February 2009
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WOW! It is already February. This means we start planning breedings, preparing for spring shows and events, Shearing in a few months, and just four more months until Cria start dropping to the ground! Okay, maybe I am getting a little ahead of myself...As we talk about the happenings here in February, I welcome your comments and suggestions. As always we are here for your questions. Simply send me an email by clicking on the Request Information link on the upper right-hand side of this page, or contact me at Karrie@abenaquialpacas.com. I look forward to hearing from you.
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Late Winter Storm Take 2
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Date: Monday February 23, 2009
Now that I am able to load more pictures, here they are. This is what I woke up to this morning.
The three sisters. (Their dam is Ambiance. Nebis and Pep have the same Sire ElToro, Mamattegwa was sired by Focus. When you see Pep and Nebis together, they look almost like twins.) Here are Peboona, Nebis, and Mamattegwa all whooping it up in the fresh, deep snow. They pronged around the paddock for a while this morning.
Pep waiting for breakfast...she is always the first one in line for food. We nicknamed her "seconds" as she is always hungry.
Here Pep is high-tailing it back over to the feeding station because she sees I have the grain bucket.
That there is Nebis with Pep in the lead, pronging through the snow. (She [Nebis] recently recovered from a dog attack. Hence the nastiness of her hind end. Believe me, she is doing better than anyone expected. That dog attack story is one for another day. Please excuse her hind end for now. Although it is so much better than it could have been.)
Sig. Looks like he was stuck in the doorway to the run-in shed last night. He has some serious icicle whiskers.
The chickens really don't like the looks of things outside their hen house. Good news is, I won't have to go searching the other nests for eggs today. They will all be in the nice neatly kempt nest boxes I took a day to build...
From L-R: Sig, Ben, Bob. I asked Sig to suck those teeth in, but he cannot. He is at that age where his adult teeth are starting to come in, pushing his baby teeth up and out of the way.
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Late Winter Storm
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Date: Monday February 23, 2009
Another 14-inches of snow has descended upon the farm. The chickens refuse to leave the hen house. Cannot really blame them as without snorkels they would get lost in this stuff. The girls and boys were extra frisky this morning. As soon as I figure out how to post additional photos I will leave them behind. Got some great shots of the barn and the alpacas this morning.
Updated:
AhA! Thank you Jesse at BreedWorks! As an aside I have to say, our web developers BreedWorks are so freaking fantastic. I absolutely love their attention to detail and fast service. They absolutely ROCK and make my day. So, somehow Jesse has fixed the problem of adding additional photos to my blog/journal entries. I am going to start a new entry today and add some photos to test it all out.
Also if you are looking for a fantastic Web Development company, or Brand and Marketing development, you MUST go check out BreedWorks. Their service and office staff are just wonderful. After all, every time I bug them, they make it seem like it is okay. That is customer service. I can see them smile over the phone with whatever I throw their way.
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Family Portrait
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Date: Monday February 16, 2009
I went out to take pictures of the barn and got a little side tracked. Sorry about that. Instead I have this great shot of Mamattegwa (a.k.a Mattie) snuggled up with her mom [Ambiance] for a mid afternoon nap.
She reminds me a lot of her sire, NWA Ltd. Focus. Her muzzle and head shape, and her ears. So much like Focus. She always makes me smile. That smirk on her face, those big deep eyes, and of course those fluffy fuzzy cheeks. How can you resist smiling when you look at her? Then again, I think all cria are amazingly cute and irresistible.
Things on the farm are quiet. Farmer Steve and I had a productive weekend building barn doors, and, as I mentioned earlier, we installed the windows. We are hunkering down for another snow storm. I hear around 1 foot is due in our area some time tomorrow into Thursday. I am kind of not looking forward to that.
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The Barn Continues
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Date: Saturday February 14, 2009
I know, I know...no pictures. I will work on that tomorrow the post them. Yesterday Farmer Steve and I worked on installing the windows for the barn. We have three double hung windows on the first floor. They all went in really easily.
Steve and I do our best to use recyceld/repurposed materials. It is not just a matter of saving money, it is a matter of reduce, reuse, recycle. While Farmer Steve was working construction, he ran across many building materials that were to just be thrown away. As I have mentioned before, in an earlier article,he is a pack-rat. I just say that to poke a little fun, I completely agree with most everything he brings home. As it is, due to his frugal nature, I was able to build a hen house for my 13 chickens out of completely recycled or repurposed materials. You would know it looking at it, but it cost us little to no money. I believe all I purchased for my hen house were the fasteners.
