Ranch News - Woohoo!  We got the alfalfa hay baled and it was in really good condition.  We got 93 bales off of our 2.7 acres!!  The cutter guy said he believes we may get that second cutting.  I knew it!  We use 2 bales a day in the winter for the llamas, sheep and horses.  So with a second cutting we will have 3 months worth of hay for winter.  That's a savings of at least $1600 plus wear and tear of getting hay to us, etc.  That is GREAT!!  What a great feeling.  I got a chance to talk to our cutter guy and he grew up out here.  He told me stories from the area.  I just totally LOVE to hear from people who've been here about the history.  It's fascinating.  The people who've been here are really neat people too.  Total salt of the earth people; friendly, witty, very sensible.  Next week is when the wheat harvest starts.  There are tons of amber waves of grain all around.  It should be a very good harvest this year.  There was a specific area that did get some hail that leveled their fields.  Everyone else was unharmed, though.  The weather out here can be strangely specific.  There was a severe drought last year just east of us, while we were inundated with rain.   I've driven up the ridge and looked toward our property and thought,"Wow.  That rain looks like it is hitting right on us."  There was a little circle of grey and sure enough it was only hitting our neighborhood.  Other times, everywhere else has been driving rain and we've got nothing.  The dirt roads, (particularly our driveway where we have gotten stuck numerous times) can be very treacherous in the rain.  Sometimes, we'll have wind whipping through here.  I'll be running around grabbing flying tarps and battoning the hatches, locking animals into sheltered areas  in a driving rain.  Then I'll go into town through massive hail or whatever dodging tornados and when I get there it's all sunny and dry.  I fall to the ground gasping, "I MADE IT!!!"  and everyone is in shorts staring at me.  I feel I just walked off the set of some massively dramatic scene in Little House on the Prairie.  My hair is all wind whipped and my face streaked with grime!!!  :D  It's SO funny!!  But, I love it.  Aaaaanyway.  More on all that later.

Art News - I had to take a break for a while.  I got a blister! I think I'll work with polymer clay for a bit.  I have quite a few sculpture ideas I need to get out into reality with the clay.  I also have quite a few paintings I'd like to work on.  I'm hoping to get a giclee printer someday so I can make quality prints.  I have a pretty good scanner.  This poor old computer needs to be updated as well.  One thing at a time, I guess.

I went into town today and talked with the Farmer's Market.  I'm pretty sure I will be setting up there each Saturday in Strasburg to show people needlefelting in action and hopefully sell a few items.  I barely got there before the last people were leaving, but I made it in time to talk with the person who puts it all together.  I let them know about a very interesting website I found www.localharvest.org which is a nationwide farmer's market type site.  If you love fresh produce and want to support your local agriculture community, check it out.  If you happen to be near Strasburg, Colorado this summer on a Saturday between 8 am and noon, stop by and check out the farmer's market!  I LOVE home grown carrots.  I tried to grow them here, but they were soooo tiny.  Did you know they come in red, yellow, white and even purple?  In fact, in Europe and Iran they are regularly different colors than orange.  Red helps with, uhhh, whatever tomatoes are know to be helping with-lycopene?  totally not remembering.  But the purple have antioxidants that are beneficial, too.  I was meaning to plant a whole bunch of carrots this year, but that didn't work out.  Next year I'm devoting an acre to carrots of all colors.  God willing.  That's the plan.  And a whole bunch of upside down tomato plants too.