time to relax!

Things have been quite here. With shearing behind us, there isn't a whole lot that needs to be done right now. Which means it's PLAY TIME!

Linda, Laurel and Brandie came out and I spent an afternoon teaching them the basics of hand painting yarn. We made a huge mess and had a great time! I figure you're not really playing hard unless you make a mess, so mission accomplished.

Here are some of the fruits of their labor. Not too bad. I got a bunch of yarn dyed and didn't have to do any actual work. I think this worked out quite well.

Where has the time gone?

My how time flies! I've been a little lax about keeping up with the blog, sorry. The folks have come and gone for their winter visit. They stayed long enough to warm up before heading back east to the cold and wet. The Southwest Regional Alpaca Show is a memory. We didn't show any alpacas this year, but I worked harder than ever! Next time I'll know better and bring some animals with me so I can rest a little.

Brian finally got our vegetable garden in. It got off to a shaky start. I think I had a nitrogen deficiency in the soil. Everything started greening up nicely once I started adding some paca-poo tea to my watering regime. I made a map of what was planted where so I could keep it all straight as the garden grew. Should have worked. Didn't I show cantaloupe melons on my map, unfortunately the seeds are labeled honey dew, and quite frankly, now that we're seeing fruit, they sure as heck look like summer squash.

Fortunately we like all three of those, so whatever we actually get will be eaten.
The babies are growing well. Belle is turning out to be quite the character. She will follow me around the pen, telling me stories while I feed and pick up. She loves to have her back and neck scratched. You can almost hear her purring like a cat. I've never had an alpaca behave like this before.

Flynn is also quite friendly. He knows what the pellet bucket looks like and will come running if he thinks there is the slightest chance for treats.

Poor Jack had another bout of fever last month. We got him stated on penicillin, which acts fast and knocks the fever down within a day or two. We also got him back in Draxxin, which as a slower acting drug, but far less painful for him to get. We'll keep him on this for a minimum of ten weeks and see if that will finally get to the source of the infection.

We've been shearing in this area for the last couple of weeks. Just about everyone is done. Now we start over with skirting, tumbling and washing fleeces. I see lots of lovely yarns in our near future.

As for the fleece we sent off, I'm expecting yarn to start coming back pretty soon. I finally let my curiosity get the best of me and called yesterday for an eta. Bummer that the only person that knew the answer had already left for the day. Oh well, I guess I'll just have to wait a little longer.

That's it for now.

a busy new year

We've been busy around here. We finally got all the fleece boxed up and headed out to the mill for the next run of socks. I'm looking forward to getting everything back, as we are running really low on socks. Except large crew socks, we have plenty of those.

Kinesis had her cria this past weekend. She's a fawn little girl that we've named Alpacazona's Invincibelle Spirit. Belle's was a textbook delivery and we thought everything was fine, until Kinesis decided she wasn't going to continue nursing the cria. It may be that Kinesis has a touch of mastitis which makes nursing painful for her. Unfortunately, the only way to treat mastitis is to keep milking mom out until it becomes more comfortable for her. We're making progress, Kinesis will now stand and let the baby nurse, but we have to get her up and hold her head at first. Which means every two hours or so one of us is out in the field getting Kinesis and making sure Belle gets a snack. Hopefully Kinesis gets past this soon, I'm getting tired!

And to confuse the situation even more, Tyche has been trying to steal the cria. She even allowed the cria to nurse off of her on Monday. Neat trick that, since Tyche hasn't has a cria in over a year and has no milk. Others have told me it is possible for a female to start producing milk in certain cases. It would be pretty amazing if Tyche actually does start to make milk and becomes a surrogate for little Belle. These animals never cease to surprise me.

Jack is off medications at last and hasn't had a reoccurrence of his infection. (knock on wood!) Keep your fingers crossed that we've finally licked this thing. Poor guy is really tired of feeling like a pin cushion. I know he's had enough, when I went to trim his toe nails, he cushed and then just flopped over on his side as if to say "do what you will, I give up". It actually made doing his nail rather easy, though I don't know that I need yet another drama queen in the herd.

This weekend will be teeth trimming for everyone that needs it.

