More alpaca mowing and one lesson learned

So far, we haven't mowed anything with our mower. Okay, maybe we did mow over a path that I'd cut with my scythe. But that was just to test the mower.

We are still trying to figure out how to create an easy to move temporary fence for the alpacas. They are pretty good at mowing and it seems a shame to waste all this food - alpaca food, that is.

Our latest attempt uses fiberglass, step-in posts and plastic snow fence.

The boys enjoying a morning munch of fresh grass.

As you can see in the photo it's a little floppy. For the most part, it worked. Until Loki discovered clover on the other side of the fence. He must have found a low spot and then reached over. And, before we knew it, his neck had pushed the fence low enough that he just hopped over. I'm still hopeful that we can use this to divide the larger pasture and rotate them onto new grass. It's pretty light and easier to move. But for areas where they could be loose, like the front yard, this won't be secure enough. :-(

So the real lesson that we learned was in regard to the chickens - and it has nothing to do with fences, really. Remember how I mentioned that Doogle (our beagle) might not be safe around chickens?

A mouthful of feathers - Doogle's mouth.

Our free-ranging chickens came up close to the house one morning. And Sunny, being a little slower than the rest, was relieved of a few beautiful tail feathers by our sweet dog.

Whew! That was close and, for me, relatively painless. Not sure how Sunny feels about it.

So, really, we learned two lessons and, luckily, neither one cost us much.

New trees, new pasture, rain and a 4-wheel drive lesson

Last weekend I was excited to bring home 3 native trees/shrubs from the Missouri Prairie Foundation annual sale at the City Market in Kansas City. The sale is continuing this coming weekend, too. But I am doing everything I can to control the urge to buy more until I've planted what I already have.

Lucky for me, I was able to pre-order my plants from Eric Lovelace at the Forrest Keeling Nursery. He had everything I was looking for. And pre-ordering meant there was very little time to shop and bring home more - at least not many more (I only bought 9 little ones). The three trees I bought were a White Fringe Tree, an American Smoke Tree and an Ozark Witch Hazel. And I got them into the truck and headed home just before the first downpour of the weekend started.

Ozark Witch Hazel waiting to be planted.

We had also made some plans to take our non-functioning riding lawn mower to a guy across town the same day. He had a working rider that could use our leaf bagger AND would give us some trade-in for our old mower. So I was anxious to get the mower in the trailer, hooked up to the truck and out of the tall grass that was rapidly enveloping it.

Unfortunately, I needed a lesson in patience (and the limits of 4-wheel drive in mud).

I got Old Blue good and stuck in the mud :-(

Needless to say, the mower didn't go anywhere. Until today, that is. The downpours ended overnight and Brent was able to get the truck unstuck on Sunday. Today (Tuesday) he was able to take the riding mower to a local small engine repair shop. With any luck, they will have the old mower working by May 1st. Meanwhile, we have a push mower, two scythes…and alpacas!

The boys got the opportunity to munch on some really luscious new pasture as the weather cleared on Sunday. Brent had the great idea to create a little temporary pasture for them (we needed to buy more wire, anyway) and use them as mowers. So we created a walk gate in the fence between the water hydrant and the west barn door for them to walk through. Just outside the gate is a dog run and also a lot of old junk (like an entire waterbed, and fence panels and car parts) left by the previous owners. I'm hoping to use the area for a chicken yard but all that junk makes it nearly impossible to mow. So we placed t-posts and attached 100' of new wire fence around the grass-covered junk. And we let the boys have the run of it!

Our alpacas checking out the fresh grass - notice Ace in the upper right getting ready to roll.

I've never seen our alpacas so obviously excited. Nor was I aware until then how much they enjoy destroying small trees. The baby elm and Bradford pear trees in their new area were no match for their antics. The boys attacked them with delight. They walked over them, chewed and chest butted them until they broke. Then they ate the leaves. The boys were also swinging their heads on their long, skinny necks through the grass, apparently, to make sure there were no animals in there. Then they would cush and roll around on their backs. Like I said, they were very animated, obviously enjoying their new spot.

