Ain't Got No Hair

Last month was farrier day for the horses and shearer day for the alpacas!

It was a very different scene this year, as opposed to two years ago, when I  and had a broken ankle and had just bought the two alpacas.

Then, both Thelma and Louise had to be cornered using a rope and then caught, by Rick the shearer, and his helper. However, once they were caught and halters had been adjusted to fit their heads, they were very easy to handle. (I was so glad that I had bought two 2-way adjustable, extra-large sized alpaca halters at the alpaca show in Denver the week before. I didn't know what size to get, but I had read about the 2-way (nose and crown) adjustments and decided that was the way to go. (The halters I had been looking at locally were not adjustable). Best investment ever! The halter adjusts large enough to fit an unshaven adult and small enough to fit baby Sophie.)

They led surprisingly easily, after a short tug-of-war test, walking all the way over to the barn without incident. But when it came time for the shearing, each of them cushed, laying down with legs folded up. It took the helper, my son, and daughter to roll the alpacas around so that Rick could shave them on all sides. They kicked at us and spat at the horses when they were tied to the railing. Not happy!

But this year was much better overall.

I wanted to have them ready for shearing by combing out their coats so I 'captured' Thelma and made a makeshift halter out of a piece of rope around her head snugging it up high on the bridge of her nose. I have read that alpacas (and llamas) have a short bone structure in their nasal area so a halter cannot sit low on the nose like a horse because it cuts off the air intake which causes them to panic. Thelma is easier to handle than Louise so I figured she would be best behaved without a real halter. I tied her up and went after the other two. The part on her nose was actually tightened up so that it rode higher on her nose after I took this picture.

Then I caught Sophie. The alpacas will stand within a foot of me but do not like to be touched other than hand feeding. To actually touch them, one has to wrestle them for a few seconds until they relax. I have been working with Sophie on leading, but she still gets balky.

I cornered Louise and haltered her. Now I had all three tied up in the barn. I was ready to begin grooming them. I wanted their fleece to be clean for the shearing. I had purchased a dog comb and a detangler comb. I tried using them but the alpaca fleece was three-five inches thick and I decided it was just too much of a task. Rick told me he was bringing a blower and that combing was not necessary so I figured I'd just go with his way.

Rick came alone and my kids weren't available, so it was just the two of us handling them. And he forgot his blower.

We decided to do Thelma first because she is the easiest to handle, even with a makeshift halter. She did very well, standing the whole time. Rick also gave a booster shot because I am squeamish about sticking needles into living things. He also trimmed her toenails but by now she was getting really pissed off. I could smell the bile in her mouth as she prepared to spit. We decided that her uncut toenails didn't look too long, enough was enough, and let her go.

Sophie stood with her mother, Louise, and watched all the activity with Thelma, curious, but uncertain. Then it was her turn. I held her head up and she reluctantly stood for the shearing. She was very antsy so we missed a few spots on her legs and she also has long whiskers on her face. She didn't mind the shearing too much but she really didn't like having her toenails clipped. This was the second time she's had her toenails clipped. Once, I had the farrier trim her nails, because they were long and curled under and it was hard for her to walk. Both Louise and Sophie grow long, curled toenails whereas Thelma's break off regularly.

We worked with Louise last and she was a royal pain. She cushed (folded up) while waiting for her turn and she never did stand up. We finally had to drag her across the floor in that tucked-up position. Rick did his best to shear her but he missed a few spots on her legs and belly.

This was the only picture I got of the shearing process because I was so busy helping. That is not blood! It's dirt and hair.

There is nothing more alien and adorable than a sheared alpaca's face.

And sad!

Thelma looks so happy she looks like she's smiling. And Louise and Sophie look like miserable!

Notice how in the two previous photos, the alpacas all turn their heads the same way in synchronicity.

Sophie "before",

And Sophie "after". Doesn't she look so grown up now?

Ain't Got No Hair: song - Ashes to Ashes, artist- David Bowie, album- Scary Monsters (and Super Creeps)

Friday Foto

fun in the sun

It's been a while since I showed some photos of the alpaca herd. The baby is growing very fuzzy. She appears to be a lighter color than her Mama.

Of course, some of that light color could be dirt, right? Alpacas love to roll!

Yalla! watches from the other side of the fence.

She got Scout interested too.

Baby Sophie Rose and her Mama, Louise are enjoying the outdoors.

