Moose Meadows Alpaca Ranch

I learned something new from Stoneridge Pal, Patty. They raise Alpacas here in northern Idaho. It's not a potato! They look like a llama and their wool is considered to be rare and is 5 times warmer than sheep's wool.

She wanted to buy a special birthday gift and decided that this might be the place. Open weekends by appointment only, she did just that and I tagged along for the ride.

As you can see above, it's not a large store. But they do have some pretty unique things. Super warm socks, gloves, hats, scarves, sweaters and blankets. Then they have some other local products to fill their shelves.

We got the grand tour and got to see the babies and feed the older ones.

It's only a 20 minute ride from home. So if you come up to visit I may take you there myself!

Mammas On A Mission

Most of the ladies that attend our weekly coffee social felt that we would like to do something to give back to our community. So many of us have a talent that can be useful as well as fun. We originally called ourselves the crafting group, but realized that we are limiting ourselves with that title. We thought that we would be alienating those ladies that weren't into crafting, but could well serve our group doing other things; managing, research, getting donations, the list goes on.

So our core group decided that we need to get organized! I had volunteered to set up a website/blog so that our members could stay informed. We are going to continue making lap quilts that will be donated to a local family or charity.

The first challenge was to pick a name. Since I was going to start a blog and set up an email account the name was critical. Originally it was to be: "Mamas on a Mission", note "Mamas" only has one "m." I know you're going to say that it should have two m's, but I wanted it to be different. So I set up an email address "mamasonamission", no problem there.

Here's where one small problem snowballed into a day wasted because of an "m". Now that I had an email address, I started to set up the blog account. I enter our name, with one "m" and get "This name is not available." I thought, "No Way! There has to be a mistake. Who else could have stolen our name!" So I checked it out for myself. And I'll be damned, there it was. Another group of ladies already had our name.

Mamas on a Mission: "Our desire, which has become our mission, is to work with the Oregon Zoo to create a room that is solely designated for breastfeeding moms with their children. This space would allow moms: a place in which they can ensure that their children will effectively nurse; where other children are safe while mom is nursing; where mom and baby are not exposed in inclement weather; where breastfeeding moms who need to pump can safely go; and where women can relax in private should they desire the option."

Actually, I thought this hysterical considering the fact that 99% of our group is well beyond our breast feeding days. So as of today, shout it out from the hilltops we are Mammas On A Mission. TWO "M"s if you please.

You can click on the link above to see the "Mamas" on their mammary mission. Then check out ours: Mammas On A Mission.

I tawght I taw a puddy tat!

If Tweety Bird lived in Stoneridge he would say that a lot whenever he passed by the maintenance building. It seems that a stray female cat took refuge in the large building. Our grounds keeper, Darcy, welcomed the stranger because, as it turned out, she was a good mouser. Feeling sorry for the cat, Darcy started feeding her. Apparently she must have had company... the male kind. So what happens when a stray female meets a stray male? Yep, you guessed it... little stray kittens. We now have 6 stray or feral cats. If you do the math these 6 could potentially turn into 40+ by the end of the summer. We certainly don't need that many cats roaming around our community.

Stoneridge Pal Patty worked with Darcy last summer as a gardener and knew of his dilema. She saw an article in the local newspaper about the annual "Feral Cat Spay/Neuter Day"
and thought that this could be the perfect way our coffee social group can start doing something for our community.

What's a Feral Cat? Well, according to Wikipedia: "A feral cat is an unowned and untamed cat separated from domestication. Feral cats are born in the wild and may take a long time to socialize, or may be abandoned or lost pets that have become wild. They should not be confused with the wildcat which are not descended from domestic cats. A stray cat (or alley cat) while unowned, still exhibits temperament similar to that of a pet.^[1] In popular usage, these terms are sometimes used interchangeably."

Sunday, February 22nd was the only day that the local veterinary clinics were doing the spay and neutering for free. That meant that we needed to get traps set on the Friday before. Patty lined up 4 traps from a local trapper and we had to pick up 2 from Priest River Animal Shelter.

Stoneridge Pals Patty and Bobbie picking up the traps from Priest River Animal Shelter.

We got our lesson is setting the traps and proceeded to get the 6 of them ready. We were advised to put the traps in an out of the way spot and cover them with cardboard so the feral cats would feel comfortable going into them.

Patty, Bobbie and her husband Steve getting the traps ready to set.

Maggie and me setting the traps.

Traps all set and ready to go.

