Simplifying, cont.

 A "Tick" (looks like a chick, but actually is a turkey)!

Okay...so let's get down to the nitty gritty.  What do I really mean by "simplifying" and "healing with the ranch"  (as mentioned in my previous post)?  It doesn't at all mean just quitting things, like the recycling, and TV; oh no this place is a buzz with activity.  We have "ticks" (we have no idea what to call baby turkeys, and they look just like chicks, so ticks it is-ha!) in the garage, a beautiful lamb in the llama/sheep pen and all sorts of stuff being planted!  My goal is to reconnect with the old ways I guess you could say.


I have been doing a lot of thinking about our property, and how it could be used to it's greatest potential.  I want to use each and every animal to its highest potential as well; whether it be for egg, wool, meat or even guardian purposes.

I absolutely adored making my jams last year for Christmas and the response I got was unbelievable...so I am going to grow berries this year for my own jams!  Amazingly there are a few berries that will grow at our high altitude and we already have a lot of wild raspberries that grow around this area, so I can only hope.  I am also changing the formula of Naked~Nure, by happy accident, adding a secret ingredient that should make plants soar!  More on this in a future post.

The point is to make the very most of what I've got.  I don't feel that the economy is at all stable.  I don't feel that our government is at all stable.  It is time to use my property to raise what I need for my family and hopefully have a little leftover for my family and friends.  My goal is to barter...I really think this is the wave of the future...I already do it with many of my friends.  I trade eggs for some of my friend Tiffany's wonderful products.  I recently got some organic beef and traded some of that for my organic chicken feed....the list goes on and on...

I have always hated waste...and now I look at my property in a whole new light.  There are already many plants on it that I should have been harvesting for years...Chamomile, Currant, Rosehip, Chokecherry, even dandelion can be harvested and used....How about you, do you harvest and use any of Mother Nature's wonders?  And what are some of your plans in this unstable environment?

Simplifying

 With a herd of these guys as neighbors, who wouldn't want to spend the summer playin' in poo, er soil?

You know, I wasn't really sure how to write this post, or when I was going to write this post.  And it's funny because this post has really been causing me to have a writers block; it's as if I feel like once I get all of this off my chest...I will be able to post more frequently again.  Even as I type this..I notice that I have a very concerned, "knit" brow!

I want to be careful how I word this post for some reason...it feels as if it really matters.  It's all about simplicity...I am simplifying my life, and being darn careful to do it in a very positive manner.  I think it may have started with the carbon monoxide thing...well, that's not entirely true; I have always felt that your thoughts and actions impact your life.  But the carbon monoxide scare was the final straw I guess, that and the recycling as funny as it sounds.

I have practically killed myself for the recycling of the schools; literally in some cases.  I had lost a bag of recycling on the side of the highway....yes the state's deadliest highway at one point in time, and when I pulled over to pick it up at a later date I sank a foot deep in gopher holes and got stuck!  All signs were pointing to time to face the fact that I could no longer handle all of this stuff on my own.  And to be honest, I didn't want to, my family had been giving me a hard time about this sort of craziness for quite some time.

I found myself saying things like "my life isn't really this melodramatic" in phone calls and emails to people, as I was rushing here or there...and let me tell you if drama is in your thoughts or words....it is in your life!  So I quit saying those things, and I asked for help with the recycling.  And I made some really big changes here at home.

We quit the DirectTV habit.  Yes, you heard that right.  We no longer have access to the outside world unless it is through the internet or Netflix!  This has been one of the most amazing things for my family of two (yes, two; exciting news on that later!) 17 year olds and a 15 year old and an 11 year old.  We no longer deal with LOUD commercials that are totally inappropriate on some cable networks, I no longer am subjected to news that brings down my already overloaded sensitive senses nor are my kids and we are in absolute control of everything that goes into our heads.  It is such a sense of FREEDOM, once you get used to it.

