Tag Archives: Jerry

Hudson Valley Weekend, Part 1: Rhinebeck

Sorry it’s taken so long to post this. Although I brought my computer with me, it died the first day. And by “it died”, I mean I now need a new computer.

Sad face!

Only Neve ended up making the trek north with me; Emily was anxious about leaving the animals, and Oona was torn over not being with the new kittens for that many days.

It’s been many years since I was in the Hudson Valley for fall; I think perhaps last time was for Rhinebeck as well. I love the feeling of going home and seeing all the familiar things.  This time I had one of my children with me, and she has a new understanding of how and why I get homesick so often.

As for Neve, she was gobsmacked by the festival. She’s been to the Montpelier Fiber Festival, but really, it can’t hold a candle to the size of Rhinebeck.  The crush of people, the sheer amount of all things fiber, the food, the trees. What an incredible reminder of why I love this world.

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I was thrilled to be able to meet up with some of the Juniper Moon Farm aunties and friends, and also lucky enough to run into a few other people, like Virginia from Gather Here (who recognized me first, and I’m glad she did, because I was so off in my own world I would’ve walked right by and missed her), and the always delightful Pam Wynne, who was sporting a windfall new capelet she will soon be releasing a pattern for on Ravelry.

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We couldn’t get over the felted pumpkins, so we bought two. I really need to learn needle felting!

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All of the alpacas and llamas made us miss Jerry. He was such a butthead, but such a character.  In the future I wouldn’t mind a smaller alpaca; Paul might kill me.

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I think Neve will do great if we can get her into shearing school in the spring!

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This lady looks just like our Border Leicesters.

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I cannot get over how big some of the sheep were. It’s not an exaggeration to say some were the size of small ponies.

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I bought Neve her very own crook.

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Maple cotton candy is an absolute must.

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We loved these felted lamb ears!

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Neve spotted her yarn!

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Neve has decided she needs a Shetland sheep of her very own, and I have decided we really need to do this every year.


Tagged: Farm, Jerry, kids, Trips

Tribute to Jerry

For those of you who do not follow me on Facebook, the sad news this week is that our beloved llama,  Jerry, passed away from Meningeal worm.

He had been sick for about a week, but we were hoping that with the aggressive treatment he was getting there was a possibility he would pull through.  Meningeal worm is a very serious parasite, though, and very few camelids recover from a serious infection.  It’s a very tough parasite to prevent and even harder to cure, and though he’d been on a steady dose of Dectomax and Ivomec for the last several years we just happen to live in the perfect climate for raising worms of all kinds.  But, one thing we’ve learned in farming is that death is always lurking around the edges, and you can’t avoid it.

This has been a rather traumatic loss for us; Jerry has been our mascot of sorts since we embarked on this journey.

When Modern Farmer sponsored Lambcam last year he was hands down the star of the show.  Everybody loved Jerry, and his loss will be deeply felt.

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So long, you crazy llama.  It’s not going to be the same around here without you.


Tagged: Jerry, Meningeal worm