Thursday, May 27, 2010

EEEK!

It's showering off and on meaning it's a perfect day to get the greenhouse cleaned up and planted.

Yes, I am really late in attending to the greenhouse this year but better late than never.

Upon wrenching the greenhouse door open I was greeted by an astounding sight. Weeds beyond belief...laying unhampered for the winter and early spring in a nice blanket of Alpaca beans, the weeds had taken off and were nothing short of knee high.

Two years ago we got rid of the snakes in the greenhouse by pouring a box of salt down the snake hole. After removing the snakes, the next spring I found that a rat was chewing off and absconding with my newly planted tomato plants under the cover of darkness. Hence the barn cat. I'm not sure which is worse, snakes or rats.

No sooner had I begun the task of clearing out the weeds, a movement caught my eye. It's no secret that I hate snakes, and the movement turned out to be a long, grayish snake just inches from my foot. The mandatory scream brought the dogs running.

At the sight of out trusty Spaniel, Sultan I yell at him Get it!, Get it! while feebly pointing in the general direction where the snake disappeared. With tail wagging he happily snuffles through the long grasses. I see the snake again, screaming and encouraging the dog to Get it!

Sultan (my savior) does get the snake, shakes it until it no longer moves, and happily deposits it on the grass outside.

With heart a-pounding and a wary eye for what I'm sure will be many more snakes, I continue hoeing out the weeds.

The dead snake will lay in the grass and make my heart pound in fear until I can convince someone else to remove it. Even dead I am not going near that thing.

As for Sultan, he deserves a steak!

High Speed Arrives!

After waiting patiently for the past 5 years, high speed internet has arrived in our rural location. Last week the guys spent the better part of the morning installing the stuff they install and got things up and running.

Thank God!!!

Tuesday, May 18, 2010

Shearing Day 2010


Once again shearing day was a great success. We had 12 wonderful volunteers helping with everything from using the shop vac to vacuum the animals, weighing alpacas, holding them on the shearing table, trimming nails and skirting fleece.

The day began at 9 AM with the arrival of the first volunteers and followed shortly after by Lukas the shearer. Two stations were set up for shearing, one on the table and an area on the floor. This way Lukas could move from one alpaca to another without having to wait.

We began with the darkest alpacas, moving to the whites. It's easiest to see the dark fibre when the eyes are fresh. As usual after they are shorn alpacas look pretty pathetic. I had made some "apres shear wear" (coats) for two of the smallest animals to help keep them warm until they adjusted to being naked.

We did some skirting right off the alpacas, the really hairy bits and lower leg fibre went directly into the felting bin. This made the process of bagging the shorn fibre a little easier.

The day wrapped up at 3 PM. The crew was tired and dirty and more than ready for the beer and barbecue that followed.

We are very grateful for the help of both old and new friends.

Monday, May 10, 2010

Mayflower Show 2010

We're back from the PEI show with more successes.

Blizzard won White Champion and Callibaut took Reserve Brown. Oreo was first in his class, however there were not enough blacks for a Championship class.
Oreo and Anuone took Produce of Dam (Sedona) and Anuone, Arwyn and Alteza were first, second and third in Junior White Female. Last but not least, Toblerone was first in his class for Fawn Yearling Male.

We enjoyed the high-speed access at the hotel, and now that we're home it's back to dial-up. ARRGH!