pnfcashmeres.com Blog

Well, Christmas has come and gone once more. I had a nice Holiday. The weather was tolerable, it was quiet, peaceful, and enjoyable. We had a wonderful dinner at some friends’ of ours place. Good food, good company, a good time all the way around.
The animals are all well. Squeaky isn’t pregnant after all. She was, but someone, probably April, butted her hard and ended the pregnancy. It’s too late in the year to breed her now, so I’ll wait till next fall to breed her again. I might sell her in the Spring. We’ll see what all happens between now and then. So there are 11 does pregnant. Probably around 15 kids will be born in April.
We now have 12 turkeys left. That will be what we have till March. I think next year we will have 6 hens and the two toms for a breeding flock. They sure are tasty! Not a large bird, the heaviest one was 13 lbs, and the one we ate yesterday was only 6 lbs. But, they make up for lack of size with more flavor.
The chickens are laying one egg a day now. I got one every day this week. Maybe next week there will be two or three eggs a day. This year I’m letting at least one hen sit on the eggs and hatch them out. We need some young layers again. These girls are two and three years old. A little past their laying prime, but they will still lay fairly good. I’m not pressuring them, so they will last longer.
Our road is pretty icy now. We had a nice snow, then it warmed up and rained for two days, then got really cold again. So except for the very edge where there is a gravel strip, it’s ice. We are putting the chains on every time we go up and down the road. Rather an inconvenience, but such is life. It could be worse, so I’m not complaining.
Today there was a really pretty scene. We were under a cloud inversion, but up on the top of Wild Bill Mtn, there was a hole and the sun was shining down on the side of the mountain. Everything was covered in snow, so it was a beautiful bright white with a patch of blue sky. Hopefully tomorrow the clouds will lower down a few hundred feet, so we can be in the sun. That would be great!
Well, that’s all for now. Hope everyone is having a great Holiday!

We have snow now. About 8 inches. I plowed the road yesterday with the drag plow, and then used the ATV with it’s plow to widen it. I’ll finish it tomorrow. It’s still cold out. In the teens for the most part. It gets pretty cold out on the ATV even with layers and layers of clothes on. My fingers get pretty darn cold. Our road looks a lot bigger on the ATV than when I’m in the truck!
The goats are all doing fine. The ones that are pregnant are starting to show a bit. They are almost all overweight. Just a couple of the does are of a slimmer build. The rest are pretty easy keepers.
We are down to 13 turkeys now. There is one more for us to eat, then the rest will be added to the breeding flock. Next year I hope we have more to sell. They are becoming quite popular. Very tasty, too!
The chickens are still not laying eggs. At least I don’t think they are. I’m finding one egg most days. I’m starting to think someone is eating the eggs. I caught a turkey eating one the other day, so now they are banned from the chicken coop. I hope the chickens didn’t decide to start eating them after seeing a turkey do it.
Tonight when I went out to the dairy side of things to milk, etc., there was a rather big buck deer eating on the hay I throw over the fence that the goats won’t eat. I wish I would have had my camera with me. It would have made a great picture with the snowy trees in the background and this huge buck standing there looking at me. I really should start carrying the camera with me all the time.
We went to town today. The roads were a bit slippery, but we didn’t have any problems. All the side streets weren’t plowed yet, so they were messy. Glad we had 4-wheel drive. That kept us from spinning out at the stop signs and lights.
I got the dog hair all spun up. It turned out rather nice, if I do say so myself. Now it’s back to spinning the rest of the cashmere that is left.
Well, that’s it for now….

