2010...a review of the additions

2010 has been kind to us here, both on the human and alpaca front, with good health and happiness all round (even Explorer is happy...he just enjoys grumbling!)

We have grown in number over the year, although I did manage to avoid adopting an elephant during our visit to the Sri Lankian orphanage in January.

Elephant aerobics...sorry it's still no!

We had a long wait for our first cria of 2010. Cambridge Camilla kept us guessing but eventually produced Mr Gorgeous himself (aka Beck Brow Explorer) on the 29th May at 385-days gestation. After a shaky start he is now a whopper with the most promising fleece.

Beck Brow Explorer...new born



Our tenth and last cria of 2010 arrived on the 23rd of September. Blueberry Samurai Bahiti did us proud producing her third brown female in a row. Known as Poppet (registered as Beck Brow Paige Turner) she is a real little sweetie and hopefully one for the show team!

Poppet with Nutmeg, Tabitha and Explorer

We also added two fabulous fawns to our herd this year; EP Cambridge Lady Gaga and Waradene St. Patrick of EPC, whose offspring we look forward to seeing in 2011 (enough said...no tempting fate). However our star addition of 2010 was a little black female. She is adorable, her presence is confirmed by the hole in the new bed cover, the cushions without corners, the lovely Moroccan rug without any tassels. Yes...Velvet arrived...and don't we know about it!

Velvet...her love of Oscar just keeps on growing!

As we head for 2011, like all fellow breeders we look forward with excitement to what 2011 will bring us. Nothing beats the anticipation of the cria to be born in the Spring but we will also be launching our knitwear range, another exciting project I hope!

I finish with a photo of Silverstream Galaxy with her cria Beck Brow Fine Romance (Roma). An image which I think just sums it all up.

Silverstream Galaxy with Beck Brow Fine Romance.

Wishing you all a happy, healthy and successful

2011....with lots of fabulous happy, healthy cria too!!

A Christmas Quiz!

The Beck Brow Christmas Quiz:

1. It is compulsory to eat and drink during the festive period at the following times

          a. Only when hungry ?

          b. At breakfast, lunch and evening meal times?

          c. Continuously between the hours of 8 am until 8 pm. Thereafter it

               is through choice?

   

    2.  The only alpaca owners likely to give A D & E paste on Christmas Day
           are:

         a. Those who do not celebrate Christmas?
         b. Barbara because it is the 4th Saturday of the month?
         c. Someone who is sadly obsessed?
         d. B & C?
 
    3. Eight of our cria were weaned during the Christmas period who
         suffered the most stress?

        a. Explorer & Finian?
        b. Holly and Camilla?
        c. Barbara?

We have had a lovely Christmas here with lots of food and drink shared with family and friends. We have however still managed to fit in plenty of alpaca care. Yes, we really did give the A, D & E on Christmas day! We had a spare hour when everyone nipped out to visit other family members, feed horses and cats etc, so we decided to use it constructively. Amanda and I had been going to do the task on Thursday but the paste was so cold it was refusing to budge...always best to keep on top of that list of things to do!

The cria have also been weaned. As is the norm, none of the mums were the least bit concerned as they were moved to a new paddock, leaving their cria behind. The weanlings (or weeds as Paul likes to call them) all seem to be coping well. Explorer is being very cool about it all and is obviously going to be leader of the gang. Thankfully they are all good troughers (Cumbrian for being greedy pigs I think...now who does that remind me of!). Obviously the answer to question 3 was me!

The pregnant females have all had a drench of multivitamins. Most are around 5-6 month gestation so an ideal time for a boost. Amazingly they all took the 30 ml dose of the disgusting tasting stuff (I have inadvertently tasted this on previous occasions). Do you think that they know what's good for them I wonder?...yum yum we need some extra zinc!

More poovering today before the next party with friends...four o clock start today rather than lunchtime...I'm quite sad to see the snow go and the mess that is left behind. Mind you, although the water troughs are not fully defrosted, it is nice not to have the frost to contend with every morning.

Well better be off. Paul no longer falls for the...."you just start with the poo picking I won't be long" ruse any longer!

Merry Xmas...Cheers!

With family all arriving tomorrow for our traditional Christmas Eve gathering, I shall be busy cooking, cleaning, lighting log fires, tripping over the dogs and sipping ginger wine (the two are not related...I am always tripping over the dogs). Blogging may be a little difficult to fit in, therefore I will wish you all a Very Merry Christmas and sign off for now.

A big thank you to every one who takes the time to read my drivelling, it is very much appreciated. Also a very big thank you for all of your comments, which are much more amusing / interesting than my actual blog and keep me very entertained and supported when times are not so fun. Have a good one xx.

Anzac Almost Illegal...thinks that it should be (almost illegal) to make alpacas wear antlers

Tyke wasn't playing ball...refusing to be photographed in his santa hat

Anzac Almost Illegal....not sure about santa's little helper (aka Amanda)

Oh what a beautiful day...so glad I spent it with you...

