More Coming!
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: The Fixx "Saved By Zero"
Topic: A bit of everything
I have some pictures to post! I'll post more tomorrow when I upgrade my Tripod service.

My favorite sheep at the Historic Cold Spring Village

See all those buildings in the distance, that appear like they are out at sea? That is Atlantic City, located 20 miles north and east of Sea Isle. We can easily see them on clear days.

And here is a picture I took yesterday at the flag rededication at the Amherst Big Y grocery store. This flag is 19' x 24'. It's one big, beautiful sight to see!

Keeping Your Kids Safe
Mood:  sad

We never went down to KIX on Friday evening. Unfortunately, a small boy fell off of the dock down in Avalon and drowned. We saw the air search taking place from the beach, but didn't know what was going on until around 8 that night, when my SIL found out from her friend who was renting down closer to the inlet.

We all felt so bad about it happening, that it didn't feel right to go out and have fun. Instead we all just wanted to be with our kids that night, and thank God that they were safe.

I sent healing thoughts and prayers to his family, and still do. I hope that they can eventually find peace and continue through life, with happy memories of their little boy filling their hearts.

Greetings from the Jersey Shore!
Mood:  mischievious

Been wondering where I've been? Right here!. This is one of my favorite places in the world to be.

Unfortunately, I don't have pictures to share (yet!), but will soon. I've taken dozens of pictures which will appear in a photo album for all to see.

To give you a brief recap of our adventures here:

We've had a lot to drink. Lazy Girl Margaritas from the lovely Claudia made their appearance on Monday evening while my brother Luke (an exceptional cook) made marinated tri-tip for dinner. The margaritas were so successful that my SIL Debbie, my brother Luke (not Greg, the brother married to Debbie), Dale and I went down to KIX, a bar 5 blocks from our house, conveniently within walking distance (and by the time we went down, none of us were in any condition to drive). Karaoke was on the sign, but hey, we were up for anything. I have to say that some of the singers were really good; especially one guy there (with beautiful grey hair) who was celebrating his 30th wedding anniversary with his wife. He could sing! Unfortunately, alcohol makes people actually *think* they can sing and dance, so we did have to listen to some really awful renditions of popular dance tunes, but hey, we had fun anyway.

Tuesday night I cooked spaghetti with bolognaise sauce. I have to say that it was the best sauce I've ever made, a combination of a recipe from a North End (Boston) Italian cookbook, and a few things that I decided to add (like prosciutto ham). Yummm! Dinner was topped off by a trip to Springers down in Stone Harbor. They make their own ice cream, and I do say that it is some of the best (if not the best) ice cream I've ever had. This is just a partial list of what they have every night: flavors. The coconut ice cream is to die for!

Wednesday was spent at the Historic Cold Spring Village. I have lots of nice sheep photos to share soon from here.

Yesterday, we went up to Ocean City, to the amusement park. It is a lot of fun to take two little boys to something like this, especially when they get a chance to ride "the big rides". Their favorite and mine was the log flume.

Last night found us having marinated pork tenderloin for dinner (again, prepared by Luke) and then back to KIX to listen to the Chatterband.

Tonight, we'll be heading back to KIX (thank goodness my oldest brother Greg has been so kind in staying back at the house we've rented, to babysit all the kids). The Flamin' Caucasians are playing up at KIX, and they are my all time favorite (local) band to hear live.

We'll head home tomorrow. I hear the rabbits are all doing fine, as are the cats. I miss them all, but have really enjoyed my time here at the shore.

Twist's Haircut
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Blue Swede "Hooked On A Feeling"
Topic: Rabbits
I started shearing Twist on Sunday. This is as far as we got before he decided he was done. :) And sometimes there is no sense in fighting a rabbit who does NOT want to be on your lap. Besides, it was hot, so I wanted to give him a break. We'll finish the haircut up today, since it is much cooler.

Check out that crimp in his wool!

The clippers I use can get a lot closer than that, leaving a velvet-like coat, but this is what I prefer for right now, knowing that we'll start getting a few nights where it's in the 50's.

How is this for fur??
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Spinners "One of a Kind (Love Affair)"
Topic: Rabbits

I've had some people ask to see a picture of a German Angora in full coat. Since it has been so hot here, I'll post a picture of Samson's Twist, who has a 2 month coat on here. The rest of the rabbits here have much shorter coats.

Twist fathered a whole bunch of babies earlier this summer, which will be available for sale in October. With his body type and density, I have very high hopes for those babies!

He wasn't exactly thrilled with being on a slippery chair, so this was the best pose I could get out of him. But he's beautiful!

On another subject, I just love this song that is playing now. I relate it to music that I used to listen to as a kid while on vacation at my grandmothers, in Deptford (south Jersey), which is just outside of Philly.
It makes me happy just to hear it! :D And reminds me of many happy vacations as a child. Doesn't music have a powerful hold on so many of us?

