Christmas is coming!

Elwood is excited and getting into the spirit!

Another skill

Learned to make a wreath out of sailing rope last week. Added some shells to complete the nautical theme.

Indoor blooms

Christmas cactus gone wild!

Wintry weather

Today was the first day that felt a bit like winter. Flurries in the air, 0c and a cold north wind.

We decided to move the boys out of the summer pasture and shed as the water there can easily freeze.

It was a simple task and we separated the yearling males from the girls at the same time. The barn is back to "winter normal".

C'mon spring!

Pumpkin races

We attended the annual Pumpkin Regatta in Windsor NS. The weather was fair and the races went well. Mareika and I were able to try out a boat.

Skunk rodeo

We had a rodeo of sorts in the barn.....

During morning chores one of the dogs seemed to be overly interested in something in a corner of the barn. Upon investigation we found a skunk backed into a corner and under a pile of old windows.

Two helpers were there with me, and when I told them there was a skunk they were quite excited to see this new creature - until they smelled it.

It took three of us to move windows, set a live trap and coax the skunk into the trap.

After some time we did have success and managed to relocate the smelly intruder to the woods far, far away.

No one actually got sprayed directly however we did have the experience of a bath in tomato juice.

Show successes

t wanting to travel to shows this fall we sent some fleeces to various shows.

Anuone continues to do very well with a Reserve Colour Champion at both the Navan Fleece Show and the Lloydminster Fleece Show.

Toblerone took first in Class at both shows as well.

The fleeces are off to the Northlands show in Edmonton and we'll see how they do there.

And thanks to all the volunteers...

As the Wwoofing season draws to an end for another year we would like to extend our heartfelt thanks to all who passed through our doors and provided so much help. We enjoyed hosting you all.

Thanks to:

Emeline & Louis, Louisa & Katharina, Miwa, Faith, Mike, Elise, Momoko and Janos & Mareika

One crazy Hibiscus

I brought my Hibiscus in from the back patio a couple of weeks ago and it has gone crazy with flowers.

Autumn

Fall has arrived with beautiful warm sunny days. Perfect for a final weeding and getting the gardens ready for a winter rest.

Soon we will remove the boys from their summer pasture and return them to the barn.

Kindergarten for the 2012 cria has begun, earlier than in the past and it's so much easier when the weather is warm.

Another successful Open Farm Day

Open Farm Day 2012 was a great success at Rocaro Alpacas with over 250 visitors to the farm. Many visitors mentioned the ATV Live at 5 interview and we are still getting comments from people who saw the spot.

Alpacas 101

Goofing around

Open Farm Day

If you're in the area, come on out for a visit on Open Farm Day.

September 16 from 10 - 4

Hummingbirds

We have had a busy summer feeding hummingbirds again. At the height of the flock there were about 30 - a full time job keeping them fed.

Migration south has begun and the males are gone now, leaving about 20 Hummers at the feeders.

They will all be gone about Sept. 10.

Rocaro Fitness Club

We work out! Outside.

We had an old brick walkway along the side of the house that was in dire need of repair. Not being one to leave things alone, and well we did have helpers here, so we decided to remove the bricks.

Ok, so what do we do with the bricks? We had been discussing the possibility of getting rid of the "decorative" (read frog pond) in the back garden, so it was really only logical to empty the pond of water and fill it with the bricks.

So far so good. Under the brick walkway we discovered a thick layer of sand. After a couple of days of tracking sand into the house non-stop it was decided that "Something Must Be Done..."

We called the local gravel guy and were advised that the best solution for a walkway would be crusher dust. Once in place and hosed down it would become as hard as concrete. Sounds good to us, ho w much do we need? Apparently we need eight tons!!!!! to be delivered on Monday morning.

Monday morning the truck arrives at 7:30 - good thing as we need the day to move this stuff.

Eight tons appears to be less than we thought, should have this finished up by noon. It was a cool and comfortable 28c, a nice change from the blistering temperatures we have been having. Perfect for working in.

So, I don't know how they estimated the required eight tons, but it turns out we have way more than we need. We did the walkway, added a nice layer over the bricks in the pond, then took trailer loads to the barn where we filled in a large damp spot inside one of the lounging sheds.

Still more to move so we put a layer in the woodshed where we park the cars.

In the end it took the two of us all day. Now all we have to do is tramp it down. The boards will help with that.

The filled pond, all ready for a fire pit.

A busy summer at the farm

So, Finally a chance to update some of the goings on at Rocaro Alpacas.