I have decided to really concentrate my energy on The Ranch this year.  As I have marketed our great product Naked~Nure; I got the same question over and over again.  Why use llama manure?  So I am going to take a year or so and answer that question.  I am going to try all different sorts of methods of growing (indoors and out), all different ways of using the manure (teas and composts) and I'm going to feed my family and benefit my property in the meantime.  I just really feel like the ranch and I have some healing and growing to do together this year.

But, the biggest change of all is that my family is now six.  I finally have my son Austin.  I have spoken about him before....and he has been a part of my family since the first day he walked through my door with his rolling giggle....but as of Friday April 1, 2011, he is legally ours and I couldn't be happier.

I apologize for my absence; and I look forward to taking you along on my journey of learning to simplify in a world of fast paced living.  This should be fun.  Tell me, what do you do to slow down and remind yourself to really be a part of today?

Montana Llama Rescue 2011!

Wow!  I have had one of the most amazing experiences in my life, really.  Even the big, bad, biker, Tom, said so.  And remember, he was my reluctant cohort in this rescue mission in the first place.  Well, not once he got there and met these wonderful folks:

The guy in the middle (the driver), looking at the ground, he too is a reluctant participant; because he is used to working with steers.  And until that trip, he thought llamas were sissy animals...I don't think he thinks that anymore; but he still didn't like his picture taken with a bunch of llama nuts!

This is the rig that he drove clear across Montana and Wyoming(in very bad weather, I might add) to deliver our boys to us:

Twenty llamas arrived on this trailer.  It took them two days to get to La Porte, CO.  Which is where we met them at our very wonderful host ranch.  Four foster homes met up to pick up their allotment of rescue llamas, a few various wonderful llama lovers, and rescue friends to lend a hand and a small crew from CSU Veterinary School was on hand.

None of us had ever met before, face to face; but we had been preparing for the big arrival via e-mail for a few days...so we greeted each other as old friends would, with hugs all around (that poor cattle driver never knew what hit him...)!  All was well...

Until we saw this!!!!

This poor guy was down in the trailer, getting trampled by the other llamas as they unloaded.  We all held our breath...Was he alive?  He tried to stand up, fell back down, stumbled out of the trailer and then fell again....  The group, collectively, had not taken a breath yet!  He finally stood up triumphantly, and we all just stood there for a second in absolute shock!  None of us had ever seen anything like it.  His legs were so tangled up in his own wool, it had caused him injuries.  We didn't know whether to cheer for him or cry for him.

After our initial moment of horror wore off, we all knew what needed to be done.  An in field, on site shearing party it was.  With scissors no less...the poor guy got one hell of a bad hair cut, but I'm sure he feels A TON lighter!  After the shearing was done, we got down to separating the boys and figuring out who was going where.  Tom and I had to laugh later that all of us had bonded with Big Guy (the one with the bad haircut), so when the straws were drawn, and yes, we used actual straw, or maybe it was hay...We all wanted Big Guy!

But, as you can see, there were plenty of great llamas that needed care and love.  It was decided that Big Guy (his official name I heard via e-mail last night-ha!) stay near CSU because he has some very specific medical needs that I really don't want to take on.  I have five gelded (meaning fixed, neutered, castrated, whatever) males from this herd at The Royal Ranch, and it has been an adventure getting them home and settled.

As you can see from the pics below, they are settling in.  They don't like dogs...that is for sure!  But, as my youngest son pointed out, in Montana they've probably seen wolves and a canine scent is a canine scent!  When they see our Great Pyrenees, Tia, the big white one does the alarm call to warn the others of danger!

 Big Whitey (so far)~ this guy must have been one of the herd leaders (Wow! out of 800 llamas!) because he scored 4 (on a body scale of 1-9), which is quite good, so he was getting most of the food.  We also think there is a chance that this guy was at some point in time a herdsire, meaning that he was someone's top breeder.  See the tag in his ear?  That could mean that he is an import from Chile or Peru.

