Digging Around with Daisy !

Today curiosity got the better of me, so I decided to have a go with Daisy !!...I've driven her around, she has had a coat of paint to brighten her up.

I have painted a couple of Daisies on her....and the paint was dry, so I decided to give it a go.

I decided to level out some soil/grass that had been scraped off the middle of our track leading to the farm.

After a little while....!!....we managed to do a 'canny' job, to say that I'm a complete novice with the back actor !!....I was quite pleased with the results, beats doing it with the spade !!...

So me and Daisy are getting acquainted with each other,.......I can feel a pond coming on.....sometime soon, or maybe a number of ponds !!....I might get carried away, with myself !!..who knows....watch this space !!

Look at me Now !!.......Growing Up !!

I was looking at the photos of last years babies, I couldn't believe how you forget how they grow.

Its hard to believe that in just a matter of months, how they grow and change before your very eyes.

So I decided to put these pictures on the blog, just to remind us, how very much they grow, you often don't notice the changes until you compare the photos.

So, Zakhura is now 5 months old, Black Female and Zanubis is now 7 months old, Rose Grey Male.

We are looking forward to this years babies, all being well. Although, not due until September, so we have a bit of a wait.

Furry....Sea Horses !!

We had some 'Fury Sea Horses' in the field today, just as the rain showers came, the alpacas turn into what I think look like 'sea horses'...I think its just the way they sit, with their long necks.

So, most, but not all 'sit' it out until the rain passes.

Although others just carry on grazing, too busy to stop and notice the rain.

On the Mend......Hopefully !

Just a quick update regarding Zonda...we were at the vets on Saturday, for the remaining stitches to be taken out. So as we speak Zonda is stitch free !!....We have had several trips to the Vets.

Zonda is still on anti-biotics and has a few more to take, just to be on the safe side, regarding her slow, but hopefully continued recovery from her operation.

This has been quite an ordeal for all of us, especially Zonda, the vets were very concerned about just how ill she has been and the added complications of blood poisoning, due to the build up of toxins in her system, hence the extended cover of anti-biotics.

Zonda is gradually eating, more each day and we have quite a mission to get her back up to weight. As she lost quite alot of condition due to her illness.

However, we have our fingers crossed that she is now on the mend, we will be back to the vets in early March, for a weigh-in !

Lazy Days !!

Meet Dougal,

He has a really hard life......sleeping in the field, why is it that, it appears that the humans do all the work round here !!

Snow Go.......Mud Fever !!!!!

Well,

Its official we have exchanged the snow for Mud....fever !!...sloshing around in the mud, the alpacas do not like the mud...either !!

Apparently, we are forecast more snow for the weekend...who knows. I am waiting for the spring, the snow drops are here and its just a matter of time for the golden Daffodils to appear.

Daisy has had her first lifting job, she did very well, 40 bags of alpaca feed arrived on Tuesday....so we went to the rescue to lift it off the lorry, as it cannot get down our track.

So our alpaca cupboards are stocked for a few months and our friends Coire Alpacas have more alpaca feed for the coming months, its always nice to have lots of feed in, just in case. You cannot buy it from the local Agri shops up here, so we bulk buy direct from the manufacturers.

I saw a Red Squirrel yesterday, up the wood, I feed the birds and the squirrels on the edge of the wood, Im always pleased to see the birds, we have lots of them, I like to help feed them all through the winter months.

If I remember to take my camera I will try and get a photo. I used to have a red squirrel come into the garden last winter, but I was concerned that the cats would catch it, so I decided to put the peanuts up on the edge of the wood. To stop it coming down into the garden. Why is it that the cats seem to always catch the wrong things, although Slinky, one of my farm cats is a brilliant hunter, she is regularly on night patrol, in the barns.

Meet 'Daisy'.....the Digger !

This is a none alpaca posting !!.....Meet 'Daisy'....the Digger. She has been named by me, this is the latest addition to the place. We have lots of jobs for her to do !.....digging ditches, mucking out the sheds, and of course, the most important job.......making ponds !....I have always wanted a pond, not a small garden pond either, and its a big job with a shovel, so hopefully 'Daisy' will do the hard work !...I've already had a go, I had to drive her back from being delivered, the roads were so bad, the lorry couldn't get up to us, so she was dropped off about 2 miles away !.....and I had to drive her home !....it was interesting to say the least, I enjoyed it, every mans worst night mare !!...a female at the controls of a Digger !....I even managed to frighten another male road user, who had managed to meet me on the way back home with the Digger, he dived off the road with his brand new Discovery Land Rover......little did he know, I had never drove the Digger before, I'm sure he would have been to take away at the thought of it !!!..but we got back home safe and sound....so keep an eye on the blog, for the latest jobs, I mentioned to Perry, that I would love a pond.....its now just a matter of where, although I have my spot !....its just a matter of time !.. I know shes not new, but she is actually 3 years younger than me !....I wonder who looks the best for her years !!! 40 something !!!