Things to do in Casa Grande

It has been a whirl wind of activity around here. I hardly know where the time has gone. We had a photographer call up and ask to come out and take some photos of the alpacas. I'll post some of his stuff a bit later. Also among our visitors in recent weeks as Lisa Earle, a young lady from Casa Grande. She works on a local blog about things to do and sites to see in the area. She came out to visit the critters and took a ton of photos herself.
If you're interested in the article (a very well written article, if I do say so myself), here's the link: http://casagranderox.com/


We're done with all our shows for the time being. The next event won't be until March with the Southwest Regional Alpaca Show. Maybe I'll actually get some rest between now and then.... na.

egg in my face

We had our open house this past weekend. The weather was perfect. We had a good turn out and sales where brisk. I’d say it all went perfectly except for one tiny thing.
Laurel and our friend Sue where over admiring the new crias when Sue gestured me over. She whispered to me: “I know you told me Laurel’s new baby is a girl, but I swear to god I see testicles”


??????!!!!!!


Well Dot told me it was a girl, and in all honesty, I never did look closely, being more concerned with getting the second cria safely delivered. Then working late the next day to make up lost hours and running around getting ready for the open house and….. ok I blew it, Laurel’s girl is really a boy.
We’ve all started calling him George Castanza (there was shrinkage!). Brian went out and bought his mom an Almond Joy and a Mounds to help here remember that Almond Joys have nuts, Mounds don’t. And poor Dot, when we asked if she noticed anything when she dipped the umbilical cord, responded with; “well I dipped something”. That has us rolling on the ground.

Oh well, so much for Laurel thinking we know what we’re doing around here.

a social comment

I have to admit that I’m fairly ambivalent about the whole boarder issue here in Arizona. While I don’t condone illegal entry, I do think the majority of people coming have good intentions. However, there is definitely a problem with the amount of illegal traffic. The following article is from a local news site. The area they are talking about is just a few miles south of my home. This all happened in a one week period. I added it up, they stopped over 5 tons of marijuana. They say for every drug smuggler they stop, three get through. Makes you think.


The Pinal County Sheriff’s Office has been kept busy the last two weeks, disrupting numerous drug and human smuggling operations in the Vekol Valley area southwest of Maricopa. This morning, PCSO spokesman Tim Gaffney released details regarding those cases.
On Wednesday, November 17th, PCSO deputies discovered a 2002 Ford F250 truck driving with no lights in the desert area. The deputies followed the vehicle for a short distance but the truck fled. The vehicle was located a short time later, abandoned. The truck had been reported stolen by a City of Phoenix resident. The rear tail lights were smashed out and he paint was badly damaged as a result of the vehicle being driven through the thick desert brush. The vehicle appeared to have been used to transport illegal aliens.

