Paperwork

I am determined.  I tell you... DETERMINED! to find something creative to do to make money.  Working at the Post Office is not creative. 

I really enjoy knitting and felting and making bags but there does not seem to be a market for these items.  A nice felted bag costs me at least $30.00 in materials and I might be able to sell it for $30.  Maybe.  But common business sense tells me I am not going to get rich (or even afford a cup of coffee) selling things for the same it costs to make them.

I need to find something to sell that doesn't cost me an arm and a leg to make.  I need to find something where the construction materials are dirt cheap. 

I remembered reading something once about people making paper from elephant dung in Thailand.  I don't have elephants, but I have alpacas.  They make poop.  Poop is free.  And plentiful.

Paper it shall be.  But first I needed to learn to make paper because not knowing how to do something has never been a reason to not do it.

You Tube here I come!

In a few short hours I learned a lot about making paper.  Most processes started with uh.. paper.  But I did find enough information to learn that I needed some basic equipment (frames, screens, couch papers..)  Well - so much for a cheap enterprise.

The next day I was at the local second hand store and what should I find?  A brand new paper making kit for $1.99!  Never even been opened.  It contained all the basic tools I would need along with directions that included pictures.  How easy could it be?

 

I thought I would try something easy to start with.  I took shredded newspaper and whirred it in a blender.

 

And I ended up with this.. a fine piece of thick gray paper.

 

I tried again but used college rule paper and added some plant life.  (begonia petals to be exact)

 

And then again and added dandelion petals.

 

Feeling quite pleased with myself I felt it was time to try poop!  I went out to the pasture and gathered up a nice fine FREE supply.  I put it in a pot to boil.  And boiled and boiled.  Outside of course.  In a second hand store pot.  At this point I would like to add that Peter is not supportive of the PPP (Poo Paper Project).  He kind of likes to use the alpaca poo for the garden and I will quote him here.  "It's a shitty idea."  Harummph to him I say!

 

After 2 hours of boiling and letting it cool down over night, I smashed it and smooshed it and then rinsed it through a screen, then through cheese cloth, repeatedly.  I rinsed away most of the poop and I was left with this lovely stuff.

 

 

More rinsing resulted in even more fiber and less poop. 

 

I was afraid that my remaining poo fiber was too fine and not enough of it so I added some paper pulp.  I didn't use the blender - which would have been helpful I think, but Peter had this thing about putting poop in the blender he makes milkshakes with.  I don't get it... all the boiling made the poop completely hygenic.  I think he's weird.

 

The fact is, when all was said and done, I made poo paper:

 

 

Two days of boiling, soaking, rinsing, etc and I ended up with one sheet of 6" by 9" paper that isn't even usable.  Not very encouraging.  The materials might be free but I might have better things to do with my time.  All is not lost though.  I have learned a lot.  I think I have learned how to do to better.  I will try again because it takes more than one failed attempt to convince me to give up on an idea.



Imaginary blogging

I recently had conversations with some friends who wondered why I had stopped blogging.  It seemed like such an odd question because I felt like I HAD been blogging.

But I hadn't.   I assured them both that the next post was coming and it was going to be very entertaining.  Let's hope I succeed!

My process for blogging goes something like this:

Something happens that is interesting and I decide I should blog about it.  Then I spend some time pushing words around in my head.  I think about what I want to say, how I want to say it and I ponder the clever and entertaining aspects because heaven forbid I should be boring!  When I'm done pushing the words around, I dig out my laptop (because it's really the only time it comes out of the cupboard anymore) and I plug it in (because the battery is completely fried and it wont work without it) and I start it up.  Then I must go through a gazillion updates, error messages and spontaneous reboots.  THEN I fight our lousy internet (ever hear of ClearWire?) and eventually I put all those words down in what I hope is the right order and push the publish button. Where upon I immediately think of more clever ways I could have said something.

It's exhausting really.

