Feeding the 'Pacas 2

Here I actually got a picture of me feeding Kodiak. We have come a long way, from him completely avoiding me to him actually eating out of my hand!!!

Feeding the 'Pacas

Yesterday I went out to feed the alpacas and decided to spend some quality time with them. I gave them some extra pellets and lots of loving. I have 2 that let me pet them and 3 that run away when I try. Kodiak, who rarely lets me get close to him decided he wanted the extra pellets that I had in my hand, and he came over to me and ate right out of my hand! I was amazed. I'm going to try again this afternoon and have my hubby come out with the camera to take pictures. Plus I want to put Shiloh back on his leash and get pics of that, too. It will be an alpaca afternoon. So exciting.

Oh, and my body is feeling so much better! I have lost nearly 50 pounds on a variation of the Atkin's diet. (Well, I did the induction phase for 2 months, but then decided I wanted fruits and potatoes back in my diet, so added them back in.) My period went away on its own, no pills needed and I think it's getting back on track. We will find out at the end of this month, if I start again or if I will need to go back on the pill to make me regular. I'm hoping for no pill, I get depressed and tired on it. No pill = more energy and happier me. :) That is all for now. If I get pictures taken I will post those later!

Getting Nothing Done

I have not done any crafting or spinning or any fun stuff since my last post. Although, we did fix part of the alpaca fence where Marley kept getting out at. I hope he doesn't find a new way out.

Anyways, what I have been doing is being in a bunch of pain and not wanting to move a whole lot. It's that time of the month and it's beating me up, completely and totally. I have the worse cramps, complete with full body aches. My upper shoulders are all knotted and hurting and my lower back is in agony. I have even resorted to taking advil to try and help with the pain (I hate taking any pills if I can avoid them). It's not working. The best that I can hope for is it to lessen up over the next couple of days.

Until then, ow ow ow ow...

Coastal Trip and New Roving

For my hubby's birthday today I took him to Bandon, OR. It's a cute little coastal town about 2 hours from where we live. We went to a bunch of little shops, ate way too many sweets at Cranberry Sweets (http://www.cranberrysweets.com/ they have the best fruit pate) where they have a bunch of free samples out (We bought some from them, too).

I also made a little trip to a yarn store there, since we don't have any where I live. They had a bunch of roving. Since it was my husbands birthday I didn't go too crazy with buying... I only bought 4 ounces of a merino wool that was dyed purple and silver. It is so pretty and I can't wait to spin it! I want to go back at my birthday, so I can go a little crazier and get some of the other pretty roving that they have.



We walked on the beach while we were there. When we started our walk it was a bit windy, not raining though. We got about 1/2 mile from our car and of course we got caught in a torrential downpour. My pants were soaked through and through. After we got back to the car we decided to go back to one of the shops and buy new pants for the 2 hour drive back home. The sales lady made me feel so good about myself. She asked if I wore a medium or large. About 3 months ago I would have been in a XXL. The large pants fit me, though and I was soooo excited and happy. (I've lost about 45 pounds due to being on Atkins since 1/20/2010, gone from 242 to 198).

Overall it was a great day and we had so much fun!

Walking an Alpaca

Today I took Shiloh out on a walk. I wish that my husband would have been home to take photos of it. Shiloh is fairly easy to halter, and I give him treats after it each time, so I think it's making it easier every time I do it. Well, we walked up the street to the mailboxes and a lady was out mowing her lawn. She gave me the strangest looks. On our way back a little dog ran outside and was barking at my alpaca. Shiloh got a little bit stressed out, but he wasn't too bad. We stopped along the way for him to eat wonderful tidbits of green grass and to eat some little flowers that he thought were very tasty. Then we walked back to the pen where the other 4 boys stood watching and waiting. I would try this with my other boys, but I think they might freak out a little bit. None of them like being haltered much, but they have to put up with, since it's almost shearing time.

Want to Learn how to Dye

I've been researching some information on wool dying recently and I believe it's time to take the plunge and try it. I bought a pound of wool from the Sheep Shed Studio for a fantabulous price. (With shipping it was less than $20 for a whole pound!). I am trying to figure out what brand of acid dye I want to get, I'm thinking the jacquard dye will be the best, and on amazon it's at a pretty good price.

I originally was buying the wool to make hair falls with, but I'm thinking I will have to try spinning some of it too. I've only used my spinning wheel 3 or 4 times since I bought it over a year ago, so I think it's time to practice some more and home dyed wool will be great to practice with!

I'll post the results of my science project up here after I finish. I'm really excited about it and hope that it works!

Sleepless Nights = Odd Designs

For the past week I have had an odd sleeping schedule. I haven't been able to get to sleep until 4 or 5 am, then I'm sleeping until about 1pm. Luckily my part time job is in the evening and I can do crafts at any hour. Well these past few nights I have spent time trying to design a great fire dance costume for summer performances. I keep coming up with designs for the top and then the next day realizing they won't work because of a)fringe b)material type c)looseness.

I keep designing thinking of metallic materials that reflect light well, and then remembering how flammable those are. Fringe would be horrible because I am spinning poi and what if I lose control for a second... Fringe would catch fire quick. My last design was very cute, and I still might try to make it, however it goes from a tight chest area to a very loose hip area, so again no good for fire dancing. Well... I will just have to keep thinking about an idea for a top and hopefully something cute & functional will come to me.

So, now I'm thinking that I need to restart my sleep schedule soon. Anyone have any ideas on how to do that?