When your it, your IT
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Elton John "The One"
Topic: A bit of everything

Judith
tagged me. So here goes!:

10 years ago: I was still single, but wanting to get married to Dale. The engagement ring came in December of 1995, during a snowstorm on the beach down in RI.

5 years ago: I was married and had a two year old son by then. I was seriously getting into the fiber vending part of Bay Colony Farm, and planning where the business would go.

1 year ago: My two sons were 6 and 3. My husband had just received a promotion at work, and I was very sick with gallbladder problems, only the doctors said that was it acid reflux. Thankfully, they figured it out in November of '04, and I'm fine now. But I remember last summer as "The Summer I Was Sick".

Yesterday: I finished a paying job, which was two days late. But the customer was happy with the results and liked the professional looking format. :) I visited my dad at the hospital. He has pneumonia, and they are discussing a stomach feeding tube. I hope it doesn't have to go that way.

Today: I finished up a project (non-paying), but I'm greatly relieve that it is done. It has been hanging over my head way too long. The rabbits were fed and watered early today, by 11 a.m. I'm feeling positive about things, which is a good sign, having felt like a hermit for so long.

Tomorrow: I'm hoping to meet a friend and deliver a bunny to her from Mia's litter. Getting out and about will be nice, and this friend is always a pleasure to see.

5 snacks I enjoy: Ice cream, chocolate, watermelon and cantaloupe, fresh peas.

5 bands/singers that I know the lyrics of MOST of their songs: Jon Secada, Def Leppard, Elton John, The Flamin' Caucasians, Bryan Adams.

Things I would do with $100,000,000: Pay off all my debt and our mortgage. Buy a vacation house somewhere at the beach; one of those duplex units, or with a carriage house so that we could have the main unit, and friends/family could stay on the property but not with us. ;-)

5 locations I'd like to run away to: Nantucket, Cape Cod, Sea Isle City at the Jersey shore, Barbados, St. Thomas.

5 bad habits I have: No domestic skills what so ever (I can find anything else that is more interesting to be doing rather than housecleaning!), stress eating, not being charitable enough, and swearing (that housecleaning thing takes up 2 bad habits! LOL!)

5 things I like doing: Reading, Eating out at Restaurants, Spinning and Knitting, Going out with my friend Kristen to Rafters.

5 things I would never wear: Birkenstocks, A pocket protector, glasses with big dark frames, over sized jewelery, olive green anything.

5 TV shows I like: Law & Order; SVU, CSI, Spongebob Squarepants, Wings, Cops, the Sopranos, Six Feet Under

5 movies I like: Rebecca, What About Bob?, Field of Dreams, Pure Country, Baby Boom, The Long Kiss Goodnight.

5 famous people I'd like to meet: Jesus (not that I'm overly religious, since I consider myself more spiritual, but I would like to meet him to talk to him and see and feel the calmness I think he would have), John McCain, Elton John, Bryan Adams and Joe Elliot.

5 biggest joys at the moment: My Family, my friends, my work on the parade committee, my business and my animals.

5 favorite toys: My Joy spinning wheel, my cell phone, my computer, my car and my drum carder.

Is it hot or what???
Mood:  lazy
Now Playing: Def Leppard "Foolin'"

I'm only feeling lazy because it's too darn hot to be anything else. If Tripod had a "melting" mood emoticon, I would choose that to adequately describe how I'm feeling. But, I also just came in from feeding and watering the rabbits (you must make sure that rabbits have adequate water when it is this hot, since they don't eat as much!), which is why I'm feeling so darned hot.

The Hitchhiker Wheel has found a good home with Katherine down in MD. She is a fellow Thriller, and I know she'll like the wheel. :)

How much can you fit into three days or What I did on My Summer Vacation
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: Bryan Adams "Run To You"
Topic: A bit of everything
First of all; kudos to Claudia for her Lazy Girl Margaritas. Since I'm out of tequila (and have been for months), I've learned how to substitute Grey Goose Vodka instead, and that was last night's refreshment after 2 hours of lawn mowing. Usually, if there is any left over, it is poured into a container, and put into the freezer for Lazy Girl Sorbet later on. That didn't happen tonight, as DH and I polished off a blender full of the LG Slushies. Yeah, we were feeling relaxed. ;-)

My brother and his family were up from NJ last week, and when you have small kids, you tend to try to do things that they like. But we squeezed some fun adult stuff into the week too.

