Gardens, Alpacas, Fiber

It has been a strange, warm, spring.  The garden is in and growing.  I must say it is way ahead of schedule and it looks like mid-June.  The animals are nicely sheared and though we have had some heat it is not really bothering them since they were sheared in April.  The pastures are nice and green and the last one has been opened up to the alpacas.  They are like little kids in a new toy store.  I really love these days of fresh cut grass, gentle breezes and fresh new growth.  However, I am acutely aware of the time I have before Alpaca & Nature Day-Camp sessions begin.  I have much to do, including getting all this alpaca fiber to the mills.  Tomorrow and every day will be very busy, but I stop from time to time and inhale the clean country air and get ready to delve in to the farm chores.

Spring Time on the Farm

It has been the strangest spring with record breaking highs and a lot of rain.  We are happy to have spring here, but wonder what this weather will do for us in future.  Putting those thoughts aside we are enjoying the beautiful days.  We have limed, fertilized, aerated, and seeded three pastures and now we have two more to go, but they will have to wait until we can move the alpacas off them.  We are now seeing the green . . . yes, the beautiful tender green!  The alpacas are going to be so happy when we can move them onto these beautiful, rich pastures.
We have shearing coming up on April 6.  We are working getting ready for the event.  For some reason the herd has found all the leaves, sticks and general junk they can roll in.  I guess they don't understand how much time it takes me to clean their fleeces.
Halter training is in full swing.  Dancing Paws was led up on the deck and visited with Annie our indoor cat.  There is not a lot of leading done in the winter, so spring is a great time to get everyone back into walking with us.  Alexi, the cria, is doing exceptional in this area.  He is a delight.  The two weanlings are a bit more hesitant, but two are doing pretty well on the lead.

Alexi seemed to have discovered the joy of loping yesterday after the chute was opened after being closed for several weeks.  I truly think loping is a dance of joy.

Eddie looking out.

Maverick caught in the bucket.

Spring, Spring, Where are you?

Where is spring?  After the hardest winter in my history, I impatiently awaited spring.  Now I am so disappointed that it has not really surfaced.  When we do get a rare warm day my "To Do" list is so long I have little time to really enjoy the day.  My husband had back surgery this winter and though he is back doing many things, his stamina is just not back fully.  That just adds to the list, I am so proud of his progress and both of us look forward to him being back 100% percent.
The vet students were out to the farm yesterday.  I love the students working out here, as it gives me teaching time.  They worked with several of the alpacas.  Today,  I am headed out to  the Fiber Cottage.  A 4-H knitting group is out tomorrow . . .ah what fun to introduce them to the beauty of alpaca fiber.
Winter was so hard, I really didn't have much energy after coming in from the barn.  One would think I would have really been productive, but I was tired after caring for the animals and I had little energy to put into creative projects.
If SPRING ever happens . . . I am so ready to start being creative.


PS - We are on cria watch! 

Out of the winter Funk

The sun is shining and the temps are rising.  Nothing can raise my spirits more!  We have  just returned from the MOPACA show in Kansas City, where we had 12 inches of snow while we were there, but that was last weekend and this is a new day.
The show was slow with the huge snowfall, but it was a great time to get back in touch with a lot of great breeders.  Our Delilah got a Fourth place ribbon, we would have liked better, but are happy she ribboned.  Freja, unfortunately did not place.  Freja was in a very tough  class and I am not disappointed in her.  She was a good girl in her first show ring.  We did have iquieries about her after she left the ring.
I was the Fiber Arts Judge.  It was my first judging experience and I really loved the experience.  I knew I was more than qualified, so I felt like I did a nice job.  There were some very beautiful items.  I was so impressed by the skill exhibited.  Mopaca is such a nice show, well run, nice venue, and resonable fees.

Ahhh Fresh Pastures

I love Spring,but there are some challenges . . . fresh pastures. The alpacas love to get out on the new grass. I am happy for them, don't get me wrong, but there are new issues for me in the poop piles. A new breeder can get very upset heading to morning chores and finding poop piles that look like the alpaca poop piles have turned into cow pattie dumping grounds.

So this is what I have found this week. I gathered some fecal samples and dropped them at the vet school to make sure it was only green pastures I was dealing with. The fecals are nearly perfect and I am back to waiting out the effects of spring pastures.

A sunny morning is now turning into a grey rainy day. Actually we can use a few showers, but I would like to work outside in the warm sunshine. Last weekend I was in North Carolina at the Alpaca Fiber Symposium, there the redbud, azaelas and dogwood were in full bloom. I wanted to come home and find the sme in bloom, but of course we are a few weeks behind.