Totally by accident I have stumbled upon this new and better way to blog:

Something happens that is interesting and I decide I should blog about it.  Then I spend some time pushing words around in my head.  I think about what I want to say, how I want to say it and I ponder the clever and entertaining aspects because heaven forbid I should be boring!    Then I just forget to do the rest.  I think I I've blogged, I feel like I've blogged and I don't have the frustrations of the computer and I never worry that I have made a typo or wasn't as clever as I could have been.

Apparently this new system doesn't work for everyone.

The cliff notes version of the posts that I have penned in my head in the last few months include:

Alpaca Maintenance:

Toenail trimming turns tragic! Cadbury kicks, drives trimmers through Peters hand.  

Alpaca Shearer wanted:

Looking for someone to help us shear our girls.  Called Camelot farms.  No response.  Called Shearers are Us.  No response.  Called MoonShadow Farms - referred us to Camelot farms (gah!) and SumFunShearing.  No response from either.  again.  Contacted The Camel people.  No response.  Contacted a girl in Olympia.  No response.  

New Handler Syndrome

Chupa has it.  I am sad.  

Applied for a new job!

No response.

Drowning in Zucchini

Zucchini bread.  Zucchini stew.  Zucchini boats.  Zucchini chips.  Zucchini salad.  Zucchini Zucchini Zucchini. 

Goats are NOT us

Seeking loving family for two high-maintenance goats.  Must promise not to eat them.  If you don't PROMISE you can't have them but you can have some zucchini.

Sparky has a personal chef

My beloved pup is unwell.  It is hard for her to eat so I am her personal chef.  She get's cheese omelets.  Chicken, hot dogs, fried dog food (not a hit), cat food, ice cream, cheese, zucchini..

Going to College

Taking an online food preservation course.  Learning how to can and freeze and dehydrate.  Not only do I get college credit but it will certainly come in handy for the zucchini.

Chicken update

We now have a thriving population of 12 chickens ~ 10 hens and 2 roosters.  Loving them!  

B&B

Pondering opening a bed and breakfast.  We only have one room but I've found a great zucchini fritatta I could feed guests for breakfast.

Sightseeing in Seattle

How many activities can YOU cram into a day in Seattle?

Master Jack, Ruler of the Universe

My grandson.

Imaginary Blogging

This one.  Except this post actually made it to the blog.

If I had actually managed to get these typed up it would have been a lot of blogging.  It sure felt like a lot of blogging.  I shall endeavor to try harder to do ALL the steps in successfully publishing posts.  Wish me luck!

Things to do.. Things to do..

Sometimes I long to sit on the sofa and veg with a book.  

Oh.  Wait.  I DO do that.  I just feel really guilty when I do.  Let me rephrase that.

Sometimes I long to sit on the sofa and veg with a book, or watch TV without feeling twinges of guilt that I should be doing something else or at least doing something in addition to watching TV.

There is no chance of getting bored around here.  I am getting a tad overwhelmed by all the things waiting for my attention so the other day I decided to make a list on the white board in SharonTopia thinking it would help me feel in control.

What that meant, of course that the first thing on my to-do list became making an actual list.  I couldn't find a marker so I decided on making my list here.  (Much easier than looking for a marker.. not.)

1.  Kitchen Floor.  I started it over a year a go and it is now my top priority.  I've been working hard on it in the last two weeks or so and I'm over 1/2 way done.  I have promised myself that I will clear at least 1 square foot of floor each day.  At that pace, I should be done in a month.

2.  Hawaiian shirt quilt.  This has been on my to-do list for 2 years - although I just started it a few months ago.  It is second on my priority list because it's currently cluttering up my dining room.  In order to make it available to be worked on, the table and chairs and all other dining room "stuff" is shoved into a corner. Not conducive to romantic candle lit dinners for two at the table or enjoying the dining room in any way.

