Westhill Alpacas

A visit from two big birds

2012-02-15T11:26:00.000-08:00

I had rather a shock when I went out in the garden this morning - -

The cats also had rather a shock and dashed off to hide in Amber's basket for the rest of the day!

Sam had the day off work - his first full day since Christmas - so I let him stay in bed but he was still up by 8am and we had a very productive day poo collecting (there was rather a lot), moving his sheep and trying to sort out the bottom track which had such amazing ruts in it that even the Mule was beginning to bottom out. Thanks to the Wellground roller it is now much better.

Ken gets a top

2012-02-12T12:35:00.000-08:00

Still frozen on the hill this morning. Everywhere else was defrosting nicely but we still had snow. Alpacas and sheep in the distance!

After we had done the animals Carl had an assignation with two young Forest nymphs. He went to collect the Truckman top for Ken The Truck - they kindly carried it round for him (possibly fitted it as well) and then they returned to their painstaking poo collection, hay clearing, paddock maintenance. . . .

Meanwhile I did some poo collection with Sam who got back from work early. This was good as he can actually reverse the Poo Picker into awkward corners.

Once all the work was done Carl returned having sorted out his hands free kit, set up his climate control, turned what was a deer on the side of the truck into what he calls an alpaca - looks more like a deer with out any antlers to me. Here is the truck before top was added.

And. . a small puzzle this morning - who are Di and Mick and why do they carry cuttings of snippets from the blog?!!!

Ken's Wagon arrives

2012-02-11T13:52:00.000-08:00

It has been another busy, cold day today. The snow appears to have almost gone everywhere around here - except in our fields. Carl had to drill a hole through the ice in the barrels which collect the water from the barn roof. It was the only way we could get the pump in to pump water into the Bowser. This slowed us up a bit but we still managed to body score everyone and trim a few feet - much easier when the ground is hard. Last night we were late back as we went over to collect the new (pink) truck and Carl spent half the afternoon with my hairdryer getting the old sign writing off. We then went over to collect Sam (his bike is fine but we wanted to do a little detour on the way back to show him something).

No I am having a sit down with a bag of Maltesers and I will get a photo or two for tomorrow (including the Truck - named Ken)

Stuck to the ground

2012-02-09T11:15:00.000-08:00

Flippin freezing here and I am having Mule problems. Yesterday, I kid you not, my Mule was welded to the ground. I left the hand brake off the night before to stop that freezing up but didn't give a thought to the tyres freezing. First there was mud and then when that froze the Mule was stuck. I had to carry water and hay round by foot and was revving and rolling the Mule spasmodically in the hope that I could unstick it before I had to get to the top of second for the sheep. Eventually, with the aid of my spiked fence post we finally succeeded. I have to be a little careful with the fence post as the day before I had been pounding at the water drinkers to defrost them and the spike went right through the bottom of one.

Today things got even more dire as the Poo Picker froze to the ground and this I could not free - despite carefully ramming it up the back with the Mule. I think the tyres are frozen to the body as well (via a layer of mud).

Our neighbour has just told us snow is forecast so I am not looking forward to the journey tomorrow!

Ahh! And house number 2 looks highly unlikely despite an evening playing with helicopters!

Cute baby alpacas (not!)

2012-02-07T09:34:00.000-08:00

The challenge for this morning was nice fluffy, cute baby pictures. I rose to the challenge, I crawled around, made mad clucking noises, sat patiently - all to no avail. They either found a desperate need to poo or wee, had their ears down or spat at each other. I have some fantastic poo shots, bottom shots, top of the ear shots and that is about it!

Trouble with ears firmly down and Yossarian looking like a demented seal. Bea and String have just trampled a new bale waiting to go in the rack (mine all seem to love pawing hay and rolling in the spillages)

And finally Bea and String with filthy little beards!

Tomorrow is another day! It is getting a lot colder here so I have wrapped up lots of barrells of water in the hay which will hopefully prevent it freezing overnight.

Talking to Elvis

2012-02-06T11:23:00.000-08:00

W have had a bit of an absence from the blog for various complicated reasons. Life has been full of ups and downs and we range from manic hilarity to hunchback gloom. However, as we are currently on a shaky high, I'd better do a bit of a catch up blog!

The animals are all doing well despite a shaky start to the year. Can't remember if I mentioned but routine sampling showed Greeves had a fantastically high count for cocci. He showed no signs whatsoever - lovely little poos, body score good, lively. We drenched him and have also had a sample sent to Baycox to try to determine the type of cocci we are dealing with (some are not supposed to be pathogenic) and then we will be able to make a plan!

We had one day and night of snow which was luckily at the weekend. Luckily, as it meant Carl could drive up and down the hill! The hill was, as usual, very exciting with Ladies stuck, tractor jackknifing, 4x4 spinning and a poor lone young lady wandering around. We did a bit of escorting down the hill, rescuing a damsel and standing around shaking heads with complete strangers and by the next day it was gone. I had to hide water in the hay as it froze quicker than I could get it round but now we are back to mud. Here is the snow arriving with Cassie hurrying for the shelter while Lily lies there looking annoyed and Sherbert continues to eat!

And here are the sheep - bothered about nothing except their hay!

House hunting was very depressing and we had started scrapping the bottom of the barrel and then we suddenly found a real possibility - slightly challenging location for the main fields but a distinct possibility, investigations ongoing on that one. We had a quick trip to see Red Van Man on Saturday to catch up on news and then dashed back to pay a visit to do some toe nails for some boys we had sold before Christmas and in amongst that we had a phone call with some information on another property (like buses - you wait ages and then . . ). This one is interesting but not without it's difficulties - ongoing research there!

Sunday night was Chinese with Elvis which was a totally surreal experience! First time we have been out for ages which was very nice and left us feeling more as if we were normal people (well. as normal as you can feel when Elvis has been crooning away next to you whilst eating noodles with a black bean sauce).

Sam has finally got a motorbike which appears to be reliable and which, despite falling off in the snow, he enjoys riding. He also had Sunday afternoon off and spent most of it cuddling Bianca and Sapphire (his alpacas)!

Now I have just about, and very reluctantly, put my little ones on the sales page and on alpaca seller - just got to try and get better photos tomorrow - then we have 2 days poo picking waiting.

I'll be back as soon as I can, hopefully tomorrow and will hopefully soon have news of what is happening! In the mean time I am going to read everyone else's blogs this evening as I have a lot of catching up to do!

Worms and cocci

2012-01-14T12:10:00.000-08:00

Cold, frosty and an early start again as Sam's moped still not working!

I had the results of the faecal counts through this evening and Bert has a low cocci count. The vet says it is low but she is still showing signs of a tummy ache so she will have a Baycox tomorrow. Trouble was a shock - I sampled her as well as she still seems to need a bottle and is not thin - but not a proper body score. High cocci count for her - very high in fact. Baycox for her tomorrow. Then Sherbert she had a high count of worms - Trichuris which I hadn't heard of before - she is getting a five day course of Panacur. Harry had no count for anything at all - thank goodness!

So - tomorrow you can tell what we will be doing . . and I shall be doing more samples later in the week.

Bert, breakdowns and a bit of advise

2012-01-13T08:32:00.000-08:00

Last night Sam broke down on his way home - luckily, a very kind man stopped, put his moped in the back of his van and brought him all the way home! I hope very many nice thing happen for him!

Carl didn't have time last night to help Sam fix the moped so it was an early start to take him to work. I didn't mind as I was keen to check on Bert as soon as possible. Bert seems okay today so maybe it was a fuss about nothing - we'll see if anything shows up in the sample I took into the vets.

First proper frosty start to the day today and I did something I am quite proud of - I rolled Grace! I am not very good at rolling the sheep - usually I do more rolling than the sheep do but today Grace was limping rather badly and she would not stand still while I lifted her feet. I had a go, expecting to fail, but over she went without a struggle and sat there while I checked her feet. I couldn't see any sign of anything nasty but her feet where packed with mud which had frozen so I think that may have been the problem.

I did a little halter training in the afternoon. Trouble will now walk a few paces, Yossarian only 'died' once but Greeves still will not move. Even when I take the halter off he does not move - just stands there for a minute and then resumes eating!

Finally - a little advise! I have discovered a great nail varnish which lasts and lasts despite tyre inflating, poo collecting, feet cleaning . . . The only problem is nail varnish remover does not seen to remove it and I resorted to slowly chewing it off. Having cleared only one nail in a week I gave up and went to the Nail Lady this morning where it was removed and replaced - so, the advice? Be very careful when choosing the colour of your long lasting nail varnish. Barbie pink with sparky glitter in it looks jolly in the week before Christmas but faintly ridiculous by January 13th!!

Axle, Bert. . . Whatever next?

2012-01-12T09:32:00.000-08:00

The blog has been a little lacking as I have had a cold and a liaison with the dentist - which I wish to forget about!

I have finally had the results from the post mortem on Axle. Some samples were sent away to VLA for further tests as the vet had noted a reddened area of the stomach and she queried whether this might be one of the clostridia diseases not covered by Lambivac. She did get a worm egg count but not hugely high. This was concerning as I had only wormed in October. There was no evidence of coccidia which was another thing I thought might have caused a problem. He did have a Baycox the week before he died so it may have been that was present but gone before the PM. Any way, no evidence of other clostridia found by VLA so it wasn't that. We decided that he was weak and underweight so the worms effected him badly and the mild winter has not helped my worming regime. They have all been wormed since and I am taking some samples in for testing tomorrow. Always I like to learn something from a death like this and try to convince myself that I could not have done more - but in this case, I think I could have done more and should have had a sample of his poo tested earlier. I shall try to learn from this experience.

My biggest worry now, though, is Bert. I went into Blandford this morning after doing the hay and water (picked up a parking ticket as well - which I could kick myself about as I did the same thing as I did before Christmas - got a ticket for half an hour when I should have got an hour) and when I came back I checked everyone was okay. Bert was standing bu the gate and I went over to give her a rub on the neck which she enjoys. As I did this she lay down and my first thought was - she's not pregnant - but then she rolled sideways and lay with her legs out grumbling. It seems like she has a tummy ache so I stood around in the rain for ages waiting for a poo sample and am hoping she will pick up by tomorrow - I really don't want anything to happen to Bert! Here she is in the summer!

A little more success!

2012-01-08T10:56:00.000-08:00

Off early this morning for a very nice visit to see the three little boys we sold before Christmas. They are living in the lap of luxury! Little hillocks to stand on, a fantastic field shelter - which they actually use, lots of attention - and they are thriving on it! We checked nails and gave vitamins and were sad to say goodbye to them (we'll be back in a month to follow up!).

Then it was back for a little poo collecting and clearing of field shelters which was greatly hampered by some of the girls!

Emily, Cassie, Bianca and Carolyn exercising their jaws!

Carl and I then decided to have a quick go with Yossarian and Greeves on their halters. I had Greeves who still would not walk but did shuffle along with a bit of a push. Yossarian was a surprise as today, despite yesterday's fiasco, he was not bad at all! We did not 'die' once and actually managed a bit of a walk. Carl is pretty big headed about this and says it is due to his influence - I am giving him Greeves next time!

And finally, an early morning shot of Flemenco who had spotted something dodgy in the hedgerow.

Halter Training - not as you know it!

2012-01-07T11:47:00.000-08:00

Sam had his first driving lesson yesterday - and really enjoyed it. I have to book his theory test for him now and next week he is having a two hour lesson - if he can get the time off!

The last two days have been lovely and DRY which means the mud has been drying and moving around in the field is much easier. Sam also had this afternoon off so we decided to get going with the halter training. Now if you have not halter trained alpacas before take note first that this is NOT how it is done! Read elsewhere for impeccably behaved alpacas being halter trained!

We started with Trouble - the bottle fed (Bert's baby) and Bea (Belinda's baby). Both of them were not bothered about having their halters on, being held or halter adjustment. They stood beautifully - and that was the problem! They continued to stand beautifully and flatly refused to move! My normal - ratchet, ratchet, ratchet technique had no effect, nor did a shove from behind! So there we stood for a good 5 minutes!

Time to move on to the next two - Greeves and Yossarian. Again - no problem to walk up to and catch, no problem with halter on or adjustment. Greeves was marginally better as he did move, kind of - but more of a shuffle than a walk! He looks okay when we are standing still!

Yossarian, however, was the worst ever! And we were considering he might be our entree into the show circuit this year - maybe one little show with him and another youngster to be decided? I think not! He did move - a few paces and then either jumped in the air and slammed down on his side of just collapsed sideways! In both cases he then lay silently feigning dead! Spike got quite concerned about him!

And if you can bear to wait for it to download here he is in action!

And - yes- I know his halter has slipped down his nose!

Funny Face

2012-01-05T11:19:00.000-08:00

Very windy again today and pretty scary up in second! I was feeding the sheep when a big gust blew Two Tone over sideways and sent a bale of hay tumbling up the hill! I nearly followed but clung onto the hay feeder where I became aware of a odd clanging noise. Looking up I could see the pylon moving at the top - looked pretty dodgy to me and I am sure it doesn't normally move like that - I shall ring the electric board in the morning and tell them their pylon is swaying. Luckily, the wind has now died down. Then I went to Tesco - and it was closed! A power cut, so I went to Morrisons - and it was closed. Same reason so I went back to Tesco which was, fortunately, open by then - a good thing as Trouble was out of Goats' milk. She had been on Lamblac and was weaned but she seemed to still need a bottle so she is back to one a day. Goats milk now as I ran out of Lamblac.

Thank you from Sam for all the good wishes for his birthday. He was invited to a party last night but it didn't start until 10pm and he is in bed by 9pm!!

Today I thought I would do some photos of Dude who normally poses quite nicely but today he kept pulling silly faces!

The Quest begins!

2012-01-04T07:16:00.000-08:00

Time has really flown since my last blog - another new year already (Happy New Year to all!). Carl had a week off over Christmas so we got lots done - moved animals (it was supposed to be just the youngsters, the Thinnies and Little Star but somehow Lina managed to slip in unnoticed and then refused to move out of the nice new field), made track a little less dodgy, re sheeted barn, moved field shelters . . . Felt quite proud of ourselves really . . and then it got a trifle windy! Half one field shelter roof peeled off (almost - now ratchet strapped down), Dude's shelter shifted itself a whole one foot to the right (now pegged down again) and the barn sheeted turned into an enormous sale and ripped asunder!The view across third field does not quite show the wind and rain we were having.

But I think the look on Sapphire's face says it all - she spent most of yesterday hiding behind the field shelter!

I have been poo collecting as if my life depended on it as I had got a bit behind - almost caught up now. I had to have a quick break from it this morning in order to fit in a long overdue visit to the library van and a visit to the Flower Lady.

And today is Sam's birthday - 17! Which means he can now commence his quest for a driving licence! First lesson this Friday!

