Is insanity for farmers a normal thing?  I received a message from my dear friend Maple at Northstar Alpacas a couple of weeks ago.  She was getting some alpacas brought to her farm.  She wanted to know if I wanted two of them.  For free.  Did she say Free? Yes!  First, anyone who knows me, knows I am always on the lookout for cheap (free is better). After processing the fact that I could get two more gorgeous fiber animals, for FREE, I had to stop and take a breath...and bat my eyes at Hubby. I had questions for Maple that I needed to know before I jumped at this.  I wanted to be responsible.  First we have a very, very, small farm.  Would it work?  I found out in researching and asking Maple that they don't need a lot of space.  Second, how much do they eat?  What kind of care?  Remember, we struggled to get hay this year because of the drought.  I found out that they will probably be the cheapest animal we have o...

Remember this garage sale find?  Well look at it now!  I am amazed at what a couple cans of paint can do for antique wicker furniture.  Now I have my "nook" corner in our bedroom.  I had to shear a lot of angora rabbits this summer due to the heat. I usually don't like to spin cut angora, we pluck most of ours for our homespun yarns. But, when I have to, I usually dye it and then run it through the drum carder.  Which is what I spun this week.  Here it is on my ball winder:  This is after I plied it:  (I used the one ball above and plied it into 2 ply)  Here it is on my needles.  The scarf should be done and in the shop today.  It is beautifully soft and colorful!

It has been over a week since we took our fall trip to Mackinac Island and I hadn't even downloaded the pictures yet!  We had a wonderful time as usual.  The weather even cooperated for the most part.  We were looking at rain and snow for most of the time we were there, and really only had one day of on and off rain.  We biked and hiked for MILES and still, after 6 years of going up there, we were able to find new places that we had never seen.    We saw snow going up and coming back, I have a feeling that winter is going to be much different than last year.  I can't wait!  We are all set here at the farm with extra hay that I never thought we would find due to the poor weather this year.  I did pay double for the bales, but I know that people in other parts of the country are paying so much more than that.   School has been in full swing and I am trying to keep it that way until Thanksgiving.  The Eldest has extra time off...

    I don't know about things where you are at, but here in Mid-Michigan the fall color is glorious this year.  It has something to do with the overly hot and dry summer.  What ever has caused it, it has my favorite season blazing with color.   We are heading to Mackinac Island tomorrow.  Rumor has it the color north is even more spectacular.  What are things like in your neck of the woods?      

One of my fondest school memories (and there aren't too many) is from my fifth grade class project.  We made our very own puppets.  These were big, about 40 inches, and we got to create them how ever we wanted once the bodies were made.  We spent weeks on this project and I remember my Mom helping with the sewing.  When we finished our whole class put on a "muppet show" type play right before Christmas.   I have kept my puppet all these years, she is about 30 years old now and showing her age a little bit, but she still sits in my closet.  I have made a couple of these over the years for gifts and one year we made them for our little homeschool group. I have decided to make them again and put them on my etsy.  If you are interested in one, I will even personalize one for you (to the best of my ability!).  "Harriet" is for sale on my etsy or you can email me at tailspinfarm@gmail.com  

We sheared goat this last week.  I finished off the last ones today.  We do it ourselves, which can be interesting.  I learned how to shear by watching others do it.  I quickly found out that everyone has their own style and it is quite simple once you get the hang of it.  I use clippers that were recommended by the lady that we bought the goats from.

I had a note that my Friday's on the farm had been missed.  With school starting up and canning,  gardening and other various farm things being done, my time has been limited!  We are back into the full swing again and really are looking forward to a real Michigan winter.  Last year we experienced one of the warmest winters on record.  Our usual enjoyment of apples this fall is pretty much non-existent because of the weather and being the cheap skate that I am, I refuse to pay $10 a gallon for cider (at least for the good stuff grown right here). I took another knitting class and finished up my mitten last night.  I am thrilled how quick and easy mittens are compared to the socks.  I know what I will be making for Christmas this year, hopefully out of angora yarn which will be super warm! I will be teaching a couple more classes this fall, and doing a craft bazaar with my mother-in-law around the holidays.  I am still spinning and sending...