New Yarn and Yarn Basket

The yarn came in from Stonehedge last week, its from my last years lamb fleeces sports weight 250 yards $12.00 a skein.  I am very happy with how it turned out very soft!

A friend I work with and his wife are starting a spay neuter program for dogs and cats in Jackson Country IN and will be having a benefit on April 27th.  There will be a dj, food, and silent auction among other things to help raise the money to get it started.  I made up this yarn basket to donate for the silent auction to help them out.

It's got a little bit of everything in it including my new yarn, mill spun alpaca, mill spun sheep wool angora blend, hand spun Shetland, 2 different wool angora hand spun blends and 2 pure angora skeins.  I think they will really like it and be very surprised when I give it him tomorrow.  I am hoping there will be some knitters there so they will get a good price out of it to help get them going. God Bless!

New Roving

Here is a couple pics of my new roving that came in today.  Its from my flock of Cormo, Shetland, Finn cross ewes with silk pin drafted in.  I have almost 7lbs $2.50 an oz my email is psalms121@rocketmail.comI should have some new yarn in the next couple of days!  God Bless

Best Comment EVER!

I got the best comment I think I have ever gotten this morning on my last blog post.  I will post it below for all of you to read.

"Keep in mind that leisure time is always worth it, no matter where you go or what you do. You may wish to travel out of the country or go visit your mom a few hours away. You might want to treat yourself to a relaxing “girls-only” getaway or yoga retreat. Virginia Vacations"

All I got to say to this is if your going to post on a comment on here please do your homework first.  I do not need a "girls-only getaway" as I am a DUDE!  Hello my name is Dustin its nice to meet you LOL  Yes I realize it was more than likely some kind of computer program that posted that put maybe not any ways I found it very funny this morning before Church.  God bless and remember to laugh today!

Vacation Pics!

As promised I am finally posting some of my vacation pics from Gatlinburg TN for you.

We were unable to do much in the Mountains this year because it was so foggy we could hardly see anything.

We did find a trail at the base of the mountains we could walk that led back to this creek.

I think one of my favorite and scariest parts of the trip was riding the trolly over the mountain to Ober Gatlingburg  We were so high in the air riding on cables the trolly would swing every time we came to a tower and I thought I was gonna wet myself.  The little girl standing beside me laughed the whole trip up which was about 10 min.  The conductor that she was funny and told us we were only 1.5 seconds from the ground.  I guess that was kinda a relief as I would not have to scream long!  The conference was great amazing speakers and amazing concerts rung in the New Year with the News Boys first time I had seen them and they were great.  Its amazing how humble that can be with all the lights and everyone there to see them yet they keep the focus on God and not on them.  God Bless!

Snow Pics

We have 2 snows in the past couple of days here in Southern Indiana and this last one is a very beautiful one! So on my way home from my blood work apt I took some pics to share with you.

God bless and keep those critters warm!

It's been to long and rabbitry update

It have been way too long since I have posted anything for you guys to read.  I have turned into such a bad blogger.  Christmas has came and gone and I was very blessed to be able to spend time with my brothers they families and my moms side of the family.  Since I have posted last I have some new faces on the farm I need to post pics of soon for you.  I got 2 LGD puppies Roman and Ramona who are Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepard crosses.. They are very young yet but mingle with sheep well and are not afraid to bark at any noises they hear.

 My Blueface Leicester ram lamb Glen Rock came home in Oct from my friend Lisa at Somerhill  Farm.  I ended up putting both rams together with the ewes this year.  So I will have a mix of lambs from the Cormo cross ram and from the BFL.  I did see Glen Rock breed my favorite Shetland ewe so I am very excited to see those lambs. 

