As cria weaning time is here...and over due for some...I have been thinking about how they will all be without their Mums; and who will become the gang leader for the weeds this year? Our two most likely candidates this time are Explorer and Finian.
Explorer has always had the stand out factor and gets a lot of visitor attention due to his fabulous fleece. Finian, on the other hand is a real charmer and is a beautiful golden colour, which means he also puts up some good competition for the attention.
However, lately I have noticed that Explorer is looking particularly tatty...He looks like he has been pulled through the proverbial hedge...only he hasn't been near any hedges. I had been talking to Paul about it...what has happened? Paul had been putting it down to his fleece being too long but that couldn't explain the mess that it is in. Well today I caught him...Finian is trying to knobble the competition...a little chew here and a little chew there... that will soon sort out Mr Gorgeous!!
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| Finian knobbles his opponent! |
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| Explorer's fleece...not looking at it's best |
Paul did some poo testing over the weekend. He choose some random alpacas for sampling, largely based upon what he managed to get 'hot from the bot'. Everyone sampled got the all clear thankfully. Mostly the poo is frozen solid at the moment which means Velvet is struggling to munch on her usual dottle snacks and the poover is out of action. Whilst I was out scraping frozen poo up with my metal shovel (the plastic one broke) I got some head shots:
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| Beck Brow Pepsi lola...due to be mated in the spring |
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| Morden Hall Honoria...pregnant to Ambersun Baltimore (s. Jolimont Warrior) |
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| Paul popped in for a Nutmeg nuzzle! |
Whilst we have escaped the worst of the snow, we have been experiencing some pretty low temperatures; minus 11.5 again this morning. I remembered today...possibly too late...the fate of our bay tree last year when it got this cold...I also remembered the eye watering cost of the replacement. It was looking a little less than perky this morning...so it has now got a lovely suri coat on thanks to Snowstorm!
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| The bay tree looking festive...maybe a santa hat is required? |
Snowstorms fleece would make a perfect Santa beard, in these freezing temperatures he will need it that long if he is to make all of his deliveries.
ReplyDeleteWith Finians antics, you're becoming a proper detective! That Bay tree protection is something else!
ReplyDeleteHi Barbara, Lovely photos as always. 'Pepsi Lola' - love that name! Shirley & Robbie
ReplyDeleteOh dear...weaning is horrible isn't it?! It wouldn't feel so bad if it was mid-summer! I hate to see them sitting on the fence line crying for mum...who's off down the field with her cria of 2010 already forgotton! Even the tough guys seem to revert to being babies again when they leave mum!
ReplyDeleteHope the earth didn't move too much for you with the Cumbrian 'earthquake' last night.
ReplyDeleteApparently you had a seismic event in Cumbria last night. It wasn't you out thumping the frozen water troughs again was it Barbara? stay warm. Shirley & Robbie
ReplyDeleteThanks for your thoughts...We either slept through the excitement of the big shake (unlikely with the number of animals in our bed!)or it must have just shimmied by us!
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