We got home well after dark on Sunday, and thanks to a good friend and neighbor's headlights, we got the trailer all ready to unload them, thinking they were just dying to be out after two days of traveling....and NOTHING!  They were comfortably bedded down for the night and that was that.  So we tied the gate of the trailer to the gate of their "Quarantine" area and left them be.

 This is Jose and Shadow, Shadow is our most critical patient (scoring only a 1-2).

 This is Mellow (so far) because he is Caramel colored and very mellow as you can see from this picture.  He is also the only one that willingly got haltered and loaded into the trailer!

 A better shot of Jose, if SWLR accepts us, we may adopt this rebellious boy, he pulled a muscle in the big, bad, bikers back putting him in the trailer, and he was the smallest of all!  Leave it to me, to like the roughest one of the bunch!

A group (or butt) shot of the boys checking out their small outdoor yard.  I wanted it small on purpose.  I don't need these boys getting a ton of exercise and fighting right now.  This is a resting and healing zone.  On the other hand, they do however have a huge covered area that gets a ton of sunshine and fresh air, just what the doctor ordered.  Maybe not the photographer though!

And this dear Rebels, is your llama.  I thought it would be fun for you all to get involved with the naming game!  I am sorry about the light with this picture, but he is a spectacular boy, because he goes from a cream color to a caramel color that gradates into a dark brownish rust.  And then as you can see, he has some white socks too.  Once we get this nasty batch of wool off of him, the wool that comes in, will be fantastic!  I am hoping to find spinners for him, Big Whitey and Mellow, as they all have beautiful wool. 

It really has been an amazing few days.  Sunday was unbelievable.  Those folks were wonderful and are friends for life now, even if we just e-mail each other for support from now on...which the e-mails have been flying!  But to be a part of the nation's biggest animal rescue has been something I can't even describe in words...beyond satisfying?  Now you too can be a part of it, help name our nameless guy...

Keeping Perspective

I am a stay at home Mom.  First and foremost, and I am damn proud of it.  My oldest is seventeen and my youngest is eleven; so I have been at this job for a little more than seventeen years, and I am very good at it.  I volunteer at all of the kids' schools, I'm on all of the right committees, go to all of my kids' functions, and even quite a few for kids that aren't even "mine", but in my heart they are.

Over the last few years, okay maybe a decade now (my how time flies when you're having fun), I have decided to start various llama related businesses.  All of them for various reasons, but each of them evolving from my passions; they come from my very heart and soul.  My love of animals and the environment; specifically our little piece of paradise here in Colorado that I feel holds some sort of spellbinding beauty and tranquility.  So, my love of writing fit in quite naturally.

Yesterday morning, the kids and I were talking about something that got me worked up, and I lost my words (a pretty typical side effect of seizure meds) and I saw the light bulb go off over the head of my seventeen year old son.  He finally realized why I like blogging so much.  He says "Mom, you don't have to struggle for words when you blog, do you?  You can think it through, and take your time, right?"  Bingo!

So, what does all of this have to do with keeping perspective?  A lot, for me anyway.  Because when you are going through a hard time in your life, and I'm sorry to say, but I don't know many people right now who aren't going through a hard time, keeping perspective is of utmost importance.  Remembering what you are made of, and what you are trying to accomplish is of utmost importance.  And doing what makes you feel good and keeping your thoughts straight is imperative!

This all came about in sort of a weird way.  I have not made a secret out of our struggles, financially; and in a way, in my mind I had put the pressure on myself and my businesses to get us out of this rut that we were in.  Big mistake.  Too much pressure.  Too little time.  Many of my ideas like Naked~Nure and my book are too new to have gauged if they will be successful or not.

So, when Tom steps in, gets his overtime back and things start looking okay again; instead of me being happy, it sends me into a tailspin.  What the hell is wrong with me?  Most people would be ecstatic to know that they didn't have to work if they don't want to, right?  Well, we all already know the answer to that; I do NOT fit the description of "most people".

