audreyandchuck

Shearing Camelids

2011-04-29T18:03:00.000-04:00

Shearing is an evening with wine and good conversation. Not sure how April feels for the animals afterwards, but it is such a load off our human backs. A new beginning to run around unencumbered; everybody grow some more hair freely; exposed to come-what-may.

Blanket Weaving

2011-02-10T14:59:00.004-05:00

Where to begin, where to begin, there are so many steps? Having seen the video, one may have the idea for yourself. For us, let's say it is the fastest way to get something good, assuming one would rather make things themselves.

Depending on the particular animal, but generally speaking now, alpaca and llama are softer than sheep obviously. They are all easy to spin. When we are sheared, only the long, clean fiber is saved. We used to wash all the fiber in 50 gallon barrel, left to dry on screen outdoors. Now since the fiber is off cut off good animals, we don't bother with washing or carding, just straight to spinning the dusty stuff. It'll get washed later in the laundry.

Spinning thick yarn is softer and warmer than spinning thin yarn. Have not made a rug yet, for who would want to step on this stuff, but the thickness of the two-ply blanket shown in video renders it even heavy to carry, let alone to lay under. As a blanket, it is just great. Very soft, even silky, and keeps its shape despite fitfull slumbers.

Really so many steps, so many different looms; should make a video of shearing technique: just contact us to talk about anything. The video is for those timid and need a distant view at first about the process. Our favorite participation is spinning and living with the creatures.

Final Camelid

2010-11-21T20:10:00.004-05:00

Always wanted to look at and work with the fiber of a Suri. The rose color is a big bonus. Fifteen months young this month, this fixed boy doesn't look like he will be tall.

2010-11-21T19:50:00.002-05:00

In 2010 reused metal from a dilapidated barn to recover ours'. Same tar side up and re-coated the screws. Added cupola and constructed corn crib from inverted cattle panels.

Windmill

2010-05-19T20:37:00.009-04:00

Here a few pics of a windmill.

Other than the obvious, the only thing good to come from the windmill is it's become silent, sturdy and it's never a concern. Through very horrible weather conditions, it's all good. $300

Rhea sound

2009-05-20T14:16:00.004-04:00

When emu egg laying winds down around March and April, it's the season for rheas then to change their behavior. All of a sudden, Carl, here, considers most creatures unfairly for a couple months and lets it be heard. Otherwise, he's excellent company.

Solar Heating

2009-02-12T18:36:00.006-05:00

Trying to do more with the sun, which comes out enough to make it worthwhile. The southern exposure of the house, pictured below, is a glass room (720 sq. ft by 11' ceiling) containing a seldom-used pellet fireplace. Let me start off giving some numbers pertaining to the most drastic month, and assume heating the room just gets easier from there. In the morning the temperature can be 20-degrees inside and out depending on the wind. On any clear Winter day, as the sun is positioned lower, by 10am the room temperature is 50-degrees. By noon, temperature is 75 to 80-degrees. At that point, a whole-house fan moves the heat across the attic, down into the rest of the house. To me, this makes heating a glass house not so ineffecient.

The next project is a solar panel. Insulated a 6" 4' x 8' box with an old sliding glass door on the top. Opened and layed around 250 aluminum cans in rows end-to-end. It's mounted on the side of the barn roof in an attempt to heat a guest room in hay-loft. After an uninsulated 25 feet, through a bath fan, air maintains 75-degrees.

Fertilizing

2008-11-03T19:03:00.003-05:00

First photo badly shows wheel barrow of recent cow stall compost. Would you believe there are lots of worms? Next, it is tilled generously into ever-expanding garden. Not even waste is wasted.

Drumming Emu

2008-10-15T16:53:00.003-04:00

Emu are no problem, really. Sometimes they are spastic, and hurt themselves. Though given enough freedom, they are good company, I think. Girls drum; boys grunt. Mostly, they stay on the move and graze, until the Winter when the boy takes a lengthy break on top of teal eggs. These guys are never aggressive to us, but Jim, here, can easily attend petting excursions. I still can't believe how friendly he is. Two legged, nice and quiet, great landscape.

Compost

2008-10-05T20:27:00.002-04:00

First came the animals. Then came the plant life. Now, there's a new appreciation for their poop that's getting tilled into the many gardens that crop-up. Also, a wheel barrow-full should regularly get under some pine trees that had to be put in gravely driveway. Camelids make it easier to collect than the cows since it's in regular piles. Homes should maintain livestock if for no other reason than to fertilize plant life.

Yard tour Sept 2008

2008-09-14T17:03:00.005-04:00

Always been doin alot of plantings. Here, plastic keep weeds effectively away. It don't seem like rain gets to plant roots, but they all grow pretty well, nonetheless. Maybe the layer of sheep fiber under plastic retains moisture for awhile longer?

Within deck arborvitea managed to stay green. In the same fashion, dwarf pear tree, honeysuckle and more arborviteas took root inside house. The latter have 12 feet to grow. For pears, polination is manual.

Stain glass pendants were made during a few Winter weeks.

To get more color in Winter, arborvitae cost $10 for four-footers. Additionally, track-hoe scooped 20 pines from property perimeter to nearer by. Everybody lived, surprisingly, even though the largest transplants stood twenty feet.