted when I overheard his boss telling a salesman from San Angelo that he was looking for someone full-time for that area. I mentioned it to Jerry as he had said many times that SA was a nice town.
Well one thing led to another and Jerry got the position.
We couldn't find anything other than slums in our price range that had the acreage we were looking for and a habitable home for us. Problem is in Texas people that have land, have land. Want 1500 acres, easy, 150 many available, but 10-40 practically impossible.
Two weeks ago Jerry was down there, working, and had 2 hours to kill. It would mean an early long lunch for him. He bought the newspaper and went to Chic Fil A for lunch. Lo and behold, 10 acres and a house for sale, right in the area we were interested in. He called the realtor and met her an hour later. 1/2 an hour later he had made an offer on the property. Yes, even without me seeing it he knew it was right for us!
That was on Monday. On Thursday he took me down to see the place and yes he was right, I loved it! The owners for some reason wanted a really quick escrow and closing is today (Feb 21st) at 2pm, right at the time that Billy boy (Billary) is arriving in San Angelo for the election crap.
Well not being ones to sit on our laurels, we booked a moving company to come in and move us on 23rd, this coming Saturday. So, I've had 2 weeks to pack, clean, co-ordinate, do the utility thing. . . and everything else.
Because Jerry needs to do some cross fencing to accommodate the alpacas I am staying put in our current place until April 1st with the alpacas and Molly dog. I will move into the "guest house" and then the new owners will have access once we close on it.
Oh, I forgot to mention that the same week Jerry found our house someone came along (from word of mouth in the community) and made an offer on our current place. Talk about things falling into place!
So, we'll be in a new spot. They say SA is an artsy community - good for the gourds. They say it's very much a fiber community - great for my alpaca fiber. They say it has great restaurants - great for my figure! They say there's a bowling alley - Jerry misses bowling (or is it the beer?). And I know for a fact that there's some BIG thrift shops - wowee, more stuff!
It's going to be a busy, tiring weekend for us and I'm so stressed right now worrying that everything will fall into place. It will happen, I'm too organized not to have all my eggs in a row.
More later. . . . after the FINAL move. Oh heck, if we didn't do all this stuff with our life I'd have nothing to talk about!

FIRE!

First of all, I want to apologize for not being better at keeping up my blog. When I think of things to post I'm at work without pics, when I'm at home I forget! I will try to get better so you will visit often! I think this will make up for it. . .

Friday February 1st, 2008

I was at work, having my usual day. I had been sharing with my co-workers that when I was driving home yesterday there were four cotton bales in a cotton field near my property that had caught on fire and had just been put out by the local volunteer fire department. They just looked singed on the outside. I asked if they knew if cotton spontaneously combusted, they said it did. Next morning three of the bales were removed and the fourth one had been broken down.

3pm. I get a call from my neighbor, Robert, telling me that the field beside my property is on fire and to get home quick. Luckily I only live about 15 minutes from work so off I go to find out what's going on. Seeing the smoke from the freeway, knowing it was at "my house" is kinda scary. I did my best not to speed, but was so anxious to get home. I had called Jerry who luckily was at work and he was also on his way.

I arrive to bunches of vehicles parked outside my house and people going every which way. My first reaction is to go over to see what's going on with the alpacas. I was met by my alpaca caretaker, Cindy, who told me that the smoke was really bad, we needed to evacuate all the animals. The smoke was so thick you could barely see the alpacas, it burned your eyes and made it hard to breathe. I didn't even look around me to see what was going on, just focused on the alpacas.

Just as we were getting the females all moved into the center of the barn for haltering, the wind changed direction. It was amazing, within less than 3 minutes all the smoke had cleared. I also noticed that the field all around the alpacas was on fire, flames leaping 4-6 feet in the air.
Jerry arrived at that point and said there was no need to evacuate the animals, the wind had changed and they weren't in jeopardy. On the right here is a pic of the area after the wind changed direction.

More and more fire trucks were arriving, it was amazing how the word got out and they rallied around to save "us". I wish I knew each and everyone that came but some I did notice I'd like to mention, Trent, Sweetwater, Roby/Rotan, Mulberry Canyon and I think Tye Volunteer fire departments. The workers all seemed so well orchestrated, I felt useless. So what did I do? I went and got my camera. I needed pictures of this event that could have changed my life!

This is the view of the back side of the barn, to the north. The dark line in front of the fire is our poop pile and the edge of our property. At that point the flames had come around from the west and were headed towards the poop pile. Those large flames in the center of the picture were about 7 foot high at that point out in the grassland. (There are no alpacas out in the field north of the barn).

This is at about 4:30 pm at the end of our driveway, after the fire had been contained in the mesquite thicket. Jerry thinks they parked the big trucks between the mesquite and our pine trees (can you say fire fuel?) so avoid the flames jumping over. Whatever they were doing they were certainly doing a great job of containing the fire.

About 5pm the Forest Service pulled up two great big bulldozers and asked if they could move out some of the mesquite trees to give us a bigger fire break. Since it was not our property we really didn't have any real say in it. They said they were going to move it back about 20 feet to give a bigger space between the thicket and our property. That was fine by us.

Now, since then Jerry and I have realized that we were not in full acceptance of the situation we had been in. WE COULD HAVE LOST EVERYTHING!!! So. . . what did we do? We went out to dinner!!!!

An hour later when we returned, it was dark and those bulldozers were just finishing off their job of pushing back about 30 feet of trees and bushes back into the thicket. We found out the next day that the fire department had to come back in the middle of the night as some of the hotter spots that had been pushed back had caught fire again. These wonderful volunteers were out there until 2am making sure we were safe whilst sleeping in our bed!!

