Finally back to Blog-land

Well, a lot has been happening in the Honey-do department so I haven't blogged much lately.
I installed Laminate Flooring throughout the house and completely devastated myself from all of the bending and kneeling and slamming involved. The place needed new flooring as the puppies had really made a mess of things and it just didn't feel as clean as we would like, even using the carpet cleaning machine every week.... So, it was time for a change.
The place is beautiful, it looks bigger and is a bit echo-y but very nice. We went with a Distressed Barn Wood look that is not glossy, but has a nice matte finish that cleans up nice with a damp duster, like a swiffer......
Now back to the real world..... The Garden is wonderful, there are plenty of tall growing things like the Sun Flowers, and Corn. The Squash are spreading and have blossoms all over. The Radishes are bigger than I ever remember getting in the past, and the Onions are huge. There are so many Carrots that we have been sharing them with the Alpacas, and Goats. They love them..... The Lettuce has run it's course, so we are trying to decide what kind of greens to plant that can stand the hot weather..... We are hoping the Green House with it's Swamp Cooler will allow us to keep some Lettuce growing, but there isn't much room for that large of a crop.
The Tomatoes have blossoms all over them, and even some tiny tomatoes showing.
The Orange Trees are just covered with tiny oranges, and the Lime tree has a bunch of tiny Limes showing (this is it's first crop). The Peach Tree has a bunch of blossoms, so I expect a nice crop of peaches again this year (now if I can just wait to pick them a little longer than last year so they get their real full growth, I'm just too greedy.... ) I always worry that the Birds, and the squirrels will get them before I can, so I don't wait long enough. Although they did get more ripe sitting on the kitchen counter, the ones I missed hidden in the leaves got so much bigger and more ripe with another couple of weeks on the tree.... A couple of years back, we went on Vacation and when we got back all that was left of the Peaches was pits on the ground where the squirrels had dropped them after gorging themselves on all of our Peaches.
Last Monday was Alpaca Shearing time at our Vet's place, there were about 120 animals to shear and the Shearing Guys (from New Zealand) made short work of it. They had over 60 animals done by lunch, including our three boys, which we then took home (about a 7 mile drive) and then we brought back China Doll and then helped out till about 5 pm before they got to her and then we took her home..... There were at least 25 people there helping, Linda (the Vet.) had assigned chores for all of us. All I was assigned to do was keep the animals watered ( Linda knew I had hurt myself doing the flooring, so went easy on me) Boy though there were some burly Guys there that picked up and threw down those critters while they were stretched out by the leg ropes on big rubber floor pads.... Then the Shearers went to work taking less than 8 minutes per animal..... What a sight.... Then it was off to another State to continue their rounds of Alpaca farms. So now Jeanne has 4 more bags of fleece to work her magic on with the carder and the wheel..... More Alpaca Yarn and garments...... Maybe she can sell some....
Just as an aside, While we were messing around with China Doll, Avenger took that opportunity to settle her. I guess he likes them tied up so they can't get away.... Anyway, now she is spitting him off, So we're hoping she is preggars..... We'll keep checking for 30 days and then Linda will ultrasound her to know for sure... Wish us luck, we'd love a Cria to play with.
Well that was a bunch to swallow, but it had been a while and there was plenty to report. Bob