13/11/2009 by Rosemary.

First thing I took a fecal sample for Little Star to the vets, I couldn’t get Sherbert’s as, despite following her around with a sponge pudding container, she would not oblige - finally relieving herself as I went away and was half way up the hill.  All the girls went at the same time and I couldn’t then tell which was Sherbert’s.  Then it was the dentist and that was horrid.  I had a temporary filling a month ago so he had to take it out and then delve around inside.  He said it was very deep and it certainly felt like he was mining for coal somewhere in my brain region.  I had an injection but he kept touching on a nerve and I kept gently lifting my hand as he had told me to do if it hurt.  In the end it pained so much I lifted my arm very sharply and wacked him on the bottom - he decided I needed another injection on the inside of the tooth!  The tooth then had some stuff put in it and yet another temporary filling - I am getting fairly intimate with my dentist and feel we are into a long term relationship over this tooth.

I saw a quite remarkable thing today.  I went with Mum to visit Dad’s grave and as we cleared away the old flowers I discovered the onion from my floral tribute.  I thought it had been eaten but there it was, slipped down the side.  The remarkable thing is that it had taken root and started to grow!  Dad is now turning into his own little allotment plot!  He would have found that hysterical and the mistletoe in the wreath from Mum is flourishing still!  We left the onion - hope it keeps growing!

On the way to the church I saw a notice on the phone box that says they are taking the phone away.  That is a shame but not surprising I suppose.  It does say, though, that we might be able to keep the box; I shall email the Parish Council tonight - I don’t mind cleaning it.

The rain and wind has been on and off today but it has been enough to loosen the tarpaulin on the hay in the barn so Carl is balanced on top of the stack at the moment tying it all down again.  I didn’t offer to help  as I have only just dried out from feeding and the wind is getting up again out there now.  Two of the girls have turned black from rolling in mud - Belinda and Flamenco.  It looks like it will be a stormy night!

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12/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Very windy and wet on the hill today.  The greenhouse has been securely strapped down and the wood burner is roaring.  I was a little concerned this evening when I arrived back from the animals to find an entire banister cut up in the log basket.  I know cash is a little tight but I didn’t think we had reached the stage of burning the fixtures and fittings - turned out it was an old one Carl had found in his shed.  It is amazing what he finds in his shed!

Tomorrow Mum is coming for the weekend so I have attempted to tidy up but the time just flies by with baby feeding, hay rack filling and I lose hours tramping up and down the hill collecting water , sorting bottles, checking animals . . . .

First thing tomorrow I have the dentist which, for once, I am looking forward to as my tooth is now so painful I can barely eat.  Good job tonight as tea was a little strange.  It was supposed to be a pork stew done in the slow cooker but appeared to consist of cabbage, almost solely cabbage, where the pork went I do not know!

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11/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Unfortunately, the shock of the great outdoors has been too much for one of the new ex-batteries - it expired, quietly in it’s sleep.  The remaining girls are a very rowdy lot and mug me whenever I enter the field.  It’s a good job Cool Dude is there as he periodically rounds them up and chases them back up the hill!

Spike is still walking like John Wayne but is fine.  He ran over in a rather bowlegged fashion to have his Camelibra and had a neck tickle while he was eating from the bowl.  The whole procedure really does not seem to have upset him at all.  Feeding time with the girls is becoming increasingly manic despite me increasing the number of troughs and standing there with two bowls in my hands.  Emily will only eat from a bowl held for her and so will Belinda which was alright but now Lina has joined the queue and so has Flamenco.  Bert hoovers all she can and then tries to muscle everyone out of the way so she can have it from someones hand, she gets particularly annoyed if Lina is getting a handful.  I think a little reorganisation is called for!

Cool Dude has now decided he really loves Camelibra and chases Dobby away; I think Cool Dude is now asserting himself with Dobby!

It doesn’t help that it gets so dark so early and Carl and Sam keep disappearing into the shed to do ‘very important things’ which, tonight, seemed to involve hunting out two motorbike helmets, sitting on the freezer with them on and pretending to be the Stig!

Lots of chainsawing on the hill at the moment and I keep expecting gaps in the tree line.  It is also getting very muddy around the picnic site and beginning to spread out to the road.