I've got a little job lined up on Tuesday, when 40 bags of Alpaca feed arrives !!

We Do Not Like the Snow !!

Well it has been confirmed by more than us, its official, the alpacas do not like the snow....my lot have been tip-toeing around...looking more like 'Tod Carty' skating on ice !!....where have those graceful paces gone....there more like aliens on the white stuff.

If I knew how I could post a little video clip to prove it, but sadly I can't I don't have the computer skill...haven't had the course...so its down to your imagination I'm afraid.

The boys have been fixed to the hay ring in the field...once they have made their way over, you would think that they have been stranded...and can't move.

The girls have huddled around the hay net tied on the gate, similarly they have not ventured far at all.

The babies are light enough to tip-toe on top of the snow, however the adults sometimes manage it, but sometimes step through the snow, there not happy with all this white stuff....

Any one for Snow Balls ?

On a lighter note, on Thursday when Zonda was at the vets we went for a walk, to have a ponder and to try and take my mind off her operation.

Needless to say we had lots of snow,.....so it begs the question, any one for snow balls ?.....Meet Diesel, he is the little grumpy one of the household...apart from me ! of course.

We share the role...but he did put a smile on my face and he managed to take my mind off what was happening at the vets.

Snow, Snow and more Snow !!

Over the course of last week we have had snow.......and more snow....so on a lighter note.

After our traumatic week, here are a few nice snowy pictures.

Taken last week, just before our little emergency !

Just what you don't need in an Emergency !!

This is the type of weather you could do without in an emergency...if we did not have the tractor, the little 4 x 4, we would have been completely stuck !

But thankfully, we were not....the Suzuki came to our rescue and did the business to get Zonda to the vets, more than once on the 'hurry up'.

The tractor, with a home made snow plough !....well ok its a bit of telegraph pole tied onto the tractor, but it works just fine, to help clear the track, as some know who has visited us, we live about 1/2 mile up a stone track.

When we get blocked in, we usually get the snow blowing across the fields and you're going no where.....fast.

We usually get blocked in every year usually for a couple of days at least. If you can't get down the track, you can't get up the hill at the end of the track, so you are stuck...but thankfully we got out...we needed to.

We had considered going to the vets with the tractor if we had to, but it would have been a slow journey, about 8 miles away !

Convalescing...after a Traumatic Week !

The blog has been a little silent last week as we had a little emergency to say the least, my last post was about my Dogue de Bordeaux...Zonda...who was, we thought off colour, off her food and has had a horrible look about her for about 7 days....she has just had a horrible week .....!

Thankfully I decided that if she had not picked up, we were going to the vets...so after our walk on Wednesday, I decided that, you know when you get that gut feeling that something horrible is happening, but you don't always know what the problem is. We were very worried, but just couldn't put your finger on the reason.

So we went to the vets on Wednesday night, Zonda by this time had a awful look about her, I asked the vets to check her bloods and this was done asap.

The results came back, very poor, she had a raging infection, double the normal white blood cells and her HMG was also double....the vets were really concerned about her and she had a large shot of antibiotics, she had to come back in the morning to be scanned, to check for any foreign bodies or problems with her uterus !
This was done, her temperature had came down overnight and she appeared a little happier.

However, when she was scanned it was found that she had a condition called 'closed pyometra'. This is a life threatening condition and she had to be operated on immediately, there was no option, other that to have her spayed.

Zonda is now at home after spending a night on a drip at the vets and her operation was successful, however we are not out of the woods just yet. We collected her on Friday from the vets, but by 10.30pm we were back at the vets, her wound was bleeding and appears to be still seeping. We were told to expect some drainage but, Im still very concerned, I think I will be speaking the the vets first thing Monday morning, if it is still posing a problem.

We have been very lucky with Zonda, it just goes to show you can't be too careful, especially when you just get that feeling....something is not right, we have been told by out vets that Zonda did not have long to live and she could have died through a ruptured uterus at any time !.....hopefully we have been lucky....Moral of this story....don't put off if you think something is wrong, usually you are right, as most of us know our animals !!