Animals on the farm

The horses - Cass (the clydesdale) and Jess (my old standardbred mare).


And the alpacas (who only just returned to the farm after an extended visit to my parent's place for their shearing). Rusty (dark brown) and Tobey (white) have lived here before, but the 2 fawn coloured boys are newbies. They seem to have settled in well. I am spinning up their fleeces, they will be jumpers etc for us.

Its still so dry here... We had a few days of really lovely rain - about 30mm or so, and not in one heavy fall but gentle and over a few days. But we haven't had any rain since, and although its not hot, its been pretty warm, so not much green around here.... Although its done wonders for the vegie garden, and zuchinnis are being formed again (it seems that if the plant is water stressed it drops off the fruit before its big enough to pick.... so now I know why I have never grown many zuchinnis!).

We have also discovered that a pair of Wedge-tail Eagles are nesting on our farm! Its very exciting, but also means that once we get more animals we will have to make sure ducks and chickens will be safe. Not that we mind, they are stunning birds, and its great that they are here.

Happy things!

Its all been a bit doom and gloom on the blog of late. That is not to say that life around here has been that bad, it hasn't. Some bad things have happened, and although they are hard, its still just a part of life. We are all happy and doing well - although I wish I could control time to slow it down a little... Can you believe that its November tomorrow????? Well I cant! I think that 2008 just disappeared somehow. Not sure where, but a minute ago it was the start of they year...

Anyway, I would like to introduce you to the newest member of our family - her name is "little cass", ironic considering she is a clydesdale - but that is the name that the people who bred her gave her and at this stage we think we will keep it.

She is only 10 months old, but friendly, and about the same size as my horse "jess". She will grow to be a fair bit bigger. At this stage she is untrained at all, so its going to be a new experience for us to teach a youngster everything, but clydesdales are SO quiet and relaxed and very smart.

jess (left) and cass (right)

Our plans for little cass are to break her in to harness and then use her to do work on the farm. That wont be for probably another 2-3 years, till she has matured, as putting a horse into work when they are too young can stunt their growth and they are still playful and frisky like puppies - not a quality you want in a working horse. By that stage we will be at the farm and able to put in the time required to teach her what she needs to know - or more likely that she will teach US.

So that is exciting.

I've had so little time lately, that my crafts have started to really suffer... I still spend an hour or so each night either knitting or spinning, but I have so little to show you... Well, the main project I'm working on is a secret christmas project, so I can't show you that. Its going along well though, and will definately be finished by the required time. I have been spinning though. Here is some nice green/blue merino. Lovely, very easy to spin, and my last easy spinning project before the alpacas get shorn... then its back to lots of preparation, carding etc. Here are the singles, and I'll be ready to ply soon.