Sprouts

2011-12-26T12:28:00.000-08:00

It's really quite amazing quite how quickly Christmas comes and goes!

Christmas Day held no particular major disasters for us. Carl discovered that 1 Brussel sprout is 1 too many for his digestive system and the scented candles went into overdrive during the evening! Christmas dinner preparation was fairly hectic and hit a bit of a low when I burnt the parsnips but all was saved by good company and a tasty bird - how I got bread sauce in my hair is a mystery.

But, of course, a real highlight of Christmas Day had to be a surprise entry on the Festive Field Shelter (very loosely interpreted) theme entitled 'Festive Hay Bar’ by Mrs C Rackers of Warrenfield Alpackers

A very happy Christmas to all!

2011-12-24T08:11:00.000-08:00

All is now, almost done! Just the electric fence to go on, the chickens to lock up, Sam to get back from work, a stocking to fill and then we can relax!

The cats are already relaxing - asleep on Sam's bed!

The dog is in a state of nerves and keeps dragging presents out from the tree - luckily she is just staring longingly at them and not actually unwrapping!

The alpacas are looking expectant - but probably only for carrots!

Lots of mud this year - as you can see but at least it has made getting to the fields easier. Strangely everyone else's paddocks look far cleaner! Take a look at this marvellous mud free Festive field shelter in France! Brilliant Judi!
http://lagrand-mere.blogspot.com/2011/12/festive-field-shelter.html

Jayne has gone for the Decorate an alpaca and human look - do take a look at the magnificent golden moustache!! Not on Jayne, I hasten to add!!!!
http://zanzibahalpacas.blogspot.com/2011/12/merry-christmasfrom-zanzibah-land.html

So, a very happy Christmas to you all - and thank you for reading!!

Nearly Christmas!

2011-12-22T08:11:00.000-08:00

As usual, Christmas has come upon me! I have iced the cake, bought and wrapped the presents but I still have to clean the house, buy some food and find clothes which are not covered in mud. That will, however, have to wait until the sheep have been moved, alpaca food bought, new hay rack constructed for Bert (she broke the old one). I think she feels a little sorry about it - or maybe she is just planning her next misdemeanour (Zara is in the backgound, looking grumpy because she can't quite get the hang of carrots and keeps dropping them).

I left out Bert's legs as they are filthy and she looks pretty clean at the top. Long distance shots also seem to work in this weather - Here is Greeves.

And finally - Trouble, Bert's baby. She has recovered from whatever was wrong with her but I have gone back to giving her a night time bottle. I relented as I was so worried she was going to expire on me!

And, talking of gorgeous young ladies, for a better idea than my rather weak attempt at a Festive field shelter go to - http://beckbrowalpacas.blogspot.com/2011/12/have-gorgeous-christmas.html

Festive Field (?) Shelters

2011-12-18T12:07:00.000-08:00

I had better start by explaining my alpaca tragedy of last week - thank you all for your kind comments and emails. I went over to the fields first thing and as I climbed over the gate I could see a small white bundle in one of the field shelters. I knew it was not going to be good. I ran down as fast as I could and was just in time to catch Axle breathing his last breath. Bianca was with him - but only because there was hay there I think. It was very upsetting as he had been lively the day before and, although he was small and thin, he appeared quite happy. It was then a trip to the vets for the post mortem. The vet phoned back later that day to say his heart, lungs and everything else where very healthy. His stomach contents were all as they should be so he was eating well. She was running some more tests with the VLA as there was a suspicion of one of the clostridial diseases being present - but not one covered by lambivac. We are waiting the results on that so will keep you posted. Despite him being wormed a month a go she also found a small quantity of what she called a particularly nasty stomach worm - one not seen often and which could kill very quickly. I have forgotten its name so will have to wait for the report for that. Very sad but have to put it behind us now and just learn from it. One thing we have done is worm the whole herd again today even though they were done a month ago. The wet, mild conditions are not good for this time of year.

The worming experience nearly turned into a complete disaster this afternoon - I hope all is well now but I am still a little on edge! Half the girls, including Trouble the bottle fed, were down by the barn ready. Now they love it in the barn - but, due to the amount of hay in there, calling it a barn experience is a bit over the top as there is only about 6 foot square of floor space. Anyway - it is dryish and they love to roll on the floor when all the fields are wet and their rolling pits are soaked. I was standing at the side filling the needles ready with some vitamin D while Carl sorted out the wormer and, as usual, Trouble was fussing next to me. Sherbert dashed in for a massive roll and kicked me in the process. That was not the disaster, however, Trouble also got caught by a flying foot. She was a bit fussy all the time we did injections but seemed okay. We put them back and I got everything ready for the creation of a festive field shelter. Half way through Trouble came into the shelter crying and started rolling on her side, kicking her legs around and crying. I sat down on the floor to look at her and she sat next to me but on her side, still crying. This continued for quite a while with her walking and then suddenly dropping to the ground and lying on her side. She seems okay now but I wonder whether she was kicked in the ribs or stomach and has a pain. It seems sensitive on one side but nowhere near the injection site. This did slightly take the shine off the Festive Field Shelter and it all ended up as a mere shadow of what was planned!

Now I am sorry that I appear in it - not as planned - but this is just after Trouble had been sitting sideways with me crying. And in this one I have just shed tear as I thought I was suddenly going to lose Trouble!!

This is supposed to be a Festive blog, which means it should not be a catalogue of disaster! So I am very grateful to Mr and Mrs Mustafbinat Theslowjin for sending me this delightful late entry - the fact that it is not in a field and is only big enough for a domestic cat is totally immaterial! First class entry showing creativity, artistic use of clippings, enviable bunch of mistletoe and highly trained cat!

The only way is up?

2011-12-14T05:56:00.000-08:00

When you have a series of unfortunate events you tend to think - things can only get better. Sadly, that is not true and today we had an alpaca tragedy. It really was very upsetting, so I'll wait till next week and then return with a festive field shelter blog.

Come on Barbie, Let's go Party

2011-12-10T09:50:00.000-08:00

We needed to be up and out early this morning as we had an appointment to help with feet and vitamins and our animals needed sorting first. All seemed to be going to plan except there was ice on the water which needed breaking and the hay in the barn was collapsing a bit after the high winds. In the end this meant we were a trifle late for our appointment but it was a fun morning meeting old friends - including the enormous young boy who is Carl's particular friend - I fear the feeling is not quite mutual and Carl did get a rather hefty kick in an area he did not want me to check out for him!

All done and we headed off to the Marines to take a look at the pink truck. It is only pink in a certain light and I think it is officially known as Shiraz - or that is what the hefty builder who is selling it calls it! After a bit of toing and froing over prices it looks like we may be soon driving around in the Barbie Truck! I can't really understand how we keep talking about reducing vehicles and yet we own more and more - the D-Bat, the original moped, the current truck and Uncle Festa all MUST go!

An Encounter with a Traffic Warden

2011-12-09T08:14:00.000-08:00

Yesterday I took Mum into Stur to do some of her Christmas shopping. I parked in the car park and got, I thought, a ticket for 2 hours. I thought wrong! I ambled back to the car while Mum went in the Coop only to see a traffic warden photographing my car. Charged over, bags flying and told him how incredibly stupid I was - thought I had got a 2 hour ticket and resignedly prepared to take the ticket and pay the fine. But no, he wished me Happy Christmas and said it was fine!!

The wind was strong last night and the sheets have blown off the barn - no where near the northern weather though and I am hoping all is well up there. I have been flitting between fields and house trying to think about both animals and Christmas at the same time - not working very well. Bert had a very sleepy day. I think either the wind kept her up or she has been spending too much time preparing for Christmas!

The three little girls are only into rear end photos at the moment - String, Bea and Slink, Bea has a red spot on her leg so I can tell which is her and which is String!

And poor Yossarian has finally settled with the boys!

All in Pink . . .

2011-12-07T10:55:00.000-08:00

Carl has a heavy cold - in fact he is at death's door - in fact how he managed to eat all his tea is beyond me. Despite this he has suddenly cheered up due to having been offered the possibility of a new truck. I have not agreed yet but this has not stopped him enumerating all of its virtues - chief amongst them appears to be the fact that it is pink! He has told me it is pink several times now and all I really want to know is how much the tax and insurance will be and where he intends to keep it whilst getting rid of the old truck (I don't think there is anything wrong with the old truck except that you have to get out and fiddle with the wheels to get it in and out of four wheel drive). We will see . .

Bert had a bit of a paddy tonight. She was hoping to have carrots as she had seen me giving the other girls some this afternoon. When I went in she jumped up and came sniffing around only to get very disappointed when she saw I was just cleaning out the water trough. I cleaned and refilled and - I am sure this was deliberate - she went over and tipped it up!

Axle is still a midget (skinny is the worst thing) and I cannot find the stuff I was recommended - sounds a bit like codeine, I think, and apparently it is used in Australia to help with growth issues. Any ideas?

Axle is at the front with Trouble, the bottle fed, behind.

Gloomy Outlook

2011-12-06T06:54:00.000-08:00

A tragic occurrence in the village in the early hours of Sunday morning meant the road through Ibberton was closed for much of the day - we could still see smoke from the hill at lunchtime. Sam stayed in bed for much of the day but was up and back to work, still snuffling, on Monday.

The sheep have now all had their feet checked and trimmed. They have also been moved back into pylon paddock - their favourite as it means they can rub against the pylon and lie in the stingers, something they thoroughly enjoy for some reason!

The weather has now turned colder but a wet, drizzly cold - not a nice crisp cold. Carl and Sam have been working on mud prevention which has involved the tractor and their new bucket. Not sure how successful the plan is - not sure they are either!

Talking dogs and investment opportunities

2011-12-03T12:42:00.000-08:00

It has been a busy day today and we have only just got back. Sam is now ill, he has a horrible cold and is curled up on the settee sniffing and moaning. He didn't finish work until six and has been working every day for weeks - I think he has just got thoroughly run down. It looks like tomorrow he may have to give up and languish in bed!

We were off early to start the day with a bit of car dealing - thankfully we are now one car down and it is only Uncle Festa who is still lurking, waiting to be removed as he does have a new owner. Further negotiations meant we now have a trifle more room in the barn which was good as I then had to get the girls in for their check over. Flem had a bit more work on the abscess and Axle had a bit of poking and prodding.

It was then a quick trip out and that was quite an eye opener. We went to look at a possible investment - and bumped into Andy and Viv from Reddingvale at the same time. I think both Viv and I were quite speechless over this 'investment opportunity', Carl definitely warmed to it and Andy was in his element! Coffee afterwards (and I have never before heard a dog say 'Mumma' so convincingly) - I have a feeling Andy could be a late entrant to the Festive Field Shelter competition, he was rather coy over the form of decoration he might be using but there was a certain competitive gleam in his eye!

We then raced back to do the sheep feet but some visitors in the late afternoon meant that sheep feet is a job for tomorrow.

I will take a photo tomorrow - I did aim to do some today and had a lovely shot lined up of Cassie charging straight for me in search of apple - she has a real turn of speed for a lady of mature years - only to find at the critical moment that I had forgotten to insert the camera card.

Festive Field Shelters

2011-12-01T08:37:00.000-08:00

Okay, the gauntlet is down! The Festive Field Shelter competition is on! I have tentative interest! Barbara queried who the judge would be and I have considered contacting the great and good of the alpaca world but fear rejection. Maybe a prospective judge will materialise, and as to prizes - there aren't any!! But you could use the photo on your Christmas cards next year. We can just post our photos in the week before Christmas and see what we get! I am considering a Mary and Joseph in the stable alpaca theme - Carl said this would be inappropriate but I don't see why. My brother, who is now a Baptist Minister, once performed the nativity with his teddies and, despite Mary's dress continually falling off and her giving birth to a panda, it was reasonably tasteful and got the message over (mind you he was about 4 at the time). So, festive field shelter photos the week before Christmas - chickens allowed! (there are no rules but then as there is no judge and no prizes this is probably immaterial). Ah, and do not leave your field shelter unattended and remove everything immediately or who knows what disaster may strike.

On to more serious matters, it is pouring with rain and no one will let little Axle in the field shelter. He may have to have a coat on - which is what I am going to try to do now, find his coat!

Getting in the spirit

2011-11-30T08:18:00.000-08:00

I woke up in a very happy mood today, for no apparent reason and despite the fact that I am no longer on the property ladder. I decided to embrace the mud today (not literally) and revel in its multi-faceted splendour! I was not even dismayed when some of my Christmas decorations got splattered and fell off (I have festooned the Mule for the festive season - rather early I know). I would like to recommend a blogger competition for the most festive field shelter but maybe that is not wise from a health and safety aspect (not sure whether I mentioned Carl's current preoccupation with Bonn Mots? Apologies if you already know this but his current one, an old favourite, is 'Clean as you go' which is highly annoying but marginally better than 'Strive to Improve'!).
So here is my festive Mule - I shall wait a little before unveiling the festive field shelter (well, I haven't done it yet). It did look a bit better at the start of the day.

The cats have now settled down and have started going outside. They don't go out much, in fact they rather turn their noses up at outside at the moment - no where as much fun as the field. They do like exploring the house though, particularly Little Wee who has a fascination with leads and the log pile!

Yes, the table is really a plant stand and it is in sore need of a polish.

Bugatti Veyron Super Sports

2011-11-29T11:11:00.000-08:00

Very windy today and the feed bucket blew out of my hand - full of feed of course - and careered down the hill, chased by Bianca (one way of getting her to run I suppose!). The sheep were very naughty. It is good to have them very friendly most of the time but when I am taking hay in and they are all pushing and shoving me it is not quite so pleasant - I ended up drenched and in the mud! I was told that if you smile at sheep they like it so have been grinning inanely at them for a while now. I am not sure if that has made them very friendly or it is just that they are so used to me but they do stare at me in a very quizzical fashion.

I took pity on Trouble this afternoon, the bottle fed, as it was so horrible in the fields. I made her up a little bottle but she only really drank half of it. I think she just likes a bit of a chat every now and again!

The worst thing of all at the moment is the mud - acres of it - and I have lots of toenails that need doing. This is what I dream of at the moment not a Veyron, it would only get stuck in the mud, http://barnacre-alpacas.blogspot.com/2011/11/counting-sheep.html !!!
A barn with a concrete floor!

Sorting by Size

2011-11-28T07:41:00.000-08:00

This morning there was ice on the troughs - first time this year. It was only thin ice but shows it is getting a bit colder. Of course back at the rental house it was much milder and there wasn't the strong wind that I had on the hill.

Yesterday we did a bit of sorting out of alpacas and I have now split the girls into the skinny ones and the fatties. The skinnies are on the best grass with extra rations and the fatties are sulking! Bianca is particularly annoyed about having a little less food and having to walk up hill to get it - in fact her double chin went into serious wobble and her gigantic thighs trembled as she shook the earth pounding her way up hill!

