pnfcashmeres.com Blog

Well, Christmas has come and gone once more. I had a nice Holiday. The weather was tolerable, it was quiet, peaceful, and enjoyable. We had a wonderful dinner at some friends’ of ours place. Good food, good company, a good time all the way around.
The animals are all well. Squeaky isn’t pregnant after all. She was, but someone, probably April, butted her hard and ended the pregnancy. It’s too late in the year to breed her now, so I’ll wait till next fall to breed her again. I might sell her in the Spring. We’ll see what all happens between now and then. So there are 11 does pregnant. Probably around 15 kids will be born in April.
We now have 12 turkeys left. That will be what we have till March. I think next year we will have 6 hens and the two toms for a breeding flock. They sure are tasty! Not a large bird, the heaviest one was 13 lbs, and the one we ate yesterday was only 6 lbs. But, they make up for lack of size with more flavor.
The chickens are laying one egg a day now. I got one every day this week. Maybe next week there will be two or three eggs a day. This year I’m letting at least one hen sit on the eggs and hatch them out. We need some young layers again. These girls are two and three years old. A little past their laying prime, but they will still lay fairly good. I’m not pressuring them, so they will last longer.
Our road is pretty icy now. We had a nice snow, then it warmed up and rained for two days, then got really cold again. So except for the very edge where there is a gravel strip, it’s ice. We are putting the chains on every time we go up and down the road. Rather an inconvenience, but such is life. It could be worse, so I’m not complaining.
Today there was a really pretty scene. We were under a cloud inversion, but up on the top of Wild Bill Mtn, there was a hole and the sun was shining down on the side of the mountain. Everything was covered in snow, so it was a beautiful bright white with a patch of blue sky. Hopefully tomorrow the clouds will lower down a few hundred feet, so we can be in the sun. That would be great!
Well, that’s all for now. Hope everyone is having a great Holiday!

We have snow now. About 8 inches. I plowed the road yesterday with the drag plow, and then used the ATV with it’s plow to widen it. I’ll finish it tomorrow. It’s still cold out. In the teens for the most part. It gets pretty cold out on the ATV even with layers and layers of clothes on. My fingers get pretty darn cold. Our road looks a lot bigger on the ATV than when I’m in the truck!
The goats are all doing fine. The ones that are pregnant are starting to show a bit. They are almost all overweight. Just a couple of the does are of a slimmer build. The rest are pretty easy keepers.
We are down to 13 turkeys now. There is one more for us to eat, then the rest will be added to the breeding flock. Next year I hope we have more to sell. They are becoming quite popular. Very tasty, too!
The chickens are still not laying eggs. At least I don’t think they are. I’m finding one egg most days. I’m starting to think someone is eating the eggs. I caught a turkey eating one the other day, so now they are banned from the chicken coop. I hope the chickens didn’t decide to start eating them after seeing a turkey do it.
Tonight when I went out to the dairy side of things to milk, etc., there was a rather big buck deer eating on the hay I throw over the fence that the goats won’t eat. I wish I would have had my camera with me. It would have made a great picture with the snowy trees in the background and this huge buck standing there looking at me. I really should start carrying the camera with me all the time.
We went to town today. The roads were a bit slippery, but we didn’t have any problems. All the side streets weren’t plowed yet, so they were messy. Glad we had 4-wheel drive. That kept us from spinning out at the stop signs and lights.
I got the dog hair all spun up. It turned out rather nice, if I do say so myself. Now it’s back to spinning the rest of the cashmere that is left.
Well, that’s it for now….

We are in an artic blast now. 11 below last night and it’s going to be a bit colder tonight, it looks like. It got up to a whopping 5 degrees today. Good thing the sun was shining to make it feel warmer. All the animals had their sides turned towards the sun today, soaking up the little bit of warmth it was giving. They are getting lots of feed, so they are staying fairly warm. They aren’t losing weight, that’s for sure!
I’m in the process of getting rid of just about everything I’m not using, and haven’t used for a while. We have too much stuff for this tiny house we live in. Time to do a major overhaul of our things. Flathead Freecycle is getting a lot of stuff from us!
We have three inches of snow on the ground. We didn’t get the big winds that the valley did, which is good, since it was so cold anyway. Even the little breeze we did have really made it colder. My face almost got frost bit. By the time I get all the layers on, I feel a bit like the Michelin Man. :-) Can’t hardly move. But I stay warm, so that is what counts.
I’m spinning up a pound of dog hair for a customer. I’m almost done. It’s nice and easy to spin. Fairly clean, with some VM in it, but not bad. Doesn’t smell too strong, either. It should make a really nice vest!
I’m also making a set of “his and hers” hats out of mini llama yarn. Those will be nice and soft. Not as warm and light as cashmere, but close. After that, I’m back to spinning up some cashmere. I”ve almost sold out of the prime cloud for spinning. I think I’ll keep the rest for myself to make things for the farmers’ market for next summer.
Well, that’s it for now…