Not much going on here

Really not much to report!

Still running around like headless chickens, still trying to find time to finish the Shepherds Hut.

We have been very busy with our Llama Walks so I though a few pictures would be good.

 These two are nearly ready to join the trekking team, they just have a visit from the Vet tomorrow before they can join there new mates

Everyone needs a hug with a Llama, this is my Grandson Josh on his first proper walk last week.

Polo can't resist gorse flowers.

 Steve has a little rest to admire the view on a walk last weekend, beautiful day but very cold.

 Halter training two weanlings ready for a show next week, they are not very good at the moment.

but they follow Zanti very well, not sure I can walk her into the ring if front of the little ones

Josh find with training easier with the help of ice-cream !

It is in place

After two weeks of solid work on the Shepherds hut it was finally time to move it into position.  It isn't finished but is water proof.  We still need to finish the painting on the outside wood and then the inside has to be fitted out.  Unfortunately Steve has to return to the day job for a couple of weeks.

The young Llamas are nearly at the end of their training.  Just a visit from the Vet at the end of this mouth and then they can join the rest of the trekking team


It has been a very busy time with the llamas as well, the Enjoy Dartmoor magazine has just been published and there is a double page spread about our Llama walks in it.  Hence we are very busy with our walks.  Today we have had a Cream Tea Walk with a very international feel, some of our customers were on holiday from Germany, the rest were of Chinese origin so there was a great mix of languages going on.

Zanti

Zahara

To continue the international feel to our week we have Italians although they live in London in one of the cottages.  The two little girls love helping with the Alpacas so this week we are going to halter train the Cria as I have willing helpers.

Bank holidays don't really feature in our lives here on the Moor, firstly we are usually working either a Llama Walk or changing over a Holiday Cottage. Secondly if we had a day off there is so much traffic around it is easier to stay home and have a day off when it is less busy.  This Easter has been a normal busy round of Llama Training, Alpaca husbandry, Llama Walk today, Cottage change over tomorrow and Steve is working with the Mini Digger for a customer. So as the weather seems to be dry and warm tomorrow I am going to finish painting the Hut, I really should be doing some Office work but I think that can wait for a wet day!

Its coming along

We have been working flat out for the last fortnight on the Shepherds hut, it has been slow at times and there is a lot of work which isn't seen.  It is now looking good and if the weather is ok tomorrow we are going to move in onto its site.


Steve spent the last few days putting the windows and door frame in then fitting the cladding on the outside of the hut.

I have been painting all the wooden bits to finish the roof and the back and front panels. All was going smoothly until I realised I had painted it all with the wrong paint.  So a quick visit to the DIY store and I managed to get the right paint in the right colour, so everything has had an extra coat.

The weather today has been foul, we had a Llama walk planned for this afternoon but the wind was terrible and the rain horizontal so we had to cancel.  As it was for a surprise birthday present and I knew it would be too late to organise anything to replace the walk, we invited the couple to come and visit the llamas and Alpacas for a short while and they are going to do their walk in a couple of weeks.  The Alpacas as usual behaved impeccably, they cam over had a look at the visitors, had a couple of handfuls of food and left when it had all gone.  We went up to visit our two young llamas who are currently being trained to join the trekking team.  Visitors are away welcome as it gives them a chance to experience different people touching them.  they get very used to us handling them but when they go into the team and go out on walks they will be handed over to total strangers so they need to have these experiences.  These two young llamas came from the Watertown herd in North Devon and are absolute stars, they are so calm and easy to handle.  We have now got them take a pack system and walk with it.  Mr McGee (brown & white) is much more confidant Leo (Fawn) takes a little longer, I think he has to watch Mr McGee first then as he hasn't been hurt or scared it is OK for him to have a go.

The two young llamas have to be castrated before they can join the trekking team for two reasons, firstly we have a couple of females in the team and don't need the aggravation that would ensue if we introduced three entire males.  Secondly young llamas like to see who is top dog, not helpful if we are stood on top of a Tor on Dartmoor and one of them decides this is the time to push one of the other off, not good for business.

Once our guests had left, Steve managed to complete the outside cladding with the hut still in a very narrow bay in the barn, it was a bit dingy and dark but as usual he managed.  He's a star really.