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10/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Spike rushed down to the barn this afternoon, convinced that there was a treat in store!  All the girls gathered and took turns spitting at him so by the time the vet arrived he was a little subdued.  I had met the vet in Stur during the morning and we planned tactics, I don’t think he was looking forward to it any more than I was!

The vet brought a new vet from the practice with him, lovely girl who had trained with Claire Whitehead and specialised in Camelid reproduction so I am sure I will have many interesting conversations with her about Islay!   Spike was his normal, well behaved self but needed quite a lot of sedation before he lay down.  First time he got up two seconds later; looking as if he had just downed 15 pints of lager!  Finally, it was all too much for him and he wobbled to the ground.  I sat with him and he put his head on my knee and then snuggled in as if to say,  “I just don’t want to know!”  Now I don’t know all the technical terms so the rest of this may sound a little odd but the first thing they did was cut through the skin and pulled out the little ball things which they tied off with cat gut and then cut off.  Yohav did one and the lady vet, Rhiannon, did the other.  Then I missed a bit as Spike moaned at me but I think they tucked bits back in and clipped it all together.  He then had lots of blue spray and injections for tetanus and some penicillin.  There was a bit of blood but not loads.  Spike then started to come round and kushed properly but still wobbling his head a bit.  He was very soon on his feet but walking a little bow legged.  Caedmon had been just outside in the run and as soon as the vets headed off and I opened the gate he charged in but I think it was more to get to the hay than to see poor Spike!  Spike was supposed to stay in the barn tonight but where it only has an earth floor it is probably cleaner in the field and he was extremely keen to get away.

Yohav did offer me Spike’s testicles and I did toy with the idea of sauteing them in a little butter but decided against it in the end.  If I was Mrs Hugh Fernley Wittingstall I am sure I would have jumped at the idea!

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09/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Rather less frantic day today but very, very foggy.  From the top of the field there was no hope of seeing an alpaca; the fog seems to sink into the valley so you can see the hedge at the top of second field but nothing in between!  This made for a lot of walking around searching for animals in order to check they were alright.

Yesterday, in between the mud surfing, we managed to check Dobby’s fighting teeth.  Dobby, the black wether, is in with Cool Dude and they seem alright together but they do ‘play fight’.  We bought Dobby as one of our first two alpacas and never really considered the issue of fighting teeth.  In fact, I hate to admit this, I had never actually seen an alpaca’s fighting tooth.  I just sort of assumed wethers wouldn’t have any and that Spike’s wouldn’t have grown yet.  I also had this idea that they would be a little larger than they actually are.  Anyway, we decided to check Dobby and catching him is normally so easy we didn’t bother to send him down the run to the catch pen.  Bit of a mistake as Cal went to block him in a corner and tripped over a flint, ending up on his back as you can see!

Once he had recovered we checked teeth!  Horrors!  Dobby had broken one but the other was there!  They are not nearly as big as I was expecting and Dobby’s didn’t seem very sharp but it just shows you do need to check - I do not want Cool Dude missing a vital part of his equipment!  Poor Dobby had to put up with everyone peering in his mouth. And yes, I know, the hat makes me look like some sort of demented pixie; and it gradually rides up - I won’t tell you what Carl says it looks like then.  I really want one of Debbie’s Barnacre ones!

We ran out of light to check Caedmon and Spike but will do that soon.  We have decided that Dude will soon be going into his own pen - so he can see the girls and feel they are his but away from harm!

Tomorrow is Spike’s castration day which will be an odd experience - for both Spike and I (hopefully not for the vet!).  I have cleaned up the barn and got the hurdles arranged - I also gave Spikey an extra handful of Camelibra, poor boy!

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08/11/2009 by Rosemary.

