Getting ready for Spring!

Hi All, again, the blog is written in my head every day but never gets to this point! I've been on the road quite a bit. A few golfing trips, and most exciting of all we drove out to participate in the Pittsburgh Knit and Crochet Show mid-March. This is a wonderful event, full of beautiful yarns and finished items as well as irresistible gear. My thanks go out to all the other vendors (check out StevenBe-Yarn Garage for wonderful yarns and great ideas on home design. As a definite fiber fanatic it is my version of heaven to see all the wonderful textures and colors all in one space. The wonderful Fiber Revolution is still going strong! So, after a non-stop drive home from Pittsburgh its' time to do some routine vaccinations and herd health care as well as start thinking irrigation. Which means cleaning and/or burning ditches, replacing pipe, checking and setting pumps, spreading compost, aerating fields, and get ready for shearing. Clean fields and clean barns equals cleaner fleeces. So from now on, the barns are swept out at least weekly. Many friends, Master Gardners, large community gardens and best of all the Denver Botanical Gardens at Chatfield Aboreteum are all coming out for their loads of the beautifully composted manure. A nice bonus for us to keep moving the compost out and the gardeners really value it for the low ammonia/lower nitrogen levels so it never burns or over fertilizes a garden.

Yesterday I was again struck by just how fortunate we are. My nieces came over for the day, to help with gardening, think up great names for the crias coming this spring, and helping my parents out a bit. If you remember, we have their house at the front of the property and we live towards the back. Couldn't be better! So I had a great day with family but not so great getting paperwork done. We make a concious effort every day, to savor the moments, manage the stress and keep priorities straight. A few minutes in the barn really helps me stay calm and appreciate all the good things in life. I will always have to make more of an effort to do the website chores, and facebook? Seems like a better venue for all those I've friended on my space, ha! But that too will happen at some point.

"I have found that all ugly things are made by those who strive to make something beautiful, and that all beautiful things are made by those who strive to make something useful" Oscar Wilde, 1885