Lets hope that the weather isn't two bad tomorrow and we can get the hut on site, then the work on the inside can begin, except Steve has to go back to work next week! but then the clocks go forward tonight, extra hour of daylight!

Feeling very proud today

He looks better behind bars

Josh & Charlie

More of a Personal Blog today.
I am feeling very proud today as my two Grandsons, Charlie age 10 and Josh age 8 were playing for Plymouth Marjons U10's Hockey in the Devon Hockey finals.  They had 6 matches to play to qualify for the regional finals next month in Bristol.  My daughter had a very early start to get them to Exeter for 9am this morning and I got there just in time to see the first match at about 10am.  I had forgotten how seriously parents take their childs sports but there was no bad feelings or bad behaviour as at some Football matches I have seen recently, (they both play football as well).

Anyway to cut a long story short they didn't play particularly well in the first five matches but managed to win three and draw two so the last game was crucial.  Finally they decided to play Hockey and actually had a fantastic match to win 2 -0.  The outcome is they won the tournament and will go to the regionals. So I am really proud because Charlie scored three goals and Josh who is only 8 and plays in goal had a clean sheet in every match.  Josh has so much padding on he looks like a Michelin Man, at one point he had dropped his stick and couldn't reach down to pick it up, his coach had to run on and help.

Also this week Charlie played for his School team and won the Devon Schools Hockey.  The most amazing thing is that they didn't start to play Hockey until this season.

I am not sure where they get all their energy from, they never stop, when they got back this afternoon they got a football out and played with that until they had to go home.

Steve in the meantime was working on fitting the windows and door frames to the Hut.  After fitting the door frame he noticed that the threshold had a crack in it so needed to come out and we will now have to take it back and get a replacement.

I did get the sander out when I got back and started to sand down the windows ready for painting, I am hoping that I can get them primed tomorrow and then the gloss on Tuesday afternoon.

Very Spring like.

It has been very spring like here on Dartmoor this last week, I found this Periwinkle in full flower on the garden bank along with Daffodils.  The Azaleas and Clematis are starting to bud up as well.

The Shepherds Hut is progressing well, photos are in short supply as I have not been well again which means I have missed 3 out of 7 days of working on the hut.  Being ill is really frustrating as all I wanted to do was get on with painting the window and door frames as well as helping Steve with some of the heavy stuff like the boarding, all I could do was stay in bed in a darkened room.

Anyway today I have felt much better and we have managed to put all the waterproof membrane on the hut, the roof sheets are placed on top ready for Steve to fix them tomorrow.

The site for the Hut has been dug out and landscaped.  So as soon as the roof is fixed on we can move the Hut to its final resting place and complete it on site.

I would like to have the inside a bit like a Alpine Chalet which is a bit of a departure from the Shepherds theme, so we have left the pine boards unpainted on the ceiling and these will be waxed later.  We have some rather snazzy LED lights to go in, so the wiring is in place for these.  Just need to wire in for the electric sockets before we can put the internal insulation and cladding in.

I am having to leave Steve on his own tomorrow as I have promised the Grandsons I will watch there Hockey matches at the Regional Finals in Exeter.

Our two new Llamas have had a very relaxed winter so it is time to pick up their training before they join the older boys in the trekking team.  Here is Mr Magee with a full pack on for the first time, little Leo is a bit further behind.  We went for a short walk up the lane and Leo decided that the sheep which live in the field next door were just too scary to walk past, so a little more work required there.

On a Alpaca note I need to do the entries for Devon County Show and I can remember when the closing date is.  I have delayed doing them as I wanted to have a good fleece rummage with the youngsters as they change so quickly.  Hopefully I can do that tomorrow afternoon and get the entries done after that.

With all this dry weather all the Alpacas are looking lovely and fluffy and remarkably clean, even the cria which is unusual.

 Here is Zanti who always likes her Photo being taken but she does insist on doing it on here terms which means I kept getting the shadow in the picture as well.