As far as the rabbits go I have been cutting down a lot and now only have 8 Angoras that are mine, 1 that belongs to a friend and a couple waiting to picked up yet to go to their new homes.  I have kept my 2 Chin French Angoras, a Harlequin German cross and some Giant crosses that are black and 2 Agoutis.  I only had one litter this fall and was hoping for Chins but none I did end up keeping a Sable buck out of that litter.  It was a surprise my Chin FA buck carried sable.  At the moment I am torn if I want to breed or not, I have been thinking of shifting focus to FA so I can have the colors I want like Chestnut and Chinchilla that will keep their color well and be very easy to manage.  I dont show because of all the work the coats take but the FA would be less work if I wanted to show them.  I do dearly miss showing as well!  Since I have been missing showing I picked up a couple of Himalayan so if all goes well I will be at a couple shows with them starting is Feb.   That is all for now but I will keep this updated more for all of you in the next year I promise! I am off on vac to Gatlinburg TN starting Dec 31 and super excited will have pics for you!  God bless and keep warm.

German Crosses For Sale

I have 2 German crosses available

Dusty's Gizmo 42.75% German DOB 5/31/12 he a black who carries "ej" if anyone is interested in Harlequin angoras. He has awesome texture and tons of wool. $25

Sorry for the dark pic it was taken with my cell phone


NW Jesters Boy 23% German DOB 5/17/11 JB is a Harlequin and sire of above buck. I had planned on using him to start a Harlequin line of my own but I am having to cut back on my angoras and no longer have time to take on this project. He has perfect texture and good density. $40

God Bless
Dustin
located in Southeastern Indiana 47227
psalms121@rocketmail.com

Little House

Tonight I have been watching Little House on the Prairie one of if not my all time favorite shows.  Yes its out dated but I believe it shows how people really should act and treat each other.  No one is perfect everyone has their issues but still they love thy neighbors.  Tonight's episodes are the ones about Albert being addicted to morphine, I have a hard time with this one because I can relate so much to it.  It has even brought tears to my eyes because I know what its like to think you have to have something to function normally.  It's crazy how shows made about a time way before us can somehow relate to how we live or things we have gone through in our lives.  After they find out bad Alberts addiction is his father takes him to a friends cabin to go through withdraws and cleanse his system.  At one point he is begging his dad to just give him a little just enough to take the pain away.  He asks his dad "why are you doing this to me" Charles responds " You did this to yourself, you put this poison in your body".  Then Charles picks him up like a small child and carries him back to the cabin.  You know our heavenly Father does same thing to us.  So many times we make a mess of our lives and when everything is going wrong He picks us up and carries us back to the place we need to be get it right again.  Charles stayed with Albert the whole time he was going through withdraw holding him while he couldn't sit still and wiping is face after he got sick.  Jesus does the same thing for us He has for me many times throughout my life as a Christian and even leading up to being a Christian.  So many times we get carried away with the things of this world and the things we think will bring us joy and happiness and every time Christ is there to pick us up and put life back together for us. When Albert is finally starting to feel better and sits at the table with Charles to eat some dinner he looks at Charles and tells him how scared he is because he knew if he was alone and there is drugs there he would do them.  He tells his dad he does not know how he is going to make it when Charles leaves him.  In this moment just like with God Charles tells him I am not leaving you your my son I will never leave you.  To me this speaks volumes about how God works in our lives.  We fall we fail and we get carried away with stupid things from time to time but no matter what He never leaves us.  It is amazing the things He does in our lives and the ways He has changed mine.  I pray He works in all of your lives the way He does mine even when I make mistakes and even when I get carried away He is there to carry me back to place I need to be get life right. 

Here is another movie from Lifetime called Bringing Ashley Home that I also relate to very strongly.  The ending is not as happy but I can still understand and relate to how this young girl feels and the things she is going through in life.  I know I have talked about my past life many times and mention some of my struggles here from time to time and I pray you don't get sick of reading me pouring my heart out because I believe that God has brought me through all this for a reason and He tugs on me heart from time to time to share with all of you.  You see just because its part of my past does not mean I don't struggle with it still.  There are days I still want to get my fix and let go of everything.  At times I still want to get tore up or 3 sheets to the wind because at those times it's easier to be myself and not care what other people think or what they may say.  At those times I could totally lay it all out and not have to worry about your rejection.   At those time I let down all walls and feel accepted.  The key here is though with God I can feel accepted and loved be myself and not worry about rejection.  We spend so much time searching and trying to find what we need to be hole when He is always there waiting for us to join Him.  God bless all you and thank you very much for listening to my rambling thoughts.

