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Recently, I was invited to a HyperTufa party. This stuff has fascinated me for quite some time so I was very excited about being able to spend the day learning the ins and outs of it. So earlier this week, I tagged along with my friend Nina to Ali and Dan’s absolutely lovely home. I would’ve been happy to just sit in their fabulous backyard, relax and watch the hummingbirds flitting around in the Monarda. But then Dan brought out the cement mixer!
 Dan churns a batch of HyperTufa in his super duper cement mixer. In no time at all, we’d mixed up a batch of HyperTufa and everyone was starting to make cool stuff. I made a small planter for Jim to put some cacti in. And then Dan & Ali brought out their extensive collection of molds — many of which were tag sale finds — and let us borrow them. I chose a large salad bowl and used it to make a shallow bird bath. I’m very excited about it because I’ve always wanted one. Now I’ll have to look around in our stash of old granite to see if there’s something we can perch it on. If there’s nothing suitable, I’ll make a HyperTufa stand for it because…I’m hooked!!
 Here I am smooshing the HyperTufa into a mold...it's going to be a birdbath. I can see lots of Portland cement in my future…and I should mention that Jim’s been asking loads of questions so he’s definitely interested. HyperTufa here we come! I forgot to take my camera on the day ( really have to try harder to remember!) so these photos are posted here thanks to Nina — who didn’t forget her camera!
Yesterday after we’d done chores and then moved all the ewes to a new pasture, we picked up our mail from the box on the street (forgot to do that on Saturday) and discovered that our beach/park passes had arrived. That was it… off we went to “The Point” for a couple of hours…a reminder of why we live here! We charged our batteries…a be-e-eautiful day!
 Watching the changing seascape as the tide comes in.
 The sea spray is refreshing!
 There are loads of tide pools to explore.
 Heading home... but it's OK because we live here & can come back anytime! We're so lucky!
In any “normal” shepherding year, we’re very done waiting by now. I mean, the waiting for lambs to arrive. There’s that anticipation — that butterflies-in-the-stomach kind of excitement — associated with lambing…until the flood of lambs begins. I kind of feel that way now as I wait for the flood of boxes filled with fiber to arrive from the mill. I know it’ll be wonderful and in my mind, I can see the lustre of the natural colors as I open the boxes. I know what went into the boxes that went to the mill…it’s all good! Can’t wait to send off the CSA shares!
 Soaking the yarn for awhile assures good color saturation. Of course, this means waiting, too! Is it obvious that I’m about to jump out of my skin with anticipation — or maybe I’m just impatient?! I have to DO something…bring out the dyes! No bubbling dyepots. I need mind & hands-on work so painting is a good choice. There’s thought involved but it’s almost instantly gratifying. And just about every batch I paint sends me to another color place…fun!
 These are the many bottles and jars of dye stock solutions I can play with. From these I can mix new colors, adjust depth of shade or just use the color as is. The possibilities seem endless!  A little color here and there...pretty skeins!
Skye, our Border Collie, celebrated his birthday on July 1 — 13 years! Most people who meet him have no idea he has (major) hip problems…he hides it well. He looks pretty darn good for a “geriatric” (according to his vet) dog. We don’t use the “g” word around here — mostly because we’re all getting there and would prefer not to think about it!
 On his 13th birthday, Skye'd rather gather the sheep but Jim made him lie down to have his picture taken. Doesn't he look bored?! We had a quiet Independence Day. Jim had come down with a nasty cold and didn’t feel like doing much in the way of running around looking for a parking spot to see the parade. The weather was actually fairly nice for most of the day so we did get a few things done outside. Of course, the minute Jim set out to move the rams into a new pasture, a thunder cell quickly moved right in over Bristol and dumped a load of rain on him. I was at that moment visiting mty friend, Nina, whose goats had just had kids — newbie kids are So cute!! [Sorry..no photos — check out Nina’s blog http://ruitfarm.wordpress.com/] Thankfully, the rain was short lived. Later, we enjoyed a lovely evening with our neighbors — an impromptu supper and lots of laughing. But we skipped the trip into town for the fireworks. But as we said “good night” to the pigs and chickens, we enjoyed the sounds of local celebrations.
I woke this morning and something was missing. I couldn’t put my finger on it immediately. And then I realized…no thwip, thwip, thwip — the sound that clogged and dripping gutters make. Hmmm… it wasn’t raining…OMG! Opening my eyes, I’m delighted to find that it’s bright! Even brighter than yesterday! I’m already feeling like my batteries are charging! Might get my herb garden weeded… Woo Hoo!! I’m not sure what I should do first…Oh, right…the Cornishes come first today. By the end of this day we’ll have have many yummy chickens in the freezer. Just another day on the farm but at least it’s not grey and raining.
At this time of year, we do alot of moving…moving animals that is. The sheep groups are moved to fresh pasture about every few days and the laying hens have to move around, too, so they always have fresh greens and bugs to eat. Recently, between rain showers, we spent some quality time with our poultry friends. We used to let the hens peck around freely but we were losing too many to weasels, minks & foxes. So now we move their house to fresh food and put portable electric poultry netting around it to keep everybody safe. So far, it seems to be working. It’s a little more trouble, but so is raising hens to laying age only to lose them to a predator. BTW, weasels will kill a dozen or more chickens in a single encounter! They’re very destructive and difficult to catch.
 Jim pulls the mobile hen house to a new spot so the hens will have fresh greens and bugs to munch on. The Cornish birds have outgrown their heated space in the barn, too, so they’re moving into the greenhouse where they’ll be able to peck around outside in the grass but will still be able to get out of the weather. They really do enjoy being outdoors.
 The hens have been busy in the nest boxes while they were waiting to be moved...fresh eggs!  We load up the Cornish birds and transport them to their new home.
 Out of the box and into a nice big space...
 The birds explore their new home...it doesn't take them long to discover the great outdoors.
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