We are in an artic blast now. 11 below last night and it’s going to be a bit colder tonight, it looks like. It got up to a whopping 5 degrees today. Good thing the sun was shining to make it feel warmer. All the animals had their sides turned towards the sun today, soaking up the little bit of warmth it was giving. They are getting lots of feed, so they are staying fairly warm. They aren’t losing weight, that’s for sure!
I’m in the process of getting rid of just about everything I’m not using, and haven’t used for a while. We have too much stuff for this tiny house we live in. Time to do a major overhaul of our things. Flathead Freecycle is getting a lot of stuff from us!
We have three inches of snow on the ground. We didn’t get the big winds that the valley did, which is good, since it was so cold anyway. Even the little breeze we did have really made it colder. My face almost got frost bit. By the time I get all the layers on, I feel a bit like the Michelin Man. :-) Can’t hardly move. But I stay warm, so that is what counts.
I’m spinning up a pound of dog hair for a customer. I’m almost done. It’s nice and easy to spin. Fairly clean, with some VM in it, but not bad. Doesn’t smell too strong, either. It should make a really nice vest!
I’m also making a set of “his and hers” hats out of mini llama yarn. Those will be nice and soft. Not as warm and light as cashmere, but close. After that, I’m back to spinning up some cashmere. I”ve almost sold out of the prime cloud for spinning. I think I’ll keep the rest for myself to make things for the farmers’ market for next summer.
Well, that’s it for now…

Well, another turkey day come and gone. All the reports coming back from the customers who bought turkeys are saying it was the very best turkey they have ever ate, ever! Thank-you!
These turkeys were hatched here, and raised here, roaming all over the place, so I guess that is what makes them so good. They were only 10 lbs each, so they weren’t huge by any means. I think they hatched out in June, or right around the 4th of July. I will write it down next year for sure. We still have a few for ourselves. I think we will keep a couple of the hens to add to the breeding stock. There are some crosses, too. I’m calling them “Bourbon Bronze”. They look a lot like a wild turkey in coloring. They are a cross between the Bourbon Red and the Standard Bronze.
We had a good Thanksgiving. Went over to the neighbors’ for dinner. We will cook one of our turkeys on Sunday, since the dinner last night was vegetarian.
We are having a really mild start to winter! I am enjoying this a lot, and so are all the critters. I had clothes hanging out on the line on Wednesday. It was in the 50’s! That is really unusual for this time of year.
I got the dairy barn all re-done on the inside. Now there are permanent stalls built and feeders in each one. I’m working on the cashmere side now. I got the wether feeder done, but Henry is hogging the one whole side, so I’ll have to make a divider on it so he can’t do that. Poor Abraham isn’t getting to eat.
Well, that’s about it for today. Not much is happening that is noteworthy. I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving this year!

I can’t believe it’s November already. This year has gone by way too fast. I didn’t get as much done as I was hoping to. Oh well…
We processed two turkeys on Tuesday. Sold one, and we are eating the other one. It’s pretty tasty! A nice change from goat meat.
I am now down to 44 goats, plus Lee’s two that I am boarding for the winter. There are ony 9 wethers now. That’s the fewest I’ve had in a very long time!
I finally got the old dairy shed torn down today. It looks much better out there now. This place is starting to look good, and just the way we want it to. Still a lot of work left to do, there is always something that needs fixing, or rebuilding, or building. A never ending process. It’s fun.
It’s breeding season now. There are five does that have been bred as of yesterday. I think there will be 5 more, then that will be it for this year.
Today was a nice day! John got the garden all ready for winter now. I made cheese, soap, spun, got my stuff all ready for Hooper’s craft show this week-end and tore down the shed. A good day’s work.
I’m teaching a workshop on how to make goat’s milk soap on Sunday. That should be fun. A busy week-end!
Well, that’s it for now….

