Dyed rovings

All the rovings are dyed now. What a big job, and I was grateful for the help getting it done. Now they just have to dry! It's a riot of colour.

Toblerone's cria

Dartanyan is the first offspring of Toblerone Ben. He shows good straight confirmation and a lovely fawn colour. Here he is just a few hours old. He is the final cria of the season.

Our first Oreo cria

Oreo has come through with a strong, sturdy gal although we were hoping for colour. The dam is William's Sweet Dreams, a white daughter of Jolimont Peruvian Sweet William.

With black and white in her lineage we just had to call her Domino.

Alpacas in the garden

We had a bunch of marginal fibre left from shearing over the past couple of years. Mostly lower legs, belly etc, which is not good enough for yarn and too short to card or felt.

We spread it pretty thick in the garden rows as mulch to control the weeds. It works well and the fibre keeps the plants snugly warm. At the end of the season it will be tilled in as compost.

Never waste anything on a farm!

Picnic Table Art

We had an old table near the barn and some left over paint. The results are pretty cool.

Thanks to all the helpers that had a hand in the creation.

First cria for Coco

Coco had her first cria on Monday. He is a beautiful dark brown fellow we named Diablo.

Even though she's white, Coco's dark genetics came through as expected.

Hay Days!

The weather has finally cooperated long enough to get the hay cut, cured and in the barn.

We contract our neighbour to mow and bale for us, and he had problems of his own with tractors not working the way they should.

With the help of our current wwoofer Caileigh, we were able to get the hay baled and stored on Friday.

This year we had the loan of a hay elevator to help move the bales along. It's basically like Disney Land for hay as they ride along the conveyor. Caileigh and I were the "carnies" making sure each bale was properly seated for the ride to the top.

Now it's time for a day off!

Newest addition

While we were away delivering alpacas to New Brunswick, Sedona decided it was time to add a new fellow to the herd. He is healthy and happy, with a name yet to be decided.

A new home for the boys

Congratulations to Denis, Gabrielle and family on the purchase of a fibre male package. SweetNS, Barolo, Andele and Bartholomew have moved to New Brunswick.

Good luck with your new adventure!

Super Pooper Scooper

We have finally had some dry weather and have been able to use the pasture vacuum. It's an amazing contraption that attaches to the back of the tractor. Just drive around and have a helper use it like a vacuum, sucking up all manner of poop from even the longest grass.

The manure is pulverized and we bag it up ready to sell for compost heaps or flower gardens.

Dying to Dye

I have been hand dyeing rovings for some time now, but decided to take a fibre dyeing course to pick up a few new techniques.
Check out the results! The yarn is two toned and looks like a summer dessert.
I also dyed a raw fleece in multi colours and can't wait to use it in a project.

Alpaca Mud Wrestling

You guessed it, I have added a new accomplishment to my already long list.

We have had 2 days of solid rain, and the girls in the temporary shelter have worked the floor into a sae of mud. It's still raining today and I just couldn't leave them in a mud hole any longer.

So, Off I go first thing in the morning all by myself armed with raincoat, halters and sweet feed as a tempation and determined to move the herd to the barn.

The sweet feed works, and I have all the ladies enclosed in their shelter.

Now, the girls are not interested in being caught! Around and around we go in the enclosure, all the while churning up mud and slipping & sliding. Feed buckets are flying and I'm clamly wiping rain & mud from my face. Sort of calmly.

I manage to catch the first 5 girls and somehow manage the gates alone and lead them to the barn.

Back for group 2. Another bunch to the barn, and a few follow the group on their own. This looks promising.

Group 3 is a challenge as they want to join the rest of the herd but really don't want to be caught. I managed to get two of them and the rest escaped. Thinking they would follow the group I was not worried...but they went in the wrong direction.

With much noise and coaxing the group made it to the barn. So, the boys are on the girl's side, the girls are on the boy's side and everyone is confused.

Just as things were settling down, my dear neighbour arrived and with a laugh said "Look at you!". Soaking wet, covered with bits of mud and grass and a big smile for a job accomplished.

Barn Door Art

The weather has finally cooperated and with the help of Michelle the barn doors are painted!

Moving Day

The girls have had their usual access to the main pasture restricted in order that it can grow into hay for the winter. In past years, the smaller area assigned to them was adequate.

This year however they have eaten the grass down more quickly.

Today I noticed that two of the girls were "living life on the wrong side of the fence" and munching on the grass that we are trying to grow.

It became apparent that we would need to move the girls onto the new pasture we created for the guys, and move the guys to another area.

We started by moving the most of the girls into the paddock close to the barn, leaving the two strays in the pasture.

It wasn't long before our resident "drama queen", in her efforts to join the rest of the herd stuck her head through the fence and got caught. A fence tool is a wonderful invention and we had her cut free in no time.

Next step was the move.

We removed the boys from their new pasture and secured them in the barn. Then we escorted the gals and cria in groups of six to the new lush pasture that the boys have vacated.

With the help of Michelle, Kailin and Mikhail the move went smoothly. We have happy girls.

New pasture for the Boys

The paddocks that the boys were using were just too small. They had eaten the grass down to nothing and desperately needed more space.

So, over the course of the spring and with much help from neighbours Rick & Bill and helpers Roy, Patricia, Els and Clotilde and little to no help from the weather we managed to get a new pasture fenced.

The guys moved in yesterday while Rob and helper Kailim put a few finishing touches on the fence and built the shelter.

This morning Kailim and I erected a temporary fence to allow four of the younger males access to the new pasture without being molested by the adults. The temporary fence was to buy us a bit of time while we put in a more permanent fence between the two groups.

It took Perilli, the main stud, about 3 minutes to jump the temporary fence and put the run on the youngsters. There was much wrestling and protesting and all we humans could do was watch. Finally we were able to separate the fighters.

The temporary fence became very temporary and Rob spent the next three hours pounding in permanent fence posts while Kailim and myself attached page wire.

All is quite now in the new pasture; the males respect the new fence while keeping a watchful eye on the young lads.