3.  Ear Brassiere.  A small project.  But I started it as a Christmas Present for a co-worker.  It's March now.  Sigh...  I had it almost finished two nights ago when I discovered a huge error early in the project.  I had to rip it all out and start over.  Now I'm more than 1/2 way done.  If I hadn't made that mistake I would be done.  Very frustrating and now I really just want it gone.  Out of my life forever.  I hate it and I want to kill it.  

4.  Beaded scarf.  Another project I am more than 1/2 way done on.  I really love the effect of the beads in the knitting.  I love it so much I started a second one (with sparkly beads and jewel toned yarn) before I finished this one.  Big mistake.  Huge.  Now both sit gathering dust.

5.  Woven Rug.  I got the crazy idea for this project when we were in Florida in September.  I really really want to do this.  Almost bad enough to move it to position #1.  This is my self-imposed lesson in self-control.  I will NOT even start it until the floor and the quilt are done.  I will most probably get serious about it as soon as I can and I think it may be helping to motivate me on those priority projects. I have been gathering the things I need to make this and all the parts are sitting on the loom ready to go.  Oh.. I want to do this. 

6.  Shrugigan.  This project I started in 2010 - When I was still working.  Peter gives me grief on a regular basis over this project.  I mostly want to get it done so I can wave it about in his face saying "Ha Ha Ha Ha! Neener Neener Neener!!" and doing a most ridiculous dance.  Once it's done I suspect it will go into a drawer and never be looked at again.

7.  Woven basket.  A fun little project.  This one is a good "car project" or for taking places that require waits.  I've made a couple small baskets and it's a fun technique.  I'm not in a hurry to get this done and it's really only on my list because it's started and does need to be finished.  Eventually.

8.  Shearing.  It's spring.  The Alpacas haven't been sheared in nearly two years.  It's time.  It's more than time.  They are shaggy and filthy and complete wrecks.  This is Cheeka.  Of course, once they are sheared then I'll have pounds and pounds of fiber that will need cleaning and washing and carding and spinning and.. Yikes!!  What was I thinking???

9.  Silk spinning.  Because I enjoy torture.  Spinning silk is a completely different thing than spinning other fibers.  Silk is fine and delicate.  I can even only TOUCH the silk when my hands are in the best condition.  If they are dry or cracked they snag the fiber something awful.  I most certainly can't touch it after working on the floor or messing with concrete.  Silk has intrigued me since I first learned to spin.  I have often looked at silk and silently ogled it.  A few months ago a fellow spinner gave me this "hanky" of silk.  Now it must be included on the to-do list.

10.  Cleaning Pads.  Back when I lived in Salem and Peter and I installed the wood flooring in my house I bought a swiffer sweeper with a large box of disposable pads for it.  I just used the last one this week.  Clever me, with time on my hands, has decided to make reusable swiffer sweeper pads out of an old towel.  It should be a quick project.  I may even sneak this one in before I'm done with the kitchen floor.  After all, I will need to be able to clean the floor once the lino is pulled up..

11.   Soap.  I need to make more soap.  I WANT to make soap.  I've been gathering supplies at discount prices.  I scored on 99 cent bottles of Olive Oil, a clearance on lard (yum!) and other assorted things.  I'm ready.  But where do I find the time??

12.  Blogging.  This is a continuing to-do.  I confess it's getting hard to write creatively.  My life is more boring than it used to be.  I assume any readers I have left aren't interested in daily postal fun, or the fact that the cat likes to sit in a box or it rained, again.  Blogging takes time and when something interesting IS going on, finding the time for quality and entertaining documentation is challenging.

All of these things are just the "my" projects.  As the weather improves we have a driveway to finish, the garage to convert, a garden to plant, additional pastures to build, SharonTopia to finish and so much more.  It's a good thing I don't have a dead line.  I tell myself to just keep plodding along and it will eventually get done, breath deep and relax.  And most importantly, appreciate the fact that I'm in a position to do these things at all.

I feel better.

Friday evening at the Willingdon's - Vern get's sloshed!