Well, after having 3 nights of single digit temps, we are now back where we should be for this time of year. All the trees were still green, so now they all have frozen brown leaves. No fall color this year, except in the Tamaracks. The cold didn’t seem to affect them too much.
All the critters survived just fine. Even the baby turkeys. They just stayed under the mama turkey and stuck thier little heads out once in a while.
The garden is now all cleaned up and ready for winter. John is working on his greenhouse. The door and one window are in now.
Today I went and picked up my “boomerang” goats from up by Whitefish. I sold them, and now they are back here, this time for good. They were at a pretty fancy house, but now they are back here. But, they have more company around here, so they will be fine.
Tomorrow we start doing in the turkeys. At least one will go in the freezer, maybe more, depending on the weather. They are really starting to get annoying. Plus, they are eating the chicken eggs! Time for them to go bye-bye.
After the 3rd, I will only have 23 cashmere does and 9 wethers! I think I might have sold too many goats this year. Actually, since half the does are getting bred this fall, there will be plenty of goats again next year. I’ll just have a smaller fleece harvest this spring than I have had for a few years.
We started tearing down the old dairy shed, so now Dottie and Belle will have to sleep in the new barn. Speckles has been in there all by herself this summer, but now they will all be back together. I think Dottie is bred now, so that should make her a little easier to deal with this winter. She was just way too cantankerous this last year. Now it is Belle’s turn to be the one that gets “run through” this year. She should give a bit more milk than Dottie has, so that will be good, since I haven’t froze any milk for us yet this year!
Next week-end I get to take a break from this place for a couple of days! I’m heading for Spokane for the week-end. John is going to take care of things while I’m gone. I am really looking forward to the break. I haven’t been away for more than a few hours in over three years! That is too long without a break. The change in scenery will be good.
The final Farmers’ Market of the year is this Saturday. It’s indoors at the fairgrounds in Kalispell from 9am to 3pm. One more day of getting up at 5am in the total darkness and trying to feed everyone with just a little spotlight. Kind of hard to do. Hopefully a lot of people will be there and buying things.
Well, that’s all for now.

We woke up to 6 inches of snow today! It was down to 13 degrees last night, and tonight it is already down to 11 degrees, and it’s only 9:23pm. So I think it will be in the single digits by morning. I put out straw and extra hay for everyone. I hope the 3 baby turkeys survive. They are staying under the mama turkey most of the time. She has a little space for them to move around in, in a hollowed out spot in the middle garden. That is actually making a fine turkey nursery, not much can get in there, so they are pretty safe.
I still haven’t made up my mind entirely on which goats to sell, so I haven’t got the pictures up yet. I’ll be making a “goats for sale” page on the website this coming week.
A friend of mine who moved up to Alaska last year, but left her goats down here till she found a place to live, came back this week to get them, but ended up having to have her gall bladder removed and was in the hospital for the week. She missed the ship that was going to take them up to Alaska, and now she has run out of time. So she is going to either sell them or find someone to board them for the winter.
So if you know of anyone between Montana and the West Coast of Washington who has room for about 25 goats, counting kids, and wants to take care of them for the winter, please let me know soon. I’m taking her buck and a wether, so the rest are does and kids. It’s a nice herd, good conformation and good fiber.
This snow and cold has put a stop to the outside projects for a while. It is supposed to warm up and melt by next Tuesday, so I hope that happens. I’m not ready for winter quite yet!!!
I was going to do the Farmers’ Market tomorrow, but it will be way too cold! I don’t think there will be anyone there, either vendor or public. So I will wait till the indoor one on the 24th at the Fairgrounds in the Expo building. That will be the last one for this year. I’ll have a pretty good selection of yarns there, plus some some crocheted things and the goat milk soap, as always.
Well, that’s it for now. Going to try and stay warm and hope the critters do too….

Last week I went over to Helena to do a presentation for the GTA grant I was applying for. Needless to say, it was a complete waste of my time. They had already made up their minds that they weren’t going to fund it, so all my effort was for nothing.
Oh well, it was a nice drive anyway. I’ll get the funding from somewhere for the dehairing machine. If anyone has a little extra money they would like to invest in a small business with a huge potential, let me know. This is going to be quite profitable in a couple of years.
I am going to be dehairing cashmere, and only cashmere. I will be doing individual fleeces, not big batches. So anyone with only a couple of goats, or not a big amount of money, can send a fleece or two at a time and get them dehaired. It will be a pretty quick turn-around time, too. The cashmere will come back to the customer as a wonderful cloud ready to spin. Clouds are pretty easy to spin from. Hopefully in the Spring this will all come together.
Now I need to sell about 25 goats. I just have too many to give each one the individual attention to like I used to.
I’m selling does, does with kids, kids without does, and a wether or two. Also a red buck that has spectacular fleece and he passes that on to his kids. I’d keep him, but he’s becoming too related to everyone in the herd. Time for him to move on to a new home and new girls. He’s a pretty mellow guy, and easy to handle. I’ll be putting pictures on the website here pretty soon. I need to figure out exactly who all I am going to sell first.
This is the last year we have free-range turkeys! They are taking over the place and ruining all my flowers and pooping everywhere. We will be building them a huge pen to be in where they can get plenty of exercise, etc. But they will not be in the yard anymore! The chickens will be back in their huge pen, too. No more birds running around in the yard, they are making too big of a mess. I want a nice looking place, where you don’t have to always be watching where you step, and the flowers aren’t trampled, etc.
Well, that’s it for now. More as it happens………..

