Like Father, Like Son

No words needed.

First 2016 Farm Day

Farm Club met yesterday with the main task of replacing all the missing ear tags so that the ewes are easily identifiable at Shearing Day coming up in two weeks. There were plenty of other tasks too, but I don't have photos of much since I was too busy to get the camera out. First there was the surprise lamb! See the link for that story.

Dona took this photo of all of us as we stopped for a group photo in the barn.This is Jade sporting her new eartag. The ewe lambs' small tags were replaced with their grown-up tags. I decided to start color coding again. All the 2015 lambs have orange. There were also a lot of adult sheep whose ear tags were missing, so we replaced those.We got son, Chris to the barn to take a group shot so Dona could be in it too.We finished up at the ram pen. I took fleece samples to send in for micron testing.Time to relax in the shop......and enjoy donuts that Mary brought to celebrate Dona's birthday last week.

Lambing Prequel

Lambing season is due to start in a month, but there were early lambs yesterday, the result of not moving ram lambs out of the main flock soon enough. Yes, some 5 month old lambs are fertile. I saw one of these ewes being bred and the ram lambs were moved that day. So I don't anticipate anymore lambs until late February. When I went to the barn yesterday morning I moved the ewes to the back as I normally do so that I can feed hay without them near the feeders. I heard a baaa. It's pretty crowded back there with full-fleeced ewes. I walked through the flock but didn't see a lamb. Then I heard it again and looked back. This is a poor view of the sliding door at the south end of the barn.This is looking from the other end. This happened once before--a lamb stumbled into the opening between the door and the wall and then couldn't get out. Fortunately it wasn't wet or too cold that night.Here he is with mom, Dazzle, in the barn.

Farm club was here during the day, but that's for another post. Afterwards, Dan continued with his work in the barn. We have new lights in the lambing area!Dazzle's lamb was a surprise although I didn't have a breeding date for her, which was an indication that she may have already been bred. I went back out last night to check the ewe I expected to lamb.She was lambing and had nice big twins.These are some flashy looking lambs, especially the little ram on the right. If he grows up nicely, those markings would make him a very pretty show lamb. Too bad he doesn't have a known father so he can't be in the show. Maybe he'll make someone a nice fiber pet if he's wethered.Ginny was just a baby at last lambing season and wasn't out on her own much. Today it didn't take her long to discover a dog's favorite part of lambing time. I usually make sure the afterbirth is not dog-accessible but when it falls out of the wheelbarrow it's up for grabs.

Random January iPhone Photos

I am getting caught up on my photos and found some to share about life on the farm, life in the shop, and life in general (but not very profound).Its a good sign when the chickens start laying again. That means there is more daylight. I have 5 chickens, 1 of whom is old and the other is ancient. I don't expect eggs from the old chickens, but it's nice to know the young ones have kicked into high gear.Rain. That's a good thing, although I'm never really happy about dealing with the mud on the way to the compost (manure) pile.However, it's good when the manure pile is wet through and through. It will become a compost pile much more quickly. I was going to try these for dye but I went out today and they are all shriveled up. Not very long-lived.My friends came and did a Shop Intervention. I need to drastically change some things and get rid of the clutter. I still haven't dealt with that big box but that is all the newest Timm Ranch yarn. I need to get that on the website and start working with it. After the friends left  there was room......for a Learn to Weave class.Mid-January always means that I'm getting older as my youngest son celebrates his birthday. That isn't the full amount of candles he should have had, but it is bright enough!

Almost Shearing Time

We're less than three weeks away from shearing. I used to shear in February, but several years ago I shifted shearing day to November thinking that I'd shear before I started feeding hay in the winter. For several reasons I decided to go back to February shearing but I didn't want to make the shift all at once and risk having the fleeces ruined. Last year we sheared the first week of January and this year we will shear February 7. Here are some of the sheep in full fleece.Sonata.

Jean. She was Champion Jacob Ewe at Black Sheep Gathering in June.

This is Cascade.

The BFL-cross named Ears.