Loki (the white one) pretty much engulfed in grass.
He had already rolled and is now burying his nose in the goodness of the fresh food.

By Tuesday, the junk that had been overgrown by grass was mostly exposed. By this weekend, we should be able to clean the junk out of the area and mow. Pretty impressive work by our not-so-fuzzy boys!

Shearing Day

Yesterday our fluffy tough-boys got their annual haircuts. It was shearing day.

7:30 a.m. started with careful, cautious haltering in our half-finished barn

Things progressed rapidly for our boys. They were first on the schedule at Manna Meadows, the alpaca ranch near us that hosted the event. Brent and I started early to get the boys haltered and loaded in the trailer that our friends at the host farm loaned us for the journey. We arrived at Manna Meadows by 8:30.

Shearers are NOT cautious in getting the boys onto the mats so they can do their work.

Next thing the alpacas know, they are being pulled out of the trailer, picked up and plopped down on their side to be stretched with pulleys and ropes tied to their feet. It all happens very quickly.

Me working with Brian Heimes of Manna Meadows to bag Loki's blanket
as Brian of Shear Relief does the shearing.

Two teams worked to bag the fiber. We used 3 different bags to keep the blanket, neck and "3rds" separate. It was a pretty smooth system and the shearers worked very well together, shifting seamlessly between two stations. Each alpaca was sheared in less than 10 minutes.

Here's Loki looking slim and trim after the shearing.

It's an awfully scary process for the animals (and for this alpaca "mom" who moves a lot more slowly and carefully). Similar to a semi-annual teeth-cleaning at the dentist, the quicker the better, I say, for something like this that can't be skipped. And I'm certainly glad it's done only once a year.

Here's a before and after of "Walt" that shows pretty clearly how much fiber these guys grow for protection from the elements over the season.

Walt before shearing.

Walt after shearing (with Ace looking on)

Sharon and Brian at Manna Meadows are simply awesome to host this in their facility near us and to guide us through this somewhat stressful process. At least one other alpaca owner was there with her small group. There was a lot of camaraderie and fun in the day - and pizza for lunch (my favorite food). It was hard to convince these hard-working shearers to stop. But after shearing nearly 50 alpacas and with the arrival of food, they took a break.

Taking a little lunch break before shearing the 20+ remaining alpacas.

In the end, we all made it back home safe and sound and a lot wiser to the shearing process. Some of us came home a lot thinner - and some of us full of pizza and knowledge. All of us were very tired by the end of the day.

These guy missed out on the pizza - obviously.

And now we have seven 30-gallon bags of fiber. Our next step: learn how to skirt the fiber for shipping out to the processing facility.

A little pause before the big move

Well, it looks as though we may have sold our Shawnee house, which is awesome! So within a month we will be down to one house payment :-)

It also means we have A LOT of stuff to move in a few weeks. And we have a few more things to finish up here at the farm before we can close on the mortgage here. Hmmm. Generally, we are, well, we're overwhelmed.

After visiting with the bankers about the new house, we swallowed our disappointment and hustled to finish up a couple of things quickly. And now we are waiting to hear what else they need.

We've also prepped a little for the move. Brent will be installing a floor in our attic storage space on Saturday. That will give us space for boxes that can be lifted up the stairs. And we finished up the last closet in the master bedroom.

While Brent is installing the attic floor, I will be packing boxes and clearing out our master bedroom and bathroom at the Shawnee house. Sunday, with the help of my step-dad Pete and his van, some of the furniture will move.

I think the next 3 weekends will be about the same.

Meanwhile, just to keep us smiling, I've been snapping some pictures of the silly, fuzzy boys in our backyard.

The most endearing alpaca pose (sniffing my face).
This is Mr. "T".

Loki and Tigger practicing synchronized chewing.

An alpaca argument (always over food-because there are no girls).
That is Toby on the left.

Mr "T" looking like the boss
(this is my new wallpaper on my phone)

Tigger (foreground) and Tuscany.
Tigger's dad was a mystery until now. I think Tuscany was the guy.