Dude is seriously happy as he is now at the top of the hill with girls in whichever direction he looks!

I caught myself this morning planning who to mate to next year - not even got these babies out yet! Trouble is I am longing to try out Greeves - even if he does need a step ladder!

The daftest woman around - probably!

2011-11-24T11:29:00.000-08:00

I cannot believe how stupid I am sometimes - all day searching for the raddle, wondering around with pen and paper writing down the ear tags of anyone Rammy looked keen on - only to have Sam tell me amongst howls of laughter, that Rammy never has had a raddle on this year - The Shepherd painted his chest in the manner of The Victorian Farm! I could have sworn he had a raddle on - and I spend a lot of time looking at him - ah well! I think his painted bit has worn off anyway as no one else is getting marked, even number 10 despite me seeing him get on her.

Having made that mammoth mistake I have been keeping a low profile today - spending a lot of time on the telephone and the computer!

A bit of leg sucking

2011-11-23T10:20:00.000-08:00

This morning I had to scrape the car! First time this winter. It turned out quite nice - a bit cold but no rain or mist. I have had one catastrophe today - Rammy has lost his raddle and I can't find it. They are not in a very big paddock and I walked all over it - but no raddle! Now I have no idea who is still to be done - number 10 has been because I watched and it was all a bit of a non event - Number 10 ate throughout and took not a blind bit of notice, it was also pretty quick. Last year an alpaca ear tag came out and I still haven't found part of it. Someone said maybe the birds took it - must be a flippin great bird if it took the raddle as well!

Back to my current preoccupation with midgets - Axle is now just over 3and a half months old and he is still little - but also thin. He is, however, very lively - here he is prior to running over and attempting to jump on Trouble. Trouble is the first with Flem to the front - she has the abscess.

I don't know whether you can see it but he also has very runny eyes. I am investigating a growth supplement I was told about to see if this might help him.
Trouble is now not having her bottle and she has gone back to sucking on Bert's leg. This is what she did as a cria - Bert has never had any milk whatsoever but all her babies seem to suck on her front leg!

The Midget?

2011-11-22T11:15:00.000-08:00

Another murky, grey damp day today and all alpacas are looking like drowned rats!

I keep thinking Greeves is still tiny - Here is a rear end view - the only way Greeves would face today.

Here is his best friend, Harry - a perfectly normal size alpaca -

And here they are together. Greeves is looking a much better size now I think and it is partly my imagination that makes him seem such midget!

Counting Arnolds

2011-11-20T12:34:00.000-08:00

Having travelled 1268 miles in the last 48 hours I am somewhat not with it and this is a quick blog.

Despite being tired we managed microchipping this morning, something Carl does as I do not like the size of the needle. I also checked over all the babies and tackled Flem's abscess which is pussing up again so I obviously have not got it clear yet.

Grace, the Southdown, had a slight limp so Sam trimmed her feet and sprayed them - there was the beginning of foot rot but we have, I think, caught it quickly.

Now I have a busy day tomorrow as the livestock trailer has to be cleared out and cleaned (it is currently home to approximately 24 boxes of Christmas decorations) and I need to catch up on a bit of John Deereing around the electric fence - plus, of course, collect little poo!

. . . and I know the blog title means nothing to anyone but me - But Arnold has to be a very wealthy man!

Tiger Feet

2011-11-17T08:05:00.000-08:00

The girls are getting used to the new routines and as soon as they hear the Mule start up there is an expectant charge to the gate - whether it is feeding time or not. I can always pick out Bert from miles away as she is the one with the red ear tag which looks rather like a fetching little bow!
I have decided that, this weather, long distance shots are probably for the best! The chickens also quick off the mark when they sense feed might be around.

Tracks all muddy again so I am back into sideways sliding on the top corner - mind you, since I have had the new tyres it does not happen so often. The worst of mud is that it gets everywhere and the more you try to scrape it off the more it just gets distributed elsewhere.

Rammy has been busy

2011-11-16T07:28:00.000-08:00

The weather has certainly turned colder - on the hill! At the rental house it is pretty mild outside and subtropical in the house. We tried out the woodburner the other day but had to then open all windows due to the heat. On the hill it is back to coats, jumpers and, the only thing that keeps my feet warm, alpaca socks. The flower lady is busy knitting more so I can get the shop going again (it disappeared in the move and I have decided to start again).

The Ram has been very busy and I have lots of red marks on various sheep from the Raddle. For each sheep it is a faint, tasteful mark - except Stumpy who looks like she has been in a road accident! Even looking at her from the front you can see a red bottom - here she is with Teddy at the front, Little Pugsly and George behind, then Stumpy with her lamb following and Number 32 the only black one in the picture.

Even Grace has had an assignation with the Ram. He looks far too big for her but The Shepherd says it will be fine.

Can't think of a decent blog title!

2011-11-15T12:25:00.000-08:00

A bit colder today but nice and dry and sunny at times. This was a relief as it was getting very difficult to get out of the field gate due to the mud.

Having got over my sulk regarding dirty alpacas I tried again but this time for cria photos - they looked a little less muddy but still rather damp! Here is Yossarian at the front with The Slink looking out of the shot and Striker behind. The two Dudettes are milling around at the side.

We did debate taking the tips off the cria fleece this year but time ran away with us with the house move. I think next year we might have an experimental go as they do seem to harbour so much vegetation in the first fleece.
Striker is looking more of a baby Dude every day!

Alpacas in the mist

2011-11-14T12:08:00.000-08:00

I got a wee bit fed up today and I'll show you why - filthy alpacas in the mist!

Camera card found I decided I wanted a nice shot of some of the mums - but look at them! They are filthy and milling about aimlessly. No one posed properly - Sherbert is yawning, Prue is showing off her weird blue eye, Axle looks like a midget alpaca, fat Bianca has muddy legs. I was going to do a bit of looking at fleece to work out who would win the prize of having the most guard hair - part of my new breeding programme (I don't mean I am breeding for guard hair - although I think I could be quite good at it with some of them!). I gave up though and depressed myself further by coming home to look at other people's shiny, clean alpacas!

Before I did come home I investigated a bit of a situation with the field gate - I think the padlock has been tampered with - interestingly, there was an abandoned car being towed out of The Gentleman Farmer's field and another burnt out on the picnic site so something has been going on up on the hill.

A Trip Out

2011-11-13T11:50:00.000-08:00

We went out for the day today.

We were a bit in two minds about it as I still haven't found the forks and we only have 3 plates and 1 tea towel but we decided it would be worth a trip out so off we went to Longthorns Farm Alpaca Open Day - it was actually an open weekend so we missed day 1. Wendy Billington, the Australian breeder and judge, did an excellent talk and there was lots of hands on looking at fleece - both on and off animals. Thoroughly enjoyable and a great learning experience. At the end we had to rush away as The Shepherd was bringing the ram - by the time we got back the ram was already in place and had served Stumpy who is now covered in red from the raddle.

Now I am off to unpack box or two and find the camera card! - - and attempt to stop the cats climbing the Yucca plant in an escape bid.

Four Candles?

2011-11-12T11:42:00.000-08:00

I did say we would have a photo today, and we have but it is not very good I am afraid as, despite having found the camera, I can't find the memory card. This was taken on Sam's phone. Tilbo and Striker, together as usual!

And, on the subject of losing things, I have lost all but three forks. Life is incredibly tedious with only three forks. It is surprising how many forks you can us in a day! (Talk of forks always makes me remember the sketch with, I think, The Two Ronnies in the shop - makes me smile!).

We have been doing toenails and vitamin D injections today, along with moving a few of the animals around. Toe nails were no fun at all in the mud, I really want a proper concrete yard! Flem's abscess is still weeping and I gave it several good squeezes today which got a lot of the remaining mess out. I will give it another good go tomorrow.

And thank you for the tip, Judi - Roast chicken and potatoes tonight which was all done at the same time, although I did start it at 1pm just before going back to complete toenails!

Here I am again!

2011-11-11T13:25:00.000-08:00

Finally, about 10 minutes ago, the broadband started working and so here I am again. I have no idea what has been going on in the land of bloggers as I have been unable to read anything - shortly I will be catching up! Happily, this means my furtive lurking in bushes is now over - probably not wise to explain that one to the world!
We have now, finally, moved into the rental house - it was quite a drama but we won't go there at the moment! The rental house is okay. It has a Raeburn - I keep calling it an aga but have now discovered it isn't. It makes the house very warm and is great for drying clothes as it has a pull up clothes rack over it but cooking meals is something of a challenge A miniscule piece of gammon went in at 12 and was just ready at 7pm - the sausages took all night! Potatoes we ended up eating for breakfast and I fear I must be doing something wrong! The cats are shut in the conservatory which they hate and Cruella appears to becoming a little depressed but I can't let her out as the road outside is quite busy.

On top of the drama of moving we had an alpaca drama on the Friday night which is luckily now sorted, in a way. It is very odd being further from the animals and means I have to plan everything very carefully, particularly with the bottle feeding.

Anyway, we are back on line so now I must catch up on blogs and read the emails - proper blog with photos tomorrow.

This is no ordinary drama, this is an Aylett drama

2011-10-31T08:24:00.000-07:00

WELL! I would love to tell you all what is going on here - but I am afraid I can't! Suffice to say it is a bit of a nightmare. Jeff posted a comment asking how I coped and I have to say I am about to not cope terribly well!

Today started well with the rounds of the animals, all fine, and a chat with The Somerset weather woman (the other day I told her I was going to do some poo picking and she told me to hurry up as it would rain at 3pm - I pottered on, lovely sunny weather, and dead on 3pm the clouds opened!). I cleaned all kitchen cupboard and stacked up the rest of the stuff to move - then things began to go horribly wrong!

At that point I gave up on the house and went to see the animals who were all wet and dirty, but quite content.

The dog and cats are the ones who are getting most concerned. Amber, the dog, is constantly shaking and the cats spend their time looking out the window but not actually going out.

I know, I'm moaning!!!

2011-10-27T07:15:00.000-07:00

Life is a little frustrating at the moment and I feel like having a major tantrum - plotting evil revenges and generally being horrible - but no, despite the rain I shall write this and go and commune with soggy alpacas for the rest of the afternoon in order to get a little PEACE!!!!!

Just an update on what is happening here first -
1. Aunty Islay is turning into a monster. I remember this happened last year with Greeves when she suddenly decided Greeves was her baby and no one else was allowed near him! Yesterday she decided to do the same with Trouble, my little bottle fed. When I went to feed her yesterday afternoon she charged over, ears back and actually spat at me! I had to retreat and feed her through the fence. I am going to have to remove some of the babies early - not that it matters much with Trouble.
2. The camera has been packed and I cannot find it - so no photos again.
3. My charitable giving hit an all time low when I accidentally donated to the wrong website and not only can I not get it back (understandable and fair enough) but the website it went to was incredibly rude and obnoxious. I have now given up trying to sort that one out and will have to redonate directly and not through the Just Giving website once my next animals sale goes through.
4. Sam's moped would not run right so we ended up buying him another and today - his first day going to work on it - it would not start!!
5. Somehow I have succeeded in packing the password to the website - which I cannot remember - and I cannot log on to change and update (plus the shop has disappeared).
6. Sadly, I have not lost the iron nor the hoover not the floor mop.
7. BT have no problem switching the line and the broadband is no problem to reactivate in the new house - what is a problem is the timescale which is indeterminate. So, at some point, there may be a break in the blog due to a lack of connectivity. And if I don't answer emails for a day or two that will be why.
7. Mostly everything else is now packed. Even Sam's room shows some sort of order and the carpet is clear- which is a first.

So, all in all everything is going as well as can be expected just longing for the new stage of our lives to begin, whatever that new stage might be!!

Shed Clearing

2011-10-23T13:05:00.000-07:00

Firstly, sorry for no photos - I have misplaced the camera. We had a major attempt to finish clearing Carl's shed - and it is very difficult. He refuses to throw anything away - old bits of pipe, planks of wood, rusty screws, parts for bikes he sold years ago, an old tractor seat, carpet from two houses ago - all will, apparently, come in useful one day. It shows how often he actually looks at half of it as there were three full bottles of Stella Artois in one of his tool chests.

I sloped off with Sam and did a bit of body scoring and a surprise mating to a female I thought was definitely pregnant with a boy I hadn't used before - we'll see next year!

The sheep are waiting for the arrival of The Shepherd's ram. He is down in the village at the moment but should be up soon. Sam has, I think, agreed to give me one of his black ewes in exchange for all the looking after while he is now at work. I am torn between number 6, number 8 and number 32 - all of whom are super friendly and like a little back scratch and a bit of hand feeding. I am hoping to find a few more Southdowns to swell numbers but The Shepherd is having a job locating any for me at the moment.

I also did a good bit of poo picking - the poo picker is holding on with the aid of a bit of tape. I was a bit shocked to hear the price of new pipes so am trying to make this last as long as possible.

After all the activity we went to Mum's for dinner this evening and head the most superb bit of beef I have had for a long time. It came from The Gentleman Farmer and was very tender.

A Day Of Firsts

2011-10-20T11:51:00.000-07:00

A day of firsts today -

I managed to work out why the Poo Picker was not picking up as well as it should with no assistance - split in the pipe.

Harry ate out of my hand for the first time - until Spike chased him away.

Sam went of to work on his moped for the first time - then he came back 5 minutes later as it still was not running right!

Sleepy cat

2011-10-19T13:17:00.000-07:00

Not a great deal to say today and I nearly didn't blog but I don't fancy anymore boxes tonight and Cruella has taken over so I thought I might as well!

I poo collected amidst showers of hail - it has certainly turned colder (hope it's better up with you, Debbie!). Trouble has gone off her bottle and hardly had anything today. I have a feeling my coat may not have helped, she is not used to me wearing a oat and I think it put her off a bit. Tomorrow the coat will have to come off for feeding.

Sam's moped has finally been mended and he has tried it out tonight. He drove up through Delcombe and then down to the garage for fuel (I think he felt pretty proud of himself!). Tomorrow he rides it to work for the first time and he has strict instructions to text me when he gets there!

Killing ropes

2011-10-16T11:56:00.000-07:00

A very nice day here, if a bit hectic. First thing it was off to pay a visit to help with some toenails and a bit of handling where we met a couple of very sweet cria including a lovely black boy with a great fleece. It was then a rush back to take Sam over to Milborne. Whilst we are out, Sam had filled the bowser for me as it had got very low. Despite the time of year the girls are still enjoying paddling with Bert and Lina being the worst.