Thelma is always up for a portrait.

year 2011 in review

2011
January-
After wrecking my 2003 Infiniti FX45 in December, I bought my 2002 Subaru Impreza wagon,

My mom and I visited the Bosque Del Apache wildlife and bird refuge at sunrise, one Saturday. Visit here to see a Sandhill Crane dance video.

February-
Alas, I missed the Scottsdale Arabian Show for the first time in years. February was a busy month for me with both my boys' birthdays to celebrate.

My son,  daughter, and I took a quick road trip to Holbrook and saw the Hashknife Pony Express set off. Read all about it here.

I also attended a Dennis Reis clinic and invited my neighbor and her daughter. She got lucky and won a DVD set from him during the give-a-ways.

I lost my 16 year old cat, Simba, to kidney failure. I picked him from the litter of six kittens our Pearlie had. (We lost her the next year to coyotes.) Then Terra was the last kitten still to be given away and my husband convinced me to keep her too. As it turned out, Terra claimed me and I was never able to spend much time with Simba. He was beloved by all the family and used to head-butt on command. He was half Siamese and would wander around the house in the wee hours of the morning, crying out loudly, as only Siamese cats can. I miss him terribly but the yowling and prowling, I do not miss.

April-

I did not fall off of my horse but maybe I should have jumped. I was riding Scout at the back of my neighborhood when he got spooked from a pack of loose, running dogs, reared up, and fell over backwards on me, breaking my ankle, which required surgery.

I now have a plate and several pins on the inside of my ankle. I learned what it was like to be disabled, since I was off my foot and in a wheelchair for two months during rehab. I still have a very stiff joint and continual discomfort in my ankle.

I was fortunate enough to attend two fantastic concerts- both were opening nights of those tours and both required road trips to the Denver area:

In April, my daughter and I saw Arcade Fire in Broomfield (above Denver).


During our road trip, we visited Manitou Springs, Colorado Springs and the site of the Ludlow Massacre. Read more about that trip here and here.

In May, I added two aliens, erm, alpacas to my animal family: Thelma (red) and Louise (bay/black). Louise was supposed to be pregnant.

I saw U2 in May with my Sister-in-Law and a friend of hers. I bought the tickets for this concert over a year ago, on ebay, and then Bono hurt his back and the tour was postponed. After driving up to Denver, over 450 miles, I found out the tickets were fraudulent, on the morning of the concert. The girl who sold them to me, Natacha Gillis, had received a refund from Ticketmaster, right after I had purchased them from her! Fortunately, we were able to purchase three seats in the handicapped area (I was still in a wheelchair because of my broken ankle), and had a fantastic weekend together. We visited the Denver area, Central City, and the  Red Rocks Arena where U2 performed their landmark song, Sunday, Bloody, Sunday in the 80s.


While in Denver for the U2 concert, my SIL and I went to the National Alpaca Show to experience lots of close encounters with the "alien" alpacas. See here and here for more.

June just seemed to come and go. I had three physical therapy sessions and rode again for the first time since my accident. We had the alpacas sheared and I took a lesson on wet felting alpaca fiber. I made a hat which I will post about some day.

July-
It was a time of snakes and swallows.

My mother, daughter, and I flew to Oregon for my nephew's wedding. It was a mini reunion for my family- my mother, sister, brother and I were together for the first time in years.

Also, the family took a scuba diving lesson. How do I look?

I also went to the Arabian Youth Nationals. click on previous link for more.

And, very sadly, I lost my Little Buddha (Japanese Chin) to the coyotes one morning. Tragically, I heard him yelp but could not rescue him. He was only seven years old and I miss him every day.

August

My son, daughter, and I celebrated with my Mom for her 84th birthday at Pietown with lunch and a freshly baked green chili, pinon nut, and apple pie.

It's a long drive there and back but we all enjoyed the road trip. We even stopped along the way back to see the VLA visitor's center.

September

We celebrated more birthdays- my daughter's and mine. My sons took me for a nice little hike in the Sandia Mountains, my first and only this year.

I made bones for the One Million Bones project.

Meet Skyy, a part Australian Shepherd and part Blue Heeler puppy that my daughter acquired.

October-

Yalla! came down with a case of Pigeon Breast, (pigeon fever, dryland strangles, etc.) and it was weeks before it was advanced enough to be lanced. Nasty stuff, the infection usually settles in the chest, causing a huge swelling like that of a pigeon's breast, thus the name. Annie has had it two different times in years past. It is caused by flies and nearly impossible to prevent although it is not too common, fortunately. Annie had to have multiple lancings. Yalla! had one vet visit and drained thoroughly, although she is still scarred from it.

