Pine Needle Farm

Winter is here.  A little early, a lot cold, but that is Montana for you.  It came in Sunday night in a blizzard and it's been rather cold ever since. At least it's sunny during the day so I don't have to try and start the generator in this cold.  The goats have adjusted to the coldness, so all is well.

  There has been a Mountain Lion around here lately!  My wonderful Livestock Guardian dogs, Nellie and Sam, treed it not too far behind the goat pens early Friday morning.  I went out there in my pjs and bathrobe to see what they were barking so fiercely at, and they took me to a big fir tree and looked up.  I looked up, too, and here was a rather large kitty up there!  Too bad I didn't have my camera with me!   I didn't get too close as I wasn't exactly dressed for moving fast if I had to, but I saw it clearly.  Then Sunday night as the blizzard was going, the dogs were barking out in the dairy pasture.  i went out there and saw the lion tracks inside the fence and Sam on the other side of the fence.  I heard the lion go up a tree, but couldn't see it.  I got Sam back inside the fence, and we left the area.  I went back inside and went to bed.  I heard the dogs barking out in the lower pasture later on, so I think the lion was moving around a lot.  It's gone now, I guess since it couldn't get a goat, and the dogs kept harassing it, it decided to move on to an easier target, thank heavens! 

  I got the dehairing all done for the year finally.  Now I'm in the process of selling it as cloud, and spinning up a bunch for yarn and to make kits with.  I'm making a kit for a scarf with a pattern and the handspun cashmere yarn to make it with.  Also a kit for wrist warmers.  I might do one for a hat, too.  I don't have that much cashmere left, so we'll see how it goes.  

  This year has gone by fast!  Seems like it was spring only a month ago.  Now there is snow on the ground.  The garden did okay this year.  We had a cold June, which slowed everything down.  The spinach did great, the asparagus was bountiful, and the rest of the garden, okay.   I have a huge crop of apples!  I'm taking a bunch to the food bank on Friday.   I figure the people that have to use that service will love to have some fresh apples to eat.  During the summer when the chickens were laying lots of eggs, I took some of those there, too.

  Have a Happy Thanksgiving!