Lina has been one extremely stroppy alpaca today and all because I wanted to weigh little Axle. I didn't want to get them all down to the barn so Carl and I used the rope to take them into a corner and then catch Axle - Lina screeched and leapt around and then when Carl put the coil of rope on the ground while he went to fix the hayrack (which Sherbert had loosened by rubbing on it yesterday), she attacked the rope! She pounced on it, kicked it, spat at it, knelt on it - shame I didn't have a camera!

Trouble for Zara

2011-10-15T11:52:00.000-07:00

If another fly buzzes me whilst I am sitting here I shall scream! I am having terrible fly problems - they are everywhere and they hide in the curtains - buzzing out at me when I am unprepared. I have even resorted to those old fashioned fly strips which remind me of going to Nan's where she had them hanging in the kitchen.

Zara has been in big trouble this afternoon and I have had to have a serious discussion with her. She feels the grass is always greener on the other side of the fence and leans through to eat.

She has started leaning further and further out and finally snapped the staples of not one, but two posts. This then meant I had to grub around in the grass for ages to find the staples which seem very illusive once they drop.
The slink was doing her own version of eating through the fence but, for her, it just seemed to involve stretching her tongue through.

Yossarian has been conducting his own spit off tests with everyone.

Here he is - just a few seconds before Little Star finally got fed up with him and covered him with green spit!

Very warm again today which has really worn the babies out.

Tilbo at the back and one of the Dudettes at the front.

This evening both Carl and Sam are worm out as they have been beating for the shoot.

Making the most of it!

2011-10-13T10:08:00.000-07:00

Another warm today - in fact it was positively warm at times. The alpacas were sunbathing, snoring and sleeping - I felt I should be as well, but I was tied to the telephone attempting essential but frustrating phone calls. Cruella, the black and white cat, has spent most of her time staring intently at a piece of hedge. There is obviously something there that she is desperately keen to get hold of!

The flies have been bad today - not on the animals but on every shiny white surface, particularly tacky PVC conservatories! Must be the unseasonable warmth waking them up.

It was an early start this morning as Sam had to be at work by 7.30am which means we had to set off just before 7am as he was getting twitchy. I think the part for his moped may arrive tomorrow so he might be mobile next week.

Feeding Frenzy

2011-10-11T08:23:00.000-07:00

Still windy and a bit chilly but not really October weather here. The grass is still looking good - despite a few persistent docks and thistles.

Dude is much happier now he is back in end paddock. He likes to be high enough to look down on everyone else!

He just dashes down when he wants his tea - something which didn't go quite to plan last night. I fed Dude and then went to feed the boys who were very excited and rushed to the gate by Dude's pen. Normally I feed them at the other end near the girls and they give Dude a wide birth. Last night they were so excited about their food they forgot he was there and Spike started eating from my hand - Dude charged over, screeching reared up at the fence and had a real funny 5 minutes! As soon as I stopped feeding Spike he calmed down - strange!

Spent a frustrating day waiting for an important phone call that never came, knitting and communing with boxes!

Poor Flem and Cuddly Bert

2011-10-09T08:47:00.000-07:00

A very busy day today! I didn't manage to get any photos as the camera had run out of battery power - so here is one from last week!

Dylan with Harry and Greeves behind him

We had a lot of alpaca chores to catch up on so boxes had to wait. Sam and Carl got all the sheep drenched with their wormer first thing (sorry, I have to confess I got up late!). I was then supposed to take Sam over to Milborne Port - but the car wouldn't start. Investigation by Carl showed the problem was I had accidently knocked the fuel cut out thingy off whilst manically hoovering the car yesterday (a rare occurance). Once that was sorted - took a while to sort out where the switch was - Sam got to Milborne Port!

We then did some, worming, vitamin Ds and lots of toenails and body scores. The girls were not terribly well behaved which seems usual for them at this time of year - subsequent spit offs showed they may all be pregant which is good. Bianaca spat like a demon so possibly the antibiotics etc have done the trick. Very pleasingly (a phrase I hate as it was a favourite one with an Ofsted inspector I knew in a previous life!) Prue spat beautifully, as did Little Star so might be the patter of little Jed feet next year! In fact everyone spat - even Bert. Bert was the only impeccably behaved alpaca for foot trimming and this is usually not the case. Bert is lovely- until you try to pick up her feet. She spits, sits, tucks her feet under her and screecehes - not to day! She did not spit - she did sit but obligingly put her feet out - she moaned ecstatically when I tickled her under her chin, gave me a kiss and was generally lovely! I fully expected her to drop like a stone for Dude - but no, she turned into a she monster when he got near! Strange alpaca!

I am afraid Flem has a jaw abscess which I noticed as soon as I held her for Carl to do her feet. It is very hard at the moment so we'll give her some antibiotics to start with and see if we can soften it up with something. She hasn't lost weight or gone off her food but I need to get that sorted out.

Axle - flowing freely again!

2011-10-07T07:45:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the emails regarding Axle!
An enema seemed the best bet but that is not as simple as it sounds, never having administered an enema to anything - animal or human. First I felt I needed a tube - hose pipe looked only suitable for a baby elephant, as did water pipe. Then I found an old stomach tube kit in the back of the cupboard so decided that might be okay with a feeding bottle attached to put the fluid in - but what fluid? Soapy water seemed the best choice but did I use Wrights Coal Tar, Estee Lauder or Bronnley? In the end I felt washing up liquid might be best. So, I went back to check email advise and noted the use of a syringe or the administration of Castor Oil. Not having any Castor Oil to hand I went over with my made up kit and a syringe in case. As I approached Axle was continuing to strain and as I got nearer he passed a little brick. He then race up the top of the field with me in close pursuit, stopped and bit an other lovely normal poo! Crisis over - my administrations not required - he has pooed normally for the rest of the day!

The cats have decided box packing is the most fun they have ever had. Cruela is sleeping in a box of my most precious china while Little Wee is stalking everything else I pack!

And if you are wondering why I have a blue sheet and bits of alpaca all over the floor, it is because I am trying to sort fleece at the same time!

Axle's bottom problem!

2011-10-06T07:00:00.000-07:00

The wind is still strong today with intermittent showers - a real change from a few days ago. I have started to worry about Axle, Lina's baby. Yesterday he was straining quite a bit and not producing anything. This morning he was still straining and by 10am a compact poo was beginning to emerge. Like a small tortoise it continued to creep out with Axle straining, eating and walking around. By 12 it was beginning to look most odd and Axle was beginning to walk oddly so I donned the rubber gloves and gave him a hand. He looks a little better but I fear there is still more to come and it is not heading out easily! If anyone has any suggestions on what to give him to soften it all up I would be grateful!

The poor little soul also has runny, sticky eyes which I think is due to the wind - I remember Greeves also had it when he was little. As you can see he is still little, that is Tilbo behind him, but he will not have any bottle top up and, despite being small, he is nice and rounded on his back.
I am blogging early as we have a busy evening which involves boxes of various descriptions!

Waiting!

2011-10-05T08:45:00.000-07:00

The weather is starting to turn a little here - it is very windy this evening and I am wearing a jumper for what feels like the first time in months. It feels like we are waiting for something and I think the animals feel it too!

I can't believe it is almost time to get the ram again for the sheep. We are having the Shepherd's old boy back again I am pleased to say - he did us proud this year. I am not sure about Grace though. She has recovered a well but her skin is still tender at the back and a crack has opened up at the top of one leg, I think I will see how she goes on over the next few weeks.

And I don't know what has got into Sapphire today - she has even been pronking with the babies, must be the wind I think! She is the brown straight ahead at the back, not pronking in the photo - I couldn't catch that!

P.S. I have had a bit of trouble with the GWR show results and website but they are all up now and the link is -
http://www.gwralpacafleeceandyarnshow.co.uk/fleece-a-yarn-show/show-results

Boxes

2011-10-04T12:41:00.000-07:00

Well, no pictures today I am afraid as I just have run out of time. I have been getting the GWR results onto the website which was a strange experience as the website disappeared for a while and then, very oddly, I kept being redirected to a different place - most intriguing! Anyway I am nearly sorted although the pages currently appear to be in the wrong order but possibly not for much longer.
All this was interrupted by many wheeling dealing phone calls which I fear have come to naught but it was all very jolly, a trip out to view a couple of boxes (talking of boxes I now have a 'Box Buddy' which is something everyone who is moving should have!), packed the solitary cardboard box we possess.

Carl and Sam, are now removing a carburetter from an abandoned quad to put on Sam's moped which could mean he is soon fully mobile. This will be a good thing as I am still taking him and collecting him which is a bi of a pain with baby feeding. Not that I mind really as he is so keen to go to work (and is getting later and later getting home as he feeds the calves before he leaves and today was doing a bit of milking as well. Ahh, I hear the revving of a moped!!

And thank you Judi for the plethora of comments!!

Heatwave? In October?

2011-10-03T07:14:00.000-07:00

It is so hot again today I can't believe it is October. I have a plague of flies in the bedroom who seem to have set up home in the curtains, the milk has gone off where I forgot to put it in the fridge and I am constantly filling waters as if it were high summer. The alpacas are quite lively despite the weather. Alf has now settled in his separate pen and, apart from occasional posturing between him and Dude, calm now reigns. The dust bowl is very popular, with someone always either lying in it, rolling in it or just standing in it. Here is one of the Dudettes with Striker behind and little Axle right at the back.

Now it is Striker's turn to lie down while Yossarian, as usual, picks a fight in the background!

Finally, a bit of rolling while Striker does a bit of standing - and Yossarian chases everyone else out of shot!

I have had to come in now to put things in boxes and make numerous phone calls so it is all go here!

GWR Part 2

2011-10-02T12:15:00.000-07:00

Just a bit more on the GWR yesterday! It was good fun and I learnt a lot from Dominic Lane's commentary as he judged. I think the board at the back with samples of fleece Dominic had handed round was a good touch as it gave a chance to really view the fleece.

Andy wielded his Nanette with vigour at the start of the show (a strange thing with a weird aroma which Andy replaced carefully in it's box after each flourish) and was thanked profusely for his efforts by the judge at the end. Dominic Lane was his usual suave self and coped with the two minor hiccups which occurred with excellent humour.

I heard good reports on the yarn side of the show and saw the samples which were superb - but, sadly, I missed the actual judging due to needing to drink and sit down because of my feet (Carl said my sandals were too disreputable so I suffered all day in socks and shoes). The heat meant we were flagging by the boxes by the end of the day but despite this clearing up went swiftly.

We were very pleased with our wins - a first for Lily, the suri, a first and white colour champion for Alf and (really exciting) a third for Little Star (Bert's baby - the bottle fed) and a first for Dylan (the brown). I was going to put Alf's sash on him but he has had a bad day and has ended up in solitary confinement. His fighting has been getting worse since he started matings. He used to fight Harry and Dylan but they didn't fight back much - Harry is a pacifist and Dylan is a lover not a fighter - but today he turned on Greeves. Greeves looks cute and cuddly and smaller than the others but he does not back down if anyone picks on him. Alf is bigger and stronger and it was getting nasty with Alf on top of Greeves and shrieking from both of them. This was stirring Dude up who was trying to beat the fence down with his front legs so enough was enough and Alf is now sulking and pacing!

The GWR Show

2011-10-01T11:52:00.000-07:00

I am tired and my feet hurt - but it has been a good day! Today was the Great Western Region Alpaca Fleece and Yarn Show. We were very busy with boxes and only managed brief conversations with people but I think they enjoyed themselves. I will write properly tomorrow and tell you about the Supreme Champions (and our 4 rosettes!) but for today here are just a few photos before I go and eat crumpets!

Carl demonstrating the length of Lily's staples to Carol who does not look impressed

Part of the wall of fleece

Ashton Lane's stall with Irene and my stand at the back

Carol looking very excitable - whether due to holding the fabulous supreme champion trophy , because Carl was poking her with the Nanette or due to something Dominic Lane had just said (he was remarkable) I am unsure!

The audience paying close attention

More news tomorrow!!

All is Calm!!

2011-09-30T10:02:00.000-07:00

Despite this having been the most stressful time of my entire life - my joy now overfloweth!

My P problem was sorted to my immense joy and the immense shock of the postman who will probably never call again. It was then a dash to The Standerwick Centre for the setting up of the GWR show. The car was stifling so I made use of the air con which Carl has finally said can be used and agreed it does not use up more fuel than when having the windows open - something to do with air resistance - (Honest John gave me the ammunition for that one). Carl had gone on first while I waited for my P solution - most was done by the time I got there and the quality of the fleece on display is stunning - it makes my poor little fleeces look very sad! I couldn't look closely at anything as it is all boxed up but there seem to be a startling amount of lovely greys, looking forward to seeing them. The yarn is also fantastic - particularly impressive array of blacks and l some beautiful hand spun. In the end I didn't get any hand spun good enough and having seen the quality I am incredibly glad I didn't enter anything - there are some fabulous hand spinners out there. Everyone was working incredibly hard when I arrived.

We then had a phone call about another of the day's stresses and the die is now cast for further developments! What exactly will happen next in our lives is a little unsure at the moment but a great wave of relief has settled over us and the future looks - - - interesting! Now I must sort out extra water for the animals for tomorrow as they almost ran out today with the searing hat, find clothes for the show and then relax!

P problems

2011-09-29T06:45:00.000-07:00

Okay - I am back, sort of! Apologies to those loyal readers who have been checking for a new blog. I confess it has been a trying time here and I haven't had the computer time or the heart to write. However, that does not mean that nothing has been happening or that we have been miserable! Despite the tropical weather here, the babies have been very lively. Tilbo's leg is now fine and he charges round with everyone else.

We spent a lovely time looking after the Shepherd's house and animals. I was a bit nervous with how I would cope with all the sheepdogs and had visions of them all disappearing or getting ill - but they were the most impeccably behaved dogs I have ever known. I have completely fallen for Jess and want to sneak her home with me. The three legged one is gorgeous but had enough of the walks by the end of the day and just laid down and waited for the rest to return. The two Kelpies kept looking round for the Shepherd and loved sitting in the back of his Truck. I am now an ardent watcher of the sheep dog trials and have sent for a book to teach myself the sheep dogs commands - not that I think Amber, the Jack Russell, is going to be that responsive! I have also decided I really want some geese as they are very funny.

Sam is loving his apprenticeship - he is power harrowing today and was fussing to be taken this morning far earlier than he needed to be. He has passed all his basic moped training and now has the moped but it is not running quite right yet so I am still taking him everywhere!

The alpacas are all doing well and growing. I think everyone who needs to be is pregnant. Sam has given Bianca her course of medicines and she appears to have lost a little of the weight, although she is still rather a chunk! The three little boys - Striker, Tilbo and Yossarian form into a little gang and stalk everyone else!

Little Axle, Lina's baby, is still smaller but gradually growing.

