So...maybe I didn't mention that I've somehow managed to end up running the local chess club. I haven't had any regular chess competition since the chess club at college, so am woefully, embarrassingly out of practice. The only opening I remember without having to look it up is the Guico Piano. A seven year old beat me. That's sad. However, I'm having a lot of fun just having fun playing chess instead of being so invested in winning. This isn't to say that no energy's being invested in regaining some proficiency....

And-->I've found an income source involving handwork. I don't like the finished product- would never have one in my house, in fact, but income is income and this time I don't have to look for buyers, just crank the damned things out whether they're aesthetically pleasing or not.

The crochet spiderlace scarf I've been making out of the pink-brown wool silk blend that I'd talked about spinning some time ago is almost done and the color isn't to my liking at all. Considered dying it to a more reddish brown, which would get rid of all that pink! But then a lady asked to see what I was working on and when I mentioned considering selling it because I just don't like the colors, she said it's beautiful and she'll buy it as soon as I'm done! This is a relief. It will sell for more than the wool/silk roving cost and there will be enough yarn left to make another one as well. Is $45 profit on this a good return? Hmm. I'd like to try another wool/silk blend, the one I should have gotten...blues and purples in BFL wool and Tussah silk. It wasn't as lustrous, but then again, the caterpillars for Tussah silk don't get boiled alive, either. Who cares? I do...moths are really sexy, beautiful, gentle creatures, especially the big, velvety ones...

I had to move the alpacas to a better shelter today. Brought halters, ropes, etc, dressed for a wrestling match in slush...and was dreading the trauma and hassle of catching each one of them and haltering them...alpacas really hate to be touched! They were eying me with suspicion, distrust and fear. So I thought, why not give them a chance to do it another way? I picked up the pan of grain, opened the gate, and the lead 'paca munched on the grain as I moved slowly to the barn and new area, with the other three tagging along behind him! They went right in to the new area, I shut the gate behind them, rewarded them all with a little more grain, and that was that! People have told me that alpacas are stupid and cannot be worked with like goats, that they won't follow me like goats would a person with a can of grain. Alpacas don't mob me for the grain and are more cautious, but I really think people aren't giving them enough credit. If they don't like to be touched, why impose it on them unnecessarily?