The Hollyhock Blog

Last Saturday we had some pretty strong winds here, then lots of rain.  After the storm had passed, I was headed to the barn to check on the alpacas and came across a phoebe nest on the ground.   I had been watching the little birds poking their heads up for food when the mama bird flew in for feeding.  This is where is should have been.

Downspout

I called for Darryl and he climbed up on a ladder and put the nest back on the downspout.  There were five babies in the nest and they had stayed tight in the nest for the ride to the ground.  Their little claws were clenching the inside of the nest – which I noticed was lined with alpaca fiber.  On Sunday morning, I noticed the little birds were still alive and mama had come back to feed them.

A few days ago, I saw the nest was empty.  So I climbed up and took it down, since it was no longer very stable.  The nest was lined with alpaca fiber and dryer lint! 

Phoebe nest

I can only assume that all 5 of the babies survived.  I could never see all 5 heads at once from the ground.  It’s nice to know that some of the alpaca fiber that ends up blowing around the yard went to a good home.  And maybe kept these cold and wet baby birds warm after a long and scary ride to the ground in a nasty storm.

First – I knit these 2 pair of mittens. 

Mittens for charity

They will be finished by another gal in my knitting group.  I have a total of 7 pair to turn over to her tomorrow at our monthly meeting. 

Last weekend was my spinning guild’s retreat at the Linden Hills mansion.  I spun and knit and ate and relaxed.  It was awesome.  I spun this huge skein from the fiber of Ruby.

Hand spun alpaca yarnThis set was started before the retreat, but I finished the scarf and got the hat to the point of steaming. Brown set of alpaca yarn

After steaming, the hat will get ear flaps added.  The mittens need to be felted yet.