I felt as if I had been banging my head against the wall for naught.  As silly as that sounds, it's true.  And I've got to tell you, it confused the hell out of my poor husband!  But, give me a couple days of my pity party to think things through, and I realized that we were right back where we were supposed to be.  This was our plan all along.  My businesses are the type that take years to grow, and build on business relationships that may take years to foster.  

We both knew this going in, we have openly discussed it many times, I guess I just conveniently forget those things when I feel like throwing myself a pity party.  The point is people, keeping perspective may be difficult during, well, difficult times, but it is essential.  And if you don't have years to build a business, than don't go into something obscure like llama related businesses or writing and publishing childrens books-ha!  No really, I still believe that you need to follow your passions, and I am so blessed with the fact that Toms job has allowed us to do just that...so again, it's just all in the angle you see things.

Shorn Sheep!

So I have two naked sheep running around producing Naked~Nure, now if that is not one of my very favorite play on words ever, I don't know what is!  The babies did not need to get shorn this year as they did not have enough growth, actually it was a close call, but I decided to err on the side of caution.  I am very glad I did because it has been quite chilly since I took the shirts off their backs, so to speak!

I was supposed to drop the sheep off inside my trailer at the ranch where the shearing was to be done the night before, and that of course did not happen.  Between my being hesitant to have them in the trailer for twenty-four hours and the fact that our B&B guests were really late, I got them there the morning of the shearing.  I knew I had given them plenty of time to settle back down after their ride as the shearer was not to come until the afternoon.  The arrangement was made for them to give me a call when it was almost "our" turn.

I took a lot of photos, but no video, and I wish I had, because the sounds were outrageous!  I thought it would be good training for Princess and Crash to have a ride in the trailer with their parents and to see how the process is done.  Well, I hadn't counted on how loud three nervous sheep can be when they think the other one is being viciously attacked!  Surprisingly enough, the sheep that is being worked on is very quiet and pretty calm. So, from here I'll pretty much let the pics speak for themselves, with a bit of commentary thrown in by me....I can't help myself...

To shear a sheep, or for that matter, any "maintenance" on a full grown sheep you just set them on their rump.  It reminds me of grabbing a cat by the back of the neck, it sort of freezes.  It helps if you're plenty strong to tip the sheep in the first place.  Hmmm... maybe this is where all that talk of cow tipping started!

She started right down the center line...

Princess, Crash and Paco all making sure Esther is not being killed!  (Notice the devoted son got a bit sidetracked by the bag of grain...)

The beginnings of a Fleece.

Look at that beautiful wool!

To restrain Esther when she got nervous, they simply held on to her legs so she couldn't kick and covered her head to minimize the stressors.  I kept trying to jump in and help, but they didn't want the newbie...Plus who would've taken all these great pics?

Roll over Esther, roll over!

Now Paco gets tipsy, I mean tipped!!!

Start all over again, at the center line and out...

I am downloading these in the order I took them.  Now it is Esther's turn to worry that we are killing Paco!  At least she has sense enough to keep the children in a safe corner-ha!

I'm pretty sure my ram had a head when I brought him...doesn't this look terrible?  Again, this is actually the least stressful way to shear them.  The owner of the ranch that I got these guys is gently holding his head back and covering his eyes, to keep him from looking around and getting all freaked out.

You know, I am really disappointed because Paco's wool is spectacular!  Literally some of the nicest wool I've ever seen.  I had previously agreed to not keeping the wool (a little under false pretenses, so next year will be different...)  But, to not even have a better picture of the wondrous fleece that came off this boy is a tad bit of a bummer.  Black wool on sheep is not common, and his is a very high grade at that, this has determined the new goal for my breeding of the next few years.  I have a wonderfully healthy wool herd that I pretty much fell into and I intend to keep the genes strong.

The wool is son nice, as a matter of fact the breeder offered to take both Princess and Esther off my hands.  No cash involved, she wanted to do a trade...We'll see, but right now I've got a good thing going, and until I have to worry about a ram for Princess, I will keep this amazing creature.  Even if we can't find which end is which!