It all started out so innocently.  Peter was working late and dusk was settling upon this little house on the ditch.  The alpacas were out in the pasture and it was time to bring them in.

I haven't had much luck wrangling 4 alpacas by myself but I was resolved to get it done tonight.  With determination and perhaps a bit of foolishness I headed out to the pasture.  Chupa came right to me.  She's so easy!  Surprisingly Chaca - one of our new girls - came right to me as well.  Cadbury and Cheeka weren't so keen on the idea.  After hanging on to two and chasing two for a while I decided it wasn't working.  It wasn't going to work so I gave up and brought the first two to the barn.  When I got back to the pasture Cadbury was quite distressed as she had never been separated from Chupa before and was ready to go.  Now.  She wasn't very interested in helping me round up Cheeka so I took her to the barn as well.

That meant three alpaca were in and one alpaca was out.  That should be manageable!  The problem was, she simply didn't want to come in.  I chased her around the pasture for 10 minutes and finally got her cornered by the gate.  I was so pleased with myself.  I stuck to it and I was going to have all the alpaca in... by myself!  As I approached her she went low to the ground and  "POOF" she was under the gate and out of the pasture!  Loose in the big old scary world!

I don't generally have a potty mouth any more but expletives flew.  By now it was well past dusk.  It was dark.  Cheeka is black.  Not a good combination.

I called Peter.  He didn't answer his phone.  Even if he had it's not like he could have come home instantly anyway but at least he could not dawdle once he was through with his patients.  I pondered my options.  Cheeka would not let me approach her - if I moved toward her it just made her go farther.  I tried to tempt her with grain in my pocket.  That didn't work in the pasture and it sure didn't work out of the pasture.  I called Peter again.  Still no answer.  In a panic and with very little other resources I called the freighbor.  I barely had to get out the words:  "alpaca's loose" and she said "we're on our way!"

She and Vern, her husband, showed up in mere minutes.  It didn't take long for Shelly and I to get her between us but she bolted before we could get close enough.  She ran south.  She ran past Vern and we lost her in the dark.  We looked and looked with no luck.  I decided to go get her sister, hoping she would be able to tempt Cheeka into joining us.  On the way to get Chaca I spotted Cheeka in the newly dug vegetable garden.  We closed in, she bolted, heading north.  Vern and Shelly went north, I went to fetch Chaca who really wasn't very happy about being drug out in the dark to be bait for her sister.  We spread out with flashlights and headlamps searching in the brambles, through the neighbor's fields, we looked in the creek, across the road, in the woods.  We looked for over an hour and found no sign of her.  I tried to call Peter a couple more times with still no answer.

I put Chaca in the pasture with the hope that she would draw Cheeka to her and then continued my  quest.

I wanted to cry.  I'm not REALLY a farm girl - I just play at being one and I just couldn't imagine where my lost girl could be.  How far would she go?  What would she do over night if we couldn't find her?  I told myself that I could not give into the luxury of sitting down in the field and sobbing like a baby no matter how badly I wanted to.  I had to fix this.

Two hours into this adventure I was searching down the back laneway and heard a big splash.  At first I thought it was Cheeka but then realized the splash had a flashlight.  Vern had tried to jump the back ditch and didn't make it.  :(  Poor Vern got wet.  Sloshed even.

Vern and I followed the alpaca's usual path to the barn and I poked my head in and said "there are my first two.." and Vern said:  "there are three in there!"

Sure enough, I took a second look and there was Cheeka, standing by the stall without a care in the world!  relief washed over me.

I briefly considered leaving Chaca out in the pasture for Peter to get but we had to go out and fetch Shelly - who was now lost in the dark somewhere.  It wasn't long  before I rounded up both of them and we headed back to the barn.  Just as we rounded the corner by the house we bumped into Peter - who had just gotten home.  Nice timing I say!  He had accidentally left his phone home and was sorry to have missed all the fun.