On the negative side of things - I have sore nails! People are always saying, "How do you do anything with nails that long?" Well, they are no problem (apart from a recently discovered contact lens issue) - until, that is, one of them breaks. They have been long for a long time and the top of the finger is quite sensitive so when one breaks it is really uncomfortable until they grow again - one snagged so I sawed it off and now it hurts! I have also been to get some trial contact lenses. This is proving a further problem as my nails are so long it is difficult to get them out without skewering myself. Once I get the next few days over I am going to have to tackle the nail situation. However, that is the least of my problems so I shall put up with it for now! My real stress at the moment is an extra P which has appeared somewhere it should not have appeared - I cannot reveal where at the moment but I can say that if this is not sorted in the next 48 hours I am done for!

Grace has recovered from her fly strike but now has slight sunburn on her back end where there is no fleece. I am having to apply factor 30 Ambre Solair twice a day. Luckily she is so greedy for sheep nuts and the sunscreen is a spray on so I can creep up on her as she eats!

So, bit of a heavy blog on pictures today but here are a few more. Firstly, cria queuing up to drink!

Three little ones - and I am very embarrassed to say that I know these are the two female Dude babies - but I can't tell which is which! Never had that before!

Finally, young striker who is a very feisty little thing!

Oh! And just one more, three little cute faces!

Wouldn't you love a Nannette?!

2011-09-06T08:45:00.000-07:00

Since the last blog we appear to have been everywhere - and without a single car misadventure! As soon as I have finished this I need to get back to catching up with other people's goings on in their blogs as since we returned this is the first chance I have had to sit at the computer.

Sam has now had his apprenticeship confirmed and starts an intensive tractor course next week. He has been helping the Shepherd this morning and spasmodically working at the farm he will be doing the work part of the apprenticeship at - so he has been busy. He has however, found time to get Sapphire mated and attempt to start Bianca's fitness regime! He has also managed to remove all the boxes of toys he sorted from the loft. Now instead of a tidy and organised loft I have a ball bearing run all over the lounge, tractors and diggers lined up everywhere and an extra television has appeared!

We had a meeting of the GWR last night and I am pleased all is going well - including the number of entries, which is great. Much of the meeting was spent discussing table cleaning in between classes and many suggestions were made. In the end, however, we have decided to rely on Andy with his Nannette! I am still very unclear what a Nannette actually is but apparently it is more than a duster, more than a feather stick and more than a brush. Andy swears by them and appears to have spent much of his youth wielding them and, apparently, they collect more detritus than anything invented before or since. I feel a highlight of this years show will be when this Nannette is revealed and wielded in front of the crowds!

On a more sombre note - and miss this paragraph if you are eating - (although remembering the time I had a jelly baby incident and got a foot stuck under my P I would not advise eating near a keyboard anyway) - we returned to a nasty bit of fly strike on Grace. Grace is my little Southdown sheep who had problems with fly strike and a touch of arthritis before I had her. This photo is of her earlier in the year.

Sam phoned us on Sunday morning and said Grace looked like she had fly strike and so we raced back and sheared her back end straight away - what we found was dire. I felt awful and discovered I had no crovect. The Shepherd was up withing half and hour and sprayed her. Immediately hundreds of little maggots started dropping from her - it is a horrible thing and I blame myself because we should have sprayed her two weeks ago as a preventative. I shall not be forgetting that again. I gave her some antibiotics and she is now livelier but still looks sad - and she is cold. I have moved her to a paddock with a field shelter and given her lots of hay so I am hoping she will recover.

The wind has been dreadful today with rain, fallen branches and mud - much mud! Two branches fell in the girl's paddock and they have been steadily stripping them of leaves. They were not massive branches so no damage done. For most of this morning we had a power cut which was an excuse for Sm to break open his survival kit!

The weather has been too bad for any new photos so here is a slightly out of focus one of Greeves from last week

Knitting is going well again after a bit of a quiet time and I am now branching out into what I like to call 'embellished gloves' - a bit of colour or the odd rose or button! I might photograph one tomorrow.

Where next?!

2011-08-31T12:19:00.000-07:00

The blogs have been getting increasingly sporadic of late and this is mainly due to a lot of difficult decisions being mad here and the necessity of being away from the house quite a lot!

Normal service will be resumed at some point but in the mean time please forgive my lack of regularity. I think a lot of people realise by now that our house is up for sale and we are making difficult decisions about where we are going and what we are doing - all made even more difficult by Sam and his future.

We have also had to make a difficult decision regarding our land - and a decision we never thought we would be making - but life has very funny turns within it. It should be a time of great excitement and plan making but sadly it is rather too difficult for that! No doubt we will get through somehow and the right thing will happen but right now we feel rather like we are herding cats as one bit comes together another bit of the jigsaw flies off over the hedge (rather a lot of mixed metaphors in there!). I have to say we are also pretty heartbroken at - possibly - leaving all the good friends we have made here not to say panicy about being homeless - with 3 chickens, 34 alpacas, 1 dog and two cats - not to mention 20 sheep!

It only remains to be said that we are pretty clueless about where we will end up now! So - updates will follow at some point!

The alpacas are surviving all this trauma - in fact, despite me constantly telling them, they are completely oblivious. All are doing well. Lina's baby has put on no weight whatsoever in the last two weeks but is lively and totally refuses the bottle. Trouble, the Bert and Samson baby, is putting on weight steadily despite having very little of her bottle now.

From the left - Yossarian, The Slink, Trouble, String and Striker (Carolyn's baby and real name - Strikingly Cool). He is a real little monster and very strong but lovely with it - here he is posing!

Sam continues to do his 'sort of' job' over at Stalbridge Weston - he loves it but I am not sure there is enough work there for anything anymore permanent. He also makes frequent forays to Milborne Port which he now feels is one of the best places on this earth! When we went over to pick him up the other day I made the acquaintance of a lovely young man who must be one of the leading authorities on cars - he was even able to tell me which car I had now - something I was unsure of - it is an escort and a very nice one with one drawback. It has heat shield things under it and I have a tendency to bend them which makes them clatter if I don't change gear at precisely the right moment. Carl says I am a fool to take it down the track in the field.

Ashton Lane came to visit at one point and as rain was threatening we set up a cosy cafe in the field (and yes those are the fleeces waiting to be sorted for the GWR show!).

Luckily the luxury accommodation was not required but I did get the chance to show Carol and Peter Yossarian - sired by their Legacy. He soon gave up scratchign and started to show of his baby orgling and jumping everything skills.

And finally - Greeves - doing well but refusing to look at the camera!

Little Worry Day

2011-08-25T12:02:00.000-07:00

Not big worry day - that is end of September - but little worry day as today was the day Sam got his GCSE results. We were not hoping for great things as, although he tries, he struggles with reading and writing due to his dyslexia. He did as well as we hoped and is pleased. He got Cs for Science and maths, passed his ICT and got his diploma for the two day a week agriculture course he has been doing at Kingston Maurward. A D in English but they have sent the paper for remarking a he only missed the C by mark - if he gets that he will have done very well indeed!

So - that drama over - he is up in one of the the lofts sorting out the mess of old toys he appears to have created over the years which we knew nothing about!

Alpacas are doing fine apart form Lina's baby - Accidently Cool or Axle to his friends - he is still 9kg at 2 and a half weeks - he was 8kg at birth. Top up bottles are not going to well as he is spitting it out now after a promising start last week. At least Lina is being a little angel this year and makes no fuss over feeding or weighing.

Cria photos

2011-08-24T12:38:00.000-07:00

A busy day of knitting today and another pair of gloves almost complete! Not sure I am that pleased with the patten I made up though - I prefer them a bit more lacy really.

I managed to get a few photos of the babies in between times. String (Pretty Cool) discovered thistles and did not like them very much! Yossarian is getting difficult to photograph as he moves so quickly and then gets too close or too far away - he is at the front and you can only see his side!

Tilbo's leg is a bit wonky but does not slow him down at all, or prevent him from posing.

Lina's baby is still a bit of a concern and he looks tiny compared with all the rest but he is very alert and runs around with the others.

Finally, Striker (Strikingly Cool) Carolyn's baby who is gaining weight well and enjoys the company of Yossarian - not sure if that is a good thing or not! He's the one looking at the camera.

Now tomorrow we have a slightly worrying day - I won't tell you what it is about until tomorrow - and the I may go completely quiet on that subject if the news is not good!!

Me again (Sam)

2011-08-23T04:06:00.000-07:00

Hi everyone :)
It's been a long time since I have written a blog and becouse I have a new herd (still don't know a name for it) I thought I'd better tell everyone about it. I have two alpacas now and they are both female. The first member of my herd is Sapphire that I got from Warren Field Alpacas. She is a very lovely brown alpaca but unfortunatly isn't pregnent. she has a lovely temperament and likes to be in charge. I have tried mating her to Dylan but Mum says he is too young so we are going to try her with Dude today. I might get a multi - I don't know!

My other alpaca is Bianca that we went and got yesterday from Redingvale Alpacas. She is a very calm alpaca and is starting to settle in now. She is also not pregnant but this maybe becouse of a SMALL weight problem so she has gone in a paddock with not too much grass to try and over come the problem. Bianca is solid white and will hopefully be mated to Cool Dude and we will have to wait and see what she produces. I am going to try putting a halter on Bianca and taking her for walks round the paddock as she only moves around to get to new grass so I think she may need more excercise.

I will write another blog soon!! This one has taken me ages as the spell check wouldn't work.

Peter's Plums

2011-08-22T10:35:00.000-07:00

Just had a very pleasant tea which was rounded off by a large helping of plums given to us by Peter at Ashton Lane - delicious!

We had visitors this afternoon, looking at the alpacas who behaved very well. Selling animals is something I always find a challenge - I know I have to do it but worry about where the animals are going. This is, I know, ridiculous as other people look after them as well, if not better, than I do but I can't help it! This couple were lovely - the sort you just know would be ideal alpaca owners!

Much of the day has been spent knitting whilst alpaca gazing - very good for soothing tension, something I have a great deal of at the moment! Now I am about to send Sam into the loft from where he may never emerge again, to sort out his old toys! He has been working again today and, as usual, has had a great time. It's the huge, expensive tractors he likes most! He will be blogging soon about his 'herd' which has, incredibly, doubled in size already.

The Curry Incident

2011-08-20T13:42:00.000-07:00

Sam wanted chicken burger, Carl wanted kebab and I wanted a curry. Last night we were so behind with everything we opted for takeaway for tea. I ordered a curry and just got what we normally have even though it was only for me, thinking I would save half for the next day. It was very nice and somehow I ate the lot which resulted in a serious pain last night accompanied by odd noises and continued until this morning when Carl banished me to the caravan for a time.

A bit of a lie down with the knitting and I recovered enough to start on today's tasks. Carl and I did a mating (alpaca mating obviously), trimmed every one's toenails, weighed babies and had another go at Sherbert's skin. Sherbet is suffering a bit at the moment as she keeps getting sores on her back which crack open and then are pestered by flies. The same thing happened to her last year and they eventually cleared up. I have a suspicion that it is a touch of nasty sunburn after shearing and I really need to catch it earlier. She is a suri, not a youngster but not particularly ancient and the problem recurs each year. It is made worse as she scratches at it with her teeth and makes it bleed which attracts the flies.

Sorry about the lack of photos tonight but we had torrential rain this morning and when it cleared I had no camera with me. This afternoon was too hot - too hot for knitting but I had to plough relentlessly on as I have the grand sum of two scarves and three hats here and have an appointment on Friday to take some knitwear to a shop who may like a few items to sell. It is going to be a pretty meagre collection at this rate.

We were managing without Sam as he was having a rare day out with his friends - where he had a great time!

Looks like tomorrow will be busy as well as Sam has sold all his lambs and they are being collecting (we sold ours last night - except Stumpy's lamb who I refuse to part with despite the Shepherd thinking I am soft in the head!). We also have to take Dude out on a mating - still not good on the halter, he is just too keen to get at the girls) and we are out in the evening on a special trip - more on that next blog!

A bit of a natter in the car park

2011-08-16T11:45:00.000-07:00

Last night I ran out of blogging time as we had a meeting of the Great Western Region Fleece Show Committee. We should have got back sooner but ended up lurking in the car park with Andy and Viv from Reddingvale. Carl and Andy discussed hay making tactics and compared their equipment whilst Viv and I talked alpacas.

Now please excuse this next bit – it’s a sort of plea and I don’t like doing this on the blog so forgive me! We need more entries for the yarn part of the Great Western Region Alpaca Fleece Show. I confess that I was really keen on this addition to the show and I envisaged lots of people wanting to have balls of yarn judged by Jean Field. We have had some entries but we really need more - there is no entry fee - I really, really want it to be a success so if anyone else could enter, just for fun. I am desperately trying to hand spin something to enter - not much chance of that coming off but I will persevere! The web address is http://www.gwr-alpaca-show.co.uk and the yarn entry forms and rules can be found there.

Okay, plea over! Little Axle, Lina's baby has gained weight and is doing well. Sometimes he takes a bit of bottle and sometimes not but as he has put on a kilogram in two days, I am not so worried about him! This evening we had a visit from Irene and Si who we hadn't seen for ages. Good to see them and hear all their exciting news. They are doing very well with alpaca sales and knitwear - things are looking good in Devon! In fact, Irene was talking so excitedly about plans and successes even little Yossarian got interested!

A New Car

2011-08-14T12:57:00.000-07:00

The day started with a trip to Poole where I collected my new car. We decided that the work needed on the other one would be too much so it has retired to the field for a rest! The new one is silver and it has air conditioning - which works! Carl is so amazed by this that we have been driving everywhere with air con on, shivering! It is very clean and shiny and the radio/CD also works. I was too scared to drive it back through Poole, which is a very busy place with many right hand bends, but the owner kindly drove it to the outskirts for me.

No sooner had we returned than the Bunny Murderer arrived to collect the Leyland - why on earth he wanted that I cannot make out - last time he drove it there was a diesel leak and, I believe, a breakdown. I can only think he became attached to it after spending all day driving it around in circles.

The cria spent ages running around this afternoon and I tried to capture their excitement but I seem to get them blurred. I think I may have to become adventurous with the camera settings. This is The Slink, Tilbo and Yossarian. Yossarian continues to be a bit of a pest. He knows Trouble is getting milk from the bottle and has started trying to get in on the act! Axle, Lina's baby, is very good with his top up - I just hold the bottle out and sometimes he has some, sometimes he does not (Lina takes no notice of it at all, thank goodness!).

We have just returned from a trip to The Shepherd's - interestingly the runner beans he grows come from the seeds my Grandad first bought. Happily he was wearing a pair of boots - the other day he had taken them off only to have one stolen and buried by the dogs!

Packed Day - and another Baby!