Unsure Territory

I have not posted anything for a while so I thought I would do some thinking out load (or in type) for all you to read to see whats going on in my life.  I have working on cutting down on the amount of rabbits in my barn my goal was 12 from about 35.  All the American Fuzzy Lops went home with my dear friend Pam and her husband the other Sunday and I have a couple more rabbits spoken for just not picked up yet.  I went ahead and bred a couple of does either for a color I wanted or a buck I have sold and wanted one last litter from. 

As you know I have been working on Black Giants for some time now and I am getting some REALLY nice rabbits type and wool wise I still need to work on color a little more to get the depth I really want but I am very pleased with how the rabbits are doing.  However I am really loosing the interest in them I had when I first got my rabbits.  I dont show anymore and maybe that's part of why I am loosing interest.  I mean I miss going out and see everyone and I do like some friendly competition and I have made many wonderful friends.  I do not miss the expense of traveling to shows and all that jazz sometimes I miss grooming but more times than not I do not miss that either.  I have been working more on the fiber aspect of my angoras and doing pretty well at it I dont spin as much pure angora as I should but I dont spin as much as I would like right now either.  That should change in the winter time.

I am not sure in what direction God is taking me right now but I feel the need to free myself up some more maybe take some more clutter out of my life. I know God has something in store I just dont know what that is right now.  God Bless please pray for God to lead my heart and for me to make the right decisions for His will in my life.    

Black Giant Anogra Crosses for Sale

I have 2 Black Giant Angora crosses for sale out of my breeding program.

Bluewood Bunnies Black Ice DOB 1/31/2011 Reserved Phil and Judy Osborn
This guy has tons of soft wool goes back to the black Germans and out of a doe from Abundant Acres in MD. Weighs right around 10lbs proven breeder.

 Dusty's Petros DOB 2/10/2012 $100 Sold thanks Missy!
Very nice little guy I would like to see more strength in his shoulders but if I didn't have both parents and his sister he would be staying to sire babies.  Lovely soft wool very nice density.  I think this guy has perfect texture!  At 6 months he wights 9lb4oz so should have no problem making Sr weight. Bred to a Giant his babies will be pure!

 Contact me at psalms121@rocketmail.com
God Bless
Dustin

That was fast!

I sent 2 batches of roving to the mill a week ago and I have already got it back!  I had sent my llama Ggama's last 2 fleeces and a Shetland Alpaca blend to Stonehedge to be processed and it came back today.  As some of you know llama is my FAVORITE fiber so I have been busy spinning that already.  The last llama roving I had done I have been hoarding in my stash and still have not done anything with what yarn I have spun from it.  Sometimes I just like to pet it like a good hoarder does LOL.

This is the llama which I have started spinning on my ol' trusty Ashford, gotta love this wheel!  Ggama has a very fine fleece with little guard hair and this spins like a dream.

70% Shetland 30% Alpaca very soft and should be lovely to spin.

This is the batts I have been working on carding on my drum carder.  Shetland lamb fleece and llama.  This llama is more textured so the batt is not as soft and my llama roving but I am still happy with it and think this will make some lovely yarn to use for shawls or other drape garments.  Both rovings are for sale and priced $3.00 an oz.  Contact me at pslams121@rocketmail.com if your interested in any.  God Bless!

What does the Word say?

I have not wrote anything to you about my faith or the things God has been doing in my life for a while now so I will in this post.  Ever since the Chic-fil-a made the comments they did people have been going crazy.  There are post on facebook for both sides of the fence and many people are calling them close minded and bigots.  People are wanting to kick them out of towns and off college campuses.  I cant sit back and not speak up anymore.  As someone who has lived the gay lifestyle and then gave their life to Jesus Christ I am writing this as a person who understands both sides. However how I feel and how you feel is not the issue here what Gods word says is the issue so I am going to show you a couple of verses before we go any farther, and since we are under the new covenant with I am going to stick to the New Testament of the bible to avoid any confusion.

