Cranbrook Institute Summer 1969

I am not sure why, but I can't quit thinking about the summer of 1969 when I attended "The Adventure in Creativity" at the Cranbrook Institute in Bloomfield Hills Michigan. It was the pivotal point in my life. I am wondering what has happened to Lynne Greene, Duncan Harp, Kathy Shomstein, Jackie Robinson, and so many others. It was the summer of Woodstock, the moon landing and Viet Nam. I was seventeen and full of anxiety and creativity. The instructors...Ron and Diane Chudley, the Liptons and Peter Salvia to name a few were fantastic. We experienced film, drawing, creative writing, theater, dance, photography, costuming and much more. We baled out the infirmary on the fourth of July and sand bagged the doors of the gym. If this reaches anyone else that was there, I would love to hear from you!

It is so nice to be a Grandma!!!

It is so nice to have my granddaughter, Elsa, visit. This is the first time she has stayed more than a day or two. I had forgotten how tired a nearly four year old can make you. She makes me smile. I am so proud of her father for teaching her many of the values I taught him. She has a love of life. She is inquisitive and has her father's imagination. When she smiles, I see that she has my smile...My best feature. Elsa loves the alpacas and she is so proud of being our "farmer girl." It is something to watch her help in the barn. She is now leading our alpaca Lady Morningstar. I think they think of each other as equals. She watched a dung beetle burrow under the gravel in the barn. She was fascinated when I showed her the newly emerged locust drying its wings. The neatest thing is watching what I must have been like as a child. Like her grandmother and her father, her mind is so full of ideas and she never tires of tell what she is thinking. I worked on the computer with her, where she investigated letters in different fonts and made some greeting cards. We swam, checked the gardens, sorted through some boxes that are full of items needing a place in our home. We colored, went to the library, read books, picked out fabric and played paper dolls. How I would have hated to miss knowing this fantastic child. I look forward to when her brother will be old enough to come and spend special time with grandma and grandpa. How did I ever deserve to have these children in my life?

Elsa at the Opera

A couple of pictures!
Elsa got to try on a special hat!

Sunshine

Yesterday was full of heavy rain and wind. I really enjoy a good storm, but I had to be out working in it. I was working with the vets in the barn and catching animals in the downpour. We needed the rain, so once I had my warm shower and clean clothes I could appreciate the storm. I had spent the morning weeding the gardens, so the timing was just right for my plants. I haven't been to town all week. For many this would be awful, for me it is wonderful. Although I get the news when I want it, I can choose to enjoy the PEACE Sycamore Creek Farm offers. When I read the paper at night, I feel as if I live in a different world. I have a hard time understanding hate, prejudice and bigotry. They have no place in my world. I have the time on the farm to observe nature in a way that so many never have, or do. Here the deer freely run through the woods, frogs sing, owls hoot and it all fits together like a beautiful orchestrated symphony. Even I fit in, something I don't always so so well in a crowd. There is a feeling of being part of the big picture, part of the natural order of things.

Hansel and Gretel...The Opera!

This has been such a busy week with all types of activities. Last weekend we took our granddaughter to see the opera Hansel and Gretel. It was an opera staged especially for children. Elsa was awed and frightened at the same time. She always covers her hears at loud noises and that was a bit of a problem for her. We had a beautiful picnic before the production. There was time to wander around the gardens and fountains. A big bear roamed among the children. Elsa's eyes were big and excited with the awe of it all. Once the production began she enjoyed the theater as well as the show. "Why are they doing that?" "What is that for?" "Look at the lights on the steps!" As the story progressed fear of the woods, the characters she did not understand enveloped her, but she listened as I read the words gently into her ear as the singers sang. Then the angels were on stage and the wonderful animals..."Elsa, look!!!" Too late, she was sound asleep and neither her father nor I could awaken her. When the house lights came on for intermission she awoke with no idea of what she had missed. She loved the second act with the "Candy House." It was a joy to experience Hansel and Gretel with a three year old. My daughter was the Assistant Stage Director, unfortunately she did not get to stay for the run. All of us were so proud of her. Now, Elsa is working on her own opera and she wants me to make all the costumes. I am a costume designer, so this might be fun. Her opera is abut birds. Her father tells me she has been composing the songs. Perhaps, at almost 4 she has found her calling.

How do you transport an alpaca?

When we need to transport our alpacas we put them in the back of our Windstar and off we go. I really love moving them around like this. They like to look ut the windows, watch traffic and rest their head on my head. It is easy to control the temperature. I carry water for them. If I can manage to get this picture to load it is of my son and Cocoa coming home from an outside breeding.

A Beautiful Day!

As yesterday could have been a better day, I feel great starting this off as a beautiful day. Yesterday was my 35 Anniversary and my husband tried so hard to make it a special day...But I had forgotten some medicine and my day turned around once I took that. It is terrible to need medicine, but it is wonderful that it can turn a bad day into a great day. Oh well, life over fifty can still be fun! This Morning I awoke at 4:30 AM. It is great to get up that early, but my side was hurting and I would have rather slept. I am not sure why the old body hurts so much. For me it is just a fact of life. I need to keep busy and my mind off the pains. I went to the barn early and weighed the girls. They are so good for me. Danika was a bit onery, but she was walking on lead for the first time in about a week. Lady walked great. She was named appropriately.
The barn is having issues with horse flies. I have some things to hang in the barn that I hope will help. Over the weekend Rich put up a hanging basket of red petunias under the shed overhang. It looks so nice next to the red shed. The farm is really looking nice. Rich put a white fence around our box gardens. The farm is starting to match the mental picture I had in my head. The new fence really dressed the place up. I have been sorting fiber to go to the mill. This will be the first time I have sent any fiber off to be processed...it is really very exciting! It won't be returned until December.
I better get to work, as it is I need about ten extra hours everyday!

The Spinning Guy

The Spinning Guy I really enjoy this blog. Waiting on crias can be so loooooong!

A tired start

Good Morning...

Waking up to a wet muggy morning is not my favorite. Although we needed the rain, I must say the mud outside does not look inviting. It has been a long couple of weeks with trips to Chicago, Indianapolis, St. Louis x-2 and this afternoon to Mexico, MO. My daughter was working in St. Louis, I went to the very hot Indy 500, my son and many more in my family live in the Chicago area and today I need to pick up an alpaca that was bred on a farm in Mexico.

Alpacas are my passion and my sanity. It took a long time to figure what I wanted to be when I grew up ...now at the age of over 50 I know the answer. I just want to be me, with interests in the world I live in. I want to be a caretaker. I am the caretaker for so many things...my husband, my kids, family history and stories, plants, animals, and memories. I am now the caretaker of the beautiful Sycamore Creek Farm Huacaya Alpaca Herd.

All my life I have tripped into the things that interest me. It was the same with the alpacas. As a personal property appraiser I found alpacas when I was at a small farm show learning about used tractors. Long story short...we now have 8 animals.

If you have never touched alpaca fiber, well...find some and touch it. That touch changed my life, and I am so happy it did.