Alpacamundo Monday: it's looking like fall

The leaves are changing.  The days are shorter.  The air is cooler.  The alpaca are quietly growing their warm fleece.

Fall is in the air.

Spring

No winter lasts forever; no spring skips it's turn. - Hal Borland

The trees have been visibly working on their buds for the last several weeks, the migratory birds are starting to come back and the dogs are starting to shed.  Spring is on it's way.

Happy Holidays

It's a beautiful, frosty, Christmas Eve Eve morning here in Northern Colorado.

Happy Holidays from Alpacamundo, Colorado Tibetan Mastiffs and Kathryn's Brain.

Short

These weeks from the end of Daylight Savings until the Winter Solstice can be tough.  The days are just too short.

The time change has the sun go down an hour earlier when the days are already getting short.  Then they just get shorter.  This last week has been especially noticeable.

The sun is officially setting around 4:30pm now.  Which means at 3pm, it's really feeling late.

I love the cooler weather and winter in general.  I mean, we do raise wooly mammals.  But I am looking forward to the Winter Solstice next month.  ;-)

Fog

I love the mystery of a foggy, frosty morning.

Have I Mentioned We're Planning a Litter?

Well, a couple of things have happened that have caused us to cancel our plans for this year.  However we are planning the same match up for next year.

Noodle, in Fort Collins last week... before the rains came.

If you are interested in getting in on this litter, and willing to wait, please let us know.  :-)

In other news, it's still raining.  We are fine.  All of the dogs and alpacas are ready for the rain (and mud) to end.  Us too.

We have plenty of food, are dry, and have been able to get to town for a few supplies.  Some of the roads and bridges have re-opened and some roads and bridges are completely gone.  As far as we know, all of our family and friends are safe and without much damage.  However, there are a lot of people who are stranded.

The weather conditions are forecasted to improve tomorrow.  We are looking forward to it.

Fiber Arts Friday: Shaking the Funk

I've felt a bit of a funk lately.  The explosions at the Boston Marathon didn't help and neither did all of the snow we've received over the last two weeks.

But my Donegal Hat is finished.

Yes, I have one (1!) end to weave in and still to soak it.  It is not nearly as scratchy as I thought it would be.  So I don't expect to be knitting a liner for it.

All of the snow has turned our pasture green... and our grass... at least what survived last summer is currently green.

It's was more than 60F when I took these photos yesterday.  The sun was shining and yes, that is snow on the right.  We have snow in the forecast.

I hate the advertisements on the free apps... um, no thank you. :-/

The traditional last freeze is Mother's Day (2nd Sunday in May) and to be honest, Memorial Day (last Monday in May) can often be quite cold around here.  So it really is not unusual and I'm happy that we aren't seeing as much lake-bottom as we were a few weeks ago.

Our Cherry, and other fruit trees are nearly ready to leaf out.  Which reminds me to make sure I have enough CDs available to hang in the branches once we have fruit.

Our dogs are ridiculously cute and sweet.

I love having a puppy again.

He has two brothers and one sister who are available, if you feel the NEED for a Tibetan Mastiff.  I have photos and can put you in touch.  :-)

The house next door was a short sale, then a foreclosure and has essentially been vacant for 9 months.  It closed last Friday.  So we have new neighbors!  They are nice and excited about the dogs and alpacas.

So, I'm shaking the funk.  Life really is good.  I am happy.  But sometimes the world gets heavy.

Happy Fiber Arts Friday. :-)

Last Harvest?

We are expecting our first freeze tonight, and snow later this week.  So I picked all I could earlier today and made sure that the hoses have been disconnected from the house.

The winter squash have all been wiped down and are resting on the counter in preparation for storage.

We just have a few onions and rutabagas remaining in the ground and then my 2012 growing season is complete.

Rain!

It started raining yesterday evening, continued through the night and rained most of the day today.

I had mentioned rain back in July.  The weather people had thought our monsoons were starting, but the truth is we had 4 days of rain and nothing since.

Today, I had to wear my big boots while doing the farm chores.  Not because it was cold, but because it was muddy.

I love the rain.  :-)

Amazing Weather

The weather has been amazingly nice.

It will probably become an issue because the lakes never fully froze over this winter and they certainly won't now that winter is waning.  The good news though is that we've had a lot of snow and March is typically our snowiest month.  We even have a little snow in the forecast this week, but in the meantime, it's practically spring.

Sunday had us in the mid 50's by mid-morning and the low-60's by the afternoon.

I had thoughts of wearing shorts out to do the farm chores.  But opted for jeans, summer boots and a short-sleeved t-shirt.

After doing the regular weekend chores, I added a few wheel-barrows of alpaca manure to our young trees

and cleaned the remaining weeds out of the veggie garden.

I don't think you can see in the second photo, but the ground is quite soft and now full of my foot prints.  I may be able to start digging in that huge pile of manure next weekend.

I was also pleased to notice that the Little Maple is preparing to bud.  I was concerned about this little guy, but it seems to be doing ok.  :-)

I got the slightest bit of a sunburn on my neck and was covered in dirt by the time I was finished.  It sure felt good.

Heat Advisory?

This is a new term for me.

I have been spending about half of my time in Minnesota lately.  This week, I am in Minnesota.  On the news this morning they said there would be a Heat Advisory today and a great opportunity for tornados.

Hmmm, Heat Advisory?  I guess it's supposed to get hot today...

By mid-afternoon, I was freezing in the air conditioned office and decided a walk outside would feel good.  It's was 86 deg F which is not hot in my experience.  I grabbed my sunglasses and building key and headed outside.

It was like I just stepped off an airplane in Houston or Fort Lauderdale, but without the smell of fish. The air was thick and sticky with humidity. 

Living in New Mexico for so many years and now being very aware of the 25-30% humidity in Colorado, this 79% humidity in Minnesota is something strange.

Supposedly the 86 deg F plus the 79% humidity makes it feel like 100 def F outside.  I never quite understood that math, but I can see how being out in the current weather for an extended period of time would get uncomfortable.

As for the tornadic activity, I suppose those are still yet to come.