Romans 1:26-27

 For this cause God gave them up unto vile affections: for even their women did change the natural use into that which is against nature:

And likewise also the men, leaving the natural use of the woman, burned in their lust one toward another; men with men working that which is unseemly, and receiving in themselves that recompence of their error which was meet.

1 Corinthians 6:9-10

 Know ye not that the unrighteous shall not inherit the kingdom of God? Be not deceived: neither fornicators, nor idolaters, nor adulterers, nor effeminate, nor abusers of themselves with mankind,

Nor thieves, nor covetous, nor drunkards, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God.

 It is clear according to the Word of God He did not intend for men to be with men and for women to be with women.  We car try to argue the Bible is not true but it has been proven true over and over again in science, in archeology it even proves itself true.  So we must take the Word of God for what it means, as it is read.  So if God is against homosexuality then why do people have those feelings when they did not ask to have them? The answer is the fall of man.  When Adam and Eve sinned they brought the curse of sin upon the hole earth. God did not create a world with death and cancer and murder and lies and homosexuality and greed and jealousy and smoking and drugs and drinking (the list can go on) He created the perfect world where man could fellowship with Him one on one.  Because of the sin the first Adam brought into the world we lost that perfect world and death entered in.  God gave us free choice because He WANTS us to love Him, He could have MADE us love Him and not give us free choice but do you want to be with a husband or wife that is MADE to love you? Is that real love?  God gave us His word and His instructions how how to live our life for OUR own good.  Not because He is a mean God waiting to throw lightning bolts at people.  Trust me when I say life is much better when you try to aline your life with His Word.  If you do not believe me then put it to the test.  Honestly dive in read His word and seek His face.

That being said the comments made my Chic-fil-a are biblical so what we are saying if we have an issue with them is not that we have an issue with the man the said them but the God who gave us His word.  As Americans we are always sitting back and trying to kick God out then when things come crashing down we ask " God where were you".  Well lets see we kick God out of our schools cause it might offend someone, we stay home on Sundays and dont go to church cause we are too busy we allow every other religion to have free reign in a country that God gave us and then we expect Him to be there when we want.  We let Muslims murder people over and over again and then bend over backwards to make them happy.  Jesus a King of peace is offensive but Allah is welcome.  Do you treat your friends that way?  If so how many do you really have?  How many people stick around time after time if we slap them in the face over and over again?  So why do you think God is just going to sit back and wait for us to take Him off a shelf to fix a problem for us then we put Him back on the shelf.  

I understand what its like to have same sex attraction I understand what its like living the lifestyle and I understand exactly how the gays and lesbians feel.  However we can not just pick and choose the parts of the Bible we like and not take it all.  If we do we are not worshiping in spirit and in truth.  If we are not worshiping in truth we are worshiping a false god and not the true and living God.  I can throw out all the parts I dont like and just read the good happy stuff that says Heaven is made of precious jewels and life is all rainbows and lollipops if I want but if I worship a false god I am guilty of sin and will spend an eternity in hell with satan and his angles. There is more proof of Jesus than Caesar and I don't see anyone debating if Caesar really was a king.  So you may ask do I think gays and lesbians are destined for hell?  I am saying that ANYONE who leads an unrepentant lifestyle and does not give their hearts to Jesus will.  I dont care if you gay or a little old lady sitting on a porch knitting a sweater for her grand kid.  If one breaks the law we expect them to be punished the same thing applies here.

God is also against living together before your married, being married to more than one person whether it be at the same time or because of divorce.  He is against fathers walking out on children and mothers and men hitting women and people getting drunk and people smoking.  So why are you ok with all that but not the rest of His word?  Homosexuality is a sin no matter how we feel or how much we want to justify it and trust me I have tried everything I can think of to justify it.  It can't be done.  We need to stop and take a look around and see whats really going on in the world and then see how much better it could be if we followed Gods word.  If you have questions comments or anything else please feel free to leave a comment here or email me at psalme121@rocketmail.com  God Bless Dustin

Confetti Batts

Sorry its been so long since I have posted.  Things have been slowing down at work with the promise of shut down weeks coming up in Aug and Oct.  So I have been trying to process some of my own fiber instead of sending it to the mill.  Here are some of my first batts "Confetti Batts".  They are from my Finn Shetland cross ewe and I blending in recycled silk scraps.  Here are some pics hope you enjoy them!