As of this moment I don't think I'll be attempting to wrangle alpacas by myself anymore.  I might change my mind one day in the far distant future but for now, nope, I couldn't possible handle too many more nights like this.

Have you Herd??!!

It's been an exciting week around here!

A week ago Sunday I asked Peter if he wanted to go to the ReStore with me.   You just gotta love that place.  It's like GoodWill for construction materials.  The best of both worlds.  After a few minutes of thinking things through, I changed my mind and said, "Never mind - I'll just find doors or stuff I'd like for the studio, but we don't have time to use and then we'll just have to store them and I'll just torture myself and it's not worth it."   I did not mean it snarkily - but really, what was the point of going?  Peter drug us there anyway and just like I thought, we found the perfect doors for my studio.  Despite my dread of just getting things we have to store and not use, we got them anyway and with a little help from my freighbor Shelly we even got them home.  By Monday night we had one set of doors mostly installed:

Peter had to say something about my pessimism and didn't he prove me wrong!  Yes, he did.  But also, maybe I just learned that a little bit of pessimism get's things done around here.  Hmm... I better be careful not to let him in on my new knowledge AND I better be careful not to abuse such power.

I've spent my days off this week cleaning and organizing the stuff in the studio.  Removing lumber and pipes and shade cloth.  Not to mention possum poo, rats nests, birds nests and other heebie jeebie kinds of things.  Ewww.  We're almost ready for insulation.  I'm very excited!  If I squint real hard I can see the light at the end of this fiber studio tunnel!

Friday we went to the new feed store down the road.  It's not as close as the local one but this one has an assortment of friendly barnyard animals, as well as a very friendly blue and gold macaw and a whole room of chicks called ChickenLand (the room not the chicks).  You know how I like chicks!  

When we got there, our first stop was the barnyard.  They had chickens, turkeys, pheasants, ducks, quail, some goats, a miniature donkey and two alpaca.  The donkey was being very nasty to the two alpaca and the alpaca were fighting back with some pretty sloppy spitting.  I've never seen such a hullabaloo.  

After we admired all the chicks and made some decisions about the breeds we'll get when we are ready, we happened to bump into the owner of the place.  A very nice man named Matt, who also happens to be an old friend.  We were talking about the donkey and the alpaca relationship issues and Matt asked if we wanted the two alpaca.  Umm... YEAH!!  The donkey was a family pet and these are recent additions to their barnyard.  They had purchased them at the local farm auction for $5.00 a piece and were willing to just give them to us because he knew they'd would be well taken care of at our house.

Free alpaca?  That's even better than the ReStore!  They were named Darcy and Darla.  Not names I love and since these were new names, the girls didn't really answer to them anyway - not saying that alpaca ever really respond to their names.  The one with the white patches on her face is now named Cheeks or Chica and the other one (the one with the impossibly long eyelashes) hasn't told us what her name is yet.  I think she'll let us know soon.  Please feel free to make suggestions - naming things has always been hard for me.  

Cadbury and Chupa seem to be mostly fine with their new herd members.  There is a little posturing, some serious smelling and all that "hey!  you're new!" stuff.  Alpaca are herd animals - they prefer living life in a group.  I'm certain that our little herd of 4 will be a peaceful and harmonious place in no time at all.  

I may be a quitter.

There was a day when I would get mad at my boss and threaten to quit, or at least I would run a scene through my head where I stand on a desk and sing that famous song by Johnny Paycheck, "Take this job and shove it.."  Those were always momentary urges that passed fairly quickly.

This new job has me wanting to quit every single day.  I just hate it.  I dread going to work and I seem to be living on excedrine.  Thank goodness they've started production on that again.

