It's Summer!!

It has been sooo hot here this summer-and I'm not great at handling hot weather!! Here's a picture of Jesse and Tabitha from last week, enjoying the pool Daddy bought for them:

Jesse started swimming lessons yesterday! He's still a bit nervous about the water, but he really likes the instructors "my teachers" he calls them, and they seem very patient and good with him. He is in "Tadpoles" this year! : ) Here are some pictures from yesterday's first swimming class:

This is one of Tabitha, playing in the lil pool. I don't think she finds it much fun without her big brother!!

Speaking of heat, my knitting needles should have been on fire from the workout they got the other evening, while watching, ironically, the movie "Heat" with Leroy. I pretty much finished my second Wooly Wonder soaker using 3 Irish Girls peregrine merino in colourway Donegan. All that's left is to finish the leg cuffs!! If i were to do it over again, I think I'd do the waistband and cuffs with a coordinating brown yarn. Love the aqua colour in it-would easily work for a boy or a girl!

Here's a picture of the pillowcase dress I started quite a while ago, finally all finished. I was a little frustrated to realize the bias tape I had chosen did NOT go with the purple at the bottom of the case/dress at all, but I didn't want to go back and choose another colour-I just wanted to finish it already!! So I did. I don't know what I was thinking, making something white for that girl of mine to wear, anyways!! Not too many articles of clothing survive more than one or two wearings from that lil tomboy!! I think this will be more of a nightgown....

I also got a new milk goat. Her new name will be Yvette (her mom's name is Renee). Don't have pix of her yet, but quite a good story about when I brought her home....

I traded 3 young goats for her (price works out to be about $150, which is about par for a good milking goat here). It was hard though-one of those kids was the spunky one I saved from floppy kid syndrome last year, and she was going for meat-I wanted to keep her, but at the same time-she didn't fit into my plans for a herd of milking does and I didn't have the cash to make it work otherwise. But I'm still very, very sad about her.Anyways, this new goat is actually a 2 yr old daughter of one of my best goats here, Renee. She's beautiful, and a nice easy milker. However, when I got her home, I tied her up to the truck rail and started milking. She panicked, pulled back and broke the binder twine, jumped off the truck, and jumped into our 5 strand electric fence. I thought at that point she'd see the other goats and stop. But she didn't see the other goats. :( So she kept heading east, jumped out of the (again, electric fence) and headed down the road, into a subdivision. I put Wyatt into his carseat and jumped in my car (pickup truck has a funky way of starting, which involves lifting the hood and using a screwdriver! ) and I had no time for that. I followed her into the subdivision, where some guys with beer maa'ed at her, which didn't distract her long. Then she went into a hayfield at the end of the subdivision (about 3/4 of a mile from our home). I jumped out of my car, left the door open, left Wyatt in the car (air conditioning) and ran after her. She headed for the bush at the end of the hayfield. I got in front of her, and she stopped, about a foot from the bush. We stood and stared at each other, both panting. Then she heard Wyatt crying in the car, and cocked her head in his direction. I took that second of distraction to grab her leg and hung on. I then led her back to my car with my hand in her bindertwine collar and holding onto her ear to encourage her to keep moving. I shoved her into the back of my car (on top of the big kids empty car seats) and ran the seatbelt thru the bindertwine collar. I held Wyatt on my lap b/c I was terrified she'd get away and jump on him. She is now home, tied in a stall in my barn with the two miniature horses, and I'm about to bring Renee up to stay with her, and help keep her company/settle her down (I hope! )

So far, she has been behaving herself, though I find myself a bit paranoid to put her out in the pasture....

So that is all the exciting things that have happened, since I last posted!! Never a dull moment around here!

Updates!!

Ok, I know, I know, I've been a bad, bad blogger!! What have I been up to, you might ask? Well, lets see...