It was hard to capture all the silk in the batts and I am not sure I got in these pics but I uploaded several so hopefully you could see them.  I think they look better in person.  I have a black BL/BFL lamb fleece I am going to card up a couple batts of in this manner to see how I like them as well.  I still need to get that one picked and washed.  God Bless and keep those bunnies cool!

New Wheel

Last weekend was the Hoosier Hills Fiber fest in Franklin IN.  We had a wonderful time and it was great being able to see old friends like Iris, Sharon and Debbie who I dont see much anymore since I haven't been showing any.  I went up in the mind of bringing 2 things home.  A Kromski Sonata and a Cormo Ewe but of course Sharon had to have a Chinchilla French Angora buck.  Which would go perfect with my Choc Chin doe so he came home with me as well. 

So I didn't really need the wheel as I already have a nice Ashford but I was setting up in a booth 2 weeks before with my friend Diana Young who is a Kromski dealer and made the mistake of asking to use her wheel.  I had never uses a true double treadle.  She had bought some roving from me so when I asked to test drive the wheel I ended up spinning almost the hole ball of my roving for her!  Can't get any better than that you buy the roving the seller spinners it for you and then buys the wheel.  She came out very well in that deal.  Here is a pic of my new wheel.  Right now I have some dyed Angora on it that I have had for a long time but has not sold at any of the fiber fests so I am spinning it up in hopes of better luck. 

Of course since I was getting the new wheel I went ahead and got the jumbo flyer and bobbin for plying even though I dont need that either.  So lesson to learn from this post if you ever find yourself in a booth with a wheel deal NEVER say " Can I try out your wheel" sudden destruction will follow! I pray God Blesses all of you and everyone's critter and fiber adventures are going as planned.

Lambs

Life has been crazy here on the farm lately but I finally took the time to get some pics of my lambs so far this year.  We are up to five and only 1 ewe in the bunch.  I have at least 3 more ewes to go possibly 4.

Shetland Ram lamb looks to be a double coated.

Moorit Ram and Black Ewe both Shetlands these 2 are twins.  Something is telling me to keep the ewe lamb but I am not sure yet. If she was moorit I would no doubt.

This is the newest Shetland Ram lamb.

Without a doubt this is my favorite lamb so far and how I wish it was a ewe!  He is Shetland Cormo Finn cross and his fleece looks wonderful so far.  Of course he is still very little but I think it will turn out to be very nice.  If I didn't have a BFL ram coming this fall I would keep him even though he is not a ewe.  I really hope I can find this guy a home in a spinners flock.  God Bless hope your all having a good week so far!

So what does she do with all of it?

That is the question I have been asking forever so this time I asked for some back.

I have been selling most of my Angora to one lady for a couple years now.  I just sold a large part of my stash to pay for some car repairs I needed, last year when I bought my first Shetland sheep I payed for them with what I made from selling my Angora as well.  I know my friend who raises Germans sells most of hers to the same lady I do.  So this time I asked her for some yarn and this is what I got.  4 skeins of Angora Merino and Alpaca blend yarn its is fingering to sports weight and single ply yarn.  I think I have just the pattern for this to!  God Bless 

We have cows!

Matilda gave birth tonight and what an eventful evening it was!  Thank you Jesus I have the best vet in the world she ROCKS!  When I got home from work she had just started labor about 5 she went out to the pasture and you could only see one foot instead of 2 so dad had me call the vet.  I was so nervous the hole time while everyone else just seems to be going along with their evening like we were not have a crisis.  OK I freak but Dad has been through this before so knew what to expect.  By the time the vet got here we had Matilda moved back to the barn and in a stall.  She quickly went to work repositioning the calf and finding the other leg which was not easy for her to do.  It looked kinda painful for cow and vet at times.   She then put chains on the calves feet and tried pulling him but he was too big and had no luck so she broke out the calf jack which was really cool.  While the vet and Dad was doing all this I was trying to hold Matilda still and now my arms are killing me!  When the calf started to come Matilda laid down and I was able to help pull the calf and rub him down really good.  Sounds like a short process in this post but really it was NOT!  Here are a couple pics of the new baby I am calling Forest.

