Futurity ON

Hooray, the Futurity is on! Far better to tackle the "issues" head on rather than shrivel within ourselves. Now to find some accommodation.

Much as I love rock music, currently enjoying Popstar Opera star - what voices!

Halter ego...

"Anyone for cricket? I didn't have a mirror handy when I put udder salve on my nose and may have smudged a bit".

Did a bit more halter training today. Both Autumn and Ambrosia were fairly accepting of the halter. Then I put a lead rope on, and let them follow their mums to show them it wasn't harmful. Funny thing was, in a bitter northerly wind with frost on the ground, it didn't seem the same experience as indicated in Marty McGee Bennetts' video, where shorts and a tee-shirt are required...if we waited 'til it was warm and sunny, we'd be too late.

I fixed up the weather recording station as you can see on the post behind the girls - and as if on cue, the wind started to blow.

One of our cria we had shorn at 5-weeks as the adults were being shorn, however, the other hadn't been born, so she now has her shaggy baby fleece above the later fleece - does anyone know whether show judges see through that, or is it normal to carry out a surface trim - it must be a common situation.

Tickly in the west...

Things are a bit quieter with the weather settling down for a while, and doing the quarterly accounts and VAT for the day job. I've set up the weather station mast so we can collect data on available wind on our site. Talking of weather, I've always been bemused by the TV weather presenters talk of the weather being "quieter" - they never tell us when it will be louder...and I like the idea of tickly weather, as in: "today there will be showers and rain - 'tickly in the west" - (particularly). Listen out for it on the next forecast - tickly weather can only brighten your day.

You'll see we've got a logo which we created for the advert in the SouthWest Alpaca Group Yearbook - watch out for the polo shirts, balloons, flags, banners etc. etc. ha ha. All in good time - concentrate on the alpacas first.

Have booked for various elements of the Futurity so hope to meet some of you there - running out of time to take a winning photograph for the competition - had to give up teaching them to juggle...and the chickens just refuse to sit on the pacas...

We were re-arranging the compost heaps, and while we do use most of what the girls produce, Mrs. Smallholder had the idea shown in the photograph - everyone wins.

Nosey 'paca

Carrot? wot carrot? I never saw no carrot!

Snow - it's all been said hasn't it?

"Mum, will you keep me warm?"

"If you run around Moira, you'll keep warm" - Mrs. Smallholder advises Moira, who was shivering (very little fleece you see). Once a teacher, always a teacher...

"What's this white fluffy stuff between my toes?" - Ambrosia.

"Dad, why haven't we got doors on our house, like the other alpacas?"

Mrs. Smallholder, happy before we took a 50 minute journey to Bristol Airport, only to find her flight to Glasgow had been cancelled after we had left".

Pixie - snow collected around her feet, until they resembled Ugg Boots!

Snow can make the most beautiful sculptures, and enhance dull pieces of furniture, trees etc.

I had no intention of posting, after all, we've all seen snow before, there's nothing left to say... then couldn't resist sharing these with you.

Listening to the fantastic Elbow - 'The Seldom Seen Kid' album.

Nosey, cosy,Rosey, 'mosy', posey,

"Happy New Year" to anyone who hasn't already received it from me in response to their blogs. As with all breeders it's been (and still is) a period of keeping up the feedstuff - no snow here but the ground is constantly frozen, and the grass is about a centimetre long, but the pacas still manage to nibble it. To that end, Mrs. Smallholder offered me the use of the 'orchard' at the end of the alotment, so I dismantled the fence rails which were protecting the trees planted last year for the glade in the main paddock, and fenced off the alotment from the orchard (six apple trees!) - the girls loved that, so much so, that they crawled under the lower rail to munch the grass around the alotment and a wander amongst the sprouting broccoli, savoy cabbages and spinach! Next day I added a third rail - I could read disgust on their faces when they next had a look.

I've wanted to view the field from a vantage point across the vale for a long time, so one afternoon I wandered up there with the camera and took the 'aerial' view shown here - our plot runs left-to-right in the picture, with the 'pacas at the far right on the ridge at out boundary, and our neighbours sheep beyond - the polytunnel and animal shelter are central with our garden to the left - only the roof of the house is visible.


We've had two of our fleece products arrive, the tea-cosy made with odd cuts, and a hat, modelled here by Rosey from Greenock, our knitter.
Our daughter made the lovely mosaic sign for the house.



I gave the girls ADE paste today - I do wonder though, when putting my fingers in their mouth to find a way in for the applicator, am I risking a bite injury? Should I only push them in from the side which is more awkward and seems more brutal?

Reflecting on our first 18months of breeding, it is often said that breeding and caring for alpacas is easy, which I would disagree with - but it is a pleasure, and when was anything worth doing easy?

I was also given the enormous Hoffman Alpaca book, a training dvd, and on a lighter note, the very tasteful Lady Farmers calender! Now to find the time to read and watch that lot.

This year, instead of a family board game, we held a DIY quiz - we each had to set 20 questions on a subject - mine was music, and we also had, cooking, science, sport, general knowledge, and picture rounds, to reflect everyones specialities. We saw in the New Year at friends' in the village which was fun - but I drew short the straw being nominated to sing Dolly Partons 'Nine 'til five' - I was more suited to Tears For Fears' 'Everybody wants to rule the world' and performed it better.

We are exploring alternative and renewable energy sources, and so I got an instrument for recording wind speed and sunshine and gave it to Mrs Smallholder wrapped as a Christmas present! Don't worry, I did give her stuff she could be pleased with. I must get on and erect it so we can start recording. Once you've got the data, you can download it to a p.c, then upload to a web-site it to assess the most suitable turbine etc.

Random thought for the day: Aren't coat-hangers annoying?......

Best wishes to you all for 2010, and particularly better times for those who had difficulties last year - hope to meet up at meetings or shows - I'll be the one looking slightly shy and self-conscious - come over and give me a poke, unless I get to you first!

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!