Stellaaaaaaa!!!

Well, I know you are thinking of Mahlon Brandoh right now, but all I can think about is my little Stella Moona! Thank you all for your comments of encouragement. The internet at the hotel was really crappy, I think they had an old 286 with a 256K modem or something. But everyone was very friendly there, calling each other Miss Charlotte, or Miss Kim, which I found charming, so I forgive them.

Stella, cutie patootie, She took a second place at the Nationals! Woot, as my kids say. She was first in conformation, an excellent thing. But her fleece is so fine that the judge put her in second place because the fleece is not locking. After switching her to second, she said we were tied, and that the comparison had to go to fineness to break the tie. But we still tied on fineness, so the judge had to go to lock. And that is where Stella lost the first place. But we knew that going into it, so we are thrilled to know that she was first place for conformation! Fleece is the easiest characteristic to improve with breeding.

Plus, we had at least seven really well respected judges and breeders come by to take a look at her. They were all impressed with her coloring and luster. And the last breeder I met today as I walked around looking at females, said when I introduced myself, "Oh, I know who you are, someone told me about you and your little shorn girl. Where is she? I want to see her." As soon as he put his hands on her, he said, "Wow, she really is fine."

It's really fun to know we have such a great girl to start our farm.

Now, Carol has tagged me but my exceedingly long week is catching up and tomorrow I have to be interested and oh, yeah, awake at work. So it's beddie bye time for me.

Blue skies,

Lark

Nerve and Nerves

Well, we're here in Louisville, or Luhvahl, as the locals say. We had the nerve, the Nerve, the NERVE to bring our tiny but adorable Stella Moona out into the great wide world at a National show. The National Show.

Which explains why it's one plus a.m. and I have not slept a wink. I keep thinking about everything I've learned here, everything I've seen and wondering about what will be revealed tomorrow.

Today, I ran into a wonderful fiber judge who is not here officially judging for Stella's class. Which meant he was able to look at her fiber sample (which must be taken from a particular region on the animal), and to look at Stella in the flesh too. He was quite impressed with her, and confirmed her coloring as Dark Rose Gray. There are twenty possible colors, well, make that 20 official colors. DRG is a very rare and sought after color right now. So our tiny little nekked Stella is not just sweet but potentially valuable.

Tomorrow morning, I will enter the show barn, feed and water her, take her for a walk to stretch her out, wipe her with a rubber mitt, then wipe her face with a damp washcloth so she's ready for her closeup. Before 2 p.m. tomorrow, she may earn a ribbon at National, a very prestigious thing.

This is the thing that is keeping me up tonight. A case of the nerves. The wonder and marvel of this being my life unfolding in a new direction. As Katherine of It All says, "Yes, kittens." I wanted to share this case of nerves with y'all (another L'ville phrase).

I keep telling myself, "you can't go swimming if you don't get wet".

Blue skies, she wrote late in the night

Hands and Rings

When I was younger, I was uncomfortable with my hands. They were unlovely, to put it plainly. Large knuckles, short nails. Rings never looked right. But time passes. As I've grown older, my hands have become a bit of a pride. I love the confidence I get when I attempt something new and achieve a reasonable outcome. My hands have knit, sewn, cooked, washed, loved and loved some more.

When My Good Man and I went looking for wedding bands, we were underwhelmed by the lack of spirit we saw in them. Any ring will speak of the bond, but we just couldn't find any hint of the passion of life.

So we went looking for a goldsmith. I sketched out a few ideas for him, in a rudimentary way.

I also gave the goldsmith this stitchery I did a few years ago. I went out one day and bought all 248 some odd colors of DMC perle cotton and just started stitching. It's just an image from my head, but it celebrates the western landscape. We wanted to capture the joy our alpacas have given us, honor the land, and have it all in a ring representing our love. I have always admired wide rings, maybe because I have hands that fit my 5 foot 10 frame.As we look for a ranch property, I am beginning to think that it might look like this stitchery. Almost as though my heart envisioned my future a few years ago and my fingers made the dream tangible.

And here is the result of this collaboration between my head, My Good Man's heart, and a talented goldsmith. I think they capture the passion of our hearts beautifully, don't you?

This week, as we attend our first alpaca show with our own alpacas, we hope that others will like the images on them too. In addition to using them as our own wedding bands, we are hoping to sell these to other alpaca ranchers, in gold, silver, or platinum. I love the idea of sharing the love. Crazy thought, eh?

Blue skies,

Lark

Shearing Alpaca

Last night My Good Man and I went to see Stella Moona, one of our alpacas. We met the shearer there, the brother of a former co-worker who knows summat bout shearing pacas. Scott did a wonderful job, and was very helpful in explaining how the process would proceed, how I should help, where to place myself, how to hold her. My Good Man did the photography.

Here she is before shearing. Sweet but kind of fluffy, not a good thing for a Suri alpaca. We are shearing her to show her for conformation. And to keep her cool for the summer. Her fleece is exceedingly fine, which is why it looks so fluffy.

While Scott buzzed off her locks, I had to hold her head. Her feet were stretched front and back to keep her and Scott from injury. At one point, Scott told me to hold her ears to stretch her neck out so the skin there would be taut. I didn't want to just grab them, but he told me they make the best handles. Ouch!

And here she is after shearing. Looks a little put out, standing there all nekked and in the altogether, eh?
Blue skies,

Lark

Remember Meadowlark?

Thanks to everyone who posted about the dress. I love it!

I posted a while back about Meadowlark, my new Majacraft Suzie I bought secondhand. She arrived and sat while we worked on the kitchen. When I opened the box, I was so excited to try her out. But something was very wrong from the first treadle. So I brought her to the dealer here and discovered that she had been dinged during shipment by a forklift through the side of the box! Seriously dinged. Dinged such that she cannot be repaired without $275 in parts.

Thankfully, the seller, a marvelous woman, had insured her for the purchase price and I have decided to buy new rather than repair. I just worry that a repair might not be the same as new, and I want a wheel that can sing her song with me.

So, here I am, wheel-less again. I wonder if I can make it to Estes Park this year. I have never been and would so like to go. Has anyone been? Do they have wheels to try and buy there?
I'd like to buy local, but there are some makers who are not carried locally. And I only have room for one wheel in my life.

Blue skies,

Lark