Not long Now !!

              Well its not long now  till the big shear !

We all have been feeling the heat .... but true to form as the shearing approaches the temperature falls ... it has already started to get much cooler.

Zullulah with her full fleece, she will look much different on Thursday.

Zoretah has managed to collect a nice stash of straw in her fleece...the babies do like to make a mess !

 Marquette and Zirrianna having an afternoon snooze

Thursday is the big day for us here at Zanzibah Land .... we are all booked in to the hairdressers early morning.  I have 32 alpacas waiting for a designer new look, which will mean I will have lots of bags of fleece once again to ponder over.

I have just managed to sort out what I was doing with my last batch, infact I had a lovely phone call yesterday from The Border Mill.  My fleece is due to be balled up and will be back with us maybe as early as next week........how exciting is that.....I have also had confirmation, that all that pondering was worth while, it is always nice to have a completely different opinion, especially a professional one !  Looks like my colour matches and choice was a good one, as I was complimented by them on '....how lovely the colour choices of the yarn was !!   I am really excited for this special delivery, no doubt I shall share the excitement with you all soon.

This is a first for me as I usually just hand spin my yarns.  But this year I have managed to branch out and I hopefully will be able to offer more choices for either sales or just using a different quality and texture of yarns for my ever expanding knitwear collection.

No doubt next time we will be posting we will be looking much sleeker and cooler.

Feeling the Heat !

 Duke ..... 

 Zimushka ....

 Stravinsky ....

Sparky ....

 Niggy, Noggy & Norka

The girls ...

We are all feeling the heat !

Since my last blog...the weather has taken a turn for the better, which makes a change !

However, with the heat also comes another problem..we are all too hot !  The alpacas are due to be sheared next week so you can guarantee that when they do the weather will go back to winter.  Its Sods Law ..... isn't it.

Meanwhile we just have to grin and bear it.  I have today spent some time flooding the fields for the alpacas, they just love a sit on the wet ground.... and it helps to cool them down. 

As the weather is so nice every one is turned out, which helps make my life a little easier, I am having a bit of a rest from the every day jobs at the moment.  I think that next week will be a busy one with having the alpacas sheared, Norris is also booked in to the hairdressers for next week and we will be also doing our annual injections and worming.

There is less than a month till we hit the birthing window...one of the girls is due around the 2nd June, she is the first and then the other girls are due second week in July.

The pond has taken a back seat at the moment and no doubt will resume when the digger is available to continue.  The chicks are doing well and are now just over 2 weeks old, they have grown so much.

We are just ticking along, here at the moment... its a bit of a quiet time here.

Trying to enjoy the rest. 

Struggling with the heat !  You just can't win can you !!

And so to Bed!!

 

I thought you might like to see the bed time routine, here at Zanzibah Land !

This is the evening routine every night as the alpacas are usually ready to come in for bed.  On a similar note ....here is a bedtime photo of the piggies tonight as the drift off to the land of nod !

Today I was siting in the conservatory minding my own business....and look what came into the garden...unfortunately the picture quality is not very good as it was just taken by my camera..but I think you can see....that its a Red Squirrel...!!
I have tonight put some fat balls up the wood, as I don't like encouraging them into the garden as the cats are on patrol near the house....thankfully at the time Pocus was sleeping in the conservatory with me....so the cat door was quickly locked....just to be on the safe side...

I watched the squirrel run all the way back up to the wood ....so hopefully it might stay there instead of coming down to the garden...The Red Squirrel is really quite rare and we need to look after these little creatures and give them a helping hand ......but I do wish that it would just stay in the wood....I will happily provide meal service....from a distance !

The young boys tonight.....watching us all crossing the field ...  heading back home for bed !!

Piggy in the Middle !

 Norka the porka  ...... enjoying a sunbathe after his walk today !

 Dash for home .... after their walk around the wood !

 Duke coming to see me ..... with the boys today

 The view to the little boys .... from the seat in the wood

Zerquo and the big boys ... grazing whilst the sun is shining !


Today for a brief moment the sun was out and as usual we all went for a walk round the wood.  The piggies are growing fast and take the dog walk into another dimension !

I have taken these photos today on my phone, the alpacas are all well fleeced at the moment, but not for much longer, as we are due to sheer in a couple of weeks. I do hope the weather improves soon.

I'm hoping to get a new camera soon, as the old one broke a few months ago....it will mean I can take some better quality photo's for the blog.

The piggies are always in a rush to get back home and there is a race up the track back to bed, which is really funny as they all race at top speed !! 

We have been asked to attend a charity event in June which should be nice, I shall be taking some of the alpacas and the Kune Kunies !!  I'm hoping the weather will be on its best behaviour for the day.

My parents are coming up to help with the day out, I think it will be a nice opportunity to show case the alpacas, piggies and a selection of my Dad's hand crafted Walking Sticks.  I was hoping that the alpacas would still be fully fleeced, but it is looking like we will be all sheared by then.  I shall have to take the fleeces with us, in a basket ....I don't think people realise just how wonderful their fleece really is !!  unless you have managed to experience the 'feel' of the fibre !!

I have also managed to sort my fleece out,  and send some off for processing into yarn.  I am quite excited to see the finished result as this will be the first time I have managed to send a selection off for spinning. 

The long term goal is to have a variety of yarns, raw fleece and quality hand crafted knit ware from 'House of Lady Zanzibah Fashions' for sale,  ......... this is the long term plan and Rome wasn't built in a day !  We are getting there.....

I still hold a vision .... it is starting to take shape..... mind you it has been a bit blurry on occasions !

Storm Clouds are Gathering !

We have had a sunny day here today, which makes a pleasant change.

However tonight the storm clouds are gathering, we are forecast strong winds and more rain....this has got to be the most miserable May I can remember....for several reasons....I feel like there is a large storm cloud hovering over me !

I have some nice news, I have managed to hatch some chicks from Big Bertha and my Black Orpington cockerel, we have managed to get 4.  Today I moved them into a larger area where they can run around, the broody that has hatched them is not their real mother, however she is a lovely Orpington Buff hen.

Tonight I took the piggies for a walk, this is now a regular feature and we usually end up going round the bottom of the woodland that was planted.  The wood is now 6 years old and is starting to leaf up after the cold start ....its lovely to see it starting to take shape.

All the alpacas are tucked up for bed as the weather is due to take a turn for the worse overnight....this looks like the first time I have not managed to turn them out before shearing....at this rate, they will be coming in for bed through out May....if the weather does not get a grip !!

Back from the Wilderness .....

I am back ........from the wilderness !

Unfortunately, I have had various problems with my computer, which have now been resolved with a shiny new one, so I have my finger on the pulse....so to speak !

I have also been under the weather over the past few weeks hence the silence here at Zanzibah Land.
I have been taking things easy lately.

The good news is..... the Swallows have returned last week, so Spring is definitely on the way, mind you someone needs to tell the weather that.  We have had snow here in May and we are forecast more of the same for Thursday !

The pond work has stopped, firstly due to the burst pipe then the rains came, and it poured for days on end....and it has take this long for the land to start to dry out.
All the animals are well here and the alpacas are fully fleeced.  We are due to shear at the end of May all being well. 

I am hoping to get some photos loaded up on the new computer, for the next blog...so I must apologise for the lack of pictures on this one... this is just a quick update to remind you that .......we are still here !!