Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Pumpkin Smiles!


Pumpkins make me smile! Each year I can hardly wait until we get our fall decorations put up. Before we turned Rich's huge garden into pastureland he used to grow our own supply of pumpkins each year. Now we have to buy them. Fortunately we found a farm just a few miles away that has loads of lovely pumpkins for sale.


This year we are hosting an open house on Saturday, September 27th in honor of National Alpaca Farm Days, so we really wanted to go all out on the decorations. I think we have succeeded. Today's pictures are of the outside decorations. In future posts I'll have photos of the inside decorations.


Our little Mocha is growing like the proverbial bad weed. He weighed in at 19 pounds last night; that's a pound a day which is what should be happening if he is getting proper nutrition. Every time I look out the back windows toward the pasture Mocha is nursing while mama, Mango, stands patiently staring off over the fields. For a first time mama Mango has adapted very well.


Last night after dinner, Rich I and went out to weigh Mocha and give both mama and baby their CDT inoculations. Rich holds the animal while I give the shot. It's not something either one of us ever thought we would be doing...ever. This whole experience raising alpacas has challenged both of us in ways we never thought possible and surprisingly we are discovering that with a "can do" attitude we are living up to the challenges and having a great time doing it.


I started knitting a pair of socks from the yarn produced using our Leezza's soft, brown fleece. I'm not sure yet who will be the recipient of these socks; but whoever it is will certainly have warm feet this winter in these cushy socks. This sock yarn is knitting up so easily that its a joy to work with. My Oregon daughter, Susie, is working on a baby sweater for a friend's new baby, from the same yarn. She has high praise for it, too. This is just one of the many yarns we will be having on sale for 20% off during our upcoming open house.  The next event after the open house will be at the Garlo Nature Center's Octoberfest on the first Sunday in October. This will be my third year doing a spinning demonstration there and Rich will be showing two of our alpacas. The Octoberfest has been expanding each year and has activities for all ages. Later in October we have our annual family reunion. September and October calendars fill up fast with truly smile making events.

This evening we're going to attend our grandson, Max's, football game. He plays QB for Weaver Middle School's 8th grade team. We both enjoy watching the kids play and cheering for Max.

Octoberfest, open house, Max's football games, family reunion and pumpkins! Smiles, smiles, smiles!


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