Frustrating

I was sent out for supplies yesterday morning, supposed to be there for when the builders merchant opened.  Well I got there about 9.30am and there was a long queue of builders waiting to be served, I think early Monday morning is not the best day to go, it was not helped by the computers not talking to the printers so nobody could have receipts or collection notes to pick there materials up from the yard.  I needed some nails and T&G boards for the ceiling of the hut.  After about 30 mins I got to the counter to order with the nails to order the boards, I had the sizes I needed so I thought I was prepared.  Oh no I had to go out into the yard and get a code number of the boards, then the guy was able to find them on his computer.  so having queued again I got back to a till.  Then they couldn't get through to the transport dept to arrange delivery, I gave up then and said we would collect then today.  So after a hour and 15mins I left the store with a box of nails!

Next of to the electrical supplies with another list.  Well that was a total waste of time, usually they are very helpful and will advise what we need but this time all the young lad would say is ", you need to tell me what you want I am not allow to advise you" I already brought all the wire, sockets, fuse board, all I needed help with was a site plug and socket to connect the Shepherds hut to the electric so it can be unplug if we need to move it, it can't be that complicated.  Obviously we get a qualified electrician to do all the connections etc but we need to get the wiring in place before the insulation and internal cladding goes on.  So not

a successful day so far.

In the mean time Steve had started the external cladding with OSB board this is going under a waterproof membrane and coloured metal sheeting.  The hut is really starting to take shape now and I can now see how much space I will have inside.  I have so many things I need to get in there especially the boxes of stock for shows and fairs.  So we are trying to think of how we can store these in the hut so that they don't take up much space but are hidden away and be easily accessible.  At the moment I am thinking a tall cupboard where the boxes will slide in on runners so will move in and out easily, then on the door I can put some grid walling which we use to display our socks and knitwear.
Then I need a workspace and storage for the sewing and felting machines, so every space has to be used to it's full potential.

I think a trip to ikea will be needed as they are really good at storage solutions and we have to pass Cribs Causeway to get there which is a whole another shopping opportunity.

Today didn't start well either

Today was supposed to be the day when we cracked on with putting the frame together for the hut.  Well I woke up  feeling like s--t with a migraine which when I get a bad one usually means I am sick and can even get out of bed.  So I took one of my migraine tablets and went back to bed whilst Steve did all the feeding up.

By lunch time I felt well enough to get up and at least look willing, even managed a piece of toast. I ventured up to the barn and between us we managed to get the floor onto the chassis.  Steve bolted this down and then we were onto the frame, these were much lighter so Steve could lift them up whilst I steadied them until they were clamped together ready for the fixings.
It all looks different now, actually can see what it is supposed to be.

Tomorrow it is the roof, this is in two sections so shouldn't be too heavy, problem is I am only 5'2" and can not reach the top of the walls never mind lift the roof on.  So I now I have some steps! so I can stand on them inside the frame while Steve lifts the roof sections on, I am hoping we get some volunteers to help tomorrow.

Steve decided he may need some new tools to help with the build so I now have this in the lounge.  It hasn't done any work as yet and I do hope it isn't going to stay here to long.  apparently there is more arriving!  I need to check he isn't including them in the cost of the build as I do have a budget and if so he has just blown it.

Well today didn't quite go to plan!

Following a bit of a late start this morning I left Steve to feed up and then he was itching to start sorting the base out for the Shepherds hut.  I had to go to Tavistock for shopping etc and then I was coming back to start sanding window frames.  Just got to Tavistock and the phone rings!  apparently I had take both sets of keys for the van which had all the tools in---- I can say I was not the most popular person in the world at that point.  So back from Tavistock with no shopping or anything else for that matter.
Anyway the base of the trailer now has bearers bolted to the frame to support the floor and it has been wax oiled to help stop it going rusty. It doesn't look much different but it is all the stuff you don't see that takes the time.  Steve has to do the day job tomorrow so we will be back onto it on Saturday.

I spent a bit of time this afternoon just looking at the alpacas which are in the field next to our holiday cottages, some may call it daydreaming or time wasting but I think it is something we should all do periodically.  I look at the individual alpaca, consider its breeding and then wondering if we made the right decisions with our choice of Stud males last year I even get onto this years breeding decisions.