2011-08-13T13:24:00.000-07:00

It has been a fully packed day today - in fact it is now gone 9pm and I need my tea - so I will just tell you that we have had our last cria of the year! Carolyn's baby, sired by Dude, a little boy - and I am really a little overexcited by him! Give it a few weeks and I might be telling you differently but this one made me tingle, if you know what I mean! Just a couple of photos tonight as I am really tired.

Not sure about his name yet!

Axle. Lina's baby looks tiny compared with everyone else - Carolyn's towers above him! He had a bit of top up today but not a great deal and is very lively. It is quite hard to get a decent picture of him.

NOT what I needed!

2011-08-12T13:38:00.000-07:00

Just a quick photo less blog tonight I am afraid due to aching in just about every bone in my body - particularly my back and legs, so I feel a little ancient!

Feeding Trouble tonight and Lina dashed over. I thought she had mislaid her baby again but then saw him behind her (He now has a name - Accidentally Cool or Axle for short). He fussed around feeding and then started trying to feed from Trouble. This made me feel my suspicion that he might not be getting enough milk could be true. I stuck the rest of Trouble's bottle in his mouth (I always make up more than I know she usually takes) and he drank the lot with Lina watching and looking as if she were saying, "About time - you did that for Greeves!"

I don't want to start bottle feeding if not necessary so I shall make up double for Trouble and do her first then top him up if he looks like he wants it. Weighing tomorrow so we will see how we go.

Greeves has also been weaned for the second time! He was weaned from Mum months ago and has no interest in her despite being back in the same paddock as her. Instead it is now Aunty Islay he is being weaned from! He is distraught but I can't leave him in with the girls for much longer and he has started to pester Emily. Poor Greeves!

Lina's Baby

2011-08-11T10:50:00.000-07:00

Today has primarily consisted of telephone calls - so much for relaxing with the alpacas, Judi!

We were very surprised that one of those phone calls was from the Police - not asking questions but just checking we had got home safely and that we were alright - lovely, very kind. The policeman was the one who had been first on the scene and he said he was amazed that we had walked away from that one - he had got the fire brigade cutting stuff out before he realised we were already out of the car.

Any way, that is it on blog reports of the accident - hard to stop thinking of it though!!

Well, in the middle of our disaster Lina had her baby! Sam was feeding Trouble, he looked round and there he was! He started feeding fairly quickly and Sam did his navel. He didn't weigh him so that has to be done - Lina is a fairly feisty mum! She panics if he moves a foot away from her and then starts grazing, realises she has moved away from him and charges around screeching trying to find him! Cool Dude is the father and we were thinking this might be the best cria as Lina is a good female. I am not sure though! I have a feeling there may be a touch of fawn in his top knot - I will investigate further! Sometimes I find it is hard to tell if it is faint until they are a bit older.

Whatever colour, he appears well - if a little wobbly still on his back legs. This is the best picture though as he is feeding - something which was a struggle for Lina last year as she did not have enough milk. I am not topping up yet!

Tilbo, the little monster, had his splint off today and I think we are mended - if a little wonky.

He never stops!

The others are doing well - here is String (Pretty Cool) - Dude and Flemenco's baby.

And this is little Trouble, the bottle fed from Bert and Samson - whenever I get the camera out she puts her head down!

Now Yossarian a right little B. . . ..! He is the fawn suri attempting to mount Belinda. String is at the front and Be Cool at the side.

And, finally, Be Cool - Belinda and Dude's baby, still a bit yellow!

Why there has been no blog for a few days!

2011-08-10T11:27:00.000-07:00

Sorry to have been so quiet but we have been out for a little drive. This is likely to turn into a long blog so if it gets boring , I have done a summary at the end!

We went in the fiesta which has a coded radio we have never managed to un lock - Carl, therefore, had to sing. This would have been fine but he could only sing one song - Ring of Fire. We stumbled across Viva Blackpool the other night on television which we hadn't seen for ages - there is a bit where they sing the Johnny Cash song whilst ice skating and the tune would not go away! Any way, we drove relatively happily until we stopped in Carlisle. It stopped Carl singing as we appeared to be driving through the red light district and Carl desperately tried to avoid looking at 'Thongs and Things', 'The Private Shop' and All The Single Ladies (although that did bring on another song.)
So, a few pictures of our little trip

Now I hope you took careful note of that picture of our car.
We still had more to do but then disaster struck. The rain had been torrential and coming round a bend the car began to slide. Unfortunately a car was coming the other way, there was a large drop down to a river on one side and a steep bank with telegraph poles on the other. To cut a horrible story short we spun along the road, banging into the bank on the way - very nearly rolled (well done, Carl) and crashed minus the front half of the car. The engine appeared to split in half, bits came off . . . The above may not be exactly right as I banged my head (possibly from a flask flying from the back of the car, possibly the door pillar moving position) and appeared to have cut my leg - the gear stick came off and the dashboard seemed to have moved back a foot. The Police, Fire brigade and Ambulances were there very quickly and were wonderful. Luckily the people in the other car were okay. Carl is bruised and I have a headache and stiffness - plus a weird leg but nothing serious. I have never screamed or shaked so much in my life - and I could not for the life of me remember what my maiden name or who we were insured with. If Carl hadn't prevented it rolling we would be no more (mind you then you would not have had to plough through such a long blog!). Here is the car after recovery - they have put the bonnet back over and pulled the front bit back round but you can see it may not be repairable.

We had to go to the hospital and then talk to the police - so young - They were all fantastic and the police even found out my insurance policy number and phone number.

All that over we suddenly realised we had a big problem. No car, place we didn't know, possessions in a recovery yard somewhere. We needed rescuing, we needed an alpaca breeder!! There was one but we didn't have her number. This called for a tricky phone call as I then had to phone Sam to get him to get the number and I didn't want to worry him. Sam was given the potted version and asked to phone Wellground HQ to get Jayne at Zanzibah's number. Heartfelt thanks if you read this Rob! All we needed was a number for a taxi company we assured Jayne but, despite being in the middle of a relaxing shower she rushed over, spent half the night helping us collect luggage, getting fish and chips and putting us up for the night. Thank goodness she took us for a look at the Zanzibah babies as it was only then I began to stop shaking!

You must be getting bored by now so I will cut this short! Next morning we hit more snags - no driving license with us so we couldn't hire a car, no passports so we couldn't get a plane. Only thing to do was to buy another car so it was a trip to Anna's Autos! (At this point Sam sent a text to say Lina had birthed - more about that tomorrow!!). We acquired a fiesta - same as the old one but blue - and I met the most lovely puppy in the world (plus a blue pigeon!) Thank you Anna if you read this!

Back to the Zanzibah workshop and while I stood around like a wet weekend the mechanics got down to business - fixing lights, checking stuff and pumping up tyres. Can't thank you enough, Jayne!

So that was it, off we went, here we are back home! Car has a great heater - great if it is -30 that is, permanently on and very full on!! But other than that it was brilliant!

I am thankful we are all still alive.

QUICK READ

Had lovely panninis
Saw sea
Had crash - wrote off car
Lina had baby
Got home

Points to Remember

Always take driving license
Know your insurance details
Have breakdown cover
Tank credit card
Take phone numbers
Ensure flask safely strapped in and tied down securely

Yellow Perils

2011-08-04T11:32:00.000-07:00

Sadly, we now have a field of bright yellow spotted cria! I had been rather worried about Be Cool's navel which still looked red and swollen - and very long, it did not seem to have shrivelled up as they normally do. In my wisdom I decided dipping it in iodine again would be a good plan. This I did but she is a strong little thing and kicked at the wrong moment - spilling the entire contents of a bowl, flicking it upwards along the way. Her entire underside, back legs and beard are now yellow! Trouble, The Slink and String then had a roll in the puddle - hence yellow cria! This is a cropped picture to avoid the embarrassment of yellow legged alpacas. I was worried Belinda might think she smelt differently but all was fine in that area!

This should have told me that I was not having a good day but I ploughed on regardless and attempted my spit offs. Islay sat - for about the fifth time but sat on her side and Dude only seemed to get into the wrong hole. No amount of shoving, pushing, pulling and fiddling would get him into the right place and in the end he gave up in disgust - Islay sat there loving it! I think we'll try again next week.

Sam was off bale carting or unloading trailers or something so I then gave up and read a book for a while - seemed the best thing in the circumstances! Sam has rejected several possible names for his new 'herd'. He was very keen on Sam's Alpacas until he realised this would mean he would end up with Sam's Bert, Sam's Belinda, Sam's Little Fighter . . . so his current favourite is Sundown Alpacas (but his Gran has told him that makes them sound like they are all on their last legs) or Cool Alpacas. He is going to continue thinking over the weekend!

Farmers' Leg

2011-08-02T14:21:00.000-07:00

Has everyone else felt as hot as I have today?!
The alpacas certainly have. Bert had a bucket of water tipped over her and then looked at me longingly until I emptied another over her. Cassie prefers being squirted, Belinda likes a little trickle! At this rate we shall be running out of water.
I am very thankful that I now have the Mule back and have been zooming around in that today, I needed to get a bit tidier as we had a visit from Reddingvale who came with a visitor for Cassie. Top Brass was gorgeous and got straight down to things with a very willing Cassie and a posse of a admirers.

Tilbo is standing next to Mum and is using his leg well now - another couple of weeks and hopefully it will be fixed. Carl was late home from work and missed it all but I did tell him Andy was planning a second lot of bailing in August and that got his competitive streak going! He had Sam and I up in third with him to bale all the stray bits we left - 47 bales we got!! I blame it all on Andy as I now have farmers' leg again (I was wearing my shorts and the bales prick your legs leaving a red rash all over them!).

A Whirlwind of a Weekend

2011-07-31T12:54:00.000-07:00

To be honest, I am not sure how we have survived the last few days. So much has happened, some good, some bad. Since the last blog we have sold little Barry and Barnaby, delivered them and organised follow up visits to assist with husbandry and handling. We have returned Jed to the Isle of Wight, sad to see him go but he has done his work and done well. I think Dude misses glaring at him!

There is a lot more to say about our trip to Warrenfield Alpacas but I am saving that for another day!! We have also trimmed all toe nails, body scored everyone and started our halter training amongst feeding Trouble. She is lovely and is already eating a fair bit of grass which is very good.

Tilbo's leg is doing okay - it does not slow him down in the least and he has an amazing trick of whacking the other cria round the head with his splinted leg. At first I thought it was accidental but now I am not so sure! The Mule has now been fixed properly so the Jalopy can be retired again.

Sam is the one with the most exciting news as he has just started his own alpaca herd! I can say no more at the moment as he is in the middle of debating his herd name and logo and devising a breeding plan - all will be revealed when he says so! In between all of this, Sam has made a hay rack for his lambs. They seem to enjoy climbing on it as well as eating out of it. Here is Sammy Davis Jnr at the front!

Fires, bales . . .

2011-07-29T09:47:00.000-07:00

We have had a couple of manic days and are just recovering. Dude did his second mobile mating a couple of days ago and was miles better. He still has a slight issue with walking on the halter but getting straight down to the job went swimmingly. Dude was in fine orgling form and I think he is beginning to associate the stock trailer with girls - which is not a bad thing! Our destination was Reddingvale, always a good place to go and it gave us a chance to view some gorgeous coloured cria - particularly splendid fawn baby. Viv had marked the occasion with an impressive bit of toe nail painting - glad I had my boots on, can't remember the last time I even looked at my toenails! We delivered a few fleeces from other breeders ready for the Great Western Region Alpaca Fleece and Yarn show and then had to rush back to feed Trouble. We also had to get to bed early as Thursday was bailing day.

Bailing Day was not as smooth an operation as we hoped for. We began with a major breakdown of the Fordson, just as it had started to row up 10 acre. This meant a quick swap to the Leyland which has been parked up for ages. Third field has quite a steep slope in it so we knew the little 2 wheel drive Leyland might struggle and it did! We were lucky to have the help of the Marine who manfully trudged around rowing up all day. We did have an exciting stop mid morning when the field accidentally caught fire! This is quite a scary sight as it takes hold very quickly. Luckily the alpaca water barrels were in the back of the jalopy so I zoomed rally style across and we soaked the area whilst Carl did a sort of Irish Jig on it. Crisis averted we hooked up the bailer and the sledge and got going. Then the Leyland ran out of diesel so the marine had to hot foot it to the garage while the bailer gradually caught up. The grass was so thick we had to go pretty slow and we got through a great many shear bolts! Back with the diesel - white diesel, expensive - start woofling and then we spring a diesel leak! The Marine plunged to the ground and plugged the gap, Carl rushed over with a spanner and I had to remove my Tshirt for the emergency (luckily I had a sort of t shirt type bra on underneath or that could have really ended the day). It did all feel like it was getting a bit much when we caught a glimpse of a flashing light through the hedgerow and up rolled the Shepherd, The Strong Boy, Sam, a massive McCormick, a large bale trailer and the bale grab! It was a very good job because we ended up with 900 bales and that was leaving 3 rows at the bottom. To say we were shattered last night is an understatement. The Marine's Lady turned up with a camper full of curry and donuts which saved the day! This morning a leisurely breakfast was called for but the Marines had to go due to an incident involving a garage, a police chase and a phone call! So, instead we did spit offs, a mating, body scores and toenails! All went well - I think little Yossarian was the one who had the most fun!

Sam and Carl have now gone off to do more bale carting - Sam did get a quick play with his cousin in the middle of all this.
Here it is - a barn of bales! Waiting to be sheeted up!

And, Willie, up date on Sammy Davis Junior tomorrow hopefully!

Yipee Yi Hay!

2011-07-26T12:23:00.000-07:00

Not sure about that blog title but I know what I mean!!

Okay, I did have a major disaster this morning which sent my stress levels sky high but other than that it has been a good day - and interesting!

I achieved one of my life time ambitions, almost, this morning - courtesy of The Grey Haired Neighbour and Alf who presented me with the most wonderful purple cowboy hat for my birthday (you won't remeber but I did mention on a previous blog my dream of strutting in tight shorts, stilletoes and a stetson pointing to fabulous lustre crimp . . . )! I duly went out amongst the alpacas in my shorts (tight due to weight gain not fashion and rather like Eric Morecambe in that they are billowing in the leg region) and stilettos (not easy with a strained ankle!) and posed and pointed happily. I felt rather like Kate Moss and in my head that was what I looked like! Sam was on paparazzi duty and we rushed back to view the results. Oh dear!! My bottom is far larger than I thought - as are my legs and we won't mention the size of my bust! Many photos have been rejected by Carl including Sam's favourite shot where I look like I have been caught short! This is marginally the best, not very flattering but who cares!!

We then had a surprise visit from a fellow alpaca keeper, luckily I had removed my finery by then (although I still had my shorts on which can't have been pleasant for her). We also got the hay woofled, topped roadside and I went shopping.