The windows were acquired much the same way. Farmer Steve was working on a house and installing new windows. The owner was going to throw away the old ones. Instead of that Farmer Steve brought them home. We acquired three double hung windows, four jallouse windows - installed in our cuppola, and a double hung double wide window that will be installed in the offce. For used windows they are in excellent shape. We were able to install three of those windows in an hour. They look great, and once the trim is painted to match the red roof, she [the barn] will look fantastic.
Today was another paddock clean up day. The termperatures have soared into the upper 30's allowing us to effectively clean up the paddocks. We also found one of our gates were broken, or breaking, so we did a little fencing maintenance. Now we are kind of taking it easy this afternoon. Once I am done writing this I will sit back with my cup-o-tea and knit a new stocking cap for my husband. (I accidentally washed the last one I made for Steve in hot water this week. Instead of an alpaca stocking cap, it is more of an alpaca yamika. I promised him I would try to get him another one in the next few weeks.)
Hope you are all enjoying your weekend. Happy Sunday to you all.
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Mud Season
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Date: Thursday February 12, 2009
Boy Oh Boy do I hate mud season. It is absolutely awful. Awful for me, awful for my alpacas and chickens. Awful for my paddocks. I know it is temporary, but it seems to drag on forever! And the 'season' has only just begun.
Okay, so some of you folks reading this blog aren't from New England. I am not sure if this is strictly a regional issue. I am assuming there are many other northern reaches, with a snowy winter that also experience some sort of mud season. For the rest of you, mud season is one of the less enjoyed seasons here in the northeast. Those other not so nice seasons would be Black Fly Season and Mosquito Season. Although I can fairly easily manage those two other undesireable seasons with bug netting and marigold spray.
Mud season is the time in between winter and spring. It is the point when the ground is still frozen, in our area that frozen layer of terrafirma could be up to 30-inches deep. Basically, the top few inches of the ground starts to thaw. The snow begins to melt, we experience rainy warm days and freezing night time temperatures. This freezing and thawing of the top few inches does not allow for the melting snow or rain to really soak into the ground. There is no where for the wet to drain to, so tt ends up sitting in those first few inches of soil, and it generate inches and inches of mud. Thick, wet, dirty mud.
That means you create ruts with your vehicles, slip and slide in the paddocks, and the alpacas just look miserably dirty. Short of locking them in the barn for days on end, there is really nothing I can do about it. It is simply miserable. I try to be a positive energy around here. I like things neat and clean. It keeps disease and pestilence at bay. But during mud season, there is no hope for me. Everywhere I look the critters are muddy, the paddocks are thick with mud. The dogs track in the mud and dirt. Farmer Steve tracks the mud and dirt in to the house as well.
I really hope I get through it this year. With all the snow we have had this season and the cold temperatures I am sure will return, we should be dealing with this mess for a while to come. *ugh*
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Other careers
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Date: Tuesday February 10, 2009
It's early morning. Waaay early. But unfortunately both Steve and I work full time jobs in addition to our farm business. People often ask how we can do it all? If you want something bad enough, you make it happen. If you love that something, working twice as hard to find a way to do it all is much more fulfilling. That is why, on a day like today, I don't mind leaving the farm to go do my other job.
I am an Environmental Scientist/consultant for a company, Environmental Health & Engineering, outside of Boston Massachusetts. I have been working for that company for almost 10 years now. Long ago, when I decided to dive into this farming venture, they supported me and found a way to let me work from home. Every now and then I go down to my office or visit with clients. Its a good way for me to almost take a day off from farming. I may work here at home consulting all day, but I can get up from my desk at any moment and tend to the farm if need be. Its a nice feeling.
Today is a travel day for me. I am headed off the farm. I get to get dressed up in "city clothes", high heels and dresses. Things I don't usually do for the alpacas. The girls and boys here will be fine. I have neighbors that are like family who keep a very watchful eye on the herd while we are away. Not that they need a sitter, Steve will be out of work early this afternoon, but it is nice to know they are on the phone calling me with any noise or out of ordinary activity. They are like family and are akin to extra farm hands. My neighbors are wonderful people.
I managed to take care of the ice skating rinks yesterday. My plan to add wood shavings really did the trick. There is a great deal of traction out there. Its even more safe for me, Farmer Karrie. Well, enough writing for this morning. Off to the barn for morning chores, then off to work. Big day in the city!
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Wawiobwan
He is being offered in 2009 at an introductory breeding fee of $500 ...
more info
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