After that day that I cried I actually managed to complete my route by myself the very next time I took it out.  This event was celebrated by all my co workers as it was apparently quite a remarkable feat to be accomplished so early in a postal career.  My boss thought it was so swell he immediately started cross-training me on a second route.  That week I worked about 47 hours.  When I was hired I was told they would give me several months to learn my primary route before they exposed me to another.  Apparently if you show an apptitude they take advantage of you.   The first day I took the full load of the second route I was virtually abandoned out there.  It rained - but I had rain gear.  It was dark - but I had TWO headlamps.  I was trying to find mailboxes and houses in the dark, in the rain on a route I hadn't ever travelled before on streets I had never seen before in my life.  Someone finally became available to come and assist me and I still didn't get done until 7:30 p.m.  This time I didn't cry - I was just angry.  Really angry.  Not that it did any good.

This week they have me scheduled for at least 40 hours as well as working Christmas Eve and New Year's Eve.  There go my plans to see my kids over the holidays.  I'm angry again.  I don't like to be angry and I seem to be spending way too much energy controlling it.

This is not what I signed up for.  I don't want to work full time.  I don't want to work holidays.  I want to spend time with my children.  I want to spend time knitting and spinning and weaving and playing with my animals.  I want to, and I'm happy to, work a day a week.  I can even manage 2 days a week with a smile.  4 and 5 days a week make me want to belt out that Johnny Paycheck song at the top of my lungs while standing on top of my LLV.

I really like my co-workers and I even kinda like my bosses.   I hate to leave them in a lurch.  It's the hours and the job itself that make me cranky.  I guess I need to make a decision.

Now.. for something a little lighter:

July 1st. A very special day indeed.

5 years ago today Peter showed up on my doorstep after an extended absence in my life.  5 years ago today our lives together began for real.  Ahhhhhhh.....

Things are bustling around this little house on the ditch.  Cadbury and Chupa are settling in nicely.  We've managed to build a temporary, but crude, shelter in the pasture to provide them with shade and shelter from the rain.  I've almost got Cadbury coming to me when it's time to go to the barn for the night.  Up until yesterday we had to have a mini alpaca rodeo every night.  Last night I managed to corner Cadbury and put her on her lead without any drama at all.  Of course, once Cadbury is leashed, Chupa is easy.

The arrival of the alpacas has re-shuffled priorities around here too.  We've had construction debris clogging up the barn.  That's space we need!  The debris was the old roof tear off from two houses, all the carpeting, linoleum, wallpaper, ceiling texture and other junk our remodeling has created.  We had to rent a trailer and for two days we schlepped back and forth to the local dump.  All in all we removed over 5 tons (yes.. 5 TONS - I tracked it).

I think everyone should be made to hang out at the dump for a few days.  The offensive amount of waste this country creates is disgusting.  I have this theory that many many people toss the trash in the garbage and watch it get carried away by the big truck and don't think of it again.  Trash doesn't just go away.  It has to go somewhere.  In the case of Bellingham it all get's carted to Eastern Oregon to a big landfill.  Around the farm we recycle, compost, re-use, and create very little waste (except for the construction...).  I have lot's more to say on THAT topic - but I'll get off my soapbox for now.  Fair warning though, it may come up again later.

My dear big brother and his lovely wife are coming for a visit.   They'll be here in 4 days.  I've known of their coming visit for months but I have procrastinated in getting a room ready for them.  Just as a reminder.. this is what the room looked like a few months ago and little had changed in there by last week:

As of last night, this is how the room looks:

The floor is still horrible linoleum, the ceiling still has texture, the walls need paint but the room is clean, empty of clutter and, I hope, welcoming.  After their visit I will strip the ceiling (eek - more construction debris!!), paint and do the floors - eventually.  I'm sure I'll have to go play with the alpacas first.

Rain rain go away!

The rain has been incessant and horrible this afternoon.  We were unable to get to any of the shelter building or fence finishing or anything.  Ahhh!

I took Cadbury and Chupa out to the pasture before the rain hit.  Chupa has decided I'm okay and allows me to rub her neck and scratch behind her ears - so long as I don't make an sudden scary movements.  Cadbury has decided my very special "camelid cookies" that I made for her are quite edible and tasty.  Yesterday she turned her nose up at them.  Getting them out to the pasture was a lesson in patience.  I just had to be persuasive and persistent and they eventually made the trek.