Especially when I found them kissing!
Just kidding. They probably accidentally bumped into each other.

Nice weather means work outside...

Finally, there were a couple of warm days over our holiday break from work. Brent took the opportunity to tackle a big job - the roof trusses for the barn. I helped a little but, mostly, Brent, Jeremy and Blaine did all the barn work.

Brent cutting off the last 6 poles.

The first truss is up!

In all, 3 of the 7 trusses were raised yesterday.

While the guys were working on the barn, I piddled around and tried to stay busy. One of the projects I landed on was making a feeder for the alpacas. Here's what I came up with:

My first try at an alpaca feeder. I only had to cut 3 boards!

My feeder was made entirely out of lumber from the construction waste. We have a lot of good lumber. The challenge was finding the right size pieces rather than cutting more up and leaving more waste.

My little project didn't make a dent in our piles of waste.
I better get started on that chicken coop!

In addition, Jeremy helped me extend the space the alpacas have available for grazing. We doubled the size of their space and they seemed ecstatic! I think it was the first time I saw them run. It was also the first time I realized how easy it is to contain them. It took several tries to convince them they could move past the old fence posts.

 At the end of the day yesterday, this is how the alpacas' enclosure looked. Their temporary roof was back in place, but you can see the beginnings of the "real" roof to come. Their feeder is in their barn and they have new grass to graze.

Lots of progress for the alpacas.

I'd say we had a productive couple of days :-)

Thankful in 2014

This year there are so many things to be thankful for that finding the "important" ones to fit into a blog post would diminish them all. So I will only take this space to discuss those in the last 2 weeks.

Brent (probably my all-time favorite person to be thankful for) has finished all of the interior plumbing (which is probably the necessity I am most thankful for). Most significantly, he completed the plumbing in the kitchen. The kitchen even has a dishwasher - just need to move one of our refrigerators in and we're set. Of course, this time of year outside is, pretty much, all the refrigerator we need.

Our kitchen sink!

Our brand new dishwasher.

I'm glad Brent could figure out this plumbing.
The black valve allows us to divert the water for irrigation use in the summer.

Those diverter valves are placed only on the kitchen sink and the master bath sinks and shower. As our summers here get pretty dry, having these valves will allow me to use this "grey" water to develop some gardens with edibles and natives that require more moisture around the east and west sides of the house.

I am also thankful for our boys. Every parent dreams of seeing their children become contributors - and when they give back to you, well, that's really special.

Blaine installing our new locks.

Logan and Jeremy painting the last bedroom.

You can see from these photos that everyone (even Skylr who isn't in the photos) has been helping.

Since Rick (our builder) is about done with the final fixes to the trim, he has also installed our front door. Previously, we only had the final sidelight installed since the "real" door is full glass and might have been broken by the construction.

Our front door. We even have a door mat :-)

Brent and I spent so many days dreaming of the view from that door - and now it's a reality. And, yes, it brings to mind how fortunate I am to experience dreams come true. And this is just one of many.

And how can I end my Thanksgiving post without acknowledging these guys? They are so obviously thankful everyday for their feed. Of course, I pretend like it's me that they are so happy to see - so I get daily gratitude and alpaca smiles.

Mr. T eating his feed. He eats with his mouth open; they all do :-)

Okay, so these are a few events from our recent weeks that I thought to record with visuals. There are so many more and I could go on and on.

In short, life is good - amazing, in fact - and I am sincerely thankful.

Alpacas are home!

How many alpacas fit in a cargo van?

Ever wonder how to move alpacas? I found an answer: in a cargo van. We moved our guys to the farm last weekend in my step-dad Pete's cargo van - all SEVEN!

All 7 of the boys are "cushing" as we drive on I-70 through Kansas City.

They were quite packed in and we lined the van floor with a drop cloth and some matts that we got from the Harrison's with the purchase of the alpacas. They had no mishaps or accidents on the 60 minute drive across town. Several times a few of them would stand up but, as soon as we hit bumps or curves they would cush again. There were a few instances of spitting (at each other) that got the windows a little dirty. And it was fun to see people behind the van pulling up close to take pictures with their phones!