You can see my vet in the first pics poor lady was a mess when she got done!  I will be doing out a couple times tonight to check on the calf and make sure all is well.  God Bless!

Not a happy camper......

I had sent some SUPER NICE alpaca to a mill to get spun back in January, I finally go the yarn back in the mail today.  I did not mind waiting to get the yarn but I am not happy at all with what I got back.  This is from a different mill than I typically use and now I am really wondering why I ever wanted to try a different mill.  Here is the yarn I got back.

I had asked to get my yarn back in 250 yard skeins.  As you can see I got several skeins of different sizes.  One is almost 400 yards while another is 80 none are 250 yards.  It is over spun taking away form the softness it should have.  It was super nice FINE alpaca fleece but being over spun you can not tell that now.  I was hoping to sell the yarn but looks like I am going to be hanging onto it now and knitting it up myself.  Its not harsh or rough by any means just not as soft as it should have been.  I have a couple patterns for shawls and wraps I want to do so I guess this with the yarn I use.  Lesson learned I have been using a good mill dont try out any others!  Good luck to you on all your fiber adventures!  God Bless.

How much is too much?

I was out clipping a couple rabbits tonight and when I came in to add the wool to my stash I thought I have way more than I thought!  So I got it all out and took a picture of it to share.

Well here it is.  I have not sold any of my angora for about a year and have not spun much of it either.  I have been hording all of it to blend with my sheep fleeces other than a couple spinner bunnies.  I still have more rabbits to clip but the total so far is 12 POUNDS of angora!  Colors include Black, White, Fawn/Tort, Opal, Sable, and Choc Chin, and Chestnut Agouti.  I have some how lost a Chestnut coat somewhere along the way as well maybe I put it in with the black?  I am not sure of anything at this point.  I guess I need to get on the ball washing wool to blend with all this.  God Bless!

Little house on the prairie?

We have had a very busy day today from start to finish.  We ran up to Northern Indiana today to pick up Matilda.  I feel like I live in an episode of Little House on the Prairie with all the critters I have and how I love to get back to depending on ourselves and not the local Wal-Mart for all our needs.

Matilda is Jersey cow that is due to drop a calf in about 2-3 weeks.  I wanted a milk cow before I got my goat Mona but dad was in no way having it at the time.  After the cow prices went up and he seen I was serious about milking my goat he caved in and said he would get one but he was NOT milking her.  Notice he said HE would get it and not I COULD get it LOL looks like I got my cow and he got to pay for it. It dont get any better than that!  He has 2 beef heifers he is keeping to raise calves so she will just give him another calf every year.   I wont be milking my goat anymore but I am still keeping her and Marigold her doe kid from this year.  I am very attached to Mona and she is not going anywhere. 

Once we got home and I finally got to the rabbit barn I got 2 more litters of Giant Angoras.  One litter is all black and the other has REW and black in it.  One mother I am not thrilled with but its her first time so maybe she will improve as we go. 

One our way home from picking up the cow I could not help but think of how God has changed the person I am in major ways!  I use to spend so much time and money going out to get high or drunk and the only person that mattered was me I had no animals and lived life to what I thought was the fullest. I look back at that person and can't help but wonder what I was thinking and how could I have lived life in such a way.  I know there is a reason for it and God had a plan to take me from where I was and make me who I am now.  It is true what was wrote in 2 Corinthians 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new. In fact not only is it true but it is totally amazing!  To be so blessed by God in so many ways even when we fail Him so often.  However no matter how often we fail and much we back slide He is always there and this holiday is proof of His love for us and I pray all of you reading this keeps in mind the sacrifice made by Christ and if your not on the right track with God take this Easter and get things right with Him.  If you need help or have never heard anything about salvation and want to talk my email is psalms121@rocketmail.com feel free to hit me up. I am off to help get everything ready for Easter dinner and break out the BFL batts I am going to start spinning God Bless!