When I checked the traps Saturday morning we caught 2 and one got away with a belly full of food. Somehow it had managed to get the entire can out of the trap before setting it.
When Patty and I checked them again that afternoon we got only one more. We could only hope that we would trap the last 3 before 7:30am Sunday when we needed to load them up and take them to town.

They spent the night in Patty's garage, out of the elements. Somehow we managed to get the remaining food out of the cages without releasing them. "No food after midnight" were orders from the vet to prepare the cats for surgery.

After loading our 3 captives, Patty, Bobbie and me checked to see if we got lucky enough to trap the remaining cats. No luck. We would have to settle for just the 3 of them.

We headed for the Rathdrum Animal Clinic and arrived at around 8:30am with a half dozen more groups with more feral cats.

Our 3 captives. It turns out that one of them was the mother.

Patty signing them in for surgery.

Getting the cages tagged.

Here they get moved back to the holding rooms.

The clinic continued to take in cats until 10am. Patty picked them up later that same afternoon and they recovered in her garage. Monday they were released.

In Tuesday's Coeur d'Alene Press they covered spay day. Kootenai County alone got 260 strays which amounts to $26,000 worth of procedures. Because 80% of the cats captured were female it prevented at least 1,000 unwanted kittens.

Stoneridge Coffee Social

Wednesdays are a busy social day lately. Since the end of November, we've got card night at the event center at 5pm. Everyone brings an appetizer and we play a variety of games. Hand and Foot seems to be the area favorite along with Progressive Rummy and Blitz.

There is a core group of ladies that thought that maybe we should try to establish something so we can find out what's going on in our neighboring community. About 4 weeks ago we passed the word to all we know, male and female. So now on Wednesday mornings at 10am we get together for coffee, tea and a snack. Our weekly Coffee Social

Each meeting starts with introductions all around. We've started a calendar of events so everyone can join in the activities, water aerobics, yoga or card night. Some of our Stoneridge neighbors are very good cooks and/or bakers, so naturally requests for recipes are made often. So often that a couple of the gals are going to put together a cookbook.

We all agreed that we are more fortunate than most of our neighbors who live in the city of Blanchard and decided that we would like to do something to give back to our community. There are quite a few of us that enjoy crafts of all types. Some sew, knit, crochet, paint, you name it I'm sure someone can do it. So far we are working on a craft quilt that we will give to a needy family or organization. We are considering making other crafts that we can sell at the craft fairs during Blanchard Days and the holidays. Right now our focus is to name our little group and get a game plan going.

The down side to all of this is that when golf season opens card night will be postponed until next winter and our Coffee Social will move to Thurs and meet monthly.

Then there's Women Who Wine, and the men who tolerate them. Stoneridge Pal Debbie came up with this one. She and her husband Ron, along with many more Stoneridge residents, enjoy the juice of the grape. So it didn't take much convincing to get us committed to getting together monthly to enjoy it as a group. Our first outing will be at Noni's, a local wine bar in Priest River.

I'll let you know how it goes.

A Dog's Life

If you are a regular of my blog then you have already met Maggie. She is our 6 month old Queensland Heeler. As promised by all that know the breed, she is very smart but quite a handful.

Her social circle is widening along with mine. So when I find out that a new friend has a puppy I always invite them to join us for our walk. Now we have Bella! She is a 1-1/2 year old Bassett Hound, who with her owner Patty makes our daily walks quite entertaining.


We have been walking together for about 2 weeks during which time she constantly jumped on Maggie. The only way to keep her from jumping was to get her to chase the ball.


Now that the 2 of them are more comfortable with each other, there isn't as much jumping as playing.

Good News! This week brings with it lots of sunshine and warmer temps. Yesterday we were wearing our down jackets, today just a fleece sweater. Right now at 4:36pm the thermometer reads 43 degrees. Sounds a lot better than the rain and snow everyone is getting in California.

Happy Valentine's Day!

It can be a fun day when you have someone to share it with. It can also throw a lonely heart into a pit of despair! Hallmark and florist love this day.

Valentine's Day. Clink on the link to the left and you can learn all about this holiday.
(Make sure to pause the "Mytunes" before starting this video)
Or you can just watch the video below.

Try JibJab Sendables® eCards today!

Unlike the events depicted in the video, Stoneridge Guy and I are just planning a quiet evening at home.


AND...

A special message to my sister.
Happy Birthday! Have a great day. I love you and miss you LOTS!!!

Now that you know everything there is to learn about this fun holiday go and enjoy it in your own way!