I decided to remodel my house. For years, I debated on bamboo, tile, carpet, or cork. I finally settled on Pergo laminate. I refinanced the house,  purchased the flooring and began the project. My son ripped out the old carpet and baseboards, I repaired the concrete floor, and everybody painted.

November-

The best thing to happen this month was the birth of little Sophie Rose Iman, Louise's cria on November 3rd. When I went out to feed in the morning, I was surprised to find a miniature alpaca with the two big girls. The birth went well and, because the alpacas and the horses had their fall shots in August and the little cria looked extremely healthy, in spite of being all legs and neck, I didn't even bother to call the vet. Besides, I was still paying off Yalla!s vet bills for the pigeon breast. Unfortunately, my camera was completely broken by now. It had been giving me problems for several months. These photos were taken courtesy of my cell phone.)

Meanwhile, the flooring project was becoming a nightmare. I had Thanksgiving at my house for family and friends even though the only complete room was the kitchen and that was a mess. We had originally been hoping for the flooring to be installed BEFORE the holidays but, alas, this was not to be. The order came in short two boxes. I had to wait almost three weeks for those to come in and then two more weeks before the installers would begin their four to five day job. 

December-

We had snow and snow, and more snow!! At Christmas time, we still had almost two feet of snow everywhere from the build up of the recent storms. Here's a view of my backyard.

Here, at the homestead, we had no furniture in the house. Without wood, I couldn't make fires in the woodstove and my heater was not running properly. We slept on mattresses on the floor for six weeks and the house got down to 56 degrees most nights. Needless to say, it's been rather miserable for the last couple of months. 

I splurged and bought myself an early Christmas present, a Canon Powershot SX 230, 12 megapixels and 14X zoom.

Finally, last week, the installers came and did a fantastic job in just three days (1500 square feet- living room, dining room, den, hallways, and four bedrooms). And guess what? There are at least four unopened boxes of flooring! We could have been finished a month ago!!! Didn't need to wait for the missing boxes after all, did we? Really?? My whole family has been sick for the last two months, living in a shell of a house, for no reason!

That was my year, more or less.

Happy New Year!!

An early Xmas present, from me to myself (and you)

That's right, a present to you, my readers. I really like to add photos to my posts and without a camera, I haven't been posting much in the last month, or so. Of course, I have been extraordinarily tied-up recently too, with my work, health, and remodeling home project all considerable factors.
 

I have been wanting a camera for several months now, ever since my old Kodak went on the blink. I researched and settled on a 35X zoom Canon SX40, but it was out of stock. This is the improved, newer version of the Canon SX30. I actually thought I bought it once only to find out the order didn't complete. Then, I considered a Panasonic Lumix FZ40/FZ45 (24X zoom) because the reviews were so good.  I debated and debated because the price tag is so high for these cameras that I wanted just for myself, especially at this time of year. Then my son asked me why I didn't just go with a smaller point and shoot since I ALWAYS take photos while I'm driving. I thought about this and decided that was true, so I settled on the Canon SX230, a small, but powerful, point and shoot with a 14X zoom and a great low light shooting function. I ordered it and waited.

Last night it arrived and, after playing with it for 60 pictures or so, the verdict is in.

I LOVE it!

Okay, these first two photos are not great but they were the first two taken from the camera.

For fun, I took pictures of the chip bag I was eating from. Aren't the colors just fabulous?

This morning, I brought the camera along with me to the barn.

Sophie Rose is five weeks old now and just getting cuter and fuzzier all the time. You would not believe how soft her fleece is!

Notice her long lashes in the shadow? She has the most beautiful lashes and eyebrows that curl. I'll hae to get a close up of her brows.

I also took a photo of the Colorado Blue Spruce in my backyard to show how vivid the outdoor color photos come from my new camera. Isn't it pretty? I really should decorate it since I don't even have any decorations up inside the house.

Yep, we still have snow on the ground from the storm that came in a week ago. It snowed Friday, Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. We got almost two feet, in all. I even worked from home on Monday and Tuesday because the roads were so awful. We have had extremely cold temperatures for the last week, so all the outdoor hoofstock are on emergency water rations. My son and I have been toting hot water to the barn several times a day for over a week now. Winter is here, full blast!

Overwhelmed!!!

