A Lighter shade of Grey !!

 

 

The trouble with these Elite white alpacas ..... they like to blend in with the other boys in the group.  This is Stravinsky doing his very best at trying to blend in with the greys boys...

 

This is another attempt to try and be as dirty as possible ..... this is Duke.

 

Here we have some proper greys ..... looking remarkably clean !  Zeto and Zanubis.

 

Zirrius ... looking rather clean with his lovely fawn fleece, he is far too nice to get down 'n' dirty.

 

Mr nosey himself .... Duke coming for a closer inspection.  Its freezing here tonight, all the alpacas are in, tucked up nice and snug.  We are looking forward to seeing the boys looking sparkling and clean, sometime soon.

 

More Snow ..... we are Snoozing !

 

 

We have another dump of snow today and we are all in the same frame of mind ... this is Niggy ... he is hiding and refuses to wake up ....I think he has the right idea considering the weather. 

 

The girls are running into bed ... no one wants to be out in this weather.  Who can blame them!

 

Even Slinky has taken to her bed and is tucked up nice and cosy ...

 

There are two out ... Thomas & Taco are waiting for their haylage.

 

A snowy Scotland once again, the snow is here however its supposed to go as quick as it came.  This is the view from the wood down to the farm.  I have filled all the bird feeders and put the peanuts out, as I feed a Red Squirrel and a Wood Pecker up the wood and its at times like this, they need a helping hand.

 

I have had some nice news tonight .. my parents are hoping to come up at the weekend.  I think my dad has a burning desire to have a nice mobile home sited on the new gravelled area ....any excuse to get a bit of man-space !!

 

 

Blizzards & Bales !!

 

 

What a day ... we have been blasted with blizzards and the weather forecast is due to deteriorate tonight.  I have had a busy day today.  As the rest of the weeks weather is due to be even worse, I needed to sort out the haylage for the alpacas.  They all have access to a large round bale inside the barns and this needed to be replaced.

 

 

I also needed to move another four into the lean-to wooden barn, this is used to feed the horses.  It makes life much easier especially when the weather is bad.  This is a new bale just about to go into the barn for the girls, it is still wrapped.

This is the same bale, now opened and ready to be put in the hay-ring.  This was a brief rest bite from the gales and the snow storms.  The sun is out for a brief moment... but not for long.

 

The big boys have been blasted by a blizzard, you can clearly see the snow covering on their fleece.

 

I need to use both tractors to do this job, as the big one is too big to get the bale inside the boys barn, so the little one is required... the bale is huge on little Ruby ... she does a good job, it might be a brief job, but its a good job to get the bales placed.... the boys bale usually lasts about a month.

 

 

The alpacas have been turfed out, so that I could get the jobs done. Tonight we are all sorted and have battened down the hatches.  Its blowing a gale outside and the snow showers have continued.  I have a nice roaring fire on and I'm having a rest !

 

Now, yesterday I took the dogs for a walk round the wood, I spied upon a fox, he was siting waiting for something.....the wind was blowing and it didn't know I was there...until the dogs gave the game away that is ...I managed to get a quick photo, then he was off.  The dogs were trying to work out how to cross the burn .... as he was on my neighbours land.

 

Today's view across the garden .. back to winter !

 

We have had a busy day ..... but tonight we are all snug inside .... but outside .. its a White-out !!

 

 

We have Wind !!

We are being battered by the wind here, most of the snow has now melted. which is good.  This is a view up to the farm last week.  The winds are estimated at 60/80 mph and don't we know it.  I have locked up all the barns and the alpacas have spent today inside as it was just far to dangerous to try and open the doors today to let them out !  I'm sure they don't mind as its quite cosy,it has given me a chance to catch up with the worming for the whole herd.  At this time of year we use Combinex, which covers both regular worms and Fluke.

I couldn't resist this photo.... if you have an itch ... well you just gota scratch it !  Norka out on his walk the other week.  He stopped in mid trot sat down and had a good old scratch !!

This is Zakhura and her cria Zazu last week going out.  He is a lovely colour just like his dad.  Zazu is the first male cria to be born here sired by Zanubis.