A wonderful day...

So I really had a nice day yesterday.  I had been looking forward to my books arriving all week.  That's right, I said it, my books are here!!!  They are also available at Amazon.com, but I will get to all of that later; that wasn't the only great thing about my day.  The day evolved into a wonderful book welcoming party!  This book has worked that way all along, things have just really flowed when they need to, and if I fight it... I came up against a road block.
As I posted  yesterday, I had a hen in a crate in my garage because she was in The Royal Ranch's version of the ICU.  Well, I was getting ready to take her back up to the barn, which of course got her riled which in turn got the dogs riled.  I was glad to hear her acting like a chicken, but did not want her to get injured in the process of getting her back home to safety.  As per Royal Ranch custom even at 7 am, if things are at all crazy, someone will drop by.  A long time friend stopped in to pay for his kids' and grand-kids' campsites for the big holiday weekend.  With all of the madness, I of course had to explain to him what was going on and he just laughed and new that this was quite typical for our house.  He said "You should write a book".
Llucky Llama, the third proof, is always at hand, and I proudly showed him it and told him that today was the big day!  UPS was supposed to bring my box, etc.  I don't know why me having copies was what made it official, because actually it's been available at Amazon a couple weeks, but this made it tangible, you know?  Well, I'll be damned if he didn't buy three right then and there.  I mean before the box had even arrived, I had sold my first three.  And you know what, the other day, when I was at the feed store, they had heard through the Bailey Day planning committee about the big book signing event about Llucky Llama and they were downright hurt that they don't have any copies on their shelves yet.  My neighbors are asking too.
But, let me get to the best part.  So, I have a dear friend  that I mention quite frequently on this blog, Tiffany.  She is quite a brilliant scientist and not only does she teach our local middle school kids and help me with the recycling program, but she makes these fantastic all natural products.  Her and I slowly became friends through the kids being in her class, and then sadly through the horrific shooting incident that our town endured, and then because of both of our passions to be "green" and to teach our middle schoolers that passion.  Well, anyway, Tiffany has really had a lot of impact on my business and my blog and hopefully we will even teach a class together next year. So, it seemed so very fitting that her and her two wonderful sons were with us when the UPS man drove in the driveway with my first box of books and theirs was the very first book to be autographed.
We had spent the day bartering.  And it was something that we both absolutely love to do.  I ended up with all of these wonderful, all natural, decadent products made by a mad scientist that I could never recreate in my life.  I mean the variety is amazing, like cleaners that will even work on some of my animal messes,and lip balms that smell delicious,  facial scrubs and wonderful moisturizers some with sunscreen (again all natural), and some great eye serum, just to name a few; you've got to check out her Etsy shop!

Not only did we trade for the book, she got to go home with a car smelling of Mother Earth.  We spent the day collecting roses for her rose water, and  a huge box of chamomile for something, I'm not sure what she will concoct with it.  And she got multiple bags of  Naked~Nure and a large bag of loose manure to work into her garden as well.  The boys were most proud that they got to take the eggs that they specifically collected.
We were still celebrating the box and Tiffany and the boys had just left when another neighbor from the cabin stopped by.  He is a Special Ed teacher in Jefferson County and my book is perfect for his students.  Again, the timing was amazing, his wife is an administrator and he kept saying he didn't know we had a celebrity in the neighborhood, it was a total crack-up, but really very complimentary, and hopefully a great contact!
Well, as usual, I got a little side tracked, but my point being is that this book is meant to happen, things just roll with it.  It will bring a smile to your face and I am proud to present it to you.  It sells for $8 anywhere+ shipping and handling of course.  My shipping and handling is $3, on Amazon it's $3.99 for my area.  It isn't available on Barnes and Noble quite yet (I don't know why, it will be soon), but if you'd like to order it from me, I'll save you $.99 in shipping and handling and autograph it for you.  I think PayPal is the best way to handle this at this time, so just either send me a comment on this blog, and I will get back to you, or e-mail me at judy@royalranch.net with your $11 and your request of names for the autograph.