We managed to get Wyatt's blocked tear duct cleared up!! How?? Well, one day while Leroy was at the chiropractor's, for an adjustment, it occurred to me to ask them if an adjustment might help Wyatt. The good Dr. told me he couldn't promise anything, but they could try. So I took Wyatt in for an evaluation-whew, are those hard on Mommies! The Dr was very good, and warned me first before he did anything, and patiently explained everything-but did you know they hang the baby upside down by their legs? And do a "mock drop" to check reflexes? Anyways, Wyatt got thru those tests just fine, but when the Dr checked his neck, he started wailing! The Dr did an adjustment, using his own finger for precision, along with the activator. I took Wyatt home. I didn't notice anything different for the first couple of days, but then I realized-hardly any goo! Took him back, and another adjustment later-and his eye has been completely clear! His check up today was perfect-no adjustments needed!! Really made me a believer in Chiropractic medicine!! Here's a pic of Wyatt, happily grinning in his exersaucer!!

What else...Well, Grandma and Grandpa Herzog bought Wyatt his own pony! That's right, he is now (at 4 mos old!) the proud owner of a little brown and white pinto Miniature horse named Buddy! (Coincidentially, the same name that a certain little sorrel pony my Dad bought for me when I was little was named! And no, we didn't change any names-he came with it!) Big brother and sister have agreed to work with their baby brother's pony for him, til he's old enough to work with him himself!

Here's a pic of Buddy and also one of Tabitha's pony, Prince (Note: I refer to them as ponies, however, they are properly called Miniature Horses).

Along with bringing home Buddy, I also brought home a couple of young male llamas. Now, I didn't have the intent of keeping them, they had already been sold to a gentleman who lived near us. Unfortunately, he changed his mind. So, while we were dithering what to do with them (well, I was dithering, Leroy was FLIPPING! LOL!) I decided to shear them! Here are the "Before" and "After" pix.

My mom's wonderful, patient, versatile neighbor, Kay came over to lend me a hand! The boys behaved quite well, and now I have several bags of llama fiber to sort, and then Kay said she will teach me to spin! YAY!! The llamas were then rehomed, to a nice lady nearby, as companions for a horse (much to Leroy's relief!). Jesse wasn't very happy about it though-when I loaded them up to deliver them to the lady, he asked me why I was taking "his" llamas away, and when I told them they had to go to a new home, he hung his head down pathetically and "aww." and then looked up at me and said "Why yama's need new home?" It was heartbreaking-you had to be there, I guess.

At the end of June, we had two little piggies born. We originally thought Mama pig was eating her babies, and scheduled her for a date with the butcher, only to come out and find that, not only was the one "missing" fella there, but she'd had another. So her bacon was saved for another day! Aren't these guys sweet??

Dolly gave birth to a lovely, sturdy little black bull calf (as is her habit-haven't had a heifer out of her yet!) Still, a healthy calf is a wonderful thing! I should move Dolly and her calf out to a different pasture, but haven't yet, b/c I've been enjoying watching him and Taffy play, play, PLAY! Not much nicer than a warm summer's evening, watching two beautiful, sleek, healthy lil calves play "king of the castle" on the muck heap! Mind you, the lil bugger sucks off Gabi as much as his own mother, which is kind of a pain!

As for knitting news, I've finished off Wyatt's first soaker (out of "Sailor's Dread" by Doodlebird's Creations). I love, love LOVE it! And actually, it seems to keep him cooler during this incredibly hot weather we are experiencing right now! And did I mention it is Cute!!?!

I've almost finished Tabitha's lil Briar Rose dress. I LOVE Briar Rose Fibers, and I love this pattern (Vine Flower Dress by Knitspot)!! Can't wait to see it on my lil sweetheart!

And I've started on another soaker for Wyatt, out of Donegan, by Irish Baby Knits/3 Irish Girls, on their squishy Peregrine Merino!!

I have promised Jesse a sweater next...

I also sewed up a pair of cute lil trainer pants for Tabitha, which she just adores!

I'm not sure if this covers the whole 2 mos + I seem to have been missing from the blogosphere, but at least it catches up a little bit on the hilights! (I hope!)

I will endeavor to be a more diligent blogger, henceforth!! : )