July 25, 2006

Writing a journal entry after such a long time is like catching up with old friends. My resolution to write in April went by the wayside with all the spring activities. I will summarize and try to keep on top from now on. (Have you heard that before?)

The four young grandchildren enjoyed coloring our eggs, which range from terra cotta and rose to pale bluish green in their natural state. The regular dyes are beautiful over these. They seemed to enjoy hiding and finding the plastic ones more, which was a relief to someone who has found eggs which were months old and hadn't been found at Easter! We celebrated Tina's and Hannah's birthdays and the Spinners' Guild spun on the deck as I hosted "Spinning Saturday" in April. It was an opportunity for spinners to reserve a "Fleece with a Face" for our shearing.

May brought more birthdays (Janet and Little Tracy) and Mothers' Day. Family gatherings were enjoyed by all and the deck was wonderful on the few warm days. Our little Sandy (Alexander) was born on the 17th, which is our Josie's birthday, so he is a special cria to her.

I made the trip to Snake River Fiber Fair, which is a whole story in itself. Seven spinners descended on our wonderful hostess, Kate, with our mattresses, sleeping bags, and spinning wheels. We set up on Friday and had the fair until Sunday afternoon. Three of us celebrated our birthdays and we had some lovely evening spinning sessions. There were so many wonderful people there and I always look forward to renewing friendships from past years. The products were wonderful. One girl makes and sells hats from Clark's hat loom. She bought the first one 4 years ago and decided to start with socks. As a special needs person, she shares her love of fiber with those in the hospitals around the area.

May was also a busy time at school, as I am still in the process of moving my classroom and discarding 13 years worth of curriculum. My students helped so much, and it kept us from being sad about graduation. My seniors always have a hard time with that, but I know they will be visiting over the years. Maybe this yearly leave taking has been good preparation for selling my little crias as they go on to have a future with others. We said goodby to our three geldings as they traveled to Idaho to live with angora goats. Lind Pullar is a wonderfully caring person and I'm happy for them. They will have a real pasture!

After Tonya's birthday on June 1st, our second and final cria of the spring was born on June 9th, the day before shearing day. Helena, known as the Princess, is a beautiful apricot color and runs the pastures like the wind with Sandy! Shearing day, June 10, was a wonderful day, with visitors and beautiful fleeces which are now all neatly weighed, recorded, and stacked. I have to thank our friends who were so much help. We sheared 15 animals this year, including 4 llamas, and it went so smoothly. Tina and Nathan were with the girls in Colorado at a wedding, so Cindy Yazzi kindly took over the lunch serving and cleanup. Don't know what I'd do without her. It was exciting for us, too, because Robyn and Dan Kruppa, of Double E Alpacas, bought our Lennie and Snow Blossom (who shall be known to them as Madonna). Their pasture is lush and has a view of the Oquirrh Mountains which is spectacular.

The big event for us was the visit of our son Eric. With his wife, Kay, Jansen (21), Susanne (17), and Jansen's friend Christina, we had several days of fun and activity. I actually bagged off a few events. They all have so much energy! We had visits with the alpacas and rabbits. They gathered eggs and held the new cria. After Nathan grilled for us all for Fathers' Day, we spent a lazy afternoon with the girls (all of them but me) having a "Princess Party" and the guys just having to "Oooooh and Aaaaah". We went to the botanical gardens for a morning walk and played 18 holes of golf on a beautiful mountain course just off I80 going east up the canyon. It was so special to have a gathering at historical Gardner Village to celebrate Eric's birthday and get a few pictures of the entire family. Christina took the pictures for us and we managed to get her in one. There were 15 all together.

The day the family left, the spinners had their installation of officers on the deck and the potluck ruined my diet, as usual. "Show and Tell" is so inspirational for the whole group. The next evening, little Keatin had her dance recital at the U of U theatre, Sleeping Beauty, and it was beautiful.

As the summer settles in, we are busy with preparations for the Great Basin Fiber Arts Fair, which will be held September 2nd and 3rd. Clark is co-chair of the event and superintendent of the nationally sanctioned alpaca fleece show. We hope to have several breeds of sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, and rabbits. There will be fibers of all kinds, from which visitors can choose. I drew the logo and the picture of the Jacob sheep I used for a model had two horns. I have learned they can have 2-4 horns and they are certainly interesting!

As I close this journal with hopes to write sooner and shorter, I remind you to
Sit, Spin, and Watch the 'Pacas.

Janet

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Janet and Clark Otterness
Alta Mist Alpacas
13892 South 7300 West
Herriman, Utah 84096
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phone: 801-572-9831
cell: 801-557-4162
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