Whilst looking at Zanti (who is fast becoming my favourite Alpaca)  it was evident that some males really do stamp their mark on some females. Zanti is a Jack of Spades baby out of a dark brown female, she is light fawn! she has his head, is a well grown female who will be bred this year.  Next to her was Yolandi who is out of a black Jack of Spades female (Hebe) sired by Inca Cayenne who is Dark Brown/black, she is also light fawn. Seeing them together they are like peas in a pod, they both have that strong head shape, loads of curly fleece around the face but they are a generation apart.  This year we are waiting for a Popham Equador Cria from Hebe, we really would like a black from her this time.  The decision is who do we put over Zanti?

So excited

Ooh Ooh Ooh I got so excited this morning - it doesn't take much I really should get out more!
The Shepherds Hut frame was due to be delivered mid morning soI got up to the fields early to feed up and move the last bits of Rubbish (sorry very useful bits of stuff).  I had just got to the barn when the phone pinged and there was a text from the building supplier who was delivering the rest of the materials for the build, OSb board, Ply, joists etc saying he would be there in a few minutes, luckily he had only just sent the message.  He arrived a few minutes later and I now have a large pile of wood and insulation,  it looks far too much to go on our trailer base!

About a hour later the Hut arrives and is off loaded, I can't believe how excited I am about a big pile of wood and metal!

Tomorrow if the weather plays ball the trailer is going to be wax oiled to keep it in good shape and I am hopefully going to start sanding down some windows which we are recycling from the Holiday cottages.  The windows were removed to make way for the extensions last year, we had four and had already used one in a shed now two more are going into the Hut.  The idea is to use as much recycled materials as possible. All the shelving is already in my work room at home and the small kitchen  is going to be made from some old kitchen units, remodelled and painted.  I have a piece of work top which will be used here too.

With all this work to do I did get a pressie today, Steve brought me a electric sander, which will be very handy tomorrow.

A really scary Alpaca

It's been a quiet time around here just the usual round of feeding, poo picking and general husbandry tasks. We have escaped from the worst of the snow, it has been cold and we had to break ice on the troughs for several days but the warmer weather has returned.

Whilst we were in the cold snap our oldest female alpaca was feeling the chill, she doesn't grow much fleece and we usually shear her every other year, which was last summer.  Anyway we have a coat for her to wear when it is really cold and I decided she would appreciate her winter coat for a few days.  She wasn't very impressed with the fitting process and splattered the sides of the field shelter with the green stuff.  Once fitted I let her back out with the rest of the herd, they were not impressed at all with this new but very scary sight of Carla with her blue coat on and headed off down the field with Carla in pursuit which just made them run faster, it was a very funny sight to watch but I did feel sorry for Carla who really couldn't understand why everyone was running away from her.  They would stand in a group hug watching her until she started to approach then turn tail and run off. Even after three days they were still being curious.  It is much warmer today so the coat has come off and all is calm again.

The group 'what is that!'

One really scary Alpaca

This morning we got all the girls and weaned cria to give them a shot of ADE and a pedicure, then some halter training for the cria who are all doing really well, they do walk better on the outward journey than on the homeward stretch but I think this will improve with practice.  I am hoping to start some more intensive show ring training next week, always a good idea, then I can at least go into the ring knowing that they do know what is going to happen even if they seem to forget all that they have learnt when they have their turn in the ring.
I am busy knitting stock for our table at the Futurity, only six weeks ish,  I have booked the hotel so we are definitely going, couldn't believe the cost of some of the hotels around the NEC but managed to find one which is reasonably close and not to bad a price.
Think I will start to decide which shows we are going to enter animals in and work out when I need to get the entries in.

I have been out practising with the camera so heres a couple of pics from my walk home each morning, something I am trying to do even though I can now drive.

A little bit of snow on Hambledown

Finally I managed to get a picture of Murphy our young llama who is now 18 months old, he really has grown into a very handsome llama with a great temperament ( he has an appointment with the vet very soon but I haven't told him yet)

efficient or what

Not that I am blowing my own trumpet here but I have to say I have achieved a lot today!  starting with feeding up then a quick trip to Ashburton via Bovey Tracey with daughters car which needed two tyres for MOT,(why don't they think to check before sending it for testing)  Then down to it ............... accounts for our branch of Devon Farms as it is the AGM tomorrow and I needed to get something on paper as I am the treasurer................ took a holiday cottage booking, received deposit and sent the confirmation, answered several e.mails, printed off confirmations and directions and sent them of to two llama walk customers, wrote some cheques out for some bills, updated the cottages website, filled in a form for a one day show this summer, had a cup of tea and now I am writing this, not a bad day.

