Additions to the herd

Bacio and Sweet Dreams have both delivered healthy cria.
Bacio has provided a beautiful brown male for our herd.

Sweet Dreams has delivered a charming young lady. This pair will be off to Arriba Linea in August.

Sexy and I know it!

Here's a shot of the less glamorous farming chores.

We had a little trouble with the pasture vac and I was literally up to my elbows!

Cottage renovation

We have a wonderful pair of helpers with us now and they were tasked with creating a sunflower on the front of the cottage.

The results are spectacular!

More great pictures of Rocaro Alpacas

A professional photographer, Emma Rose captured some outstanding images of shearing day.
Check out her work at http://www.emmarosephotography.ca/blog/2013/06/non-wedding-photojournalism-alpaca-shearing-in-nova-scotia/.

Shearing day again

We are a little later with the shearing this year, June instead of May. Given the chilly weather in May this is not so bad.

The expectant moms are now in the nursery pasture awaiting the arrival of their cria, the boys are back in their summer pastures and the barn is back in order.

We required fewer helpers this year and things still ran smoothly. Now I have another mountain of fleece to prepare for the mill.

Some of the guys "before" (courtesy of Emma Rose)

And the boys after shearing. Handsome, eh?

Hummingbirds return

The hummers have returned right on schedule.

Our friend Chantal took these amazing photos.

Dog Tired!

Our dog Sultan is getting old and tired. He often will lie down wherever he happens to be and fall fast asleep for long periods. This can be a bit of a problem as he will fall asleep in the middle of the kitchen or in a doorway. He is deaf and cannot hear us asking him to move.

Recently I found him fast asleep with his head in his water bowl. Needless to say the bowl was empty and the water was all over the floor.

Oh to be able to sleep so soundly!

Turtle Time

It's early June and we have seen the first of the Painted Turtles on the property laying eggs. They wander onto the gravel trail near the lake, dig holes about the size of a Twoonie and deposit the eggs. We counted 9 turtles the other evening.

Two things I have recently learned about Painted  Turtles: they live in every province (but not Territories) of Canada and although they are a bit smaller than a dinner plate in size they typically live up to 50 years.