Give the plants a bath

I remember reading about this one time.  You know, I bet it's from my Better Homes & Gardens Houseplants Book, but anyway, I gave a couple of my plants a bath the other day and they really seemed to enjoy it.  No big thank yous or anything, but they do seem to look a little perkier!  Isabella had taken a bath the night before, and you know me, that is an awful lot of water to just go to waste (especially down my very old septic system) so I started watering the outdoor plants with it, then the indoor plants with it and then remembered the bath idea!

Obviously, this will only work with certain plants, but I had a Christmas Cactus, that just got done blooming at Easter (don't ask me!) that was quite dusty and had no loose dirt, so I held the pot upside down and swooshed the greens around in the water and then let it soak for just a minute or two while I grabbed the next plant.  The next was a spider plant, also with no loose dirt, that I just set in the water and rubbed each spider around until it was clean; I have lots of spider plants I did this with and they all seemed to love it!

A couple of precautions; if you are using leftover bath water like I did, make sure that the soap you used was all natural like my girly soap for Bella is.  If not, just use a shallow tub of cool fresh water, they'll love it.  Watch out for loose dirt, this can turn into a big mess if you're not careful, don't be cussing me out while you're cleaning mud out of you're shower, I warned you multiple times-ha!  Actually, this was the fastest and easiest way I have ever come across of cleaning my plants, and they are all very dirty after a winter of burning wood in the house.  Spring is a great time to give those plants that help our house breathe a little easier a good cleaning, go ahead, give it a try!

Royal Ranch Royalty

Happy Easter!  Today I will have my last house full of people for Spring Break, and I can't wait; it is my family!  We are expecting both of my sisters and their families, my parents and even my Grandpa.  I will post some pictures later if I am not too tired.  

This has been a very odd Spring Break for Tom and I; the kids have pretty much ditched us. Tom had taken the time off of work so that we could all go skiing or something, but between my back still recovering and Isabella's whiplash injury, that was out of the question.  So, we thought we would just take day trips, but that never happened because the kids always had bigger and better plans. But, that is the point of a break from school, for the kids to have a great time, and they most definitely have, so who am I to complain?

Aside from keeping the troops fed (they still magically reappear, and multiply at meal time, thankfully), the laundry done, and figuring out which group of kids is going where, I have actually gotten a lot of work done.  Which brings me to this post.  Royal Ranch Royalty, hmmm does The Royal Ranch qualify?  Absolutely!

I have done it!  I have finally gotten all of our new gardening line up and running on our website.   The NakedNure.com has been updated with our new logo and new pictures as well.  I was really quite surprised when I got to work on it, as to how far behind I had become.  I had not even put our fantastic new "Naked Johnny" logo on the site yet, and we all know that is a big deal!

Naked~Nure also has a shop on Etsy that I got updated as well.  If you are not familiar with Etsy, I highly recommend you check it out.  It is a site for all things handmade, and I'm not talking about Grandma's crocheted doilies (you can find those too), I mean some really cool, and earth friendly items that can replace just about anything you were going to buy at another traditional store.  I have my t-shirts, hats,  and wildflower seeds on there as well, so not everything is hand made, just eco-friendly.

I must say, that I had a really good time with the sites this year, as you will see.  In the manure business if you take yourself too seriously, you might end up feeling kind of crappy, I have found out.  Sorry, I couldn't resist.  Two days of taking pictures of, and writing about poop has left my sense of humor with a little to be desired I think.  But, anyway, really, check out the website, and my shop on Etsy because the pictures that are here are the ones that did not make it, the ones on the sites are even better.  And, yes, I'll say it again, I know it is shameless of me to use Crash as a marketing tool, and NO I don't care!!!!!