It never rains, but it pours!

2011-07-25T10:30:00.000-07:00

I hope I am not pushing my luck with that blog title - we have just cut 3rd field so no rain required!

Too late - I am looking out the window and it is raining! I don't believe it!!!

Today has been a pig of a day and I haven't even opened my presents yet - I shall do that after my blogging. I just cannot confess to the disaster I found in the field this morning - suffice to say that it is all my fault and it has taken me all day to sort it out. In fact I am not going to dwell on today which has been a bit of a disaster. We'll just have a few calming photos (which I will no doubt append the wrong names to, today being today!). The first should be of Yossarian with String practising her Swan Lake routine. Trouble is digging in the rolling pit while Belinda's baby, now named Be Cool - Bea for short, is standing at the side pretending to be a sphinx.

The next photo is Bea who I think is quite nice - she has certainly got a very fleecy face and a nice beard! All the cria look pretty grubby due to their fondness for digging and rolling!

Finally, we have Bea and Tilbo with Slink in the background - not sure what they are saying to each other!

Dude goes Mobile

2011-07-24T10:10:00.000-07:00

Well first, it has been pointed out to me that the photo of me and Bert's baby was not of me and Bert's baby - I uploaded the wrong one and didn't check words and text matched - sorry!

Today was Dude's first time on a mobile mating. Now what I would like to say next was what a wonderful, calm and impressive experience this was. I would like to tell you how we loaded Dude into his sign written, air conditioned alpaca van. How we arrived dead on time and led a strutting Dude calmly to the specially prepared mating pen. How we stood and supped coffee whilst Dude muttered sweet nothings into the receptive females ear. . . . well it wasn't quite like that!

Firstly, we led Dude, quite happily, all going swimmingly so far, into the old stock trailer. We trundled up the field, over the disinfectant mats and I thought I would just check him whilst locking the gate - only to remember I hadn't fed Trouble. Bottle was all ready in the truck so a quick divert to feed and then we were off, almost, on getting back in the truck I discovered one of the magnetic signs had fallen off in the grass - quickly that was reaffixed and finally we were underway - 10 minutes late by now. A few heavy going hills and we finally arrived 15 minutes late. Not as professional as we hoped but okay. Our destination was Ashton Lane Alpacas and Carol and Peter had everything set up and waiting - including coffee and biscuits. Dude came out of the stock trailer beautifully - still going well! Then Dude decided he was not going to walk nicely on his lead where he had a very receptive female sitting ready for him. We pushed, we pulled, we did our 'ratchet, ratchet, ratchet' and Dude was just so embarrassing - dancing around like a circus pony . Once he was finally in with his female he was more interested in gazing round and looking at the views. At this point I felt like a Hamlet cigar was called for - then suddenly there was a bit of bottom sniffing and he was away. Thank goodness - until . . . Carl in his wisdom decided to climb out of the specially erected pen to go and have a coffee - kicking over a barrier with a great clank as he went and making Dude jump! I gave Carl a serious look which Dude must have caught a glimpse of as he was back on and away again.

Not the smoothest start for Dude but we got there in the end. He's got another to do on Wednesday so I am hoping that is a slicker operation! Some serious halter training now required!!

This afternoon was baby weighing and redoing Tilbo's leg. This meant getting the girls and babies down to the barn and disturbing the babies from their favourite spot - the rolling pit - where sometimes they all manage to squash in!

Getting them down to the barn is no problem - getting Bertie back into the field is seriously time consuming. She drops like a stone if you touch her and has always been very keen on nibbling hedges, which there are many of in the runway!

Sam and a bit of dodgy camera work!

2011-07-23T14:22:00.000-07:00

We have had another busy day, well, this morning it was mostly Carl being very busy with the Shepherd's wife whilst I hid in the caravan - but more on that another time!

The new baby, Belinda's still does not have a name. I want something with Cool in it as Cool Dude is the daddy but the best suggestion so far is Cool as a Cucumber - and I really cannot have an alpaca called cucumber! Whatever her name she is a strapping great thing and very lively - she is already almost as big as the mammoth Slink and has to bend to get under her poor mum. I sent Sam over this evening to get a few photos as I had forgotten during the day, but he seemed to be in a bit of an arty mood. He took 200 photos but most were of black alpaca against dark hedge, views up Trouble's nose, out of focus or taken from strange angles. These are the best of the bunch!

Here is me and Bert's baby, Trouble, whose dad is Samson. She is doing very well.

And these are Tilbo - brown with the broken leg, The Slink - white suri at the back, String (Pretty Cool) - Flem's baby and on the right is Trouble! We didn't manage one of Belinda's unnamed baby but she is in the video.

We then went into film producer mode - this is very hard! Do not feel you must watch this clip - it's a few babies charging around, plus some grass and sky!

Belinda's baby!

2011-07-22T10:44:00.000-07:00

Things have been a little hectic and the blog has got a bit behind. Today should have been a peaceful day of cleaning fields with a quick trip to the hairdressers. I had just put the phone down this morning when it rang again - it was Sam calling to say Belinda had suddenly popped out her cria! I have been watching for it for ages and suddenly there it was - our third Dude baby and another girl! This is another solid white and a stonker at almost 11kg. Belinda delivered her in minutes with no dramas and it was soon up and feeding. No name yet as we are still deliberating.

As usual I have completely overdone it with the iodine and purple spray!

Trouble, Bert's baby, is now doing well with her bottle and proving the easiest bottle fed I have had. We are doing 350ml at a go with 5 feeds starting at a respectable 8am and ending about 9pm. Long may it continue, but I am not banking on it! Bert and I are finding even this easy routine quite exhausting and have to have several rests during the day!!

Trouble has made firm friends with Yossarian.

And I am pleased with Tilbo's progress (broken leg) as today he started to play with the others and managed several jumps. The Slink (the suri girl) is a bit of a menace as, despite Crispie having lots of milk and weighing 18kg already, she is constantly drinking from everyone else. I have never seen a cria do it before but she has it off to a fine art and sneaks in for a quick drink while the Mother's own cria is drinking - I am having to watch her with Belinda as she was trying to get the colostrum which the new one needs. Flamenco's baby - String (Pretty Cool) is lovely and doing well.

A Day for Reclining

2011-07-19T10:37:00.000-07:00

No more accidents so far today but I have been somewhat incapacitated from yesterday. My ankle has now swollen and getting around is slow going. I have had to resort to a good recline every half an hour. Despite this we managed to do Zara's spit off but getting the Bert back in the field afterwards was hard going. She wanted to stay where she was and everytime I shoved her, she lay down. In the end I got her back with a handful of alpaca mix but it took a bit of doing. I am pleased to say that Zara spat convincingly which is good news.

I have no photos tonight as I was unable to hold my stick and the camera but I shall have a good go tomorrow. Trouble is doing very well with her bottle and is following people around a bit less so that looks good - she has also put on weight. She does have slightly weepy eyes but I put that down to the wind which is quite fierce today.

Now we are popping out for fish and chips as I am unable to drive so couldn't go shopping. Sam will have to have his warmed up as he is off to help The Boys and The Shepherd with some bale throwing - whatever that might be!

Rabbit Holes

2011-07-18T11:36:00.000-07:00

It's been a bit of and up and down time here. Some people may have realised we have been attempting to sell our house and various things have conspired to make this difficult. A visit to Stur late this afternoon and we set in motion some actions which we are very sad about but hopefully will be for the best.

When I got back I was not really concentrating when I went to feed Trouble and I ended up twisting my ankle in a rabbit hole. This was very painful but I managed to crawl back to the barn to retrieve my phone and sent a series of frantic messages to Sam who was topping in second. At the same time Dude was rearing up at the fence, desperate for Lily - I was shouting and waving an electric fence post furiously at him, to which he paid not a blind bit of notice. Eventually Sam got the message and slowly appeared on the Fordson. He helped me to the caravan where I reclined painfully, sending him to fetch coffee and fairy cakes (a bandage might have been more useful). Unable to rise I remained there until Carl appeared and helped me back to the house. I felt Sam had been helpful and concerned until I found the note he had left for his Dad -

Dad
Come to the caravan coz Mum is either dead or dieing and we need to get her out as she is starting to smell
Sam

Ah, well! The ankle is now feeling better which is a good thing as Belinda looks mighty peculiar at the back end - a foot appears to be emerging under the skin at her bottom - either that or she needs a mighty big poo!!

I think tomorrow I would like a nice calm day.

A laugh a Minute

2011-07-16T01:37:00.000-07:00

It has been a rather difficult time here, to say the least, what with barns, banging, radios, bats, dogs, fights, pigeons, guns - one day I will recount what is gradually becoming a sort of sort of musical hall comedy turn!! Any way, we have escaped from the caravan and returned to our house to regroup - and update the blog.

So, the alpacas! It has been a tiring time with Bert's baby and she has not been at all easy but I think we are getting there. Here we are, me and Bert and our baby! I have to say, Bert is looking far better than I am!

I hasten to add that I am not fussing her and keep away as much as possible but this was her day 1 picture! We have called her Pretty Troublesome, Trouble for short, and I fear she will have Bert's personality! At the moment she is feeding okay but only if I hold her head in a headlock which she likes - we are working on proper feeding! She also will go up to anyone which is not what I want, particularly when people are looking over the gate as it is so tempting to go over and stroke her. She was 9.5kg at birth but has now lost some of that weight. Her legs and ears are beginning to sort themselves out though.

Tilbo's leg has slowed him down but he still manages to get around, feeds fine and is putting on weight.

It doesn't normally look as wonky as it does in the photo - I think I just caught it at the wrong moment!

Slinky is now a mammoth 16kg, very feisty and the leader of the pack. Yossarian, the other suri, you may notice has cream in his eyes. The flies had attacked them so badly they were raw and looked quite nasty - I think the cream has done the trick though. He is doing well but has to jump on anything that lies down and orgle frantically - he looks like some sort of stick on spider clinging on!

Then there is String, Flem and Dude's baby. She is putting weight on nicely and doing well.

Yesterday we did a few more matings which was quite strange. We are trying the two day thing this year and sometimes it works and sometimes it doesn't. Islay (no, she is not pregnant much to my disappointment) sat both times and Dude hopped on both times. Crispie sat both times but Dude only wanted to know the first time. The second time he had a good sniff but would not get on - when I opened the gate to try to get Crispie out Flem sneaked in, sat and he jumped on her! She has now been mated too early but why did he not want Crispie - strange!

So, alpaca wise, things are going fine and just the three babies to come - Carolyn's Belinda's and Lina's. It is now pouring with rain so we don't want any today. Carl is out getting parts for the Mule so hopefully that will be fixed later. I have sorted the Alf problem (the suri boy) so we can now try him out for a mating with Sherbet - Libby at Grassroots is a wonderful, very helpful woman. Sam was going to help the Shepherd with his baling today but sadly that looks no good.

Updating!!!!

2011-07-14T10:59:00.000-07:00

Sorry, readers - I know my blogging is sparse! The alpacas are all fine - Bert's baby is a little tricky but we are slowly getting there.
We do have one or two non alppaca related issues at the moment - which I will reveal shortly and I am beginning to see the funny side!
But - due to issues which mean I cannot get to the computer I will not be able to blog until the weekend - so look out for me at the weekend - if we haven't been carted off by PC Dave by then!

Bert's baby

2011-07-11T08:45:00.000-07:00

This has just got to be a quick blog tonight as Bert has had her baby! A little - well, 9.5kg - girl. She was born at just over 11 months but still seems a little underdone despite her size. She is a bottle feeder of course and we have got the plasma and colostrum in - bit of a struggle though. So, pictures and more news tomorrow but I must get ready for my first night in the barn.

A visit from the Midwife . . and wife!

2011-07-10T13:49:00.000-07:00

Bit of a strange 'will she? won't she?' day to today with Bert. I kept thinking I might have to spring into action - about 4pm lots of rolling was going on and I did have a little chat with Bert and told her to either have it immediately or hang on for a couple of hours as we were awaiting the arrival of Reddingvale and I know Andy is something of a dab hand at delivering cria at the moment - has 'em out and running before a vet has a chance to appear on the scene, whatever the presentation!

Well, she held on and Viv and Andy arrived to perform a little mating - not personally of course! I as usual was very jealous of their van - particularly the number plate.

I hope the picture is clear enough - I am now saving them a different way from the old Picasso way to make them easier and smaller to upload so this is a bit of a trial uploading.

Anyway, successful mating, biscuits eaten, coffee drunk - time to have a look at the babies. No one behaved themselves very well - Flamenco, Lina and Emily were all trying to mate with each other. Lina ran round screeching and trying to bite Emily's ear off. Tilbo hobbled, String ran away - general disorganised chaos really! In my dreams I would be walking round elegantly in denim shorts, stilettos and wearing a diamante stetson whilst gesturing elegantly at peacefully grazing, immaculate cria and their mums with visitors sighing, "Ohh! the crimp is outstanding! Gosh, I can't believe the lustre! That's a Supreme Champion if ever I saw one! Just feel the density, Malcolm . . . " Ah, well - probably twist my ankle and fall flat on my face!

. . . and as Viv and Andy drove off into the setting sun Bertie rolled . . . then rolled again . . . then farted loudly!

A D-Bat?!

2011-07-09T13:40:00.000-07:00

Annoying day today and I am simmering and stewing impotently. Seems to me some people can get away with anything planning wise regardless of anyone else . . Carl says I must not write anymore about it so I will just stew and erupt at some future point.

Tilbo is struggling to keep up with the other cria but is fine. Here he is, having a drink with his strapped up leg!

I am reasonably pleased with how Yossarian is doing, despite him not putting on weight yet. He is still wobbly but he does have bursts of activity.

He is quite keen on String (Pretty Cool/Sting - sadly the name String has stuck - thanks, Barbara!) and seeks her out when he wants to play.

I made a major mistake last night and have ended up with something Sam loves! My Mule has been out of action for several weeks now as I am still waiting for a new bit for it. In it's place I am using The Jalopy - the little Peugeot Look I used to have as my car. With the back seats out and the boot propped open it is okay - plus it has wipers and a heater but it is not good at towing the poo picker. In the paper yesterday I saw something called a Polaris 6 wheel drive D Bat. For some reason I assumed this was similar to a Mule with a nice little cab and a back bit - Carl and Sam didn't enlighten me and I sent them off with a pile of money to look at it. It was a non runner as all electrics, brake pipes etc had been slashed but Carl can fix most things so I thought it might be okay. Well, they bought it and it is nothing like I anticipated. For a start it has 6 wheels, no cab and is sort of a quad with a tipping back. The boys got it working this morning and here it is - not quite what I had in mind, I feel like I am on active manoeuvres and about to retreat from a tank attack. Needless to say Sam thinks it is wonderful.