We had a bit of snow last night, looks nice but I was glad it had rained and was disappearing fast this morning.  The females who were all looking clean and fluffy yesterday are now damp and muddy except for Carla who is hogging the field shelter and obviously had not been outside until breakfast arrived!

Yesterday we had planned a day off, we were going to get up later, spend some leisurely time with the Alpacas, pick up a paper and have a lazy afternoon ................ didn't quite work out that way but it wasn't to bad, grandchildren and daughter turned up for a bit which was good, nice to see them but meant I had to take them home as car was being left ready for MOT.  On the way home daughter said could we just call into Trago Mills (very large discount retail establishment, ) not somewhere I would chose to go on a Sunday which is also one of their sales days.  Just wanted to pick up a rug for her front room.  So that took about an hour by the time we had parked and got rug, then queued to pay, then took them home.  The rest of the afternoon was good though, I got the old sewing machine out and mended a whole pile of stuff which has been sat around for ages waiting for the day I had time to do it!  I also mad some cushion covers......... Cow print fabric which is quite fun, brown and white, brought in a rash moment of madness, they look good though. (don't think Steve agrees)  Front room always resembles a bomb site when I get the sewing machine out!  Off out to feed the animals and collect the eggs then once finished we had a nice roast dinner, our own pork, veg from garden, sat in front of TV for the rest of the evening, I was knitting though, can't just sit there doing nothing.
So nearly a whole day off.

Better get off now and get some dinner, Steve is feeding up this evening, it is horrible out there. grey cold and wet.  Then I am going to get some invoices done!

100% record

We had our last another cria last night and another girl, this time it is a lovely dark fawn possibly light brown, we will have to wait and see.  This female is our final cria from Golden Nugget this year although he has several more to go for his co owners Lakeham Alpacas, so far he has only produced females.

Carla with her lump

Carla has been looking uncomfortable for weeks now, she was 363 days yesterday and spent most of the morning sat in the shelter chewing the cud.  We checked her at 1pm and she was looking just the same but when we got back at about 5.30pm it was obvious she was in labour, Carla always has her cria in the afternoon so we weren't too worried.  After about half an hour of nothing happening and carla pushing I thought I had better have a look, Gloves on and lube I had a little feel around to discover the head and one foot but the other leg was bent back at the knee.  This was quite easy to sort out so I left Carla to finish the job which only took another ten minutes before a little brown female cria was deposited on the ground.  She was up and about in about half an hour but seemed more interested in running around the field than finding the milkbar.  As we hadn't had dinner and lunch seemed along time ago we put Mum and Babe into the field shelter, turned the light on and went home to watch proceedings on Alpaca Cam. Carla soon past the placenta and babe eventually found where the milk was kept after sucking the walls of the shelter for what seemed like ages.  Alpaca cam comes into its own in situations like this. we have swallows nesting in the shelter............. not sure what they made of having the light on all night but is interesting to see them caught mid flight on the camera.  The cria has been named Golden Caramel (aka Caramel) which is a name my daughter has been suggesting for all Golden Nuggets cria but it actually suits this one.

Carla with Caramel

The rest of the crias are doing well and I managed to get a couple of pictures whilst in the paddock last night.  Choc Ice seems happy to share her Mum with Amber, Cassini doesn't seem to mind feeding them both!

Amber & Choc Ice sharing the Milkbar

Salvador continues to be a bully if the girls don't want to play he jumps on them and bites their ears.  Calico is nearly as bad and seems to one step behind Salvador all the time.  Finally Lily's cria now named Tigerlily is getting stronger by the day, she was a little early and her tendons in her back legs were a little loose, so she was wobbly for a few days, very funny to watch her trying to keep up with the older ones.