Have a Hoppy Easter!  And don't forget to watch out for surprises that bunny might have left for you in the yard, I heard they are great for the garden...hey that gives me an idea...gotta run!

Made In USA

Okay folks, this is a road we have traveled down before.  I'm going to take you down it one more time.  I feel very strongly about buying products that are made in the USA whenever possible.  So, that means that when I am selling a product, it is going to be entirely made here in the USA!  Well, that is much easier said than done, now that I am working with suppliers.
As I have mentioned Naked~Nure, my llama manure "tea" bags are under going a change to make it cheaper and more accessible to all gardeners, not just the fad gardeners.  I have found that if I buy muslin bags instead of making the bags myself I can save big time.  The problem is finding the bags made in America, which I did finally accomplish.  I also have mentioned my new line of flower seeds that I have hand selected that will attract my very favorites, Hummingbirds.  Again, I had a hard time finding eco-friendly packaging that is made right here in our wonderful country.  But, with a lot of time and patience, I am the victor!
I've got to tell you one of the most disappointing things has been the sales people that I have dealt with.  Or actually I should say that I haven't dealt with.  I had one company that I could not find a phone number on their website so I e-mailed them twice; the third e-mail told them how I no longer wished to hear from them as I had spent my hard earned money elsewhere.  I informed them that I do not do business with people who do not have a readily available phone number and who does not reply to e-mails in a timely fashion.  Another company, their salesman just never called me back; even after I left the message that I was going to place an order!  But, I digress, the point is, is that I was able to find everything that I wanted, made right here in the Good Old USA!  And, it is all packaging that I will be proud of.  My products are still ones that I can proudly stand behind and I didn't put up with any bull to get them!
In case you are all wondering why I am a little late with my Spring line, you must remember that The Royal Ranch sits at 9,000 feet in elevation.  It is almost impossible for me to wrap my head around Spring right now, whether the calendar says so or not.  You also must remember that these are very new products, just recently invented by us, so we are still getting our feet wet, so to speak.   Our wonderful, environmentally friendly products are just days away, though, so don't spend all of your gardening budget just yet-ha!
I tell you all of this as I am picturing myself laughing and whooping it up yesterday busting up to The Royal Roost through two feet of snow to get it ready for our Spring Break guests that arrive today-I hope.  We got another huge storm last night, so we'll see.  I will try to take the camera with me today when I check them in, because the road is just unbelievable where Tom has plowed, there is a section of road that we have nicknamed the "trough" because that is what it looks like it is so deep with snow!  Living in Colorado is an endless adventure, but the good news is the kids don't have school so I don't have to worry about keeping the dog off of the school bus!

A new catch phrase, and a prize to boot!

Okay people, I was just bragging about your clever, bad selves yesterday!  So here is the challenge; as you know, I am normally not at a loss for words, but for some crazy reason I find myself short on just one or two words, and it is driving me nuts!!!  So, I am offering up one of my brand new Naked~Nure T-shirts as a prize to the person who helps me out.   Friend or foe, family or stranger, I want you all to participate (and I'd love for you to spread the word) in completing my new catch phrase.
So far I have  The Royal Ranch, Celebrating "everyday" Royalty!  It is the "everyday" that I am not happy with.  Maybe I need to back up a couple of steps.  As you know if you have been following this blog, that I am in the middle of starting a new program with my book, Llucky Llama.  I am planning on working with special needs kids as well as doing visits to schools (this will be to fill in the gaps and to hopefully pay a few bills-ha!).  
I am continuing, and changing my line of gardening products with Naked~Nure because we are very committed to these products and know that they can make a huge impact on the environment and that it is a wise business choice.  I also will be keeping my B&B, The Royal Roost open to our guests because we enjoy having them so much. Because our pack llamas enjoy their jobs so much, we will continue to pack in the fall.  And, I of course, will still be committed to being "green"!  Whew, I get tired just thinking of it....no, not really!
The point is, is that over the years, I have taken in all of these odd ball animals.  And, needless to say, I am a rather oddball gal myself, which I am rather proud of.  That is the whole point of the middle word not fitting.  I want to celebrate these kids', and these animals', and this world and environment's differences with royalty and style!  Celebrating Individualism with Royalty?  Celebrating _______ in Royalty?  I'm waiting people, give me what you got!  And, sorry to say, obviously this is a very subjective contest, no rules apply, anyone is eligible, the more entries the better, please blog about it if you want, and I'll give you until Friday at noon (mst).  Good luck and thanks for your help!