Once we got to the field, Chupa ran around and Cadbury filled her belly, or at least one of them, with fresh rye grass.  They were happy.  For about an hour.  Then the rain hit.  It hit hard.  I kept hoping it would stop but it didn't.  I know they can handle rain, but they had no place to get out of it and I felt bad.  I put on my rubber boots and my rain slicker and headed out to get them.  They were uncooperative.  Chupa, in fact, was impossible to round up.  I chased and cajoled and begged but she would have none of it.  I finally decided to lead Cadbury and hope that Chupa would follow.  That worked swell until I decided to go through the woods to get back.  Cadbury decided that was entirely unacceptable. No way was she going that way.  By that time I was soaked clear through and gave in.  We back-tracked, slogged through the mud puddles and under the clothes line and eventually made it back to their covered sheltered.


Here is an Alpaca lesson  (because I like to share what I learn)

• When Alpacas sit down on the ground it's called "kush"    as in:  The Alpaca is in a kush position.
• A baby Alpaca is called a cria.  Pronounced "cree-ah"

As if we don't have enough to keep us busy, I got Peter an early anniversary present.  A couple years ago He had a goose and a gander.  The goose was killed by a neighborhood dog and the poor gander has been mateless.  The gander has been making a pest of himself with the ducks.. and the drakes.. in ways we won't talk about in THIS forum!  So - I found a couple of girls for our gander. He needs to wait til they grow up but I think they will make fine brides for him.

The gander doesn't have a name.  He's just Goose - which isn't particularly accurate but it works.  I wonder if we should name these.  I like to name our animals.

Happy Birthday!

On a non-alpaca note - yesterday was my daughter's 19th birthday.  Happy Birthday dear daughter!

On an alpaca note - today Chupa is one month old.  Mark sent me pictures of newborn Chupa.  Also in the picture is Cadbury on the left, and Chupa's dad on the right.

Bringing our Alpaca girls home was postponed by a day.  The fencing just took longer than we expected.  Peter's patient load increased and he was gone for large chunks of the day and there is just so much I can do on my own  (like almost nothing!).

The good news is we finally got them home last night. Here is Cadbury peering out of the trailer telling us to get a move on.  Our departure from her previous home was postponed because a slightly rattled gentleman headed up the narrow driveway, saw us preparing to head down, started backing back down and went off the road into a small creek.  He managed to get his car thoroughly stuck AND block our exit.  We, okay, PETER, helped him get his car unstuck and back on the road while I stood around looking like ornamental fluff.

Once we got them home getting them out to the pasture was quite challenging.  Chupa was not used to a halter.  In fact before yesterday she had never worn one.  She resisted being led anywhere.  Cadbury saw a very unhappy offspring and dug her heals in and refused to go anywhere.  It seems, much like mules or donkeys, when Alpacas don't wanna go - you're not going to make them.  Eventually Peter just picked Chupa up and carried her.  Cadbury wasn't about to let her baby be taken away so she immediately decided she would get moving.  Once we finally got them out to the field, Chupa explored her new surroundings.

Today we finish securing the fence, and attempt to build a proper shelter for them.  Last night Dash was evicted from his kennel and the girls spent the night in that.  They were okay but they need their own shelter in their own pasture.

Alpaca Update

Tomorrow!!

Tomorrow is the big day. I get to bring Cadbury and Chupa home.  I know I said we could back out of the deal but I don't think either of us could have.  Not really.  We had quickly fallen for these animals.  In fact, on the way home on Friday Peter said, "she's such a beautiful little thing.."  at least 4 times.  I think he was sold on them before I was!