Zimushka (f) and Zanto (r), these two are brother and sister, if you hadn't guessed .......we have three just like this ..... Zeto he is the oldest of my home bred greys born here.  It will be very interesting to see if this year .... we get a fourth one just like it. 

This is Zirdar, he is half brother to Zirrius ..... can you spot the similarities !!  Marquette is behind, he baby Zodo is nowhere to be seen.

I am little late at weaning this year, mainly to do with the weather, I'm hoping in a week or so I will sort out the arrangements .....I'm hoping to give the little paddock a bit of time to dry out, before I turn the babies in there.  As its just far too wet at the moment after all the snow.

Seven Year Itch !!

It is hard to believe that we are approaching 7 years since we first set out on our alpaca adventure.  Lots have happened since then and I think its fare to say that we have grown a bit.  This is a photo of the girls two days ago tucking into their new bale of haylage....whilst the snow fell. I decided to put a bale out in the paddocks for everyone as the snow looked like is was going to be here for a while !  Even though all the alpacas come in every night to more haylage inside.

The boys on the same day also tucking into their haylage..... we have had more snow and we are forecast to have more on 

Friday night.

Duke, Stravinsky and Zeto waiting to come in for bedtime.  The boys all line up at the gate around dusk.  

This is a view from the younger boys paddock .... remember me .....cutie pants Zirrius he is a really gorgeous boy and has stayed very friendly indeed.  Zirrius will be two years old this year, but he is still as delicious as he was when he was a baby !  Rufus, Max and Hamish are also enjoying the new bale.  

Guess who ........ has snow on his nose .... Norka.  A quick photo when we were out for a walk before my mam and dad went home at the weekend.

The piggies having a little winter walk around the wood ..... I'm sure they think that they are dogs !!

Melancholy Moments ....

We have been a little quiet and lacking in motivation lately, however I have forced myself to write a blog.  I have been in quite melancholy place for sometime and I feared that if I left it any longer ... I just might not get back into the swing of it. 

They say that time is a great healer and I know this .... however it also takes time to come to terms with the trials and tribulations that life has to throw at you.  Acceptance is also something that takes time you can't rush these things.

We had quite a sad Christmas time here again,  which has been the reason for not having the desire to write any blogs.  

Many regular readers will know that we have been trying to treat Zirrianna, as she had developed a very nasty skin problem, we had been treating this for most of last year.  Unfortunately, things didn't improve and she became quite ill a couple of days before Christmas.  I was left with no real option as she was obviously not going to recover.  Ironically her face was improving but other problems must have been underlying. This was my very last resort and after a very long battle, we failed to get a happy ending .... I had to make the hardest decision, the one you never want to ..... but know you have to ! 

Sadly Zirrianna was put to sleep, she was just a baby .... only a year and a half old.  This was not the way I thought it would be.  She will never be forgotten and will hold a special place in my heart..

We have been coming to terms with our ordeal.  I have often asked myself the biggest question of all .....'Why'

Its at times like this that you feel like just throwing the towel in, then you take a look around at all your lovely animals .. who put a smile on your face and the question is answered.  I know that lots of people go through the same dilemma.  It never gets any easier.   

We are looking forward to a happier new year .... we will battle on and continue to get pleasure from the happy times and maybe in time we can look back and learn from this.  

The only consolation is .... we tried our best, but sometimes even your best .... just isn't good enough.

We are currently under a blanket of snow here and more is forecast for tomorrow .... the waters are frozen and its definitely wintry, the alpacas are enjoying their haylage and the rest from the mud.

Some of the White Stuff !

 

 

Zoretah out in the snow a couple of days ago !  Winter is upon us here ... we are all keeping warm, the snow makes a pleasant change from the mud !!

 

I have been having problems with my computer trying to upload some photos for the blog.  This has take me hours to get these on.

 

We have a couple of inches of snow here at the moment ......there is always one who spoils the photo !  Norka is 'piggy in the middle' at least he managed a smile for the camera !!

 

I spent Sunday afternoon moving haylage up for the cows, incase of bad weather.  Just in time by the looks of things. 

 

I have managed to take these photos on my phone, the other day when I was out for a walk.  I shall try and get some more photos of the others another day.  We are ticking along here, just taking each day as it comes. The girls and babies enjoying their afternoon out.