Speaking of Reviews...

Field of Crocuses

Have any of you seen the show Shark Tank (ABC Fridays I think)?  It really is a great show; there are five big investors and people come on with their inventions and try to get the "Sharks" to invest in their products and or companies.  We've watched it a few times as a family, and with being a young entrepreneurial family ourselves it is really very interesting.  It is also hysterical to see some of the crazy characters and products that come on.  But not all of them are crazy, many of them look very promising and have the "Sharks" fighting over them.
So, anyway, I hear that there was a couple on the show that was doing something with llama manure and had a patent on it.  I of course got a chill down my spine and made a mental note to search for the show and make sure to watch it.  Well, that was as far as it went until yesterday when Tom went to work and the big deal was that over the weekend a couple of guys had seen a product like ours on the show and there was a patent etc.  The guys at the shop know what an even keeled fella my husband really is, so when they can get a rise out of him they will.  Tom called me in a panic of course and it took me all of 30 seconds on my computer to find out what fantastic news this was for our Naked~Nure!
This is what Dane Carlson's Business Opportunity's Blog had to say about it:
The biggest stumbling point for Phil and Adia is a large cost of educating the public that llama fertilizer is superior to other forms of fertilizer. Their evaluation of their business was crazy, a single llama costs about $1000, the sharks could buy 125 llamas and open up their own fertilizer business for that investment. All sharks were out.
I have found that educating the public about the wonders of our fantastic llama manure has been a tad bit of a stumbling block as well.  But them being on national TV sure went a long way in advertising the benefits of llama manure.  As far as their provisional patent, that is on their specific product only, which is Llama Brew, the tea that is brewed once you mix the llama beans with water.  Why you want to pay for the water, I'm not quite sure, but that's just me the owner of the other company.  I also was a little bit uncomfortable with a product that is being sold as environmentally friendly in a plastic bottle, whether it is a recycled plastic bottle or not, again I'm just sayin'.  The other curious thing was the $1000/llama; I have not paid for a llama in many years.  There are many llamas out there that are in need of homes, just like other rescue animals.  All of this only makes things better for Naked~Nure and what is ahead. 
We have made a lot of changes to our packaging to make our product a lot cheaper!  If there is one thing that I have learned in my years of business, and that is to take a cue from your customers and your own personal experiences.  Although my hand sewn bags were quite cute and sturdy, they took a lot of time and materials, like the zippers for the burlap bags, so the costs of the bag alone was quite high.  Well, I have come across some great muslin bags, of course made right here in the good old USA that will serve the purpose just as well, will cost us all much less, will still be just as environmentally friendly and will keep more Americans than myself working!  I will still offer "batches" of the smaller size in my handmade bags as a gift set or if you buy a certain amount, but I am really wanting to keep my product inexpensive and cheap enough for anyone and everyone to buy.  I am also saving all of my feed sacks so that I will be able to sell my manures in bulk as well.
It's funny, when we originally came up with Naked~Nure we looked into a patent and we were told that it was a hard thing to patent, llama poop.  There are just so many ways to spin the product, and we are already seeing that.  As a matter of fact we are only going into our second year of business and are making pretty drastic changes to our product, I'm rather glad we didn't waste the huge amount of money!
It's already almost the middle of February the Spring winds will be here soon.  The crocuses will be poking their furry little heads up soon!  Don't forget to spread the word....ha!!!