This is Kenleigh's Isadora.

Vanessa.

Wesley is one of three wethers that are part of Ginny's sheepdog training flock.Wesley and Wally are BFL-crosses and the other two wethers in Ginny's flock. They were all born at the fair in July.This ram was also born at the fair. I'll have to decide about shearing them since they will have only 6-month fleeces and it will be more of a stress on them.

TNNA 2016

It's been over a week since I was at The National Needlearts Association Convention in San Diego but I haven't been working with my photos. (And in my mind, what's a blog without photos?) This show is where yarn shop owners go to purchase items to bring into their shops.  I have to remind myself that my shop is small, I'm not open 7 (or even 4 or 5) days/week so don't go crazy. As always I found a few things that I'll be very excited to bring into the shop over the next couple of months. Part of the fun though is hanging out with my friend, Irene, who owns Cotton Clouds. She made our hotel reservations. What fun place!This is the beautiful Horton Grand Hotel......and this is Sunshine, a paper-mache horse who stands in the lobby. He came from the saddle shop that was on the ground floor of the neighboring less formal hotel. The hotels were built in the mid 1800's but the saddle shop originated in 1912. Wickipedia says: "Both hotels were scheduled for demolition in the 1970s when the City of San Diego purchased them to build the Horton Plaza shopping center on the site. The hotels were dismantled brick by brick, with each brick numbered, catalogued, and stored. In 1986 the hotels were rebuilt into an entirely new hotel at the present location at Fourth Street and Island Avenue."Our room was lovely.What fun to decorate a hotel like this. The furniture was all old so I assume it was found at estate sales and flea markets. We even had a fireplace (gas so no wool hauling).We spent a lot of our time at the San Diego Convention Center.Here is a message to be read on the way there. This quote in context of time and author if quite serious. In my world the last sentence has particular meaning and is serious enough in my life, if not with as profound a meaning. Fun view while going up the escalator in the Convention Center.Leaving the hotel at night. This is the Gas Lamp District, kind of like Old Sac is for Sacramento.We ate one night at The Field, an Irish pub, while listening to Irish music and dancers. This sign caught my notice.

So what did I buy? My customers sent me on a quest for "sock yarn" so that is what I focused on.But first I found some new equipment. These are prototypes of cool little sample looms designed by author and teacher, Liz Gipson. The unique thing about these looms is that they will be produced in 8, 10, and 12 epi versions, enabling quick sampling of yarns at those setts (and at 4, 5, and 6 epi). There are a few other gadgets I am purchasing here as well. This is the Meow and Woof collection from Ancient Arts Yarns. Each yarn has a photo of the cat or dog that inspired the color. I strayed from my "buy American" plan because I was so enamored with these. They were spun in Italy and are sold by a Canadian company and a percentage of sales goes to dog and cat rescue groups. I have wove a scarf out of the calico cat yarn--that is another post. I already carry yarn from Imperial Yarn Company and these are some inexpensive and simple kits some of which use the yarns that I already have. I want to have a knit-along with some of these.The Fiber Seed will be a new yarn for me. They have some wonderful gradient yarns put together in kits. I'll get those as well as some of the solids and variegated yarns.

Mountain Meadows is a company who has their own mill. I'm getting a sock-weight Merino yarn that is grown in Wyoming. How to choose from all those colors? I'm getting yarn in about a dozen colors.

What will be first in the shop? I can't wait for the UPS truck to show up.