The SFS arrived this afternoon with their brand new purchase of a rather smart looking horsebox.  We were rather surprised to see the vast quantity of empty drink bottles in the cab and wondered whether they had developed a drink problem.  However, it turned out that their radiator or hose or something had sprung a leak on the way down and they had to retrieve any water carrying receptacles they could from the hedgerow in order to top up the radiator periodically from various streams and rivers.  The countryside should now be a little cleaner because of the efforts of the SFS - I noticed they kindly left me the bottles to return to the recycle bank tomorrow.  Fixing the leak should have been no problem except Carl and the marine could not get the cab to lift up in order to get to the pipes.  The little notice affixed to the seat was in German and we only had a Spanish phrase book and also something appeared to be amiss with the levers.  Once the water situation was sorted the Horse box took an ill fated trip to the barn in the depths of the field and there it almost remained.  Unable to tackle the slope back up the field, action men attached the Fordson to the front and managed to get it half way up the slope where it stuck.  Sam then put the Leyland on the front of the Fordson and slowly the convoy made it to the top.  They have now left with a large barrel of water and the thought of a vindaloo in Blandford.  Regrettably they forgot to take the three dozen eggs I forced upon them (they may regret this as I believe an egg in your radiator fixes leaks - something an ex marine should really have thought of).

Whilst they were here we had a preview of their website, not up and running yet, which includes a very handsome gentleman farmer talking about the joys of horse riding, golf, horse riding, fishing, horse riding and fungi collection from their newly refurbished holiday cottage in the depths of the forest - very good for horse riding of which he appears to be inordinately fond!  I’ll do a link to that when it is up and running - all joking aside it is a fabulous cottage and you can take your horse with you (wonder if you can take your alpacas?!)  I’ve told him he needs a couple of little boys running around outside (alpaca boys that is!).

We did get come lovely photos done  - first is Lina, Rob told me how to scale the photos properly but I didn’t have time so I hope this is right!

Lina has really settled well and has Alf as her constant shadow.  I have a feeling she is going to start trying to be the boss instead of Flamenco.  She likes her Camelibra!

I had to also include two action shots of Cool Dude, even though he is filthy!

He has been dashing around today, whether it is because of Lina I do not know!

Had to just put in a photo of old Thunder Thighs (that is the alpaca and not the SFS who is with her!).  Emily, also known as Thunder Thighs, is Carolyn’s cria and is so good to handle.

News on the fighting teeth front tomorrow - running out of time now and have to go and feed Little Star who is drinking and grazing really well now.

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07/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Lina’s here!

Panic at the start of the day as Carl broke the Daihatsu - something to do with the turbo and apparently my fault as he had to fence by the light of the headlights last night.  Fixing it involved much subdued swearing and the use of a magical thing called an o ring - I think!  Finally it was fixed but we were a little late arriving at Wellground HQ where Lina was all ready and she did look good!  Rob has put some great photos on his blog - link to it on the right.  Unfortunately we didn’t dress up and my hair is remarkably grey!  Before we left we had coffee and another alpaca chat (I also got a good cuddle with Billie Jean - that dog has a face to melt the hardest heart!)  Lina went into the trailer easily but it obviously was not quite up to her standards and she made sure Carl was aware of that!  The drive back was uneventful and we occupied ourselves with making plans and arguing over who got the last imperial mint.

When we got home everyone, including Sam who had been on alpaca sitting duties, rushed over to see the new arrival.  Lina shot out of the stock trailer, clearly feeling it was not a patch on the Wellground Passion Wagon.  There was a great deal of bottom sniffing (from the alpacas) and Flamenco did her best to show she was herd leader (I think it is only her who thinks that) but Lina took it all in her stride.  Alf, the suri cria, has fallen desperately in love with her and trails around after her but she seems to have teamed up with Islay.  She was very interested when we were bottle feeding Little Star and came over to check Little Star out and then watched at a distance.  At feeding time she raced down with the others and was straight in at a trough.  She did sniff at the food in my hand but decided I didn’t smell right and went back to the trough.  She is just over four and a half and has a really lovely fleece with a great crimp.  I love the way she stands and her face with its blocky looking muzzle; she is going to be a favourite and I think quite a character.  Her sire is Jolimont Commisario and she is mated to Wellground Close Encounter so we are really looking forward to the result next year.  We want to then mate her to Cool Dude which should be a very interesting match.  I did try to get a photo when we got home but the camera ran out of batteries, and Sam’s phone photos have come out horrible, but tomorrow we may have a photographer on site!  Maybe photos for tomorrow!

