pnfcashmeres.com Blog

Here’s one of the yearling wethers named Andy, with his fiber all combed off of him. For such a small guy, he gave quite a bit of cashmere! There is some nice fleece this year. I’m about a third of the way done with the combing for this year. I get two to three done in a day. I’d better up that by a goat or two, or I’ll never get them all done. At least they don’t all shed at exactly the same time.
We are having some spring weather the last week or so. A lot of the snow has melted, although there is still enough to keep the ground white, for the most part. Good thing we are going to get quite a bit of rain in May. I hiked up to the rocks with a friend on Sunday, and we didn’t need snowshoes. They would have been nice in only one little section towards the top, but otherwise, the snow was only about 6 inches deep! There were bare spots under the trees. I even saw some green grass!
I plowed the road some yesterday to get rid of some of the slush and ice. Now it should melt off faster. I also made some turn-outs from the spring up, so if we meet someone, one of us can get out of the way.
I trimmed Rascal’s hooves the other day. Now they are back to what a normal horse should have. It only took 6 months to get them back to normal. Now I hope he will be able to stretch out and gallop properly this summer. He was so short strided from having such overly long feet that he is having to make some major adjustments back to normalcy. He is a nice little guy. Never threatens to kick, or bite or anything, even when I slip and fall against him. He’s a good boy.
The other night I heard a mountain lion scream, a couple of coyotes in the distance and an owl hooting. Obviously I wasn’t sleeping good that night. The youngest deer in our little group that hangs out here got killed by the lion a week and a half ago. When we were coming back down from our hike, we saw the four legs, back bone, and hide scattered all over a wide area. The coyotes cleaned up what was left after the lion ate it’s fill. Mother Nature at work. As long as there are deer around, I don’t have to worry about the goats getting done in. Especially with Nellie around barking at anything that moves, or she hears. She’s a good guard dog.
There is one deer that is not afraid of the dogs, though. Tonight it was coming in towards the house on the trail when Nellie and Dani went up to it barking. It just kept walking forward, and the dogs backed off. I’m thinking it has struck at them before, and they are afraid to get too close again. That does not bode well for the yard and garden this summer! We need a ten foot fence all around the perimeter of the yard to keep the deer out. I planted a bunch of flower bulbs last fall that I really don’t want eaten this spring. I’ll have to figure something out.
Well, back to work. I’m getting closer to having the cotton spun up and I finished the afghan. It looks pretty. Very bright colors!
More as it happens….

This year is going by fast already! Winter is pretty mild around here, unlike other parts of the country. Hope everyone is staying safe and warm.
I’ve started combing the cashmere off the goats now. It’s going to be a good year for it! No dander, very little vegetable matter, and it’s sooo soft. I love working with the stuff. The goats are liking the brushing. It must feel pretty good to get rid of all that hair.
I’ve spun and dyed 3 skeins of cashmere yarn in the last few weeks. Dyeing is so much fun. I never know for sure how it will come out. So far, so good. Now I’m crocheting a baby or toddler afghan for a friend of a friend. It will be a very bright blanket! Should look pretty neat.
I’ve learned, or I should say, I’m learning how to do the Tunisian crocheting. Also called the afghan stitch. It’s easy and fun. I’m not sure why I didn’t do that years ago. It intimidated me before, but not now.
I’m spinning some organic cotton now. I don’t think I ever want to spin cotton again. It’s harder to do than cashmere by far. Although now that I am getting used to working with it, it’s getting a bit easier. But, I still don’t think I want to do any more after this is done.
There is an un-planned pregnancy out in the goat pens. I went out to feed one morning this week, and here is Rusty entertaining one of the yearling doelings in his pen. He had bashed the fence enough to make a hole she could crawl through. They were looking quite pleased with themselves, so I am sure there will be a baby in July. I really didn’t want one that late, and it’s going to be the only one, so I think I will sell the doe in May or June, and someone can have a baby born on their place. She is one of Speckles’ triplets from last year. She’s half dairy and half cashmere. She has pretty markings, and her name is Molly. I was going to keep her, but I really don’t want a single kid that late in the summer. I’ll ask $100.00 for her and her unborn kid.
The one neighbor has sold his place now. We shall see what comes next. I hope a nice homesteader couple will buy it. The land is really nice, I wish we could have afforded to buy it, but it just isn’t meant to be at this time. Maybe it will just sit there empty till we can come up with the money, then we can get it! It would be perfect for my fiber arts education center that I will be building pretty soon. So, we shall see.
Well, that’s it for now….