Is there anybody out there?

Did ya even notice I've been missing??

My life has been upside down for several weeks now. It even hurts to breathe, but on the good side, I've found a great way to work out my abs! Coughing!! Yup, about three weeks ago, I developed a sore throat, cough, terrible headache, etc. that just won't go away. I've had laryngitis for two weeks now and am finally becoming able to talk in a raspy, deep throat, sexy way. I can't hardly sleep at night and I don't like to lay down, even if I had a bed to lay in, which I don't, at least, not at the moment, because, I am remodeling my house. Yep, I rebought my house, for the fourth time, and added on a floor allowance. After over three years of debating what to do I finally went and did it. I am getting Pergo laminate flooring to replace my old worn out berber carpet. However, to meet my budget, I had to trim $2000 off the final price...soooo, I decided that my son and I could take up the old carpet, baseboards, and prep the concrete base.  How hard could it be? LOL!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I have a house full of furniture but everything, well almost everything, is finally packed away. The garage is stacked full and I had to rent a storage unit- one of those P.O.D. things, which are a really great idea, btw, since I haven't been able to get my pick-up truck running yet and I had no idea how we were going to manage moving stuff to a storage place several miles away. I was amazed when I was searching for a rental unit at the variation in prices. I got quotes from three companies and the delivery charge each way varied from $179 to $139 to $89 each way. Guess which one I chose? AND, I got a 16 foot unit for the same monthly rental price as a 12 foot unit. AND, there was a $50 discount being offered at the time. SCORE!! The portable-on-demand storage unit people, better known as 1-800-Pack-Rat, brought the unit to my house and it's parked just a few steps from my front door. Hopefully, I will be able to time it right and only need it for one month.

 My younger son and I have been working overtime trying to get this project done. At the same time, we are painting attempting to paint the entire house, but it's a huge job and I'm afraid that it's much more labor intensive than can be done in the short time frame we have, with me working full time (overtime, at that) and such a small labor force of my son, daughter and sometimes friends. Nights are just too short, especially when they are sometimes spent in the emergency room with my son after he wrecked my little Hyundai one night last week, for example.  My daughter and I were happily chatting and painting the living room when we got a muffled call on my cell phone. We called the number back and found out it was the hospital emergency room. No one could give us any information other than that my son was there, but my daughter knew that Trevor had placed the call because she had heard his voice before it disconnected. At least we knew he was alive, right? We found out afterwards that my son had knocked himself out and been transported to the hospital. When asked for emergency numbers, I realize now that he had been giving his own cell phone number, which turned up missing, and wasn't thinking too clearly. He's fine now, but he ran into a truck and  trailer that was slowing down ahead of him, and bumped his nose and mouth on the steering wheel. He's real lucky he didn't lose any teeth, and his two friends who were riding with him were okay too, but the poor car is a goner! (It's a sad fact that young people living out in these rural areas all seem to have accidents in their first couple years of driving.) This accident happened on the old Route 66 Highway and I spent the next day trying to find out whether the County Sheriff or the State Police attended the scene and had the car towed and to where? I finally located it in a small tow truck yard behind a motel in Moriarty. It's a small town!

I had to get a friend to pick it up- they charge by the day-and now I need to decide whether to buy another car, or not? Last year, in December, it was my Infiniti that got wrecked...

Anyway, that's the way it's been for the last three weeks or so...

but, did I forget to mention...

the best news?

Oh, yes!!!

One morning, I went out to the barn and there was another alpaca in the barn with Thelma and Louise! That's right! Louise had her cria! All went well and the baby was already dry. However, it was only 18 degrees that morning, on November 3, 2011, the coldest we'd had so far, and I could feel the chill on the poor little thing. I scooped her up (she was so light, so little, all legs and neck!) and it was so neat to hold her right away!

I think I look like a Russian peasant, er, shepherdess in this photo. lol.

Did I mention that on top of everything else, my camera completely quit on me. Oh, the withdrawals I've had, losing my camera! Thank goodness, for cell phones! LOL.

My neighbor, Lisa, posted on her blog about the cria birth and took some photos a day or so after. I think the spitting contest she mentioned was when Louise went into a post-partem heat about a week after the birth. I actually saw Thelma trying to mount Louise one day and they were screeching and carrying on something crazy. Louise kept cushing and Thelma stood on top of her, even rearing up on her two hind legs, trying to mount her. I don't know, but I suspect it's like the foal heat horses have after birthing, usually around nine days. Maybe for alpacas, it's seven days later.