Disaster - Tilbo

2011-07-08T07:52:00.000-07:00

Went over this morning to find a severally leaking field shelter full of drenched alpacas and a badly limping Tilbo. I checked over Tilbo and it didn't look good to me so decided to keep and eye whilst we attempted to get a tarpaulin over the field shelter - not easy in high winds. Tilbo hadn't shown any improvement by the time the shelter was made leak proof and he was struggling to kush so the vet was called. As I suspected - he has broken his leg. The vet decided to splint in rather than use a cast so we spent a little time looking for something to use as a splint. In the end Sam had to sacrifice his dingy paddle - well, there is not much water up here! He sawed it up to make a nice leg shaped piece and this has been padded and strapped on. Tilbo now looks as if he has a wooden leg and really needs renaming Long John Silver. We have to change and check in 10 days time so fingers crossed.

A few pictures

2011-07-07T12:16:00.000-07:00

All babies seem to be doing well now - despite horrendous rain last night. Sam was so worried about Yossarian's coat staying on he was over the fields at 4am checking things out. So, to update - first is Slinky who is exceedingly lively.

Next meet Westhill Pretty Cool or Sting for short (Can you work that one out?!) - named by the Wise One.

Then we have Tilbo who is always immaculate whatever the weather - he is also a terror, always trying to stir up everyone else!

And finally Yossarian, the suri, who is doing just fine!

Dude's a Proper Daddy!

2011-07-06T09:22:00.000-07:00

I am really finding it hard to contain myself at the moment! Carl isn't back from work yet and I just want to tell someone! I know Dude has already fathered one little girl this year - but I haven't really counted that one as it was a suri mating. The huacayas were the ones we were waiting for - and we have one, the first 'real' Dude baby! It wasn't any of the ones that were due, it was Flemenco - due on the 16th July, so 10 days early. They all seem to be early or only a day or two over the 11 months at the moment. Last year Flem had a real struggle with her baby, but not this year - it was out easily in half an hour and she loved it from the start - on it's feet in 10 minutes and feeding straight away - it looks huge! It weighs 10.5kg and is a girl, and what a girl! We used Dude on a range of girls to see what he could do for each and this is one of my (gorgeous) poorer quality females with a fleece like a carpet, face like a horse and a light fawn colour. Just look at the little one!

It has been raining on and off but the rain is not penetrating her coat at all - it is so dense you can't get through it to the skin - I'd show you the little fleece shot I did but you'd probably just laugh and I know it is hard to tell when they are a couple of hours old but really . . . Just have to wait till Carl gets back and drag him over there! I took lots of photos in case he is too late back to see properly.

Slinky is doing well and now weighs a whopping 14kg, Tilbo rarely stays still, Lily's baby - now named Yossarian - is still a bit slow and quiet so I am keeping a close eye on him. Picture updates on them tomorrow!

What a surprise!

2011-07-04T13:49:00.000-07:00

Yesterday I saw Lily rolling a lot but thought it was due to the flies bothering her. This morning she was totally normal and as she was not 11 months until 26th July - a definite date as she was only mated once to Legacy from Ashton Lane. So I focused on checking Bert and getting on with jobs - until precisely 11am when Lily calmly walked over to the poo spot, lay on her side and quickly pushed out a gorgeous little boy! I say pushed out but actually, he crawled out on his knees, orgling on the way, at 11.30am! In fact he orgled so loudly it got the boys stirred up and they went crazy fighting and jumping each other. Easy, peasy . . no, of course not! Baby was obviously premature - unerupted incisors, down on pasterns, in fact it just could not stand. By 2pm I was getting worried as despite holding him up he could not suck. A tube of plasma was quickly defrosted and colostrum made up - still not feeding so he had those and it took until 4pm before I could get him sucking while I held him. He has now got his coat on and is able to move around, very wobbly and he keeps rolling down the hill but he is feeding. Lily is an excellent Mum, a maiden but she knows exactly what to do and makes no fuss when I hold him up. He is a hefty chap for the time he was in there - 8kg. . . so here he is . . .

I will try for a better photo tomorrow - now I wonder who will be next! It should be Bert, but who knows!!

Day 2 of a busy weekend

2011-07-03T11:43:00.000-07:00

With shearing out of the way, today it was getting the hay in from the top of second field. The weather was perfect and we now have a barn stocked with 235 lovely smelling bales of fresh hay - just 10 acres to do and we will be finished!
The SAME was a pleasure to drive, the bailer did not have a single tantrum - after we had sorted out the twine, and Sam and I worked as a perfect team on bale gathering and stacking. We made an elevator out of a ladder which helped enormously.
So, here we are packing up, job done!

No more babies yet. Bert is the next on the list - any time now would be okay, except the longer she hangs on the better due to the bottle feeding involved! She is still very scaly with scabby places but I was surprised when we sheared her that there is some re growth of hair on her tummy - in fact quite a lot seems to have grown back on her legs as well. We used lots of different things on her but I think the last thing we used - Filta Bak - seems to be the one that has made the real difference. It has taken a long time to grow through and we haven't applied more since last year but it must have been a help as nothing else made much difference.

Day 1 of a busy weekend

2011-07-02T13:35:00.000-07:00

Complete the shearing day - with a little woofling in the middle. Hay is drying beautifully - smells wonderful and no rain - - - yet!

We had shearing to complete as today's task. Now, normally I am assistant to Sam who is shearing assistant. Normally I am required to brush, collect fleece, photograph things, comfort the screechers, check there are no signs of mites, get in the way, provide drinks and "Manage Things". This is all fairly relaxed and very manageable and this is how we started out. We had the worst to do today along with Dude and suris. Lina set the tone for the day with screeching, spitting, weeing and generally being as obnoxious as possible. Next up was Bert who followed suit but also added in farting and pooing. By this time I was not looking forward to Islay who is normally a monster with kicking on the way in as well as everything else - but she was a little star, good as gold! All going well and then Sam had to go off to work with the Shepherd making me shearing assistant number one ( in fact only assistant) - Managing Things, Photographing and making drinks went by the wayside as I now had manoeuvring animals onto the mat, passing oil, toe nails, bag labelling . . . on the list. Carl and Sam have a really good system - Carl and I do not! All my fault, I know, but "Lift the back end round" is a bit beyond my capabilities! Anyway, we managed with Carl only getting cross a few times when I wasn't quick enough moving things, picking up fleece, putting the bag on the neck. . . In fact I forgot totally with Crispie and she was so good we only noticed when Carl started on her neck!
It was all leading up to Dude though and there I was a little worried. He is a lovely tempered boy - but he is a big boy and strong so I wasn't quite sure if I could manage that tricky moment of getting the ropes on before they are stretched. Well, he was superb! I won't say he came in and lay down but he certainly was not scared - the only time he twitched was when Carl was doing round his equipment and at that point he lifted his head , turned and glared - he had the neck bag on but treated it like a feather! We have never had that quantity of fleece from one alpaca and the blanket kind of peeled off, not separating at all. He looks gorgeous now - or he did until he rolled! . . . and Dylan has a rival for the biggest pair of under tail ornaments in the Westhill Herd!

Now I have to check on Carolyn - not due until August (not one we sheared today) but she is behaving very oddly.
Hopefully, we will be baling tomorrow and I will try for photos.

Solitary Bert

2011-07-01T09:48:00.000-07:00

Bert has spent all day on her own today - I don't want her having her baby yet, she is not 11 months until next week.

The babies have discovered the rolling pit and are desperate for everyone else to get out so they can have a go.

Tilbo's ears have now straightened and his tape is off - which means he looks a little more normal, but still cross! The hay has been woofled and is drying beautifully but there are one or two ominous clouds in the sky!

No rain, please.

2011-06-30T12:46:00.000-07:00

Only a quick blog tonight as we have cut the grass in second field (just the bit at the top and side - the rest has the sheep in it) and now we have to drag the Woofler out. Carl is taking the Mule apart as it is Seriously Sick and a large quantity of bailer twine which is wrapped round it's underneath bits is not helping matters . . . nor is the hole in the exhaust . . . not is the bearing in the wheel which is kaput!
Babies are doing well. One of Tilbo's ear straighteners has fallen off but the ear is now straight so that is him half sorted.
Bert has been asleep virtually all day so maybe she will be next?

Going well

2011-06-29T12:30:00.000-07:00

We have a name - Squadron Leader Tilbo (not sure what the i stands for but we had to have a vowel, Judi!).

Today much time has been wasted in watching the two of them. Slinky is adventurous and charges around sniffing at everyone - she now weighs 11kg so is doing fabulously! Tilbo is still a bit sleepy but has lots of mad bursts of energy in between. Zara follows him around constantly and chases Slinky away if she comes near - Zara isn't his Mum, Cassie is and she is very laid back about it all! Greeves was scared stiff of them yesterday but today has been having tentative sniffs at Tilbo - Slinky is far too lively for him!

Sam and I have also prepared the barn for the hay which we are hoping to start cutting soon.

Give us a vowel, Carol

2011-06-28T12:17:00.000-07:00

Thank you for the comments yesterday - why am I suddenly typing in italics? You (ah! that's better - normal typing!) may have noticed yesterday that Tlbo's ears were a bit floppy - they have now been taped and he looks rather like a Lufthansa jet coming in to land! I cut up a sweet pea pot into an ear shape and taped it to the inside of his ear with insulation tape (I could only find red). He didn't mind this and nor did Cassie so hopefully when it comes off in three days - he will be fine.

He does look a bit cross though! The name Tlbo is has stuck but, as Carl says, it lacks a vowel! So he has to be renamed - Squadron Leader is my current favourite!

Slinky is very lively and seems to enjoy dashing between the two paddocks and giving her Mum a heart attack at the same time. She soon shoots back to Mum though when something frightens her!

Shame I got so much purple spray all over her but I am worried about having another Matchless problem (he died last year) so I am spraying liberally and dipping in Iodine. A bit overkill I know but I am not taking any chances. Tlbo keeps himself to himself much more at the moment but Slinky is getting acquainted with every one else and seems to have taken a bit of a shine to Lily.

In between cria watching we did a spit off for both Prue and Little Star - both spat - and then attempted a mating for Sherbert. She has had all her medications and sat immediately - then we hit a snag, luckily! We decided to try Alf - our young white suri. He was very keen and got on, orgling crazily but despite knocking on the door he couldn't seem to wiggle into the right place! Everytime we tried to help it disappeared! Sherbert eventually got fed up with this young boy and gave him a look which said, "I need a man, not a boy!" We decided to leave it for a day and then when I got home I was reminded Alf is, due to my stupidity several years ago, registered as listed non breeding. Presumably if he did sire a cria we couldn't register it so we will have to think again.

TLBO

2011-06-27T12:43:00.000-07:00

Phew! We've had another one!
10am this morning Cassie looked a bit restless.
11am she took herself up to the second paddock leaving everyone else behind in first.
She then started walking backwards - this had to be a sign of imminent birth (unless Andy had been giving her secret dance lessons). We then had rolling, groaning, straining and backward walking until 3pm. Interspersed with sleeping or resting.

Finally a head appeared and at 10 to 4 out came a little boy - a lovely dark brown - into a rather overcast rainy day. I sprayed him and put a coat on but he didn't want to get up so in the end I held him up to Cassie and after his first drink he was away - in a very tottery manner!

Sun is now out and coat is off - just in time for the arrival of the shepherd to shear the sheep!

The Slink (despite some good suggestions, she just has to be Slinky) is very lively and getting very adventurous (she weighed 10kg last night) - Greeves is scared of her and runs away if she comes near!

So now we have two - The Slink -

And Tlbo (a temporary name - The Little Brown One!) -

No more yet - next we should have Bert whose 11 months are up next week, on Wednesday.

This is Great!!

2011-06-26T09:43:00.000-07:00

Such an exciting day - it has been wonderful - my first cria of the year! Last night we went out to check the girls as it got dark and Crispie looked really uncomfortable but not as if it would be in the night. I thought it might be today so got a flask and the knitting ready. When I let the chickens out she was grumbling but still with all the others and lying normally but, after a quick return to get the dog, I settled in the Mule and prepared for a bit of a wait. Apart from the grumbling she showed no real signs until about five minutes before when she got up and strained a bit and then had a mammoth roll. Baby was born, quickly and easily, at 10 past 11. Within 10 minutes it was up and luckily I caught her (it's a girl) straight away to spray the navel as she then zoomed round the field with Crispie moaning along behind her. Afterbirth was soon out - only problem was baby took ages to suckle - she tried everywhere but the right place and I couldn't catch her to give a hand. Finally, she managed, by going under Crispie's tail between her back legs! I am so pleased with her, Carl and Sam haven't seen her yet as they are shearing at Irene's. I hoped and hoped it would be a girl and a solid white - that is all I wanted. Crispie is a Suri but not a wonderful one so we mated her to Dude as a little experiment - and I really am very pleased. She is so bright - better put a photo in at this point!

She was born at 337 days and looks big and strong but I am waiting for Carl to get back so I can weigh her. She has spent all day enjoying the bright sun.

- with Mum always by her - you can just see Crispie's nose at the top of the photo! What is, I think - but it is a bit early to tell- brilliant is that she appears to have lovely little locks coming already. I never thought we'd manage that! Tonight I am going to try to find Alf's baby picture (her half brother) and Lily's and see how she compares. If you squint you can just see some little locks starting to twist in her very first fleece shot!

I have just eaten an entire lemon drizzle cake in my excitement and feel a trifle sick! Brilliant!!!!!!
Oh! And a name! The Wise Woman has suggested I name her after a potato - - which is a possibility! - but I am tentatively calling her The Slink (slinky for short) as she is so silky feeling. Mind you, Carl hasn't had his say yet! Oh, I love it - who will be next?!!

Pesky chicken!

2011-06-25T09:11:00.000-07:00

Weather was foul this morning , which was not what we wanted as we hoped to finish shearing ours. So we checked over the boys and cut a few toenails and then Carl and Sam set to work on making the tractor wipers work. Somehow they succeeded in making the interior light work from the wiper switch but still no wipers!

The weather then started to improve and I had a long chat with Bert, which was sadly constantly interrupted by a pesky chicken who kept pecking at us.

By the time the weather really turned and the alpacas dried, it was too late to shear so now Sam and I have been running round putting more water containers out.

. . . and many thanks to Willie for an alpaca article he sent me this morning - I like getting interesting post - thank you Willie!

A day for yawning

2011-06-24T11:58:00.000-07:00

Shopping this morning while Sam got the 'new' chain harrow ready for action - it is very big!

We then checked over the sheep and I am very pleased to report that all eyes seem to be clearing up well. I had half an eye on the alpacas all day but no one produced and I could not really kid myself that anyone was likely. In fact everyone looked a little tired and listless. I don't think Greeves could yawn anymore than he was!