It is such a beautiful day here. The sun is shining and it is just me; the dogs; and the alpacas, enjoying the peace and the beauty of nature. Not much disturbs things here in the Eden Valley, even the Cumbrian earthquake (reported on the news) must have passed us by...well we certainly didn't notice any shaking, not even a wobble. I have been trying to capture the moment of tranquility on camera with limited success (I am sure Paul will tell me that I was using the wrong lens or setting or something!):

Snow crystals formed on the top of the fencing.

More snow crystals

Lady Gaga...well worth the wait, she is adorable...so gentle and elegant

Lady Gaga checking out Tyke and Velvet

Beck Brow Paige Turner (aka Poppet)....looking very chocolate when compared to her sister Pebbles

Finian...serial fleece saboteur...this time it's Lucie who is the food trolley!

Looking out of the window, the snow is starting to come down again...I have just had a phone call to say that my free range turkey is ready to be collected from the farm down the road...best be off while the going is good...it's a 10.5 kg whopper...lets hope all the family manage to get here!

Finian uses some underhand tactics...

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!!

Finian knobbles his opponent!

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:

Beck Brow Pepsi lola...due to be mated in the spring

Morden Hall Honoria...pregnant to Ambersun Baltimore (s. Jolimont Warrior)

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!

The bay tree looking festive...maybe a santa hat is required?

Ready and waiting...

Ever since we thawed out I have been preparing for the next big freeze...the one that is going to last until at least the end of January...the one that is to bring 10 cms of snow in a single day...the one that was meant to arrive here yesterday.

The snow began to fall at around 10 am. I had already started the poovering so I carried on; my hands were freezing; I had an inch of snow on my head; my rear... jumping on and off a snow cover quad...well best not think about it! I was determined...I was going to collect it all before it disappeared beneath the snow (okay, I know at minus 4 degrees nothing will be living in the poo...and this just confirms that I have pristine paddock syndrome...although not officially diagnosed). Anyway, after soldiering on to the point of near pneumonia the snow stopped and hasn't returned!

I am ready. As well as the usual supplies of Camelibra and Fibregest, I have enough oats, sugar beet and peas to last until the end of February, if not March. And today I have been out and bought some serious gloves...well seriously expensive ones, designed for visiting the Arctic or such things...minus 10 is my normal crying point so we will so how they do. Seriously...I am not complaining...I am sure it will come our way, but we have escaped with ice rather than snow, and a comparatively warm minus 3 degrees today.

I threw some hay out for St Pat and the boys (at minus 3 we can assume that eating from the ground will not be a problem!). The five boys live in harmony for most of the time, with food being the only battle ground. St. Pat has quickly established himself as the leader and does get a little bossy around feed time. As you can see in the photo he has managed to hog the biggest pile of hay. Five x 1-meter long troughs, with a minimum of a meter between them, seems to have ended most of the disputes. Long may it last.

I haven't managed to get any decent photos over the past few days. In part because the girls stay in the barn for much of the time; and in part because I have been too busy shopping and lunching. Apart from the last minute stuff I think that I am almost there now. With the threat of the big freeze I have two freezers packed full of goodies, just in case ( in case of what?...in case we can't get out for two months is Paul's retort!). I have accepted a little help this year with the Christmas dinner preparations. Mainly with the accompaniments that take up so much time.They kindly offer every year and I normally like to be independent...however...with the thought of having to deal with frozen troughs and frozen pipes on Xmas day this year I have given in...it would be churlish not to...thank you Marks and Spencer...

Vest off and Flushing

Just as I was about to go into meltdown myself...we began to thaw on Friday...and what's more...we have a flushing loo and no burst pipes...thank you! Paul was away all week so it has been a tough one.

The alpacas appeared to be equally excited with lots of pronking and racing (our cria like racing this year). Just as was my heart was melting watching them play, it quickly began sinking as I saw Poppet skidding through the slush...ending up with all four legs through the wire fence. She just laid still as I set off sprinting up the field...Now; she was some distance away and sprinting is probably a poor description of what I was actually managing...but Bahati (mum) was there way before me. Calmly she checked Poppet over, spoke to her (alpaca language; not sure what she said, but it sounded reassuring rather than distressing) she then nudged her up. As Poppet stood Bahati put her head down checking all four legs then took her off...no more playing from Poppet...Mum knows best!...Bahati is just one amazing alpaca.

Poppet today...back to a skid free surface.

We went to the North West Alpaca Group Xmas party last night, so we are yet again slightly sleep deprived, although it was only 01.30 am this time. All the same, I always wake up on a Sunday morning planning the week ahead. This morning's 'before we even get out of bed conversation' was weaning. The conclusion...we have decided to wait until Xmas (will they know that it is Xmas Eve...is that just too cruel?) when eight of the cria will be ready together (just leaving Nutmeg and Poppet). We will leave the weanlings where they are at present and move their mums back over the lane...Well that is the plan, lets see if I weaken!

Even without my interference Camilla has decided that Explorer is getting far too big and strong to have more than the minimal amount of feeds from her:

Camilla and Explorer ...time to get your own tea!

We have managed to get our Xmas tree up and decorated this afternoon, despite help from Velvet. We already have a headless, one legged Santa and a dove minus it's feathers...so I don't expect it will survive until Xmas if Velvet is left alone with it for long!