Hindered by the new farm hand....

Alpaca tasks seem to be taking a little longer to complete this week than is the norm. I think the problem might be trying to do everything with a small black puppy tucked under one arm. Velvet has settled in well and is very well behaved. However, she does have this way of making me feel guilty about leaving her in her cage; so much so that I end up taking her everywhere with me.

Having a small dog sitting on your shoulder does mean that getting photos of the alpacas paying attention is so much easier:

Explorer, Camilla, Tabitha, Nancy & Lucie

Kenzie & Explorer...the big boys!

Checking Velvet out over the fence...no far too big and scary for Nancy!

Yesterday I went to collect approximately 70kg of top quality white alpaca fleece from a local breeder. As I only purchase fleece under 25microns and pay a premium for fleece under 22 microns this normally means being reliant upon getting the micron assessment right using eye or handle. However on this occasion the task was made so much easier by fleece stats being available for every fleece.

 Fantastic... I have taken a sample from each fleece and labelled it with the micron count (as I do with my own). All good practice guessing the micron than checking the actual results....I know this may seem a little sad but it does rain a lot in Cumbria! I now have the task of getting it all skirted and off to the mill but with 35kg under 22 microns we should have some really lovely wool to work with again this year.

The monthly vet bill arrived this morning. Thinking that I only had a bottle of Finadyne and some eye drops to pay for I was surprised to see £95.40 in the due column. I had forgotten that we had had a Sunday call out at the beginning of the month. We had noticed that Bonita had a small prolapse and concerned that she may need a stitch to prevent things worsening we had called the vet. Why do these things always happen on a Sunday? ....and worse still why do they always correct themselves before the vet actually arrives! Good news really as the prolapse has required no treatment. If we hadn't called the vet it would have been the wrong decision of course!