We started off with a trip up to VT to the King Arthur Flour Store in Norwich, VT. While the mixes and baking equipment are expensive, you'll find stuff there that you can't find elsewhere. I picked up a mini-scone pan, several rye flours, and an Italian cookbook which showcases the Italian section of Boston (delicious recipes!). The cookbook offers such great recipes that my brother Greg and I each plan to make at least one of our meals for our family beach vacation from it!). After the KAF store, we headed south to Quechee Gorge for a picnic lunch and a short hike. After leaving there, we spotted a tourist area which offered train rides to kids, but wine tasting for adults. I picked out two lovely wines from Putney Wines, a sparkling apple wine, and a cherry/apple wine. Yummm! After leaving this store, we headed over to another store which advertised wine tastings. This one is the Quechee Winery, which is the sister winery for North River Winery, a wonderful place I discovered back in 1989, when my former boyfriend was living within 20 minutes of it. One of the wines at the Quechee winery, is named Barred Owl Blush, and they donate part of the proceeds to VINS, a raptor center in Quechee. Of course, being the conservationist that I like to think I am, I purchased a bottle of this wine, along with a Vermont Apple, Autumn Harvest and Midnight Gold (excellent dessert wine!). ;-)

Tuesday was spent taking care of my niece and nephew, while they played with my boys in our pool. The kids had a blast, and my brother and his wife had a nice day out alone.

Wednesday we drove back up to VT to take the Green Mountain Flyer from Bellows Falls up to Chester and back. The boys loved it! But I have to admit, so did I. The scenery is beautiful (we saw a blue heron fly over an inlet in the CT River!), and the train goes over a couple of high gorges and past a covered bridge. I did get pictures, but they are on a disposable digital camera, which I haven't had developed yet, but I will post pictures later.

Thursday was spent working, while the rest of the family went to the Lupa Zoo. The rest of my time has been spent working. Either my main job, or finishing up some of the work I do as a volunteer.

Right now, we are in the middle of another heat wave, with high humidity, but the rabbits are taking it well. And Mia's litter will be evaluated this weekend, and I'll know just how many rabbits are good breeding quality, and which ones will be pet quality. I don't sell rabbits before they are 4 months old, as it is impossible to tell before that what they are best suited for, and don't let anyone tell you otherwise. Ideally, waiting until they are 9 months would be better, because by that time, you know what their adult coat looks like, since you have already shorn their baby coat and junior coat. But at 4 months, you do have a good idea about their body condition, and that is really important.

I do have a nice doe for sale who is almost 1 year old. She has a nice silky coat, and good body on her. She would make a perfect breeding doe (and is she ready!). If you are interested in her, please let me know.

As I've said before
Mood:  bright
Now Playing: Jimmy Buffett "Boat Drinks"
Topic: Fiber
Sometimes life gets in the way. Who would have guessed that I'd spend the last two days doing rush jobs for my own company, and then for the company where my husband works? Let me say that working in a building with NO a/c, when the temp is 89 degrees leaves one exhausted by the time you get home late at night. :) But, the money is good which is what counts.

This is what I've spent my morning making for the gathering:

introducing "Cherries and Chocolate"

Two ounce batts of a 50/50 angora/alpaca blend. And it's ooooooh so soft!

Wool porn and bunny crack
Mood:  party time!
Now Playing: James Taylor "Up On The Roof"
Topic: Fiber

Two adults (Cassie and Winter) and two of Mia's babies were sheared yesterday. They all looked much happier without their longer coats on. Although the babies fiber wasn't over 3", it is still beautiful. I have 3 ounces of this fiber for sale right now (more available when I shear the other two down today) suitable for felting, at $3 per ounce. Can you see that crimp?

How about some Corriedale wool porn as Cate calls it?

Then I have some alpaca/angora I'll be blending. I'm making 1 ounce batts of this today. A cinnamon colored alpaca with cherry red angora.

These batts and fiber (and more!) will be at the gathering on Saturday, but if you want some now, e-mail me at Baycolonyfarm@aol.com and let me know. I can take MC/VISA, along with Paypal.

And, here is one of the bunnies for sale; two bucks from Mia's litter that will be ready to leave here mid August.

Isn't he cute? He's been living with his siblings, which is why his coat looks so scruffy.

He's naked now. :)

His brother (the one assuming the low position) discovered yesterday that shearing isn't such a bad thing. Both boys came over this morning pushing their heads under my hands wanting head pats and cheek rubs. I wish I had had my camera handy while shearing yesterday, when one of the boys decided to stretch out on my lap and just chill. It was too funny! Once they learn that shearing is something not to be feared, they become the most docile animals for shearing. This is really fantastic, especially for the new owners, as shearing a rabbit can be a stressful experience for both owner and rabbit. If the rabbit is relaxed, then the owner will be too. :)

I also have two nice pet quality bucks for sale, which will also be going to the Boston area gathering with me. I like to think of myself as an enabler. ;-)