I finally made it past my blog block!  Woohoo!

RANCH NEWS

Well,  it's hot.  We got 2.5 inches of rain the other night.  We were going to cut the alfalfa today.  But, our cutter guy went fishing for the weekend, so I guess we will get it cut next week.  Our little dryland alfalfa field has struggled through these past drought years.  I would watch it grow up a few inches and then wither and die.  But, THIS year is a GREAT growing year!  The hay is ready a month early and is up to my hips!  I am praying for and believing on God for a second cutting this year.  I tell this to my farmer friends and neighbors.  They laugh at my naiivety.  They say, "There's NEVER been a second cutting!  This is a DRYLAND crop in eastern Colorado!"  They have been here for generations.  I've been here 7 years.  So, you would think I would listen to them!  I just LOVE living out in the country and driving past all the acres and acres that I used to think were just fields.  Now I realize they are totally cared for crops.  I love watching the changing seasons and all the different work the farmers do with the fields-tilling, seeding, cutting, swathing, baling, etc.  I am so amazed at how meticulous the lines are in the fields and how there are intricate swirls on the hills to catch the moisture.  I feel like Mr. Weasley and his fascination with muggles with my fascination in farming and all things farm related and yet not really quite getting it right!  Everyone is more than friendly and nice and willing to fill me in on the latest-(which right now for me is the amazing GPS navigated tractors!)  I even got to help swath and bale some alfalfa a few years ago!!!  Except for all the mosquitos, that was AWESOME!  Farmers ROCK!  They bring us food!  That alone is worthy of admiration.  It's upsetting that they are struggling so much with the prices of fuel and big businesses pushing them out.   Farmers are such a hardy bunch of people!  God bless them!

I plan on shearing this weekend.  I always think I SHOULD shear sooner, but inevitably we have some freezing temps even in June and I am glad I haven't.  So I wait until the 15th of June.  I think I am pretty safe now.  I just have the three wether sheep, Pedro, Wingtip, and Raymond aka Raymie and four llamas.  I hand shear them all.  Then I use their wools for the Wooliture Wool Sculptures that I make for people of their beloved pets in their lives.

ART NEWS

I'm currently working on creating a Wooliture Lil Ditto of Ella the golden retriever mix.  She is SOOOO sweet and I can tell she lives life to the fullest and experiences EVERY emotion to the fullest just from her pictures.  That is one happy dog!  She sits in a very funny way when she sits in front of the stove and she has a tiny stuffed animal baby that she carefully tends to.  I'm trying to capture that in this Lil Ditto.  I'm calling the stuffed animal baby, "Mugshot Baby" now since the pictures I got are just like mugshots of this cute little loved animal!  Front, side, back, side all with a grey background.  It cracks me up every time I look at them!  I finished Lil Ditto Mugshot and I'm about halfway finished with Lil Ella.  She has a very special nose which has taken a bit of extra time to create.  It's not entirely black.  In fact, it's pink with some black edging.  So, I've sculpted that with polymer clay, cooked the clay and am waiting for paint to dry.  Which is why I've had time to sit and blog for a while.

I'm not sure how interesting this is for anyone else, but it is fun to journal online.  I enjoy reading others' blogs and peering into a day in the life of people living differently everywhere.  So, until next time, have great days!