We've been working hard around here getting ready for their arrival.  Of course, it's not ever as easy as it sounds.  The pasture where we want to put them needed trees cut back and blackberries removed.  Peter had to go to the office and actually work.  It's been raining nearly non-stop.

We're still not done with the fencing but the weather is supposed to get better, Peter doesn't work tomorrow and we should manage to be mostly ready by the afternoon. I did get to visit them again a couple days ago.  We just happened to be near their current home on Sunday and I just happened to have an apple in the car.  We stopped by to see them.  Cadbury ate most of the apple while eyeing me suspiciously, Chupa smelled the apple and apparently decided it wasn't as good as momma's milk.  While we were there Chupa became fascinated by the farm cat and then quickly got distracted by the chickens and went running after them.  She is all legs and such a baby.  Her antics are very entertaining.  


I should mention while we were shopping for fencing material Peter insisted on getting fencing material that would be suitable for Alpacas AND goats because, he says, since I can't make up my mind he's convinced we'll end up with both eventually anyway and we might as well be prepared.  He's probably right.

Cadbury and Chupa

Meet Chupa:

She was born May 22nd.  She and her mom, Cadbury are ours - probably.  We still need to get fencing and shelter created for them.

There is still a small window where we can come to our senses and cancel the deal we're making with their current keeper.  They are Huacaya (pronounced Wa-Ky-Ah) Alpaca.  Huacaya fiber is thick and bouncy and spins like a dream.  Of course, I'll only be able to spin and knit chocolate brown wool from now on - but it's a sacrifice I'm willing to make.

Cadbury (as in chocolate) came to her current owner, Mark, as a rescue.  He saw her through her pregnancy and birth but is now ready to pass her and her cria on to a loving home.  What a coincidence!  I just happen to have one of those!

We went to meet them yesterday.  We were told Cadbury is not pet-quality.  That means she is leery of humans - but is, fortunately, food-driven.  She will come to a human if you have food.  I can relate to that.  She is apparently much friendlier than she was when first rescued and I have full confidence I can break through her guard and get her to trust me.  I just happen to have an apple tree and apparently, she loves apples.  How fortunate is that?

Chupa is a totally different story.  Chupa bounces and runs and leaps and hops and explores.  She is a bundle of energy and you just can't help but smile when you watch her.  When I first met her, I sat down on the ground and she approached me cautiously.  She smelled my face.  She smelled my hair.  It tickled.  I laughed and frightened her into bounding off.  It wasn't long before she came back again and repeated the process.  This time I stifled my giggles and she stayed awhile longer, after a complete investigation she got distracted by something and wandered away.  She is definately pet quality and I expect she and I will become best friends. 

Mark showed us the corral - which they just happened to share with.. (drum roll please).. goats.  Yes - apparently goats and alpacas can live happily together.  hmm... this opens up a whole new world of possibilities! 

My Little Alpaca Shop?

Yesterday I had the delightful opportunity to hang with about 40 alpaca for an hour or so.  I am absolutely charmed by them.   We stopped by an alpaca ranch in Sedro Wooley.  The owner was perfectly lovely and showed us around.  She has a fiber studio much like I dream of having one day - complete with loom and spinning wheel and shelves of handspun yarn.  She happens to have three little cria bucks that were born last August for sale.  I am so tempted.  One is a beautiful chocolate brown, one is beige and one is gray. 

I've been re-thinking the goat thing in favor of a more practical animal. I really need to make a list of pro's and cons to help me decide on the animals I raise.

(on a scale of 1-5, 1 being the best)	Fiber	Milk	Personality	Ease of Care
Goats	3	1	1	3
Alpaca	1	5	3	1
Sheep	1	5	3	2
Bison	2	5	5	5

I'm not sure if that helped me.  Although I'm pretty sure I've ruled out bison.  Perhaps I should get two of each (except the bison) and resolve the question that way!  Nobody said I had to have just ONE kind of animal, did they?

Oh.. I finished my sweater.  It's kind of big and baggy and sloppy - but it's also cozy.