Deputies attempted to stop a 2000 Chevy minivan, near Interstate 8, the same day. The vehicle fled and was traveling in excess of 100 mph. Deputies backed away from the vehicle because of the dangerous driving. The vehicle was located abandoned a short time later. Deputies followed foot tracks from the vehicle and took an illegal immigrant (age 17) into custody. The van was packed with eleven bundles of marijuana and an additional bundle was located near the suspect.
On Thursday, November 18th, three trucks were observed traveling in a row near I-8. Deputies attempted to stop the vehicles but they split off from each other and began to travel through the desert. The trucks were eventually stopped and the drivers were taken into custody. One of the drivers attempted to escape by jumping into a canal but came out because of the cold water. The vehicles were headed to I-8 to pick up loads of illegal immigrants.
Also that day. deputies observed seven individuals carrying large brown burlap bundles on their back near Interstate 8. As deputies attempted to contact them they fled into the desert. Six of them dropped their backpacks and were able to get away. Ernesto Salazar (age 29) ran with his backpack and was taken into custody. Ernesto told deputies, he was in the United States illegally from Caborca, Mexico. (350 pounds of marijuana was seized.)
Friday, November 19th, PCSO located two abandoned trucks in the desert loaded with marijuana. Both trucks were reported stolen. The trucks contained a total of 3,700 pounds of marijuana.
On Sunday, November 21st, PCSO deputies stopped a Ford Explorer and immediately could smell the odor of marijuana. The vehicle contained ten bundles of marijuana. Three suspects were taken into custody. The total weight of the marijuana was 240 pounds.
Also that day, a vehicle containing seven illegal immigrants was stopped. They were turned over to Border Patrol. And an abandoned truck was located in the desert area with 1,750 lbs of marijuana.
Monday, November 22nd, a Ford F250 was observed driving with no lights near I-8. The vehicle contained approximately fifty (50) illegal immigrants in the cab and bed of the truck. All of the individuals fled when the vehicle was stopped. Six were taken into custody and turned over to Border Patrol. One of the individuals attempted to escape by jumping into a canal and had to be rescued by deputies.
Six subjects were located hiding in a wash near Interstate 8. Deputies also recovered communications equipment and fourteen bundles of marijuana. The total weight of the marijuana was 220 pounds.
Three trucks loaded with 2,035 pounds of marijuana loaded in them were also discovered that day.
On Tuesday, November 23rd, six illegal immigrants were located in a residential neighborhood, with marijuana backpacks, and were taken into custody. The total weight of the marijuana was 246 pounds.
Saturday, November 27th, PCSO was involved with two separate vehicle pursuits. Both trucks eventually stopped and both drivers were taken into custody. The total weight of the marijuana seized was 2,140 pounds.
And on Sunday, November 28th, PCSO was notified of a dead body in the desert. Saul Soto-Aguirre (age 29 of Morellia, Michoacan, Mexico) reported he, the deceased (age 42) and four other individuals had paid a guide $1,300 each to lead them into the United States from Mexico. All of them had been walking for the three days and had not eaten in two days. The victim fell while walking and the remainder of the group and guides continued on. Deputies followed the foot tracks of the other four but they disappeared once they hit I-8. Saul was turned over to Border Patrol.
Pinal County Sheriff Babeu stated, “We will continue to direct as many resources as possible to this area. I have joined my deputies during several of these shifts and continue to see the problems our Pinal County residents are faced with on a daily basis. The men and women of the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office are doing all that we can to help stop the continuous flow of drugs and human trafficking from Mexico.”

one boy one girl

Fate had apparently decided I didn’t have enough on my plate yesterday. Molly delivered her cria in the morning. It was a text book delivery. Dot arrived just in time to see the cria hit the ground. She called me at work to give me the news and I called Laurel to let her know her herd had grown by one, a little brown girl.

Then Dot called me back to tell me Inara was now delivering. This was a surprise; Inara wasn’t due for another three weeks or more. After an hour Dot called me back to tell me that we had a head, but there was no further progress. Fearing a dystocia, I gave any pretense of getting anything accomplished and headed home, leaving a message for Linda (our vet) as I walked out the door.

Linda called me back just as I got to the barn. I confirmed the dystocia with her. Thank goodness for Linda, as she was a nice calm voice on the phone talking me through what I had to do. Alpacas, like other livestock, deliver their babies front feet first with the head and neck laying in between. Well our little guy had his legs back and twisted around each other. Once I located the legs, I had to untwist them and then attempt to bring them forward. The first leg actually came out fairly quickly, though it felt like I was in there twisting and pulling and pushing for days. The second leg took a bit longer. I remember, on the verge of panic, saying to Linda that I thought she had said the second leg was easier and her reply of “No, I said your half way there. Don’t get frustrated, you’re doing fine”. There is not a lot of room to work in there and I swear his leg was getting longer with every passing minute. Linda suggested trying to push him back in a bit to get some more room.
Seriously?
You do realize that Inara is doing her damndest to squeeze him out? And you want me to stick him back in there???
Ok, I’ll keep trying. A few minutes more and I had given up trying to straighten to leg and simply folded it nice and flat and eased him out.

Success!

The little guy was up and nursing within the hour, no worse for his untimely arrival. He looks like he’ll be a true black. Now we have to come up with some names. I don’t know, but all I can think of when I see our little guy is “early”.

So we managed to finish up baby watch in one fell swoop. I suppose it’s nice that I don’t have to worry about anybody delivering while I’m away at a show, but I still could have done with slightly less excitement.