Aplogies once again for neglecting the drivel. I have been busy, not quite sure what with but spare time for blogging has been a bit sparse over the past few days.
We have been sorting and bagging fleeces since shearing and we have more than enough to make several pairs of nice fluffy underpants for next winter. Unfortunately the mini-mill where we normally take our fleece has a 9 month waiting list! What is that all about? We have over 20kilos of good fleece but in four different colours so most mills can't take it. Meanies.
Anyway if anyone out there knows of somewhere that can process the mighty Patou's fluffy stuff please let me know.
Today I have been doing routine jobs, picking up feed, collecting some rather nice hay and wandering about admiring the herd as they bask in the lovely sunshine we are having at the moment. The forecast for the next 5 days is absolutely spiffing with temeratures rising into the 20's and plenty of sunshine promised.
This weekend marks the start of our mating season. The big man himself Lillyfield Jack of Spades of Inca is coming for a few days and will hopefully fire our own Columbus into action. All very exciting, I can't wait to get started!
On an alpaca sales note, we seem to be bucking the general national malaise and thriftiness with the best start to a year so far. We have three girls leaving tomorrow and a deposit on two other girls pending matings etc. If this carries on we will run out of 'for sale' girls before summer gets going! Perhaps it will all stop and that will be that, who knows?
We had the vet out yesterday for a final (hopefully) check on Lily. Lily has put on stacks of weight and is now in ideal condition. She looks fab. In fact hang on a minute I'm going to nip out and grab a photo.
There's my girl, I think you will agree that she does not look like a poorly alpaca. She is gorgeous.
Couldn't resist taking a picture of our dear old Priscilla, one of our foundation females. She is, as you can see, either a big real ale drinker or nearly 10 months pregnant. She has a lovely round tummy which is clearly visible now that she is fleeceless. The two alpacas behind her, Ruby and Joy, have just been taken out by the resident sniper, old sunface. We lose quite a lot to old sunface.
Priscilla is carrying an important cargo. She is pregnant to the aforementioned Jack of Spades. The arrival of the cria, which I have decided is going to be girl, is eagerly anticipated (aren't they all) as it will be the second Jack cria to be born anywhere in the whole wide world. I haven't mentioned this to Priscilla as the pressure would upset her.
Anyway that's the news from Patouland.
3 comments:
Finding mills seem to be an ongoing problem. We have a mill in the south of Norway, which we blogged about earlier this year, and they have agreed to separate each alpaca's fiber. This is great for us, but it's obvious they would prefer to work on larger quantities at the same time and not split up.
Nice to see Lily is doing well, the girls look blooming.....bet you can't wait for the arrivals....Jayne
Just like Ralph I can recommend another mill Echo Beach mini mill in Mount Barker they do the most wonderful job. Just not very local to you!
Nice to see that Lily is doing so well and I am sure those girls taken out by the snipper will make a full recovery later in the day!
Sounds like you need to keep Priscilla's precious cargo under raps for a bit longer. Promise I won't tell her!
Sarah and Perry
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