A Family Affair

In the last post I showed photos of dyeing and weaving chenille scarves for a show at The Artery in Davis. This post is about that show. For this month's show we invited our family members to join us in sharing their art work.My sons and daughter-in-law entered their photos. Sorry that my photos don't show theirs very well. Chris took photos while on the fire line last summer. Matt and Kaleena's photos are taken in their "backyard" of the El Dorado National Forest. I wove 7 Fire scarves and 5 Sky scarves so that I could choose the ones I wanted to display with the photos. You can't tell from this but the Fire scarves have sparkles (and have a lot more color variation than shows up here).I also included two of my mom's pieces. She was always proud of her teapots because she could create a dripless spout. Mom mostly made functional pieces like plates, bowls, and mugs, but also made tiles for the kitchen, a bathroom sink (the actual sink !), lanterns, birdbaths, and a sundial. This is a rare statement on society......but I'm not really sure what she meant.I took only a few more photos in the gallery because I ran out of time. Artery member Marjan made the 3-D flowers and her mom did the silk paintings.Heidi's husband and dad collaborated with her making bowls.Sorry, but I don't remember whose work this is but it is all felt, including the rocks.Here is a wild "Dragon Drawn in Space" above member Chris' family's art.My regular work moved out of the gallery and is in the front of the Artery for the next month or two. A Family Affair will be in the gallery through February 1. I hope that those of you who are local can make it there.

Fire & Sky in Chenille

The Artery is having a show called A Family Affair. We invited members' family to include artwork in the January show and I invited my sons and DIL. They entered photos and I planned to weave chenille scarves to accompany the photos. The vibrancy of the photos inspired my idea for the scarf colors. I didn't want to just choose yarns off the shelf. For one thing I didn't have the right colors, but the main problem was that I didn't want stripes. I wanted to have colors that flowed in to one another over the length of the scarf. That means starting with white (usually) yarn and dyeing it.

Oops! Not enough white or off-white chenille yarn on the shelf. I had enough of that for two warps of two scarves each. That would be one warp for Chris' fire photos and one for Matt and Kaleena's mountain photos. I wanted more than that so that some could be "practice" warps. More about that later.

I also assumed that I had dye in the colors that I wanted because...well just because...just like I assumed that I had white chenille in the shop. I got the box out of the garage and pulled out all the containers that had yellow or orange or red (fire scarves) and blue or (mountain scarves) in their names. I was OK for Fire. I had wound the two white/off-white warps but wanted to start with something else to try out the colors.I still have some warps leftover from my Yarn from the Box project in colors that won't sell. I used these yarns with the plan that I would eventually dye the warp. Now was the time. I started with yellow but it didn't cover the colors very well so this warp went to oranges and reds.That was the "practice" warp. Now it was time for the "real" one and I decided to use just these colors.You can see the yarns that I used weren't all the same because I didn't have enough of any one shade. Here is where my photo documentary of the process has holes. This was a cold, damp day. I was bundled up in overalls and Carhart jacket and wool layers. I had footwarmers in my boots   but I had to keep switching from warm gloves to rubber gloves, neither of which lent themselves to taking lots of photos. And it was getting late in the day and I was starting to lose the light. So no more photos of these warps after dyeing. I wasn't satisfied with the dye job on the white warp so I wound another but this time used yellow yarns because I didn't have anymore white. I dyed this in those same colors.Dona was at the shop the day I was trying to get these warps to dry. She took this photo of them hanging near the heater. Back to the dye day. These were the blues. It was getting late so not many more photos.Here is one of the Mountain Sky warps. I wove seven Fire scarves (two were finished the night before the show so aren't photographed here) and five Mountain Sky scarves.I will do another post of how the Artery show looks.

Leftover Yarn

Never throw anything away. At the risk of being called a Yarn Hoarder I don't throw any chenille away if there is at least a three yard length. Three yards (or a little less) is the length I need to make a scarf. I dumped out a couple of bags of leftover chenille and organized it by color. This made two warps.The first uses the yarns on the left side of the upper photo, going into the purple range.The color isn't very good on this photo but this was mostly yarns from the right side. Here are the finished pieces:I used a fine cotton weft for this scarf mainly because I couldn't figure out which color of chenille would work across all of these stripes. By using a fine weft the color of that disappears and the eye sees just the warp color.This scarf was different. I used a blue chenille weft. The blue dominates but pulls all the other colors together. These scarves are for sale at the Artery now and on my website.

