Saturday Eve, Dec. 27th… Back from running all over the place……

The other day, when it was so cold, we went out to the Cub Cadet dealer and bought a new battery because the old one in the tractor wasn’t strong enough to crank it over anymore when it’s cold outside. I just put it into the tractor this morning, so I could sprinkle crusher chips on the ice in the driveway. We left the house later in the afternoon, around 2:30 and headed to the Cub Cadet dealer, so I could drop off the old battery. I needed to take it back to them because they didn’t charge me a core charge for the old battery. Unfortunately, they had closed at 2:00 and we carried the old battery in the back of the car the rest of the day. From there, we went down to Coxsackie, to Isabelle’s farm to see the Alpacas, take some pictures and pick up a bag of Alpaca wool from Isabelle’s stash. We called at the beginning of the week and asked if we could get a little wool for hand spinning and she said she would leave us a bag in the heated room in the barn. We found it exactly where she said it would be, took several pictures of the Alpacas and the Lama.


Our Iggy is in the middle. I don't know who's is on the left, but that's Isabelle's Lama on the right.

This is our Luke.

Iggy & some other Alpaca.

Iggy again.

Luke looking away from us

Then Luke looked right at us

Iggy was running all over the place, but wouldn't come any closer.

Luke

This is Sargent Pepper. He's for sale.

Iggy again

Luke

After leaving the farm and our Alpacas, we took off for Albany to find a birthday gift for Richie. Since he reads the blog occasionally, I’m not going to mention what we got, but we went from Wolf road to Colonie Mall, to the Northway Mall, then all the way to Clifton Park Center Mall, up toward Saratoga Springs. Hope he likes what we got!!!!! One thing for sure, we had an excellent dinner at the Capital Buffet on Wolf road near the Outback Steakhouse (in the same mall lot). All the food was really great…… in fact, I’d say there is no place that beats their food quality for taste, including Ichiban, which we frequent a lot. If you go to dinner there, they have carved beef, turkey & pork, along with snow crab, and a bunch of gourmet extras you won’t see on the lunch buffet. Tomorrow I don’t know what we’ll do, but for tonight, it’s rest period………period! I’m tired after all that running.

Fri. Eve, Dec. 26th… Back from the Country Wool Shop………

We just returned from the Country Wool Shop, just outside of Hudson, where we met Claudia, the owner of the wool shop and breeder of the German Angora rabbits on the premises. We had a really nice discussion and had her place our names on her list to receive four of her German Angoras this spring….early summer. She is primarily interested in wool production and her Germans are heavy producers, so we should be off to a good start and hopefully will receive some does and a buck so we can both harvest the wool, when ready and also breed young to expand our animals so we have lots of quality wool for items we will knit for the Hospice Gift Shop. Claudia teaches courses in carding, spinning, dying and knitting at Columbia University and we will be enrolling in a few of her Saturday morning classes to learn how to properly process our rabbit and Alpaca wool for the farm. Things are finally starting to come to fruition and we are becoming extremely excited at the thought of bringing Iggy and Luke home this spring. Vick and I are building the bunny house on to the back side of the barn and finishing it with windows for ventilation and an inside entry door that is accessible from inside the barn.
Tomorrow we go to Coxsackie to take some pictures of Iggy and Luke so we can post them here on the blog. Also, Isabelle has placed some Alpaca wool in the heated area of the barn for us to practice drop spinning with. We bought a small container of Angora wool from Claudia to practice with too. Keep watching here for the pictures tomorrow.

What our bunnies will look like

This is our Iggy.

This is Iggy when he was ready to shear.

This is our Luke. After he was sheared.

Alpaca wool - Dyed

More Alpaca wool that Isabelle did on the farm

Friday, Dec. 26th… Time to relax and enjoy the season now……

Well, another Christmas has come and gone and we have all survived the hustle and bustle of the occasion. Now we will kick back and relax…… spend time alone with one another and relish the holiday season between now and New Years Eve. We have measured up to everyone expectations for Christmas, so now is our time to enjoy one another. This is the time when I enjoy sitting on the couch, watching TV with Vick at my side…… or we do some craft work… knitting for the gift shop, glass work, writing, poems or proof reading my book to get ready for publishing it……… just any number of things beyond taking care of the critters which is still a demand, morning and night.

This is the Christmas dinner table

Katie, Robin and Vick doing a braiding project

Joe & Richie watching a concert performance on DVD

The concert.

We do, however want to take a run to Coxsackie to pick up some Alpaca wool at the farm where Izzy and Luke are being kept. Isabelle said she would leave the wool in the heated room for us because they were going to Florida for awhile. We will take a few pictures of Izzy and Luke, our Alpacas, which we will bring home sometime in February or March. We also want to take a trip to Hudson to a lady that sells Alpaca and Angora wool. We will more than likely contract with her for our Angora rabbits, which means she will fill our order for males and females this spring. I think she only breeds by demand and under contract. Angoras are a special rabbit and bloodline is very important, as is Alpacas. We will end up joining the NYSABC (New York State Angora Breeders Club) and the AOBA (Alpaca Owner and Breeders Association), not to mention the many other clubs and organizations. Between having fleece from Angora rabbits, the Alpacas, spinning our own wool and knitting products to sell along with selling our eggs, we think we will have plenty to keep us busy both as a labor of love and a love of nature’s animals……… What a way to enjoy our life!

This is an Alpaca like ours. In fact his name is Luke also.

Thurs. Dec 25th… What a beautiful, cold, sunny Christmas Day……

Christmas Morning 2008


They were calling for rain this morning….cloudy conditions and then the temperature to fall, but the sun is out and it is about 37 degrees this fine Christmas morning in 2008.
The party was a success and everyone in attendance had a good time stuffing food in, laughing and talking. Jimmy, Maria and both his daughters, little Maria and Ashley appeared to enjoy themselves as did Rich, Robin, Katie and Kenny……… Joe and Anita always enjoy their visit once they finally make it here, so everyone had a lot of Christmas Eve fun.

L to R

Katie, Little Maria, Joe, Ashley, Richie and Robin

Lto R

Joe, Richie, Maria, Anita

standing....Robin

Anita & Maria

L to R

Kenny, Jimmy

The pool table downstairs was in action as soon as the dinner was over and it wasn’t empty for a minute until everyone left for home again.
Looks like today we might venture over to Richie’s and spend the day there with them for Christmas dinner and a visit.
Joe and Anita got Vicki and I an O’well, Limited Edition 2008 “Apple Farm” lighted village piece to add to the others already on display in the living room. Take a look at the pictures of “Vick’s Village, in the living room sky”.

It is with great love that Vicki and I wish you all a very memorable holiday and the merriest of any Christmas day ever. As you spend it with loved ones and friends, remember that all of you are with us this Christmas day as we celebrate, for you have all become as family here on blogger.com……… Again Merry Christmas!