It's a Boy!

Baby Alpaca #2 was born today after I left for work. 

He was still wobbly when I got to the barn at 8:45 PM but nursing well.  He is red, a standard color here at WindSong.  He will be sold as soon as he gets to be 6 months old.  He has very long kinky fiber today. He is also a big boy as he is bigger than the little girl born a week ago Saturday.

Dog Days of Summer

It's hot here.  So hot that the grass in the pastures is now crunchy under my feet.  I don't like that feeling.  It is a feeling of feeding hay instead of pasture grass through the summer.  It is a feeling of high costs for the season of keeping my animals.  It is a feeling of unhappy sheep who prefer grass but don't like it crunchy.  It is a feeling of farmers dealing with crops that don't have enough moisture to produce a decent income.  It isn't a good feeling.

All my alpacas were shorn in May and I managed to recruit help to get half my flock of sheep shorn.  Where are my shearers?  I have been calling them since Christmas and no one, not one of them, has returned my calls.  Is this common for shearers not to return calls?  I always treated them well and even gave a $50 tip last year.  I guess I didn't molly coddle them enough.

I met someone and we dated briefly for about 6 months.  I really thought we were going places as he was so sweet and kind and I loved being romanced. He always made me feel like a little princess when we were together. Then one day he said he found someone else and no longer wanted to be involved with me romantically.  Yes, he broke my heart a month ago and I'm just now getting to where I can get through a day without crying over the loss.  He is everything I ever wanted in a man.  Unfortunately, I guess I wasn't enough for him. I still think he is an awesome man.  I must be patient.  The right one will come someday when I least expect him. 

Yesterday while shearing, I got a surprise but didn't know it until almost 10 last night.  I had the alpacas locked up so that as we were shearing sheep and turning them out, I wouldn't have to chase the alpacas from the shearing area.  I almost forgot to let them out last night.  It was after 9:30 when I remembered and went to the barn to let them out.  The light was waning and it was grey in the barn.  I opened one door to let them out of the area they were in then ran to the end of the barn to open the barn door for them.  Once they were all out of the barn I walked back to the other area to shut the door and there standing in the doorway was a little brown cria blinking her eyes.  So I picked her up and carried her outside, found her mother and sat her near her mom.  Mom was all concerned and made noises telling her about how sorry she was that she forgot her. 

Today that little girl is basking in the sun and suckling as nothing ever happened.  I'm glad she is well and she has a good mommy.  And so the summer goes.