Wednesday, February 24, 2010

Struggles...

Today, well, the past few months actually, have been rough for many of my friends. Struggles abound. Our lesson this week in Bible Study Fellowship (BSF) speaks of how "the gardener (God), prunes or trims fruit-bearing branches (believers) by removing obstructions or deadwood, enabling them to produce more and bigger fruit. God, our gardener, sovereignly places His people in situations where they can be most fruitful. While God's purging, chastening 'knife' may be painful, afterwards a Christian yields a harvest of righteousness and peace." Hebrews 12:6 says, "FOR THOSE WHOM THE LORD LOVES HE DISCIPLINES, AND HE SCOURGES EVERY SON WHOM HE RECEIVES." Hebrews 6:11 says, "All discipline for the moment seems not to be joyful, but sorrowful; yet to those who have been trained by it, afterwards it yields the the peaceful fruit of righteousness."

I am praying for all of my friends out there who are hurting! I am praying that God will give each of you a peace that passes all understanding, that He will comfort you, and that you will feel His very breath upon your neck because He is so close to each of you. May He carry you through your trials as only a loving Father can. I will be praying for each of you...

Hugs,
Cyndi

Sunday, February 14, 2010

2010 TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular a success!

The annual TxOLAN Alpaca Spectacular held out at the Will Rogers Colliseum in Ft. Worth was a success! Even with all of the snow, there were still approximately 500 alpacas in attendance! Whoo hoo! The Spin-off competition that I coordinated went well also, with 100 entries. Everyone seemed very pleased with the results and have promised to send samples in again next year.



I am not going to coordinate this event for TxOLAN next year, though. I was asked to run for the board of directors for the State of Texas Alpaca Ranchers. I’m not sure whether I will be elected or not, but I plan on coordinating a fleece event for this organization. It’s a ton of work, but oh so much fun!

Friday, February 12, 2010

Snow day


Wow, did it ever snow last night! School was canceled and the kids got to stay home and play.


We got over 7 inches of snow! Amazing for Texas!


Tree branches broke all over and many people completely lost their trees, due the weight of the snow completely uprooting their large trees and knocking them over.


We bundled up the horses in winter coats. Since they were toasty warm under their coats, they stayed out in the pasture the entire day. They had a choice. They could have stayed in, but they chose to stay out.



The alpacas didn't seem to mind much. They just hung out under the eaves of the barn, chewing their cud.


Funny isn't it? When it's just really cold, all I want to do is stay in by a nice warm fire with a nice, hot cup of hot chocolate or my favorite, cappuccino. Mmm..mmm... However, when the cold includes some snow, everyone in the house it out in it! The kids were constantly bringing in pairs of gloves, hats and scarves that were wet and cold, then picking up a new set of each. The dryer got a workout today! Snow like this is really fun for awhile, but I am so very thankful we don't get snows like those up north. The aftermath brings so much mud and gunk that I prefer not to have it very often. The path to the barn is not so good right now. Add another thing to my list to fix once the warmer weather gets here! I'm thinking either crushed rock, road base, or some paving stones. Hmm... the crushed rock sounds like the easiest. I'm all for easy!

Friday, February 5, 2010

New chicks have arrived!



Wow! Has it been that long since I’ve blogged? Wow! So much has happened! On February 4th, we received another 25 chicks. We received 8 Welsummers, 8 Americaunas, and 9 Cuckoo Murans from Ideal Poultry. They have had an extended stay in my daughter’s room, and then had a VERY short stay in my youngest son’s room. They stink so bad, that we had to move them out to the breezeway. So, if you come by my house at night, you’ll see the red heat lamps on through the breezeway windows! :o)

We are getting approximately two dozen eggs per day again. The hens are starting up early! Usually, they don’t get back in full swing until daylight savings time hits. Bonus!