No room at the inn...

Since we moved to this village, we have been holding a pre-Christmas drink round at ours on Christmas Eve - it's a chance for neighbours and friends to occupy the children for a while, effectively shortening the evening, and for parents to unwind before the big day, and perhaps escape their relatives for a while (!) Entry by invite, or membership of BAS (!)

Yesterday we had Minnie scanned, and as expected it was negative.

We've escaped the heavy snow, but on sunday we had a very heavy hail shower, like polystyrene balls, late in the afternoon, which froze and has left a layer of ice, persisting in all shady areas. It's fascinating to see the different weather conditions and their effects around the country - but it's frustrating for a country that's renouned for talking endlessly about the weather, that there is so much ignorance about why our weather is so variable, what causes the variations, how geography determines the consequences, and why it's impossible practically and economically to beat the weather - and the greater the possibilities for all modes of travel in good conditions, the bigger the disappointment when it is thwarted, and the greater the consequences at the bottlenecks.

Well, rant over,

Christmas Greetings to you all!

Scoop: string and sing...

A little fright the other morning - while the other girls were feeding, Autumn Gold was nosing around in the shelter and curiosity got the better of her, when she got a piece of baler twine caught around her ear tag, the other end being hooked around the hook it was hanging on in the shelter - fortunately, I was there and she sat down without struggling, so I was able to lift her and un-tangle it with no damage done. I've heard that the Queen saves used pieces of string to use again, so I thought I was in good company saving twine, you know to keep my trousers up etc., and it was hanging tidily behind a grain bin, but the lesson is obvious - alpacas are curious and need protecting against themselves.

Readers of my second post in January will be familiar with the two varieties of alpaca poo that were known to mankind at the time, coffee beans and dumplings - well today I can reveal discovery of another - soft-scoop, not through ill health, but through persistant rain.

While writing this, Mrs. Smallholder has plied (pled?) Moiras fleece into two-ply - bless her, (Moira that is) she's our matronly companion in the herd, and has the finest fleece, albeit very short.

Yesterday I was singing in performance with Jazz m'Tazz the vocal harmony group in Glastonbury High Street at the Frost Fair, and on sunday 20th we'll be singing at the Festival of the Voice at Stourhead National Trust House - maybe see some of you there. It will be the shortest day then, and spring will be on the way...

Web-cam antics.

Yes we're all moaning about the relentless rain, but...there's dry weather on the horizon! And haven't we all forgotten the dry September? Perhaps we'll all get our cameras out this weekend when our 'girls' and 'boys' are tidied up.

At the weekend, I gave the monthly ADE paste, tried on a couple of halters for familiarity, and then planted a 10foot sapling to give shade in the summer - awful conditions for planting, but has to be done when they're dormant, and this one was a replacement for one that didn't take very well this year - it's nice to be making preparations for next year though.

I've had a wireless web-cam for some time which I was given for watching wildlife in the garden after one of those BBC Springwatch/Autumnwatch series - I'd only used it for watching our barn cats, since we never see them, and wanted to be sure that it was them eating their food, not someone elses cat!

Anyway, I set it up in the alpaca shelter, since I only see them in the morning for 10 minutes at feeding time on these short days, and knowing that with more rain due, they would be keeping dry tonight. This evening I settled down infront of the screen to watch a bit of the " 'paca Channel", and would you believe it, there they were sat around with all the straw bales spread out, playing cards in hand, little dishes of Camelibra and Fibregest finger food, 'shots' of ADE paste, a bucket of water and individual portions of finest meadow hay...they all looked relaxed, and appeared to be chatting about babies, pregnancy and looking forward to the spring...

Weather drives Ambrosia nuts...

The whole family (8 of us) had a weekend away in Manchester, visiting our son in our annual pre-Christmas shopping get-together - I love the city, it has stunning architecture, and the canal basins are fascinating, cut into the red sandstone, with huge mills alongside, now converted into offices and apartments - but I had enough of the incessant noise of people and the city for a while, despite growing up in Bristol.

With such foul weather, and being away, there's not much alpaca news to relate - nationwide, we are all suffering from mud or standing water - and no matter the size of your herd and acreage, we deal with the issues in a proportionate, way - large herd, many acres, move them to better-drained or rested paddocks, or into barns -major exercise. Small herd, just an acre as in our case, and we have to have every part constantly serviceable - though it is divided into paddocks, there's one shelter, one entrance, so I spread a bit of gravel and sand to give the ground a bit more body where the foot traffic is heaviest - higher up the field, where I put the drain in, the grass is holding up well.

Ambrosia has started on the hard feed supplement recently, which is good, as I need her to self-wean, and if Minnie is pregnant she'll need to be keeping her energy for the new cria.