They are all over there now, tucked up for the night, Lina next to Islay and both by the hay feeder so I don’t think the move was too upsetting for her.  We’ve still got another feed to go for Little Star so we’ll check again then.

Tomorrow the Surfers for Sewage are popping over and we are also going to check out our two wethers and young Spike to make sure there are no fighting teeth in evidence.  Cool Dude does have testosterone moments with Dobby and, although I am sure it is only play at the moment, I would not want a nasty accident.  Apparently, the fighting teeth are so sharp they can even cut you if you run your finger along them so we will be wearing gloves as a safety precaution!

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06/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Strange, this morning, the cria pronked happily and hummed around me obviously at one with the ancient mystic lay lines only they were in tune with (or it could have been the feed bucket I had in the trailer!).  As I watched from my rocking chair my mind wandered to the magical properties of an alpaca cardigan . . .

Ignore that last paragraph, I obviously was feeling a little unwell still, or maybe I had overdosed on ITV i-player!  Anyway, my alpaca fleece is obviously not cardigan quality by the look of some samples but that is another story.

Thank you for the concern over my illness, I think I am relatively back to normal now.  I will not bore you with the details but it was most strange, like an iron band tightening around my stomach.  The good thing was I could not eat but it may have been the result of the large quantity of apple and blackberry I ate earlier.

The eartags and microchips arrived today so I can finally register my cria.  Carl will be applying the eartags as that is one thing I really do not like doing.

Tomorrow is Lina day and Carl and Sam are out now, working by the light of the Daihatsu headlights, finishing the fencing on the new paddock.

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05/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Little bit not very well tonight so a very little blog!  Just about managed to collect the stock fencing, collect the eggs, feed the baby, feed the animals, cook the tea - now I’m going to bed!

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04/11/2009 by Rosemary.

Howling wind and heavy downpours of rain today but I battled on with the hand waste management regardless.  I don’t want the Lovely Lina to think she has gone down in the world when she arrives on Saturday!  She and the rest of the girls are going into the new paddock but all the same!  It is hard work going back to a bucket and spade but with the quad out of action, more on that in a bit, there was no other option.

I had a nice break at lunchtime when a lovely alpaca breeder from Devon phoned to check on Little Star’s progress.  We had a long chat and exchanged experiences but then it was back out for feeding and waste.  As I went up to fill the boys and the sheep hay I had a nasty shock, everyone rushed down when they saw the hay arriving except for Mossop.  He appeared to be bleating in an odd way and standing on his back legs in the field shelter.  I charged over as he normally rushes up and was horrified, he had got his head through the empty haynet and it had entangled round his horns.  Somehow he had then twirled round and round and tightened it round his neck so he was hanging from it like it was a noose.  I felt so guilty and I didn’t have a knife with me - it was so taut it wouldn’t come off the hook and I couldn’t get the hook out of the wall.  I had to pick him up, not easy with a huge sheep, to ease the tension and then wiggle his head out.  He was fine but it was ironic as I had just been saying to the lady from Devon that I was not too sure the haynet was a good idea - it is now cut down and thrown out!  That is the second suicidal animal in recent days.

I am ashamed to admit this but my cria are not all registered yet and the reason for this is that I am still waiting for the microchips.  I know the post is bad but it has been nearly six weeks now so I emailed the supplier and  within half an hour I had an email saying they had been dispatched ages ago and must have gone astray, more were being put straight in the post.  Excellent customer service and I shall use them again - Alpaca and Llama Care Ltd.

Brilliant news today is that Cool Dude ate Camelibra!!  He suddenly got the hang of the routine and ate all I gave him - it was mixed with the hay like stuff Rob gave us to try.

More eggs today but one was a tiny little miniature one, perfect but only 2cm!  I’m going to have that one for breakfast!  Today we were due to have frittata as it uses 8 eggs but I didn’t have all the ingredients so I made 6 quiches instead.

Carl is now out in his shed welding and looking superior.  He went down to look at the quad and discovered it was out of fuel which he says is because I didn’t turn the fuel on.  The thing is I had driven it round all morning without turning it on so I don’t see it can be that.  He says the smoke was something to do with being on a hill and stalling it which is total rubbish because I did not stall it.

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