Rain Dance

Very very dry.  My hillside is barren half way up, except for the thistles, which will be mowed down this weekend thanks to the generosity of Julia Burger, who loaned us a brush hog.  It was left at her farm long ago and she offered it to us.  The goats will miss the thistles, but they didn't do a good enough job of eating them while they had the chance.  The back field is lush and green with lots of little trees and bushes that the goats love.  We've had a couple of sprinkles from passing storm clouds, but they kept on going without really helping.  I'm confident we'll get a few days of rain in August when the hurricanes come up the coast, but getting cut hay dry closer to the fall is tough.  I got a package of Maggie's Farm goodies off to a customer in Queensland, Australia, today.   It was high, but not as high as I expected using a flat rate box.  Hope it gets there safely and quickly.  Hannah and I made polymer clay buttons for totes today.  I got three cut out and would like to get one done tonight.  I'm on "vacation" if you could call it that, but I do something every day besides take care of animals, do laundry, tidy up and prepare meals.  I have a skein of very lovely celery colored mohair yarn hanging to dry in the bathroom.  I like to have something new in the hand spun basket every Saturday.  The weather looks good.  I'd rather have it rain, but don't think so.  I got a box in the mail with some very pretty fabric from Carol Crayonbox.  It begs for snap frame totes - the big, poofy kind with the expandable bars that hold it open or shut.  Will have to order them.  I'm not crazy about the frames as I have had customers tell me they wear out after a lot of wear.  I've never had a structural failure of a bag, and I don't consider the snap frames part of my sewing, but customers bring them to me anyway.  I thought briefly about using zippers, but I hate sewing them in and I believe they can be problematic also.  It's time to call Big Jim Baldwin to come and shear.  I have two Rambos who are wool blind, a ewe lamb who needs to lose her fleece, a couple of goats to shear, and a very dirty Dolly who is begging for fly strike.