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.