My co-pilot took a selfie :-)

Jeremy and the alpacas in the van driving through the city.

A big THANK YOU goes out to Pete for loaning us the van and following us back to the farm in the truck! We couldn't have made this happen without you.

After the alpacas unloaded at the farm we had to figure out how to corral them and remove the halters. Jeremy was a big help. And I was able to use the handling techniques I learned at the Camelid Dynamics workshop I attended last Spring to get them into a small area and avoid grabbing them by the neck and wrestling the halters off. It was time-consuming but a calm procedure.

Removing the halters.

Jeremy and I spent the night at the farm to make sure our herd fared well in their new spot. We were anxious to find out if they would be comfortable with all the coyote antics that go on in the wee hours of the morning. And as the sun came up we were glad to see everyone was happy and healthy.

The alpacas' first day at their new home.

Amazingly, they slept out by the fence in the dirt (which they seem to love to roll in). They were wet with dew! Which, of course, turned to mud where they were rolling in the dirt. All dirt is apparently good in camelid personal grooming practice.

Dew-covered alpacas.

I've been encouraged to see them getting more and more comfortable. They've been exploring the barn and all the areas of their small enclosure. They love the neighbors cats and the horses that live to the north and south of us.

I'll keep you updated on their antics :-)

Alpacas are coming

Over the weekend I visited our little herd of alpacas at their current home in Blue Springs, MO. They are in the process of getting their health certificates so they can move to Happy Apple's Farm next weekend. I am so excited!

The boys look good. But we accidentally walked them all through a patch of cockleburs and I'm afraid their fiber may be ruined for another season :-(. The cockleburs mean that we may not be able to have the fiber processed anywhere. I could process it by hand, though. In fact, their current owner has given me last year's fleeces for hand processing for the same reason - cockleburs.

I didn't get any photos of them while I was there because we were busy pulling out fencing and posts to set up their new enclosure at our farm. Because they are the last of the herd at their current home, the owner is giving me all the fencing, gates, buckets and equipment that he has. I'm very happy with the deal. These boys came with a lot of equipment and that has set us up pretty well. But moving it and installing it was a lot to accomplish over the weekend.

Here's how their new pasture looks at our farm:

New fence encloses between 1/3 to 1/2 acre. Brent is making it look even more handsome :-)

A tarp will provide temporary cover at the barn if they need it. Nothing would make this more handsome.

I was hoping to have a roof on the barn prior to moving the boys in. But building a barn almost on my own is WAY more time-consuming than I hoped - especially only working on it weekends and evenings. (Brent is helping too by staying focused on moving the house construction forward.)

Funny thing about alpacas is that they don't really need protection from the rain or cold. So the cover is only for shade. Thankfully, it isn't too hot right now so even the shade isn't essential. And they still have plenty of grass to eat so I don't need to store hay yet. Keeping their hay dry is the other purpose of the barn.

The boys will move in next Saturday or Sunday depending on the weather. I can't wait!

The "guys"

Some days are big. Saturday was one of those days. That was the day we met the "guys."

What a face! This is our fawn alpaca cushing calmly for his picture.

Unfortunately, I was so busy talking to Kyla of Blue Diamond Alpacas that I can't put names with the faces of the 7 alpaca males that will call our farm their home. But I can tell you a few: Loki, Truimph, Temptation and Toby.

The black guy is the dominant one of the group. He kinda has that look.

The white one, Loki, is the only gelding - and is the only face
to which I can put a name. I love the markings on the silver gray.

I think this shot got the entire herd in one photo!

We were very excited to meet these guys. And their fiber feels awesome - super soft like just about every alpaca fleece I've had the pleasure to touch. They were friendly, but not pushy, and curious about us. As soon as we entered their space nearly the whole group walked over to say hello.