Across the Road in 2015

I thought I did a post like this for 2014, but I didn't. You have to go back to this post to see what it was like Across the Road in 2013. My plan is to make a photo record of the changes that I see from standing at our mailbox. To do that correctly I'd need to do it on the same day each week (or month), with the same camera, using the same lens, and at the same time of day. FAIL. Here is what I have (and it's probably more interesting this way).January 22, 2015. February 5.February. Almonds are blooming.

In this photo our pasture has started to green up because I irrigated in mid-March. Normally the irrigation district doesn't provide water until April or May but due to the drought we have been getting water earlier. In 2014 we irrigated in January. The green in the background of the aerial photo is hay or  wheat or barley fields. April 26, 2015. The field has been bedded, ready for tomatoes.May 3, 2015June 9, 2015July 22, 2015August 9, 2015August 30, 2015This is a photo taken across the road, from Across the Road. (That is my pasture looking west.)The alfalfa field that is the green triangle in the upper right in the aerial photo.Beans that were planted after the wheat harvest in the are shown in the triangle that is the upper center of the aerial photo.September 5, 2015.September 9, 2015. It took 4 days, working 24 hours/day to finish harvesting this field.September 23, 2015. Back to the beans. The dry plants have been put into windrows waiting for harvest.September 27, 2015.October 6, 2015. Field disked and bedded waiting for the next planting. I'm told that it will be planted to sunflowers this spring.November 29, 2015. If we have regular rain I can't walk across here because it gets too muddy. There have been very few days that we haven't been able to walk. December 1, 2015. View of our place, looking west across the field. We need to see more green on those hills.

A White Christmas

We spent a lovely Christmas Day with my son and other family members. We got there in the morning before everyone else so that we could spend some time in the forest that is their backyard. I am not a snow person, but I can brave it occasionally, especially when the sun is out, and I'll admit that it was a nice touch to have a beautiful snowy view from inside Matt & Kaleena's warm house with a fabulous woodstove to back up against. The morning began, however, with us  sliding backwards down Matt's driveway in our Explorer. (I am planning to sell this before the next smog deadline, so no new tires for us.) That little glitch solved (by rocking the Explorer out of the snowbank and then parking at the bottom of the hill), we geared up with showshoes and foot warmers in our my boots and walked down to Jenkinson Lake. 

What time I have spent in the snow has been well after the storms have come through. There is something very different and beautiful about being there immediately after the snowfall......while the branches are still heavy with snow.

I loved seeing the snow clear to the tops of the trees. As the sun started warming the trees, snow cascaded from the highest branches.I spent the night at M & K's (Dan came home for chores and dog duty) and the next day Dan came back and brought Chris and Meryl with him. Then we celebrated our private family Christmas.The younger generation helping the older one with digital issues.Chris plays a mini-flute sporting his new Storm Trooper oven mitt.Here are my sheep/barn related Christmas gifts. My wheelbarrows constantly need their tires pumped up so Dan got the fittings to go on an extra air compressor in the barn. There are tubes and tires for my handtruck. Dog treats from Hawaii. Sheep and dog magnets. All the attachments for my new GoPro (birthday present). Footrot Flats is a comic strip series that I think only a sheep farmer would enjoy. Hand and foot warmers packets that I'll share with Farm Club in the barn. We took another hike that afternoon. This was a great two-day Christmas celebration with family. And it's not quite over. The kids are taking us to see StarWars in a couple of days. The only thing missing was my granddaughter and her family but at least we spent a week with them not long ago.

Hawaii, Day 7

Last person standing. That's me, for our Hawaii family vacation. Well, Matt and Kaleena were still here but staying somewhere on the beach. My father-in-law and his wife live on the Big Island and that is where we spent most of the trip. My husband and Chris and Meryl had left for home from there. Katie and her family left the night before after spending the day at Pearl Harbor so I woke up alone in my Waikiki hotel room and decided to spend some time on the beach with my camera before going to the airport.View to the southeast with early morning sun.View to the northwest.Not too many people in the water yet......but there were people on the beach......working out......and getting ready for business.The beaches are protected (created?) by rock walls built out into the ocean. When walking along one I realized that it was like looking down into an aquarium tank. There were fish everywhere. I took lots of photos but in most the wave action obscures the fish. There are a few that aren't bad for my first time trying to photograph fish. The only ones that I later identified are these needlefish.I wish that I'd had my new GoPro with me and a long stick to reach into the water.I sort of like this photo because the ships looks pixelated, but it's just the containers. Still on the wall, the sun was getting higher.

