Fall, 16 chicks, 4-H, Horse lesson - welcome!

Poppy pods

I realize we have a few more weeks of summer before the start of fall, yet to me, the end of August and the start of September is the end of summer and the start of fall. To prolong my summer, I have been sleeping outside in my tent! I don't look forward to the short days which are already hitting us, so I thought if I could stay outside all night, then I would be enjoying the outside air of summer twice as long during a 24 hour time period. And if I could have a say in the matter of sunlight, I would make sure that the sun would not set until  8:30 pm up until September 15, then the day light could get shorter until October 31. This way our gardens would get those extra daylight hours to finish out their growing. This year we had so many cool days that the tomatoes are just sitting there waiting for warm days. And my goats are already trying to put on winter coats and yet I know we will have a heat spell before that happens and they will start to felt right on their bodies.

Notice the goat legs, as they watch the chicks

This morning, I pushed out of my tent and raced over to the dog crate where our Momma hen and her 16 babies - were chirping away -  they wanted out know, the sun was up, time to get going with the day!! They are in the crate to keep them safe from the wild night critters. But during the day they are everywhere, just everywhere. Here is a link to their video I have posted which is about just one of their days. They are a bold fun group. 16 baby chicks video link here.


This morning I went to a friend's home to work with her and her horse on ground behavior. Our goal was to make sure that her horse is listening to her and she is paying attention to her horse's subtle signs on where her attention is focused. We had a good lesson and they both had improved from the week before. Not all lessons with your horse need to be on your horse's back. And this was a case with this lesson.


The day did get a bit warm, yet our oak trees keep us cooler then the neighbors that don't have these wonderful trees. Tonight is the first local 4-H meeting of the school year. Last year was my first year as a 4-H Leader, I am the Spinning Leader. We are using support spindles to make yarn. I had 2 students and 2 moms last year. This year I will be advertising for more students. So tonight I start that campaign. Last year we did have fun. We spun, we dyed roving and yarns and we made our own spindles from clay. And skeins of yarn where entered the fair. So now that I have 1 year under my belt, I am ready for more students. I hope - I hope.


Since this is the beginning of the month I need to make a list of things I need to do, so here they are:

Pygora and silk roving for spinning

1. Shear the goats, their fall shearing
2. Clean all pens and make sure the goat houses are ready for wet weather
3. Clear out the garden and flower beds from over grown plants
4. Get fiber products listed with Etsy
5. Send about 4 pounds of Pygora fiber to the mill for processing.
6. Get working on two hobby horses that will be for sale this November
7. Ride my Horses - fall is a wonderful time to ride!!


Now for the graphics, I have a new web job with a new local Yarn shop. This job has been exciting to work on. It helps to have a web job with products that I love as well. I am really looking forward to  putting together this site. And I have a logo job as well. This is a auto repair company of which the owner is redoing his logo. And it is going well also.  So, I will be busy with these two graphic jobs this week.
Have a great week,
Jill