Saturday 27 June 2009

Settling in ....

Enjoying the sun ..
Lazy days ..

Here are a couple more photos of the new girls settling in fine, they seem to be enjoying their new home and the lovely lush grass....... we have plenty this time of year.

After their long journey on Thursday, both were relieved to be able to roll around and explore their new surroundings. I'm pleased to say that both girls appear to be very happy, without any signs of problems due to their change of circumstances, it always amazes me how well animals adapt to their new environment.

Its nice to have them here safe and sound, we are becoming acquainted...getting to know each other ! Trienza appears to be the most bold, whilst Tremona is a little more shy.

They have been eyeing up the rest of the Zanzibah bunch from a distance... we will be introducing one another a little later on, probably in a week or so.

Thursday 25 June 2009

New Girls in Town !!

Appletrees Alpacas.......delivery in Style !
Trienza and Tremona, exploring their new home.

Arrived safe and sound !



Enjoying the Scottish scenery !


I have been out shopping .......some ladies spend their time in high street bouquets, however they don't sell what I was looking for in those department stores !!

So, I found what I was looking for in Somerset, two fawn females to compliment my multi-coloured herd. It was a long journey for them, however I always use the best transport company for my animals, and true to form all went well with their delivery. I am talking about Appletrees Alpaca Transport...... I believe that this is the luxury transport that these animals deserve.

Trienza and Tremona arrived in a 44ft brand new air-conditioned all singing and dancing luxury lorry..... this was the first journey out for Bruce and Angie with their new lorry. I think it speaks for itself......if you ever need any alpacas transported any where, these guys are the business.

So, meet the new girls in town, enjoying their new home and getting to grips with bonnie Scotland.

I am really pleased that all went well for them on their journey to us. It was a long distance travel, but these girls are here to stay.

Wednesday 24 June 2009

The Best things in life are Simple !!.....

Crochet Hats....natural colours !
The Nostepinne !.....does a great job


Proof is in the pudding.... it really works !

I have been doing a little spinning and making a few items lately, now I was wanting something to turn my hanks of wool into balls, after a bit of research I decided to give this 'Nostepinne' a go....its so simple and brilliant !

I found it on good old Ebay !....it wasn't expensive and it does a really nice job at turning my wool hanks into nice balls of wool.

I have been busy making some more crochet hats using some of my fleece from last year. I thought I'd share some photos with you of the finished items and the 'Nostepinne'.

I am currently working on a special project for myself..... I shall share it all with you a little later when it starts to take shape !...... It might be a little while as I have to hand spin the wool myself and then knit it, not the quickest way to do things but I like the individuality that this creates.....

Old but Beautiful !!

This lovely old wheel, does work.. Zeuss's fleece spun up lovely !

What about this for a lovely old Spinning wheel....my parents brought it up for me to see if it would actually work and guess what....yes....it does.

Apparently this spinning wheel comes from Germany, it is very old, I don't know the maker, I bet it has been years since it actually spun, after quite a overhaul by my father, who as you know is very handy with wood....he spent a week on it, doing a few repairs....eventually after a number of goes, he decided to bring it up to me.....to see if I knew how to work it.....

Now, I have never seen a wheel like this...a dual drive....and it did have us perplexed for a number of hours.....trying different way of threading it up.....eventually we thought that we might have cracked it.....however, if there is any one out there who knows different I'd love to know.....I think we have it right but I'm not sure.

It certainly works this way.....there are still a few alterations to make it better, you could say its a work in progress....however as you can see, I managed to spin some of Zeuss's fleece. I was quite pleased with myself. The treadle action is lovely, very slow and gentle. I have an Ashford ~Traveller that I use most of the time that I really love.

I must say I have really enjoyed the challenge of getting this lovely old spinning wheel working, I know my Dad has also enjoyed the challenge....

Its marvellous what you can do !...

Monday 15 June 2009

Boys...Boys....Boys !

Zorba
Socks


Zerquo Brown & White and Zeuss Solid White

It has been rather quiet here..thankfully compared to some, I must mention at this point about Hughie, one of Barnacre alpacas, he has been in the wars, bitten by some irresponsible dog/ owner ! I do hope that he recovers soon and is not too traumatised by the whole ordeal. I must also wish Zahira well as she is still having good days and bad days..I do hope she continues to gain her strength.

Now, we have been out with the camera, I think it was time to take some more pictures of the rest of the bunch.... I think that we need to even up the photo shoot a little so here are a couple of pictures of the boys round here !