Here is an activity of which I was unaware--feeding bread to fish --these tourists brought an entire loaf and threw crumbs into the water.It's a great way to bring fish (and pigeons) to you, but I can't imagine that it is an approved method of watching wildlife. I was seeing plenty of fish without bribing them.As the sunlight hit the water the fish were easier to photograph......especially these almost luminescent needlefish.

As I walked back to the hotel, the beach was waking up.

Many more people out and about.

By the way, this was not my hotel. Mine was a few block off the beach in the low(er) rent district.

Back to winter in northern California. It sure didn't feel like Christmas time in Hawaii. Aloha!

Hawaii, Day 6

After spending five days on the Big Island, my daughter's family,  my older son and his wife, and I flew to Honolulu with the main goal of seeing Pearl Harbor together. Katie and her family would fly home that night, Matt & Kaleena were staying a few more days north of there, and I was flying home the next day. Unfortunately this is a blurry photo but I like the image. I sat in the row in front of Kirby on this short flight. We picked up a rental car (had to upgrade to carry all of Kirby's luggage) and drove to Pearl Harbor. The monument includes several memorials and museums and it would be easy to spend a full day immersed in this history ...but not with a toddler on board. We chose to tour the U.S.S. Missouri while waiting for our assigned time to see the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. (Unfortunately all boat rides to the Arizona were cancelled due to windy conditions.)The USS Missouri was the last battleship built by the U.S. and was the site of the Japanese surrender, ending WWII. The ship also served in the Korean War and, after being modernized in 1984, in Desert Storm.The Missouri is now a permanent museum in Pearl Harbor.There were a couple of photo opps before entering the ship. A lot of the ship is accessible and there is a wealth of information  covering the three eras when the ship was in use. It would be easy to spend several hours taking time to absorb everything. I have included just a few photos here.There is a display about the Japanese pilots who died in kamikaze attacks near the end of WWII. It is a moving exhibit but I don't understand what can drive a young man to this end during that era any better than today's suicide attackers (although I thing there is probably a world of difference in their reasoning). So sad...as are all parts of war.

There is a warren of passages below the main deck where people worked, ate, and slept. 

The living spaces for 1600 enlisted men were spread throughout the ship.Part of the modernization in the 1980's.Back on the main deck we looked up and saw...Katie, Kurtis, and Kirby.A disappointment was not being able to go to the U.S.S. Arizona Memorial. This memorial is directly above the Arizona that still holds many of the 1177 men who were killed during the bombing that sunk the ship. During the day my thoughts kept going back to the National Museum of the Pacific War, the moving exhibit in Fredericksburg, Texas (birthplace of Admiral Nimitz) that we saw in July (blog post here). It's well worth your time if you're traveling in that area.Toddlers don't care about this stuff.  Chasing birds and picking up flowers from the lawn are more their style. (If I chose to make this blog more commentary and opinion this would be the point to discuss innocence and when/how does it change.)

After spending much of the day at Pearl Harbor, we found my hotel in Waikiki. Katie, Kurtis, and Kirby relaxed there while waiting to catch the red-eye back to California. I had one more day of exploring.

Hawaii - Day 5, Part 2

One of us napped between visiting Hawaii Volcanoes National Park and our next stop. However, that didn't help Kirby want to step down into beach sand today anymore than the last three days. The Punalulu'u Black Sand Beach is well-known to host the endangered Hawaiian Green Sea Turtle.We weren't disappointed.We found several turtles basking in the sand while onlookers watched from outside the stone "corral" that prevented them from coming too close.The population of these turtles was in steep decline during the 1970's due to harvesting of turtles and eggs, but numbers have increased since protection by the Endangered Species Act. The adults weigh 200-500 pounds and they are thought to live 60-70 years.The turtles weren't moving so I don't think that Kirby really noticed them.Matt found a little more action. There were a few turtles swimming and eating in this pool.I took a video of this one as he (she?) approached me, blowing bubbles. Even if Kirby had been a fan of the beach, she would have probably been too tired to enjoy it here. It's better to be in Mama's arms......or better yet, sitting on a towel next to Daddy. Beautiful water, whether it's in blue......or shades of gray.