Tigerlily

Shearing was on Thursday and it was very hot, poor old Colin was suffering a bit but the girls especially were relieved to their fleece off.  My house is now full of bags of fleece which I need to start skirting before deciding which ones to enter into which fleece shows and what to have processed into yarns and tops.
it's been very hot here today but I managed to get some seeds into the veg garden, they are a bit late  but the soil is very warm so I am hoping things will catch up.  Tomorrow we are going to collect the Studs ready to start our breeding program, I am hoping to get all our births in May and June next year, wishful thinking I think!

A little bit of good news

This morning we were doing some Physio with Marrietta who was complaining loudly every time we lifted her.  We lift her five or six times and make her stand for a few seconds until she flops back to the ground, this morning she was particularly reluctant to stand.  As we were walking back up the field discussing what to do next etc etc, we got back to the field shelter put away the buckets and feed bag.  Steve looked back at the Alpacas, Marietta was up or was it one of the other fawn girls standing in front of her, no it was definitely Marietta standing on her own.  She stood for about five minutes before trying to walk, which she did rather unsteadily for several meters across the field and then started to graze before eventually collapsing back to the ground.
We were amazed, it will be two weeks tomorrow since she went down and we were beginning to wonder if she would ever get up again.  We have been back to the field several times during the day and she has been moving about a bit, she is still very shaky getting back down but it is a big improvement.
The only trouble is we still don't know what it was that caused the problem in the first place or which of the treatments have made her improve, but I am so please she is.

On the pregnancy front we are still waiting for our next cria to be born, Ella is now 252 days, Cassini 245, Bramble and Carla are both 328 just got a feeling they may all be waiting for Devon County show week!

Marietta day 6

This morning Marietta looks fine but will not get up, twitching stopped.  She has had Vit B with the Selenium drench, Epson Salts again this morning and we are now doing Physio twice a day, having her sat on a hay bale whilst we stretch out her legs, plenty of strength there but reluctant to stand.   Just continuing to hope she improves.

Off for a walk with the llamas before next physio session.

Thought it was time to update......

Well it has been awhile since I blogged and I have been nagged at for not keeping up to date with everything that is happening here on Dartmoor.
In the last two weeks we have been very busy starting with a deliver of a bright red shiny new paddock cleaner which we purchased whilst at the futurity, very exciting, Steve took the day off as we also had the vet coming to do a vet certificate and some castrations........ more about that later.  Any way delivery went like clockwork even the driver remembered to ring about an hour before arrival so we could be ready waiting for him.  Lorry arrived, large pallet on back of truck with no tail lift, driver had been told he didn't need one!  Luckily we had the tractor with link box on had so we slid the pallet into the link box and lifted it down, signed deliver note after a quick check over .......... bye bye driver!  We quickly removed the wrapping ready to hitch up to the tractor.............. never been so excited about picking up poo.   Steve being more technically minded instantly noticed that although the wheels were on the machine they weren't actually fixed on ...... something about split pins!  How b.....y infuriating.  A phone call to the parts department resulted in the said split pins arriving the next day............... no apology though.  any way not to be beaten a couple of large washers and two nails later and we are picking up poo.  Not a bad job as I got to drive the tractor whilst Steve did the poo sucking............ funny he isn't as keen on using the hoover at home.  We now have lovely spanking clean fields and the veg garden has a good load of manure ready to be rotovated in.

The same morning as our exciting delivery Richard our vet came to  vet check Titan and castrate Felspar, Quartz and Merlin, a little sedative and some local anesthetic and job done, all three grazing in field.  When we checked on them later in the day it was obvious that Merlin was not happy, on closer inspection we could see he was bleeding badly from his wound, his fleece was all matted so he had been bleeding for a while.  Safely in a pen I was able to wash him down and check his wound which had now stopped bleeding, sprayed him with purple spray and left him separated from his field mates in the track next to his field with Murphy as a companion.  We are not sure why he had bled so much but there was evidence of some blood on one or two of the other llamas, so whether there had been some altercations going on we don't know.  Merlin has now fully recovered from his ordeal thankfully.


