Will Drive for Fleece

My spinning guild decided to take a road trip this weekend to an alpaca ranch near Solvang.

Here I am with my traveling buddies, Michelle and Sydney.

Oh yeah, and Michelle's son Ian, who was born the same month as Joy.

And here are the cuddly critters we came to see. These alpacas were shorn about a month ago, and apparently when you shear a show alpaca you leave the fleece long on the head and legs. I also learned that alpaca hair is technically called "fiber" but most people call it "fleece" because that evokes warm, cozy images, whereas "fiber" evokes thoughts of bran muffins.

And yes, I did indulge and buy some fleece while I was there, because no matter how big a spinner's fiber stash is, there is always room for more. Besides, it was so deliciously lofty that I couldn't resist.

Here are some more alpacas, sporting various hues and afro styles. Apparently alpacas are very social animals who don't thrive alone. However, if you own more than one of them you have to keep the males and female in separate pastures because they breed like rabbits (relatively speaking--their gestation period is eleven months). I also learned that you can use a llama to protect an alpaca herd from coyotes because llamas dislike canines and will attack them. Who knew?

Update

Hi everyone. Sorry you've had to endure this famine of Hendrickson news. Our lives have been commandeered by this:

Our move to a two-bedroom apartment.

Oh yeah, and this:

The untimely death of our graphics card. Apparently computers with fried graphics cards are not happy creatures. Anyway we've finally settled in and set up our new PC (after two weeks--yes, this post is post-dated), and I can get back to blogging. Here's a recap of our adventures around the time chaos struck.

These are some of the exotic, culinary delights I sampled at the tri-ward international dinner. The empanada on the left conjured up memories of my missionary service in Uruguay. I won't say what the escargot conjured up. Let's just say I've now officially tried the stuff and I never have to eat it again.

Here's Joy with an empanada in one hand and a jar of dulce de leche in the other. That's my girl.

Joy has made her first solo visit to nursery. They sent her home with a souvenir from the play yard. What can we say? She's a nature girl.

Joy also made her first trip to Kidspace. She quickly concluded that the object of our visit was to collect as many balls as possible. She's doing well so far . . .

Major Upgrade

We moved to another apartment in our complex today. The new one has dark (i.e. "childproof") carpet and TWO bedrooms. Huzzah!!!

I'd post pictures, but I can't find my camera . . . or much else that I own in the labyrinth of piles and boxes that currently inhabit our front room. I'm also really, really, really tired, so I think it's best for all concerned that I sign off and get some sleep.

P.S. Many thanks to my mom and the Elders' Quorum for helping us move. You guys rock.

Clean Sweep

I recently treated Joy to a cornbread muffin. A few bites made it to her mouth, but the rest was pulverized and strewn all over her tray and the mat below. Lamenting that cornbread should meet such a dismal fate, I fetched the broom from the closet to clean up. Joy apparently found this process fascinating . . .

. . . because she insisted on giving it a try.

"Did I miss anything, Mom?"

Running on Empty, Twice

Joy, our bank account, and the EPA would like to officially thank Congress for the economic stimulus package that allowed us to buy . . .

. . . a bike trailer so we could take a ride to the park. I got a good workout and Joy had a great time on the swings.

I would also like to thank the park maintenance crew for helping us get home. While Joy and I were playing at the playground I noticed one of the trailer tires was flat as a pancake. As we prepared to leave and I grimly contemplated an uphill ride home on a flat tire, I saw one of the maintenance guys smiling and waving at Joy. Struck by sudden inspiration, I asked if he had a pump to fill a flat tire. He said sure, there was one back by the shed.

With a great sense of relief, I rolled bike and trailer toward the shed and one of the crew started filling our tire--ffft, ffft, fffPOP!!!VEEeeee...... The pump was designed to fill much larger tires, and its high pressure had blown a big hole in our tube. The man gazed forlornly at the tire, then walked over and started working an inner tube off a nearby wheelbarrow. Another worker glanced at him and said, "Hey! You stealing one of my tires?" "The one on the other side's already flat anyway," the first man replied, and kept fiddling with the tire.

After he finally got it off the wheel barrow and onto our trailer, he pumped it up as much as he dared, then I thanked him and rode away with one tire as hard as a rock, and the other as soft as a bagel. Still, I'll take a bagel over a pancake tire any day.

By the time we got home, the new inner tube (which was a little too large for the wheel) was not only flat but half-way off the wheel. Thank heavens we made it home. Now that we've put our lives in danger for the sake of the environment, I think we'll DRIVE to the bike shop to see about fixing our tire.

Beehive Conference

Since the Beehives (12- and 13-year-old young women) in our stake don't get to go along on this summer's pioneer trek with the older kids, we arranged a little weekend campout for them.

Here are the gals from our ward, who successfully set up their tents then helped the other girls with theirs. Are they cool or what?

In the evening we heard some pioneer stories around the campfire, then Jasmine and Shae taught us all some essential Girls' Camp songs for later this summer. After they finished we made s'mores, and I was far too busy to get a picture of that.

This morning we went hiking and saw some baby squirrels but no snakes. A few of us were disappointed about that, but most were just fine with it.

Here's a group shot of everyone. Overall, I think all the girls had a good time. I know I did.

Mr. Bean and the Very Hungry Caterpillar

No, the post title does not refer to to some off-beat British children's book. It's . . .

. . . some of the latest news about my little garden.

Mr. Bean and his buddies have emerged and are probably a little intimidated by the poles I've asked them to climb. You can do it, guys.

"The Very Hungry Caterpillar" refers to this little villain and his caterpillar cronies who have been eating holes in the lettuce in one of my containers. I caught some munching my neighbor's mint plant, too. Grrrr . . .

In other news, we have some seedlings appearing in the lettuce bed . . .

. . . potato plants emerging beside the onions . . .

. . . and little green pearls on the cherry tomato plant. Huzzah!

Stake Fair

I love the annual fair our stake puts on. There are bounce rooms, pony rides, water slides, and lots of snacks, and it's all free! Last year Joy was old enough to enjoy a snowcone (her first solid food) but that was about it. This year . . .

. . . she fed some goats . . .

. . . went down the big slide a bunch of times with Daddy (it's hard to say which of them enjoyed it more) . . .

. . . and gave the bounce house a go with Mommy. Phillip was stoked to take her on the pony ride, too, but we found out she has to be at least two years old. Ah well--something to look forward to next year.