Hawaii - Day 5, Part 1

I have been back for less than 10 days and this Hawaii vacation seems like a world away...I guess because it is. Back home it's cold and drippy and I have battled a bad cold and eventually won. I just spent a good part of the day sorting through hundreds of photos so that I could print some for a photo book for Kirby, share a lot with my family on Shutterfly, and finish up my blog posts. I am discouraged to find that I have had to edit so many to remove lots of spots. Some were from an outwardly dirty lens (my fault for not paying attention) but others are spots that I can't clean. My camera and lenses need to go to the camera doctor and be cleaned inside. The dirt really shows up with blue sky and ocean landscapes.

Dan had left for home (life of a teacher) on Tuesday night. Chris and Meryl left for home on Wednesday. The rest of us visitors wanted to see what we could of the island before leaving the next morning and still get back to spend the evening with my father-in-law and his wife. We started by driving up the mountain towards the Mauna Kea Observatories, hosting telescopes operated by 11 different countries.

Do you see that white spot on the skyline in the photo? The telescopes are at 13,796 feet above sea level. The mountain itself rises 32,000 feet above the ocean floor. There are a lot more facts and a cool photo of the mountain top at this link. We didn't make it all the way to the top. The visitor center is the recommended stopping point for all 2-wheel drive vehicles, especially rented ones as well as for all children. We had a full day ahead of us without including a trek to the mountain top (beside the fact that we had a toddler with us) so we satisfied ourselves with a look around the visitor center. The other photo shows an array of telescopes that I assume are put into service for special viewing.

Our next stop, a couple of hours away, was Hawaii Volcanoes National Park.

We spent a little time in the visitor center and museum but mostly drove through the park, getting out to look at points of interest......and take photos......a lot of which, unlike most of my exploring/hiking trips were of family. I'm not sure that even amazing, steaming volcanoes can compete with beautiful family pictures...that is, pictures of beautiful family.However there were plenty of other arms to hold Kirby on this adventure so I did try to get some photos of our surroundings, especially of the area of rain-forest where we walked. While much of the Park is more desert like this part of the trail is through lush rainforest.

This had already been a long day for Kirby but she did well in her backpack.This is on the wall to the entrance to the lava tube.Lava tubes are formed as slow moving  lava cools to form walls, but the inner hot lava continues to flow.

Leaving the lava tube.Seen in the parking lot. Should I decide to move to Hawaii, do I have a job waiting for me?Catching a nap before Part 2 of the Blog.

Hawaii - Day 4

Tuesday began with a trip to another beach.While the big kids swam and paddle boarded and snorkeled Kirby and I walked on the beach. Or I should say I walked on the beach and carried Kirby. She still didn't like the sand or the waves. At one end of the beach we found lounge chairs and buckets. As long as there was no sand she was happy. Another first for me. I went snorkeling with my kids and there is video to prove it somewhere. Very cool.Dan had to get back to work and was leaving this morning so we cut the beach visit short. After he left we drove to Kona and had lunch at the Kona Brewing Company.Then we loaded Kirby into her new backpack and went walking around Kona. This is the dock overlooking the start area of the Ironman triathlon. My father-in-law (who lives in Hawaii and is why we were all here) has completed the Kona Ironman twice and for many years volunteered here. Chris has plans to someday qualify for entry in Kona.Some of the local wildlife... ...and color.While the kids were looking in other shops I found a basket weaver and bought a few of his things.On the way back to our house we stopped north of Kona to catch the sunset.