One of the great parts about the deal we get with the purchase of these boys is the equipment that comes with them. Many gates and panels as well as some fencing will be moved to our farm. Two moveable pens and a scale are also included in the package along with bins, troughs and buckets.

This is a big step and we are excited to have made it.

Yesterday, after spending the entire day on Sunday at our Shawnee house "staging" with some help from a professional (who is unattached to all of our stuff) interior designer, Brent and I and all of the boys were exhausted. We packed up much of the collected nic-nacs, pencils, pens and clutter that we've become accustomed to having around us. And now our house looks super-clean. But we are still rather stunned by the starkness. So yesterday was another big day. And it brought us another step closer to the farm.

And to ground ourselves in a restful and calm sense of the reason for it all, Brent and I visited the farm. We sat in the space on the main floor of the house where our computer desk will be and enjoyed the view, the sound of the wind and birds in the trees. We dreamed of a not-so-distant, much-less-hectic life… and drank a beer :-)

The view from the "desk" of our neighbor's pond on Sunday.

CAMELIDynamics workshop

A few months ago, I read a book - a really good one - called The Camelid Companion by Mary McGee Bennett. And last weekend I actually met the author. I attended her CAMELIDynamics workshop in Defiance, Missouri.

Mary showing us the "bracelet" and using a "packed" catch pen

For anyone who has never handled alpacas before or even people who have but want to make things easier, this workshop is perfect. It provided ample opportunity to be around the animals and test the information Marty shared in lectures. Now I feel pretty confident that I'm not going to scare my lovely charges to death (nor will they scare me) while I do my best to care for them.

working with veterinarian Nancy on an ear infection

Defiance, Missouri, is beautiful!

It was perfect, weather and everything. If I could change one thing, it would be to have brought and applied sunscreen. I have a wicked sunburn :-)

Catching up - let's start with the weekend

Things are certainly picking up now at the farm!

Middle of last week I ran by the farm because I was in the neighborhood with our youngest son Jeremy. He hadn't been out to see the progress in a long time and we were curious how much of the insulation and rebar for the lower level floor was in. The day was pretty mild other than being VERY windy!

And we noticed something…

Some of our insulation has blown away.

That was really a lot of wind. Of course, it's always pretty breezy out there, but this was what our builder called "gale force" wind.

On Friday I took a little time off of work to go to the farm again. The maple tree on the West side of the house (the only tree of any size that will shade that hot side of the house) needed to be trimmed before the bulldozer came in to backfill around the foundation. Those big machines have a hard time avoiding low limbs, you know.

But I won't bore you with before and after photos. It still looks like a tree :-)

And that's not all we did with our weekend…we also saw a bunch of alpacas! The MOPACA show was at Hale Arena. So Brent and I headed down there in the morning to see how well the alpacas handled all that commotion. And we were quite impressed. They were calm and beautiful.

Here's a beautiful Suri from Hasselbring's Harmony Ranch in the show ring.

There were also people handspinning fiber and lots of product displays. It is really a very soft fiber and there are certainly a lot of talented knitters. Brent got his first pair of alpaca socks from a very nice couple with a Suri alpaca ranch in Tennessee. They also process fiber in a mill. Their ranch and mill are run entirely with solar generated electricity. We think we need to know them a little better.

We weren't finished with our busy weekend yet…

Our Kansas Conservation Tree seedlings were delivered to our house on Friday. So we took advantage of the beautiful day on Sunday to put our new little trees in the ground and meet with the contractor who will build the retaining walls around the new house.

Here I am with the first of the 25 cedars in the ground.

We planted over 100 seedlings: 25 cedars, 25 persimmons, 25 paw paw and 25 elderberry. The cedars are along the West (to replace the row of cedars we will lose when the road is improved) and the elderberries are along the South side of the garden space with a few also inside the cedars on the west and north sides of the property. The persimmons are mostly in the area North of the north-most driveway. And the pawpaws are down in the draw.

We spent 10 hours on the property on Sunday. And with a little help from our eldest son, Blaine, we got all the trees in the ground. It was wonderful...and exhausting. We loved every minute!