I have been busy with my spinning wheel, I thought I'd do a little spinning on Saturday as I was a little under the weather. I decided to spin up a blend of Zaninni and Zeuss. It was a real pleasure to work with, it spun up like a dream... I might even take some pictures later after I have washed it....

Monday 8 June 2009

'Peek a Boo' ......Nothing better to Do !

Zanubis, Aymara with grass & Pacosha
What are we waiting for !........the first up is definitely for a personality transplant !!

This is not my 'mum' !


Here is the most recent picture of Zanubis......and the rest of the Zanzibah bunch, enjoying the sun.

As you can see, he can't. This is after a little trim a couple of months ago. I thought I'd give him a hair cut around his eyes, so he could see where he was going !

If you hadn't guessed we are waiting patiently for the shearer to come and turn these fluffy bundles into sleek streamline alpacas.

I must admit I do like to see them fully fleeced and it takes a little getting used to after the shearing has taken place.

I am very curious as to whether Zanubis will stay a Rose Grey after he has been sheared, or if he will change to a Grey.......time will tell, how his fleece grows back. He is definitely a darker grey into his coat it will be interesting.

There is another special 'Z' on the scene, Barnacre alpacas has named their little white female, Zahirah, it must be catching !! I might have started something.... so she is very special indeed, with a beautiful name like that.. I know you'll take great care of her. Nice to hear that she is doing so well, after her early arrival into this world.

All things going to plan we do not expect to have any new arrivals until mid August at the earliest, however you never know what the future holds.

Saturday 6 June 2009

Zaninni Up date and the 'Hair Bears'

Zaninni after his ordeal !

'Socks'.......by the Pool !


Wondering what to do !

Just a quick up date regarding Zaninni, he is still recovering after his injury. Although things appear to be healing well, but it will take time, there is still a lot of swelling.

We still have him on anti-inflammatory's and he is a lot happier with himself.

We are still fully fleeced up here in Scotland, awaiting the shearer to come and visit us, so here are a few photos just to remind all you out there what a 'hairy alpaca' looks like, for all those sleek sheared ones !!
However owing to the change in the weather, I think that the fleece is quite handy on those colder nights.
We did have a lovely hot weekend last week, so I decided to put the paddling pools out for the alpacas, now last year you could not keep them out, however this year I think that they had forgotten what to do with them, as you will see with the pictures, not quite got the hang of it.

Never mind it managed to entertain them for a while !!

Monday 1 June 2009

WARNING....for the males out there....this one will make your eyes water !!


On Friday all appeared well with my boys, nothing unusual through-out the day. On Friday night about 8.30pm I went to do my nigh time check and evening feeds.

As I watched the boys at the feed troughs, I was standing behind Zaninni, he is my 'boy' the first baby born here at Zanzibah Alpacas.....he's a real sweetie, I must confess to having a Big soft spot for him !!....on close inspection I was horrified to notice him swish his tail, to my horror I was not pleased at what I saw...... he obviously had been in combat with one of my other males, I don;t know which one but I have my suspicions....I could clearly see that his left testicle was 'hanging outside the sack', I told you it would make your eyes water !! it made me cringe and I'm a GIRL !!.....

We quickly sprung into emergency mode, the vets were called and I hope things would be ok, I was hoping that the testicle could be 'put back' into its rightful place but at this point I didn't know how damaged he was or the options. Thankfully, the vets managed to replace the testicle, he was stitched and given anti-biotics, however there was a reluctantcy to give him any pain relief.....so I thought that he should be made as comfortable as possible. I spoke to Debbie of Barnacre Alpacas who kindly suggested some Finadyne Granules. Barnacre had a bit of an accident with their stud Golden Guinea who got himself beached on a fence, I was sure that Debbie would be able to advise me what pain relief Guinea was given, she did.

So a very big thank-you for pointing us in the right direction, we got some paste and I can tell that Zaninni is much more comfortable. Now come on men how many of you out there are reading this thinking that after that kind of an injury, you too would need as much pain relief as possible !

It just goes to show, you never know what you will be faced with on a daily basis, these boys have run together for over 3 years with no problem. Trust this to happen, when we have the alpacas sheared, we always have the fighting teeth removed for safety.

Needless to say Zaninni has been moved into the weaning paddock to recuperate with his younger friends, I hope that he will make a full recovery however time will tell....just for you who are wondering.........yes he is still wearing his hat !!!!......and no he wasn't wearing at the time ! of the assault !!