Hawaii - Day 3

By Monday morning all three of my kids and spouses/fiancee were here. We started the morning joining my father-in-law's at his daily ritual--breakfast at Lava Java in Waikoloa Village.We enjoyed live music and I got a photo of Kirby and me.Another day at the beach. Today's choice was Waialea Beach, also known as Beach 69. Kirby would stand on the sand in shoes...but still wasn't happy about the water even with much coercing by Aunt Meryl and Aunt Kaleena.She preferred refuge on her towel......even while everyone else (except Grandma) was in the water.Kaleena creates a selfie-stick out of a paddle.Matt rides a wave (ripple?) in to shore.Chris looks like a pro.Meryl perfected her headstand while paddleboarding and Chris valiantly tried to keep up. I took all of those photos while sitting on the sand holding a sleepy baby. She was finally ready to put down to finish her nap. I went paddleboarding for the first time. Eventually I will have photos taken by my kids but for now it's just my photos.A group photo before we left the beach.In the evening we waited for our chosen sushi restaurant to open and wandered around the Mauna Lani shops. It sure doesn't feel like Christmas here but there are decorations everywhere.We strolled along the resort paths.Look! I finally got a wildlife photo! This is (I think) a black-crowned night heron.Kirby found kitties in the parking lot before we finally went to dinner.

Hawaii - Day 2

A friend of mine sent me a link to her husband's fantastic scenic photos taken during their recent trip to Hawaii. He wanted to see my photos. Ummm. I don't think they will stack up to his. I'm finding that I don't get the same kind of photos when hanging out with a toddler. I have cute toddler pictures, but not too many of the nature shots...at least so far.The potential for wildlife photography began with turkeys walking down the road in front of the house where we are staying, but that is my only wildlife photo. The plan for the day was to spend some time at the beach and visit with my father-in-law and his wife, who have lived here for several years. First things first. An island girl has to have her nails painted... ...and then stay out of the house until the polish dries.On the way to the beach.

Stopping to smell the flowers.Kirby gets a good view of the ocean.We discover that she doesn't like the feel of sand on her feet. It's hard to get in the water if you won't walk in the sand. The water was a bit cool at the start and Kirby decided that it really wasn't for her. While Mom and Dad swam...Kirby was happier in the safety of the lounge chair, although I walked the beach with her quite a bit too.After the beach trip we met up with my father-in-law and others to see the Macadamia Nut Company.One of many special nut flavors.Photos at the gift shop.

Back to the house for naps and then dinner with the family including my oldest son and DIL who arrived that afternoon.

Hawaii - Day 1

It's mostly about travel. Dan and I got up at 3:15 a.m., leaving the farm in the capable hands of Farm Club friends. We flew from Sacramento to Phoenix (one time zone in the wrong direction) ... ...and met up with Katie, Kurtis, and Kirby who flew in from Austin. We all boarded the next plane for an almost 7 hour flight to Kona, which is where my father-in-law lives. I have been there only one other time.Leaving the California coast. I have this naive feeling that if the plane had to go down it would be better to be over land because you could find an airport or highway or somewhere to land.There is an awful lot of water before you get to Hawaii.But what an amazing site!The contrast between the wet side and the dry side is amazing from the air.The airport is in Kona on the dry side. That is also where my father-in-law lives. Love those colors in the ocean.Unleashing a 16-month old after being constrained for so many hours.She found this grate fascinating. Hmmm. I don't think she had to travel 3000 miles to find one of those.Relaxing at the house that we rented. The rest of the family will show up over the next couple of days.

P.S. I hear that Rusty has his own thoughts about me being gone. He shared them here with the help of Lady Stranger (Stephany).

Sheep Close-Ups

Guess which sheep will let me get this close and hold still enough for photos?  Gorgeous fleece.Why, it's Jade! Who else? She's the one in the Santa hat in the previous post.Sheep going out to pasture last week. I've closed the gate today. The grasses are dormant and need warm weather and more daylight to get growing well again...if they get water, that is. This grass is showing signs of drying out. I hope some of the rain that is predicted comes through.