Saturday morning of course we had to go out and see actually what had transpired the day before. Now we had a short expressway where the county road had been. It looked so bare without any trees on it. There was still smouldering in the thicket and our poop pile was doing it's share of smouldering too. Jerry went and moved and covered the poop with dirt to keep the fire hazard contained. Things were quite calm that day and the water truck only had to make two trips to water down some overactive warm spots.

Sunday morning there was still three hot spots in the thicket and it did take three visits from the Trent fire department and their water truck to douse these areas to avoid any more fire!

We were so impressed with the professionalism of everyone involved. We were so impressed with how our neighbors rallied around to help us in this time of need. We cannot thank everyone enough for being there for us! Hooray for Texas!!! And for the wonderful people that live here!

2nd Annual Holiday Boutique

Well I am a horrible blog hostess! I think about it, come up with some awesome ideas to talk about, and never seem to get around to it! I apologize and hope that the new year will make me a better blogger, otherwise I'll turn into a blobber!

This post is to invite you to our 2nd annual Holiday Boutique on the farm. We have a lot of new items that we didn't have last year. I am gearing my shop more towards a fiber crafting store and consequently we have Jerry's handmade knitting needles and his yarn winders that I absolutely love! I am contributing some new items that I have designed and made up, scissor holders (called chatelaines), crochet and needle cases to keep all those extra sticks contained together, hand dyed natural fibers, and some neat knitting markers. Along with the usual alpaca yarn I have now enough of my handspun, hand dyed yarns for sale.

We have a new stock of hats from Peru, nice colorful ones that keep you warm and cosy for the cold weather that is about to arrive! Lots of pretty handmade scarves have been added. And of course we have some neat gift items that are unique.

There are also some awesome alpaca christmas cards, specially designed for Aardvark Alpacas by Linda Hornberger, artist extraordinairre!

Oh, also we will be offering handmade goat milk soaps and lotions from El Coyote Ranch, our friends and neighbors (in Texas terms).

So, come on by, have some hot cider, join in the festivities, buy some unique gifts, and spend time visiting with the alpacas. Don't forget to see our newest boy, Waylon Jennings! We can now boast that Aardvark Alpacas is home to Waylon & Willy & the boys - literally!

10 am until 4 pm

The Black Hand

So, when I started this blog I thought twice a week would be easy enough to manage. . . NOT!

Where does time go?

Well I had an elightening experience last week. I had alway thought that the term "The Black Hand" originated in pre-Mafia times in Russia or Italy or somewhere! Well I am her to tell you that is not so. I have done some research of my own and here is the "Rest of the Story!".

Long ago in Russia, when people were downtrodden by the Tsar's and had nothing to live for, the peasants had to make do with what they had. The winters were so bleak, nothing grew in the frozen ground. What they did manage to grow during the good months was all taken away by the soldiers, to feed the masses in the cities.

Then one day, some village women were gathering up the fallen pecans from the native trees. They were still in their hulls. These hulls provided the much favored brown dye that the peasants used to dye their clothing. A nice rich brown was useful in these times where clothing was not washed often, and the color hid the dirt.

The only problem was that the pecans needed to be removed from the hulls so that they could be hidden and used for much needed nutrition in the village. It was the womens' job to take care of the hulling and making of the dye. This was a day long process of removing those hulls and even though the hulls were a pretty spring green color, they produced, as mentioned, a lovely brown hue when used in the dyeing process. This brown oozed from the hulls once cut open and consequently got all over the womens hands. The obviously caused their hands to turn a very dark brown, or even black color.

Now the idiots in the cities did not know at this time about pecans and their values. They had no idea that these village women were utilizing them for their uses. They saw these women with the black hands and thought that they were smitten with some deadly disease that was turning their bodies black.

Women, being women, used this to their advantage. During these times these peasants were terribly persecuted and never seemed to get the upper hand (pardon the pun) on their opressors. But these women were smart, they already knew that their men had banded together to form a partisan group against the upstarts. They knew that by keeping these persecutors undereducated on what they were doing, they could fool them into thinking other things.

You must remember that in these times no-one was exactly "educated" in our sense of the word.

So, when the persecutors came to get their usual rations from the village, the women with the black hands were there to hand them out. Well, of course when the soldiers saw these women's hands they did not want to take anything from them. They were afraid that they would get the same affliction from whatever they touched. They got back on their horses and rode off back to town.

The villagers were so happy. Their women had fooled the soldiers into thinking that they had the "curse of the Black Hand". They knew it would be a while before they even thought about venturing back into their village.

Meanwhile, the villagers held a celebration. They had rations to get them through the winter. They had pecan nuts to nourish them through the hard winter months. And, within a couple of weeks the womens' hands were back to their usual pink color.

So, this is where I believe the term "The Black Hand" originated. The upstarts were so impressed with the women's cunning that they felt it would be an apt title for their organization. After all, weren't they going to fool us into thinking things aren't as they appear?????

Moral to this story: Don't peel pecans without rubber gloves!!! (not that I would do anything like that!)

National Alpaca Farm Days

Anyone who has seen alpacas knows what unusual, cute creatures they are. We are one of hundreds of alpaca farms that are opening their gates this weekend to the public. It's a way to introduce alpacas to people that don't normally get an opportunity to see alpacas and learn about them.

Come to Trent, Texas (directions on our website at www dot MyAlpacaStuff dot com) and see spinners, weavers, knitters and fiber art. We have lots of alpaca related items for sale in the farm store.

A good time will be had by all! Also, if you're travelling from further afield than Abilene there is also a hot air balloon event all weekend so you can make the trip really worth while. Ballooning in the morning and alpacas in the afternoon. What more could a person wish for???

See you in the pasture!