When I got back today, I was lucky to spot the nut off the gate hinge lying on the ground - I had spotted Ambrosia nibbling at it a few weeks ago and I tightened it up, but she had obviously got bored with the rain, and decided to fiddle with it again - now I like a girl that can use a spanner, but I'd rather it was in a constructive way!

Twitcher, poo-picker spots 'pecker...

Here is the next item in our 'autumn collection' - a scarf - o.k it's only big enough for Oscars 'chicken', but it's a scarf. More fleece has been carded and spun here this week, and I've heard that there's a tea cosy on the way, from our expert out-knitter in Scotland! Also, our expert out-spinner in Norfolk has been spinning for us today.

Today I collected a barrow and a half of 'paca poo, that's about one weeks worth from all paddocks - very satisfying to have clean fields, until you look up and see them repleneshing the latrines with more! I must look into testing for worms as my next new husbandry technique. Ambrosia and Pelachuta had their halters on for familiarity while I clipped a couple of odd-looking toe-nails.

Pela' was scanned on monday, and the result was positive, so we look forward to the patter of tiny feet next year. Minnie is 3 weeks behind, if she took at all, so we'll be scanning again soon.

Yesterday, a Pheasant chose to wander around the garden, giving the garden an air of 'grand country house' for a while, then today, I saw a Woodpecker in the young Oak tree. It made me ponder: why did they have to be called a 'Wood' pecker? were there other 'peckers, like stonepeckers or mudpeckers that became extinct? I'd used the binoculars for a closer look, and using binoculars always makes me laugh, as I expect to have two rings of soot around my eyes when I take the binoculars away, as a result of that old cartoon prank - hilarious!

Readers of last weeks blog may be pleased to know that the flagstones were primed and waxed this weekend.

Pixie the Shi-Tzu has joined in with a photographic entry to the 'Readers Dogs' section of blog-world - she shows no modesty as she relaxes on the settee dreaming of alpaca poo and the pheasant that got away - but then, she does have a fleece to be proud of.

And a final thought: is the reading of others' blogs, a form of 'virtual curtain twitching'? or is writing a blog a form of cyber showing -off? You decide.

Autumn collection preview...

Due to over-whelming demand I have had to release this preview of our autumn collection! It is the first item made from fleece produced at Apple Vale Alpacas, and so could be highly sought after in years to come. A simple felted brooch made from the odd cuts, it is modelled here by the donator of the fleece, Minnie - she is a bit grubby having had a roll to celebrate the passing of yesterdays storm. Minnies facial fleece is returning nicely.

Not only that, but Mrs. Smallholder spent a day with Amanda Poyner of Barton Alpacas near Glastonbury, learning to spin, and came back full of enthusiasm and has already put into practice her new-found skill.

I got the girls together this afternoon for a bit of bonding and check over - Minnies daughter, Ambrosia, has a beautiful fleece - she was shorn at seven weeks, and it seems to be paying off.

Today I installed a second water butt beside the shelter, so we will be better able to meet the water demand from poultry, alpacas and the vegetables next year. It was a pleasing way to rescue a day that started badly - I'd intended oiling the flagstone floor in the Dining Room, and had moved the furniture, scraped and swept the flags in preparation the night before - on reading the instructions this morning, I discovered that I had to prime the floor first, but since the oil comes from a specialist in old building materials, on a sunday I was stuck - it was then that I put on my stroppy pants... I don't like wasting time and effort, and the day was dry and bright which I need for ventilation and drying. Hey ho - I got over it by luchtime!

I've just heard we are scanning tomorrow, so that will be exciting.

A laurel, laurel laffs.

A pleasant rain-free day today - last nights rain draining away slowly. Spent some time clearing nettles and levelling some uneven soil - the girls found the work intriguing, and as soon as I'd gone for lunch, they were taking advantage of the more-accessible hedge, with the nettles out of the way - this meant the Laurel was reachable, so with it being poisonous to alpacas, I had to be ruthless and sawed it off. Alpacas are very observant of changes in their surroundings - and of course, they always notice if a gate has been left open, even when they are a hundred yards away. It's interesting that they seem to avoid nettles, when they're used to spikey plants in their native habitat.

Gave the girls their ADE paste. Minnies face is growing fleece nicely.
An interesting piece on Countryfile about an alpaca herd in Suffolk tonight. A good advert for the industry, I thought.

I've heard of alpacas killing foxes, but has anyone heard of an alpaca killing a badger? I realise they're not as carniverous as foxes, but with the apparent upsurge in bTB, there'd be some kind of serendipity, if badgers do in fact spread it of course. I gave the girls a bit of halter familiarity this afternoon, but bTB precautions may restrict showing possibilities next year.

Now I know it's not on a par with breeders who also produce knitted garments from their herd, (and we are working on the spinning, knitting process), but we do have our first home-produced item - a felted brooch! hooray, I must get a picture posted.