Last weekend we took the llamas to Hound tour for a 60th Birthday party, we had been asked to help carry the guests picnics up to the tor.  There must have been over 60 guests there but what we didn't realise was that they all brought their dogs!  the llamas took a it of interest in all these dogs arriving but weren't that bothered.  We didn't know what to expect when all these people, dogs and llamas walked up on to the moor and I was getting worried that they would get really upset about it............ not a problem, why do I worry like this......... The llamas lead by Lenny calmly walked carrying bags of food, totally ignoring all the dogs............. I am sure that they sussed out that these were very well behaved dogs and were not going to be a threat to them.  We even had a bit of a sniff at any dog that dared to get close enough..... even young Murphy had a sniff with a spaniel.  So I now need to rethink our no dogs rule!

Last sunday was my Birthday so we had the day off, drove down to the coast, had lunch and walked along the coast path at East Prawle and then had some dinner before we came home, so nice not to have to cook!

On Wednesday we held our Spinning course, Jean Field came and gave us some excellent instruction, our friend Norma provided a lovely lunch including some very nice cake.  I have now spun quite a bit of Titans fleece and now need to decide what to knit with it.

Yesterday we had  a llama visit from a local hospital OT Dept, it was too windy to go up on the moor so we had a walk along the lanes and had tea on the patio of our holiday cottage.  We really enjoy these group visits as everyone seems to get so much out of the experience.

Finally today we delivered the five Alpaca boys to Cornwall, Titan and Calypso to join Carpalla Herd, we unloaded them into a six acre field which is great but it was misty and after a few minutes they disappeared into the mist.  They are going to be very busy boys as the girls were in the field on the opposite side of the track and they all looked very ready and eager to meet the boys........... a lot of flirting going on along the fence line!  I think Nigel and Margaret are going to be very busy over the next few weeks as well and we can't wait to see the results next year.  Good Luck to you both.
Felspar, Quartz and Stephano have landed on their feet, they have gone to live near Fowey where they have holiday cottages.  We unloaded and settled them into their new paddocks which had so much grass,  at least 6 inches high and really lush and green.  After some basic instruction on how to handle them, put halters on etc we left them just munching away, they didn't even look up, not sure they notice we had gone! that gratitude for you!  I will really miss this group of boys in the morning when I go to feed up, they were such a lovely group. Now we just have Atlas and Prospect who when we returned with the trailer were a bit bemused that their friends had not returned as well.

Felspar & Quartz

So as you can see it has been busy here, tomorrow as a birthday treat! I am having a foot massage and something which involves little fish ............... not sure what thats all about!

Poor little Murphy!

Murphy has not had a good day today and it was all my fault.

Murphy and his buddy Merlin have been sharing a paddock with the two weanling Alpacas Prospect and Stephano for several weeks now and the time has come for some paddock movements.  We wanted to get all the llamas together so that they could sort out their differences before the trekking season starts off and I wanted to get the five Alpacas who have been sold into another paddock with Prospect and Atlas who now form my entire Show team!  All went well, I split the groups out and let the two little llamas into the track, then let the other llamas into join them.  I was sure that everything would be OK as they have all had contact over the fence for months with no trouble.  Polo and Logan took one look at Murphy and chased him down into the bottom corner of the paddock, pinned him down with Logan (who is usually the most mild mannered Alpaca who is in the llama trekking team) sitting on Murphy's neck and Polo stamping on him.  Blackjack was just about to join in when I got to them, they gave up when I shouted at them and let Murphy get up.  He was obviously very shaken and I managed to guide him back out of the paddock into a pen where I checked him over, no damage but obviously shocked.  He is such a good natured young llamas and didn't bare any grudge towards me and we did have a cuddle.
I don't know why they picked on him when they completely left Merlin alone.
I have now put Merlin and Murphy in the small paddock with Lenny our old llama who will not worry them, I am hoping that he will take Murphy under his wing and we will introduce the others to this group one at a time I think.  Lenny usually defends the youngsters but this morning he had taken himself off to the lower paddock and was not around to help them.
Murphy is not quite sure of Lenny and when I left him this evening he was gazing longingly at Prospect and Stephano in their paddock next door, Merlin seem totally unaffected by the whole thing.
It was really shocking to see how violent these usually mld mannered animals could be, the Alpaca group couldn't have been more different............. not sure the older group even noticed the two youngsters arrival, the hay rack had just been filled up after all.