Random thoughts from the moose cave.

my tilapia rocks.

I forgot I was outta onions, so I went out and picked some baby yellows outta the old garden.

chopped them small and put some italian dressing with them. laid my fish over the top and added lemon slices and salt and pepper.

verra tasty indeed. and cheap...

Yes, I rake my sand a minimum of once per year. No mower butt here.

I only like sand at the beach. and then only marginally...

catses are locked in the kitchen. one open to the world window and a door that can't be opened from the inside.

at least it's a beautiful sunny day.

cuz I think Ima do some other stuff before I fix the house. I gotta go to wally's and get food for smoky's feral cats. they eat like horses...

and I'm not certain that I don't want to go buy an air conditioner to fit back in the hole (the one was there isn't mine, and it was crappy enough I want to give it back and get a good one for this summer) rather than boarding it up...

dunno. gotta look at my finances and decide what has to be done...

all my customers are in a happy place right now. that makes my life much simpler.

now I gotta get some work done...

OK, Ima button up the shop and roll to the edge of town real quick. gonna have a plexiwindow made, and gotta get some feral catfood.

miss priss is following me around and talking to me...

and I need some hardware to remake my door latch. the antique trailer handle has worked for the last time. a spring inside it let go and the pieces are inside the hollow aluminum door. I don't think I could get parts even if I wanted to open the door up and get the broken stuff.

we'll rig it to work, and catproof the screen while I'm playing.

gonna let the sun start trying to ewake me up in my bedroom window for now. we'll look at air conditioners when I have more cash. it's not hot yet...


yet...

snowplow guy dropped by to give me some money he owed me, and stopped to tour the garden.

the property has come a long way since I decided to camp here...

dang.

plexiglass is more expensive than the real thing...

but I got a window.

gonna go fix my house before Stinky breaks down the door between the rooms. he doesn't like to be held anywhere against his will...

checked on a chicken at wally's. nope.

gonna grill fish again it looks like.

and I pick up my welder in an hour or so. and get to keep mowing at a $90 a week clip. I can handle that. gonna buy me my own mower so I'm not using Smoky's. then I can mow a coupla more if I want and not worry about breaking his equipment...

my mower guy has a real nice Murray 46 inch big boy that I think we can work a deal on.

life is good just now...

Love hearing this.

Stinky is digging having the screen door functional again, although I think he is sizing it up for escapability...

and my new east facing bedroom window may help me get up closer to daytime.

we'll see.

having some noodles, then gonna go over and get the welder.

the weather is so nice it's scary.

and my chickens come next month...

we sheared 125 ewes today and 50 more tomorrow. Im beat and all I did was run the wool into bags and clip hooves. (I DO NOT SHEAR-its a job for someone of much higher skill and eye hand coordination). Ive shorn severfal sheep in my career, most have survived . There aint enough blood stopper when I shear.

So who sheared 'em? Was is local guy, I've heard the Ozzies and Kiwis make the rounds here, how 'bout there?

I needa mark this day on my calendar...

we went over to tour the shop at my neighbor lady's place. I'd not been in there before. her old man was a metal worker.

my new welder rocks. it will suffice for a coupla years.

I told them I would mow all summer long and they should not have to pay me any cash. there is a ton of stuff in there that I want, starting with an industrial air compressor, and a giant set of bottles with a torch...

gonna grill me some fish and watch my boys beat up on Georgius Maximus.

here I am, eating at midnight again, but...

I deserved a celebratory dinner.

and I made one...

salmon and a big baked tater and some butter beans. feast fit for a king. of rural nowhere maybe.

my future's so bright I gotta wear shades...

took a popsicle out and sat in the garden for a bit. no wind, and the tiki torches lit up brightly.

looking forward to what the day may bring tomorrow.

it's been a while since I felt that way.

several years, as a matter of fact...

and the squirrels pounded G today.

it doesn't get much better'n that...

nytol.

We have an AMish crew come in (We have to go and pick em up ) Theres still lotsa wprk for us to do in rounding up the sheep, catching em, clipping hooves, checking med records and , marking and running em out.
ACtually, I forgot that they guys wouldnt be here today (Its Sunday) to complete the rest of the herd. WE are gonna round up a final 50 or so sheep from the back pastures and run em in today and the shearers will be back on Tiesday (my wife keeps all records)

SO Im stiff as an I beam so its good I get a day of collapse. Its gonna rain (yippeeee) so the sheep will have to stay in the back shed and the barn so they arent all wet when the shearers come back.

The ones we sheared yesterday are all bright white and almost glowing. They hate shearing but then they love being fee of all the wool and clots.(We had an 18 month clip on em because of my being hurt last year)

wool is a resource that is hard to mine, so its probably good that youre thinking of hair sheep. Of course they have chemical depillatories that thyeve been using in AUstralian Merino herds. Its a process that takes several weeks and requires that the sheep be "bagged up" while the chemical depillatory is working. Then, about 15 days or so after the shots, the bags are removed and the wool is all collected from the skin up.

The images in my mind of bagged up sheep are pretty humorous.

All sounding extra verra good Great to hear.

think of a herd of maybe 20000 sheep , all with plastic covers on them. Ive been told that this is very stressful on the sheep. But them Ozzies can be very single minded about getting the best wool clip from their Merinos.

Its the finest sheep wool in the world. Its so fine that its like silk "with a curl". They use it for very fine wool fabrics and they mix it with silk to make really high end clothing .

Merino is very like Alpaca in softness but its much thinner fibre that is stronger and springier, thats why you wont see Alpaca suits but you will see fine woven wool and wool and silk blends.

I'm familiar with Merino wool as I have a clothing item with it - a scarf, I think. It's the only wool item I can wear next to my skin and not itch.

My super-selective Border Collie only will herd sheep that have Merino wool.

I didn't know the former Miami Dolphins Hall of Fame QB was into sheep-raising.

my day tried to start way too early. the crispy kid called at 9...

I didn't even roll over.

these cold mornings can end anytime soon. brrrrrrr.

sun's out now, and it's gonna be a gorgeous day. prolly gonna go see smoky and gram. gotta get some noodles in me and see where I'm at first...

gonna start with a cuppa and work up.