Sweet Harmony Farm

originally posted 10/17/15

A wonderful thing has happened to our little farm.  In mid-September,Pamcame down from Maine, bringing along Dreamer's daughter, Ashoo, and Ashoo's look-alike daughter, Danae, as company for our poor, lonely Trixie.  The meet and greet was entirely uneventful, just the kind we enjoy.  Well, the boys were all riled up for a few hours but by the next morning, all was calm as usual.  :)

Within a few minutes of arriving, the two new girls decided to check out their new pasture.  Trixie was so excited to have pasture-mates again that she ran off after them, pronking away!  She was literally 'jumping for joy' and 'clicking her heels together.'  In case you're not sure what I mean, Trixie was absolutely ecstatic.

Ashoo looks and acts so much like Dreamer that I was in tears for several days after her arrival.  But now, it's just pure joy.  We're still mixing Ashoo up with Danae but they don't seem to mind, hence our nickname for them, The Twins.  The pair is very bonded and they are always, always together.  Of course that now means that Trixie isn't quite sure what to do sometimes.  With her dominant personality as well as Ashoo's, again so much like her momma, Dreamer, there is usually a good spit-fest happening between the two of them when I put out fresh hay.  What can I say?  It's funny as hell!

Sometimes the 3 of then will stand together side-by-side.  When I see them like that, for some odd reason all I can think of is ZZ Top singing Sharp Dressed Man.  lol.

The best news is that the 3 of them stay together, in the barn, in the paddock, out to their pasture, and back again.  They've become an instant herd.  

Yes, yes, pictures are coming!!

Yes everyone, I wrote this several weeks ago and forgot to post.  OOPS!   ~ posted on 10/11/15

We've had a very lovely, sunny, dry summer.  A few days had gotten well over 90 degrees but for the most part it's been very comfortable. The alpacas are all doing well, with only minor ailments to check on now and then, and big bowls of pellets to the thinner ones.  My dear Soloman, aka Sol, is still much, much too thin but he is definitely moving around much better!  He has been enjoying the sun, and most days he'll venture out, albeit slowly, on his own to the pastures.  I love that he is getting his much needed Vitamin D.  Even my beautiful Bo Jangles, who has always preferred the barn, has been enjoying the sun.  With the lack of rain, the flies have been minimal this year, so Bo has not suffered allergic bites on his cute face as badly as previous summers.  Even we humans are thankful for less barn flies.  Trust me, those bites are just awful!

Here is Bear hogging the pool, just before shearing day this year:

On the really hot days, Dan will drag out the hose to spray down the alpacas' bellies and legs.  All he has to do is start unwinding the hose and the boys come running.  They all jockey for position with a "Me Next Please!" attitude. Sometimes Dan will bring out the kiddie pool.  Bear is always first and has plenty to say to whomever tries to join in.  Desi managed to get in with him momentarily and Bear promptly kicked him out.  Then little Earthling got in and cushed and wouldn't budge!  Such an adorable scene.  

And here's a rare picture of 2 alpacas in the pool together:

Once again the deer devoured whatever I tried planting in my garden and I gave up early in the summer.  I really need to find an easy way to fence them out.  It's so odd not to have a garden, to head out back to pick something for dinner. I have done that for years and years. Instead I have found a new passion:  shopping for veggies at the farmers' markets and picking fruit at PickYourOwn farms.  I love supporting other local farms!  We picked 12 pounds of blueberries one day, most of which are now in the freezer.  Every morning for breakfast this summer, I have been eating the yummiest yogurt from a local dairy farm, topping it with fresh in season berries or fruit, and local raw honey.  OH YUM.  In September comes apples to pick and plenty of winter squashes at the farmer's markets.

No matter if it's food or fleece, remember to support your local small farmers!

originally posted 5/17/15

Thank you all for your kind notes, comments, and emails regarding the unfortunate loss of our lovely Alana.  I am very grateful to all of you.  :)

Spring has arrived.  The snow has melted, melted, melted, and the mud, mud, mud arrived too.  A wonderful week of sunny weather with actual springtime temperatures significantly dried up the mud.  Grass is growing and turning green.  We're slowly removing the winter tarps off the front of the barn and have opened up 'the big doors' on the sides of the awning, letting in spring's very welcome warm sunshine.  Songbirds have returned, singing their beautiful songs of love.  A cute little flycatcher is nesting above the light in the barn.  Dan has put the birdhouses back up along the fence line for the bluebirds.

Over the winter, the freezing cold heaves up the ground which heaves up the fenceposts which mis-aligns the gates.  Now that it has warmed up, the ground recedes back and once again the gates are mis-aligned.  Dan's winter and springtime chore is to move the latches up or down, usually more than once, so that the gates will shut easily.

The alpacas are all in "full fleece" now and are looking their cutest!

A few weeks ago, Candy from Eye Candy Alpacas/Wit's End Alpacas came by for a visit and to bring the pacas a gift ....... a bale of Chaffhaye.  Chaffhaye is basically chopped and fermented alfalfa hay.  It is excellent for ruminant animals and horses too.  The bale is in a thick plastic, somewhat shrink-wrapped, 50 pound bag.I opened the bag in our little tack room.  Our tack room now smells like sauerkraut.  :). Good thing I like sauerkraut.

The alpacas’ reaction to the chaffhaye was priceless.  I put a handful in Trixie's bowl and she wanted nothing to do with it.  She just sniffed once and walked away.

I stuffed an empty container of electrolytes to offer it to the boys.  Alpacas are curious yet cautious creatures especially when it comes to new food.  North was the first to approach me and check it out.  He stood just far enough away to stretch out his neck and give a good long sniff and..... instantly JUMPED back, all 4 feet off the ground, sneezing and wide-eyed.  He gave me this look of 'what the hell is that?'. One after another they slowly came over to me and they all reacted like North had.  I wish I'd had a video camera filming their reaction because it was absolutely hysterical to watch.  :).   They really made me laugh.  I really need to laugh again.

I cleaned out the catch tray on their stand up feeder and spread out the chaffhaye, then stood back and watched.  A few curious noses slowly walked up, long necks outstretched, in total sniff mode.  The first to sample the chaffhaye and deem it yummy to eat?  Desi, of course.  I spread some more out along both shelves of that feeder and along the top of the hay in the bale feeder in the barn.  Yes the barn now smells like sauerkraut.

When I returned in the evening, Trixie's bowl and the boy's feeders were licked clean.  Yup, they love the stuff!  Now to find more .......

originally posted 4/22/15

Happy Earth Day Everyone!!  And don't forget to say Happy Birthday to our little Earth Wind & Fire, whom we call 'Earthling' or just Earth.  He was born on Earth Day in 2009.  :)