Sleeping Beauty !

 

 

What a difference a day makes ... little Zaroo is now dried out fully and yesterday he spent the day out enjoying the sun.  Today however is is pouring with rain and all the alpacas are inside, one good thing is the pond is filling up with all this rain.

 

Zaroo out yesterday, he is a beautiful apricot colour, I have had a little look inside his fleece and it is really golden in colour.

 

 

 

Little Zaroo has the most whiskers on his nose I have ever seen on a baby, after having a close inspection of Stravinsky he has the same whiskers ....obviously this little fella takes after his daddy. 

 

Less than 24hrs old and he is already strutting his stuff, he is 6 days younger than Zambo but he is much bigger, but not as mischievous.

 

Spot those whiskers ....

 

 

Zanzibah Zaroo .... has arrived !!

 

 

It has been an exciting morning ....we have a new baby, the very first cria from Wellground Stravinsky.  I have been waiting for this to one to arrive.  We have an absolutely gorgeous light fawn boy .... I have named him Zaroo.  This name comes from a Spartan War Cry ...'Aroo' with a hint of 'Z'.

 

 

Zaroo is only minutes old and hasn't even dried out yet, he has a fantastic bright fleece already and little 'cats whiskers' .....on his nose.

 

I had to help rearrange the legs as they were crossed and this makes the birthing more difficult.  He was born quite quickly at 10.10am.  I am yet to weigh him but he looks a fine healthy cria.

 

I have been keeping a very close eye on him this morning and he was up and about quite quickly but he was failing to feed, as the sun got hotter I noticed he was becoming more listless....so I have brought them back into the barn out of the sun and flies.  As I carried him in, I noticed he had a small umbilical bleed, this has been tied off and has now stopped.  Once inside I give him some lamb 'Quickstart' to boost him and give him some extra needed strength.

 

 

I have since seen him feeding and he is doing ok, but it just goes to show, you can't be too complacent, left without intervention, I fear he might have just gone down hill rapidly in this heat. I think I like my babies born into cooler weather, no flies and no overheating !!  At the moment mother and baby are doing fine.

 

Us Brits are never happy ...with the weather are we ....anyway ....more photos and updates to follow.  When he dries out.

 

I shall be putting the girls and babies out later in the evening when it cools down and the flies have ....buzzed off !!

 

 

Welcome Showers !!

 

 

Little Zambo is doing just fine, he has continued to thrive since the day he was born.  I do like it when the new babies have a strong will to live and are up and active, its a bit of a relief.  It makes life a little easier and hopefully he will continue to do well, he is now 4 days old and he has started to run and play which is lovely to see.

 

We have had some heavy showers here today, which is a welcome change from all this hot weather....the pond has started to slowly fill up, I can't wait for it to be full ...funny how when the weather is cold and rainy all you want is sunny days then we get an actual summer and all you want is rain ....and some cooler days to have a rest from the heat and all the flies !!!

 

 

This is our way of cooling off in the heat ... we have sprinklers !!!  The boys just love to stand in range, mind you Zelqui is sitting right in the middle and gets a real good soaking. 

 

The view from the pond back up to the house ... you can see the pipe which feeds the water into the pond, it is happily running throughout this hot dry spell, so there shouldn't be any problems when the weather turns back to normal !  I have always wanted this pond here and did a spot of water divining to trace this pipe back from the burn which runs along one side of my boundary ....I have been watching the water running through the pipe and it hasn't altered at all since the long dry weather .... which is a relief ...I'm sure in the winter this pipe will be gushing, but by then ...it will be at the bottom of the pond.  We have an overflow pipe on the opposite side of the pond, so hopefully once the pond reaches a certain depth, it will discharge back into the burn.

 

I am still waiting for Holly to have her cria ...she is hanging on, I thought she would have her baby before Dusty ...but what do I know.

 

Wishful thinking .... I'm guessing (hoping) its a little Fawn Girl ...worth the wait ..as this will be Wellground Stravinsky's very first cria ....he has some fantastic genetics including Silverstream Czar of Anzac on his Sire's side and Wellground Ruffo's Reflection on his Dams pedigree.

 

I guess you can't rush royalty ..... so I shall just have to wait and see ... what we get ....

 

The more I watch ... it seems the less is happening ....you can bet your boots....I'll miss it !!

 

Zanzibah Zambo ..... has arrived !

 

 

We have a baby !!  Meet Zanzibah Zambo .... he was born very quickly this afternoon, I had only checked a matter of minutes and nothing was happening.  Until my mam spotted that there was a cria out in the field.  I rushed up to find that this little fella was up and already looking to feed.

