Right before that last hot spell, I took a little time to begin training Smoke Jumper for carting. He had no problems at all with the harness or walking with all that hardware and dangling lines. He is a very smart and calm gentleman and willing to try something new! We did have several minutes of confusion on both our parts when I first tried to “ground drive” him from behind. Normally this is a two-person job, but I had to try it alone. Still I was impressed that Smoky seemed to respond to the reins quite well in a short period.
After a couple more workouts, and Fred’s help, we were walking Smoky in the cart, and took a few photos. He is only just starting his training and we are certainly not ready to go solo, but already I can understand how addictive this activity can be!
Fred’s travel late this summer is taking so much time that we will probably skip a couple of shows that we had planned on attending. Hopefully those extra weekends will give us a little time to work with Smoky and perhaps bring along a couple other cart trainees. Rocko and Spot stand watching the activity from their fence, and I think they might enjoy the chance for an outing too!
fred
I see on my Farmer’s Almanac calendar that the Dog Days of Summer are supposed to end on August 11. That will be good news, if it is true! After sitting in the muggy remnants of hurricane Dennis for over a week during mid July, the swampy but cloudy weather became sunny and dangerously hot the last week of July. We hurried to get the two big swamp coolers running, neither of which had the water hooked up at all last summer. Of course that meant two new sump pumps, and when Lowes no longer carried the kind we have been using, it also meant an extra trip for new hose fittings. You know how it goes with farm repairs. The swamp coolers are not as effective here in the midwest with our humidity, but when the temperature hit 96, the relative humidity was only in the low 50% range. That provided a good 10 degree temperature depression. This week we are aiming for the 90’s again, but with dewpoints not supposed to exceed 70, the swamp coolers will provide some nice cooling during the mid day. The water pumps are on timers, and the monster fans on all the time, so I hope to not have to hose down any llamas during this week’s heat wave. We hit almost 110 heat index last Monday, and I hope all the llamas and other livestock in our area made it through. We have heard of some heat stress conditions, but so far nothing too serious. Keep those fans running!
Generally during this time of year I spend these hot afternoons indoors working on the web site. Somehow, other things keep interfering. Parts of our site are in need of updating, and I promise to get that done soon, so please check back for new photos, new babies, and new yarns!
With the summer heat, I took a break from farm chores yesterday and started to work on the project that has been sitting on my loom since late winter. I had warped the loom over the course of about two or three weeks, rendering the dining room table unusable in the process (what else are those tables good for anyway, except holiday dinners and crafts?) The loom then sat in the library, waiting for me to start the fun part. I think warping a loom is what turns off most beginning weavers, and is the main reason for all those “used only once” looms you find for sale on eBay.
As winter turned to spring this year, we were busy with more llama shows than usual, and I was also busy getting my llama fleece sent to the mills for processing. After last weekend’s fiberfair, I feel rejuvenated; surrounded by all those lovely yarns made from MY llamas, I just have to make something! I might be able to find a little time on one of those hot days that beg you to stay in the air conditioning.
I had warped the loom in a dark cinnamon llama yarn, with the intent of using grouped warp and weft threads to create an interesting pattern in a solid color piece. Now with all my new yarn in many colors, my plan has changed. I began to envision a project that had a different warp color, but there is NO WAY I will remove that warp and start over! That would be enough to deter me for several more months! Instead, I came up with colors that will compliment the existing warp.
I started weaving, and after several rows, decided I wanted a different color to start with. I removed those rows and changed colors, and finally got going the way I wanted. I seemed to be out of practice and struggling to get a nice even weave. At last the phone rang, and I had a chance to sit back on the couch and take a break. From this more comfortable position, I noticed it…A mistake in the warp!
I had SKIPPED putting the yarn through one of the holes in the heddle! Fortunately, because I had grouped warp thread on adjoining slots, I could rethread one of those to correct the mistake. But it meant removing all those rows of weaving I had already done! A mistake like that in the warp is fatal. I had to redo everything.
I was explaining my frustration to my husband, and we both came to the conclusion that Gene Roddenbury must have been a weaver. When he invented the term warp speed, he was being facetious; he meant, “really slow,” not fast. I’ll never watch Star Trek the same way again!