What especially amazed me about the alpaca herd behavior was how much like an aunt Thelma was towards the new cria. On cold nights, when I went out to blanket the little gal, I noticed that Thelma and Louise cushed side by side with the cria in between them. They have always stood together and now the cria moved freely around them. It was only when she tried to suckle Thelma, that she'd get a gentle kick to tell her she was at the wrong milkbar. And Sandy was there, right from the beginning too. I could tell that she worried about the little cria's safety because she always wanted to stay out at night and be right in the pen with the three alpacas. I was glad because I worried terribly about coyotes going after the tiny newborn.

Notice the tips of the cria's ears are white? I think they may have gotten a little frostbite from the cold morning of her birth.  She is 24 hours old here. Even now, they are still white on the very tips.

Especially in the beginning, Mom and cria hummed to each other- a soft little errmm back and forth. I'm so glad Louise is such a good mom. I worried so much before hand and when I saw the cria that morning, I called two Alpaca farms I knew and asked them for advice. They both said that, as long as everything was good, not to worry. One advised giving an enema and iodine on the umbilical, the other said it probably wasn't even necessary. After having two foals born on my ranch and both mares retaining the placenta and needing vetting, I was very relieved to see the frozen placenta on the ground all in one piece. And, since this was only a weekafter Yalla's vetting, I didn't want another huge vet bill. It was over $340, when Annie delivered Yalla, for the vet to come out and run a colostrum test and give Annie shots. This little cria looked super healthy and, although I couldn't tell if it was actually getting milk, it was in the right place. They told me that alpacas seem to sip and lick in the beginning when they nurse rather than latch on and suckle. I decided to wait and see how things went before calling the vet. Every day, since her birth, I've noticed her getting bigger and stronger, so I am sure she is nursing fine. I'm glad the alpacas got their shots this past fall too so that the baby has some immunity too.

Every day, I go out and visit the alpaca girls for a while when I feed. They really look forward to me hand feeding them and I can actually catch them now. I have even taken their halters off. Of course, the small pen helps a lot but it seems that having the cria has settled Louise a lot. She is actually the calmer of the two now. I catch the baby almost daily too. They seem to have exceptional scent ability and the baby is always sniffing the bucket, the rake, or my hands. She still tries to get away from me all the time but I catch her and sometimes, I pick her up. I only let her go when she quits struggling. Then I play a little game with her while I feed the ladies. I go Hrrm... errrm... errrm, and she cushes right in front of me. Not only that, she lays down and rolls over, grinding dirt into her coat. Then she gets up and shakes off. She's so funny! She has done this four times now. It's cute the way she is always picking out a blade of hay and chewing it and then spitting it out. Soon now, I'm sure she's actually going to chew it up and swallow it. 

It's amazing how soft she is. I spoke with a mill worker a few months ago and they said that the cria fleece is the softest, most valuable fiber. However, whereas a farm owner told me that they shave the crias quickly because of how messy the coat is, the miller told me to let it grow a year or so until it is at least a couple of inches long. I think I'll stick with the miller since that is who processes the fleece. I realize now that Thelma and Louise should not have been sheared when they were because after the shearer was all done, he told me how short their fleece was. And the mill said they cannot process fleece shorter than a thumb's length in the carding machines.

I like the next photo of my alpaca herd showing all their behinds. Louise is filthy, Thelma really looks like a camel, and the baby has her makeshift blanket on. I blanketed her every night for the first few days because we had  the freezing cold weather and then a snowstorm, but thankfully, it didn't seem to harm the baby at all.

Yalla's not the baby at the barn any more. Btw, she has gotten over the pigeon fever but her chest is still all scabby. I am waiting til the hair grows out and it falls off naturally rather than pulling the gunk off and risking opening up a scab. She looks like she has actually done some growing lately too. Very soon now, after all this remodeling is done, I will start her education in earnest. It's time she learned what being a good horse is all about.

Ah, but did I mention the cria has a name? Yes, she does. I immediately started calling her Sophie. But I like Rosie too. So she is named Sophie Rose. And, she could also be called Iman, because she is black, beautiful, and has a looooong neck, like David Bowie's model wife. LOL!!!

Last photo, courtesy of my son's girlfriend, was taken on Thanksgiving Day. Yep, I cooked a turkey and all the fixings for the family, all six of us!! And I was speechless, really!! :)