A lot has happened since the last post. John got back from his Alaska trip. He rode his bicycle from here to Haines, then rode the ferry back to Bellingham, WA, then rode home from there. He had a great time.
I held down the fort here while he was gone, as usual. Most everything went well after the first week. We got just enough rain to save the gardens. I froze quite a bit of peas.
I’m down to 51 goats, or I will be when the last two are in the freezer on the 1st. Now I will be hauling hay again starting this week, I think.
The Farmers’ Market is going okay. Last week I did quite well, this week, not so well. But, it will all work out in the end, it always does.
I’ve been doing some spinning. Working on some Alpaca I got a couple of years ago. I cleaned out and reorganized the fiber shed today. Found some more good cashmere to spin and/or sell! So I will hand pick through that and get the rest of the guard hairs out and spin some and sell some for others to spin, or felt with.
This week will be soap making week. Although I’m getting low on Olive oil. I only use the high quality organic stuff, and that isn’t available here in stores, at least not in bulk so it is affordable.
I’ve been taking the goats out into the neighbors’ places to eat. (with their permission) They like getting out there and eating all the good brush and stuff. They come in pretty full.
It’s that time of year when the rats start coming around. I set the trap tonight in the hay shed. I can smell one in there, and I see it’s poops. Stinky things. They are so disgusting! The cats have already killed a couple of them. This one will be the third one to come around. We usually get 9 or 10 a year.
We now have a mini horse. He’s a nice looking little gelding named Rascal. His feet were so over-grown when I got him, it was awful! I spent two hours trimming them so far, and they still aren’t all the way down to where they should be. At least now they are straight. I’ll be finishing it soon. I gave him some time to get used to having straight legs again, and now I’ll trim them the rest of the way so he can move normally and be able to run and buck, etc. He’s a very vocal horse. He has a nice musical whinny that he uses whenever he sees us. He reminds me a lot of Prince, my Arab I had for 20 years. I hadn’t realized how much I missed hearing him, until I got Rascal and heard him. Prince used to yell at me whenever he saw me, too.
Well, that’s about all that is happening around here now. More when it happens….

We are back to the hot weather now. The wind is blowing a bit, too, which is drying everything out quite rapidly.
Yesterday I went up to the Eureka Fiber Festival. It was Sunday so hardly anyone was there, but on Saturday I guess it was quite busy. It was nice to see fibery people again and catch up with them. Most of them I only see at the festivals, so it’s nice to be able to visit. it was warm up there, too. It’s always warm there, though.
All the goats were in their proper places when I got home, which is a good thing. Sometimes when I’m gone for hours, I come home to minor disasters. The goats get out and eat things they aren’t supposed to, etc. But, yesterday all was well. I had fed them a bit extra in the morning so they would be able to munch all day. As long as they have food and water, they stay in.
I now have 57 goats. by winter I will be down to 55. Then next year there will be babies born, and the number will go back up again. Then I’ll sell a few to get them back down by winter.
The garden is really full of weeds, but the veggies are growing in spite of it. I am harvesting a ton of peas. It’s hard to keep it watered enough with the warmer weather here again. With only one sprinkler at a time, there isn’t quite enough watering time to get everything. But, I’m trying. The peas sure are good. We had a good strawberry patch this year. I harvested some more last night. It’s starting to wind down now. The yellowjackets are really thick in the garden! I didn’t get stung at all, thank heavens. They are leaving the berries alone this year, which is good. I’m finally getting raspberries. We haven’t had any of those for around 3 years because of yellowjackets. They are pretty good!
The green beans have some blooms on them now. We might get a few beans after all. The corn is only a little over a foot tall, so I don’t think we are going to get any. It’s a lost cause trying to grow corn up here.
Well, that’s it for now.