 

This is Dusty's new baby .... he is jet black.... definitely not Grey !! He looks so much like his dad, he is feeding well and was suckling within 10 mins of being born.

 

 

It was so hot this afternoon, I decided to put the girls and the new arrival inside the barn for shelter until early evening when they were turned out for a few hours grazing.  They are all tucked up inside once again until this little boy is a few more days old.

 

 

Little Zambo ... he is a real character already, just like his dad... Holly is next she is due anytime now, infact I wouldn't be surprised if she has her baby tomorrow. 

 

The maternity suite is officially open .......... here in Zanzibah Land !!

 

 

Out Gallivanting and Look what Turns up !!

 

 

On Wednesday afternoon my mam and I decided to pop put for a visit to see Mabel at Highland Alpacas, as nothing was happening with the hay making and we thought we would have a surprise outing, to see her and the two new babies. 

 

We were out and look what turns up ... I had been expecting the digger arriving sometime soon but just not that afternoon.  When we got home, I could tell that something very big had been up the track as it was flattened either side .... I had a good idea what had turned up.  Some people may remember that the pond was started last year but due to one thing and another...it never got finished.

 

 

The big digger has been here for a day and a half and has already done most of the work, its amazing just how much was done on the first day..... I have always wanted a big pond, its been a bit of an ambition of mine and its finally coming together..... the main request was make it as big as you can ...and its just great to see how big it is, infact I didn't think I could get it as big but I was hoping for a pond about an acre in size.

 

This is the view after the first day with the digger working.  Its hard to see the size of the pond on the photos ....whilst the pond was being dug I was busy turning and rowing up the hay.  The weather has been so hot and the field is now all baled up, its a big relief to have the field finished.... I was busy all afternoon preparing the field before the baler arrived.

 

This is one of the lovely new arrivals at Highland Alpacas... we have no babies here yet. We had a lovely afternoon gallivanting oblivious to what was going on .....

 

Beautiful new baby with a very proud mum ...she is watching us and keeping her baby safe from those onlookers...what a real sweetie.

 

 

Finally ........ me in the pond ... next time I be needing a snorkel .... it will be about 10ft deep in places,  just the right size ... the island is about 100ft x 20ft as I have walked it tonight.... the pond is very slowly filling up, which is good as we have had such a dry spell of weather.....so when the rain comes it will hopefully start to fill over a matter of time....

 

Once the water is settled and the pond begins to mature ..... I think it will be a lovely place for wildlife, my little dream is to try and have some Swans adopt the pond for their home .... I guess time will tell,  I have a funny feeling that there might be a few fish in here also one day !!

 

Super Large Delivery !!

 

 

 Its all happening up here ..... we've been busy last week, why does every thing happen all at the same time.  Last Sunday we were busy taking delivery of a rather large item !! It was so large we only had an inch or two to spare !!  But where there is a will .... there is a way and we managed.

 

Plenty of room I reckon, I was guiding not driving, mind you I did do  spot of escort duty at the front of the convoy !!  on route back home.

 

This was the start of the moving saga ..... my Dad had the caravan hitched up on his car to move it into place ready for  loading on the trailer. We were on about 3hrs to get it all up and secure then we were off to bring the caravan back to its new home !

 

All loaded up and ready to go.  Then the fun started all again back home to get it off.

 

Now sited on the farm, I have sited this near to the pond area....so you will be able to overlook the pond and watch the wildlife.  The caravan is nestled down near the bottom of the wood.  There is news on the pond being finished soon, so I'm hoping when it is all done this will be a lovely place to spend some time.  After all the jobs are done mind !!!!

 

The weather is fantastic at the moment, my beautiful climbing rose has burst into bloom it is covered by  a huge display of scented roses, this is the best that it has ever been. You can see some of the logstore, packed up with logs for the winter....but for now its time to enjoy some sunshine.

The boys are spending most of the day sunbathing and sleeping, this can't be said for the humans unfortunately ......

 

as guess what I'm doing ! .....a spot of haymaking !  The haylage will be made later on.

 

The rose ...... is blooming much like the girls, we are nearing the last week of two girls.  These are the first to birth, both are huge and it could be any day now .....one girl Holly, is mated to Wellground Stravinsky, so this will be a very exciting first arrival and the other girl is my grey Dusty its always a mixture of worry and excitement ... just wish it was over with then I can relax a bit .... till the next one !!