We have all the painting projects done at last, many thanks to all the helpers who participated in the painting.

Projects painted were the "man cave" for the herdsires,

The cottage in the woods by the lake,

The porch on the rental,

And our house.

We actually hired a painter for our place...he did a fantastic job. Thanks Percy!

Fibre Celebration

Celebrate! Finally finished skirting & sorting the fibre from this years clip. It's the earliest it's ever been done and many thanks to Miwa, Louisa & Katharina without your help I'd still be working at it.

100% calorie free cake!

My latest project is cake, yes calorie free cake!

This cake is strawberry butter cream and is made from all natural soap ingredients.

I sell it by the slice or as a whole cake for special occasions.

Callibaut's first

We have a new little guy in the cria pen - a first offspring for Callibaut.

Not named yet, it needs to start with the letter E for 2012.

Einstein & Edelweiss

These two cria, who were born only a couple of days apart are best friends.

Edelweiss is very friendly & curious. She nibbles on everything!

Einstein is a little more analytical.

Rugs! Rugs! Rugs!

I finally have had time and a sunny day to wash all the alpaca rugs I have been weaving.

They each get four washes in hot soapy water to felt them just a bit, making them sturdy for the floor. They then get 3 rinses in the laundry tub and then a hosing off outside.

Here they are drying in the sun.

Moving again!

Earlier this spring we moved the animals around to allow for pasture rotation and a bit of segregation. We wanted to keep the moms in a smaller pasture, let the hay field grow and some pastures recover from grazing.

Haying is done, thanks a lot to Kate's boys, so we moved the main herd of girls back to their usual spot and the guys back to their summer pasture.

Something totally different

In addition to farming I work part time doing bird taxidermy.

Recently I finished a Barred Owl for us, it hangs in the sun room.

New cria

I came home from work today and was greeted by Louisa & Katherina at the barn. It seems that Nikki decided to have her cria a bit early and the gir ls had to help as a leg was stuck.

This was their first experience with assisting a birth and had no one there to help them. They did a wonderful job and the cria is doing well. A little white fellow.

Pooper Scooper

We have been vacuuming the pastures this past weekend. It's hard work but we have a song to lighten the load.

We sing it to the chorus of ABBA's Super Trooper:

Pooper scooper get the motor running
Out there in the sun
Fun for everyone

Somewhere in the field there's poo

Thank you Shearing Day Volunteers

Thank you to all our volunteers who made shearing day a success. 26 animals were sheared between 830 and 4pm with an added bonus of being able to witness the birth of our first cria for 2012.

Thank you to:

Lukas - our shearer
Paddy - Jo (the tackler)
Lori
Katrina
Lisa
Catherine
Katharina
Louisa
Rudi
Emilie

You can also read about shearing day in an article by Bill Spurr of the Halifax Chronicle Herald

THANK YOU AGAIN!

Rob and Caroline

First cria of 2012

The first cria of the season was born today, the first for award winning Anuone. With 2 champion parents we will watch this little one closely.

She was born half way through a busy shearing day, and she needed a little help. Needless to say shearing stopped dead for a while so that everyone could take advantage of the opportunity to see an alpaca being born.

No name yet, but this year's animals will all start with the letter E.

Alpaca rug

After all the projects going on this spring I was glad to get back at weaving alpaca rugs. I had a special order for a large rug, 3 feet x 6 1/2 feet. It took a while to weave, and a while for the hand finishing. In the end it's a really beautiful piece.

Construction is with alpaca rug yarn woven on siene twine in an undulating twill point draft.

Spring cleanout

We had a big day cleaning out the barn after a long winter.  The job took effort but with extra hands it went well.

We took the loads of old hay to the back of the property where it  would be useful for mulch/compost to improve the soil. After the 4th load, Rob tells me to "drive on the left side of the road close to the lake to smooth out some of the bumps". OK I say, "but it's pretty wet still" . The response was "You'll be fine."

As I am a good and biddable wife I do as I'm told.

I have included the pictures of getting the truck unstuck from the mud.

A Man Cave for the Boys

After the tent blew down last fall we decided to build a more secure shelter for the guys in their summer pasture. The shed is the same size that the tent was, 10 x 20 and is far more secure. We added built in hay feeders with feed troughs below making it like a 5 star hotel.

We started with making sure the building would be square, and then secured it with rebar.

Next we built the walls on the ground and then stood each one up and attached it.

Next came the bracing and the roof.

Then the finishing touches.