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2007 Journal
This is just random musings from everyday life at Pittsburgh
Alpacas...no interactivity or nothin, not even regularly posted ;-)
Read 2008 here
Read 2006 here....
Read 2005 here....
11/22/07
Sorry. Been way too long since I posted. My
regular job gets in the way of doing all things alpaca. Day after
thanksgiving and I am grateful for waking up to these gorgeous creatures.
They are standing outside in the snow at the moment. No, the cold
doesn't bother them. Mostly just bothers me because I think it bothers
them. But my vet has assures me that the real temperature issue is the
heat of the summer. At this point they all have at least a couple of
inches of fleece on them.
This is a picture my friend Annie O'Neill took of Roberto and
me on one of the last days of indian summer this year.
John went to the empire show and placed 4th out of 6.
Not a great showing. So he will be getting gelded soon. Although
he did okay in the shows, he needed a very strong showing to be able to
follow in his champion brother's footsteps. Jonas and Roberto look to
be very promising boys; both with very dense, brilliant crimped fleece.
Willa is a gorgeous girl with bright black muzzle and ears complimented by
chocolate brown blanket. She was almost true black with the first
shearing. Can't wait to see what is under that fleece in the
spring for the next shearing.
Winterizing has been happening for the last month. This
means putting up sheets of luann wood to help block the wind and increase
the size of the barn space. Electric buckets have to be put out, fly
traps stored, stuff like that. We're pretty much hunkered down for the
winter now.
10/8/07
He's HERE! Roberto Clemente was born this morning!
Click here for more pics...
9/30/07 
Finally took some updated pictures of the kids. They
are getting so big. Jonas is 60 pounds already. Willa is growing too.
Both are awaiting their new sister.
9/29/07
Design is now in the last two weeks of her pregnancy.
So again, it's making me a bit nuts waiting it out and being concerned that
I will not be here for the delivery. On the plus side, she is a great
mom and has never had any difficulties. Design is also the cranky
queen of the herd and she clearly would prefer if I wouldn't be so invasive
in my concern for her. On the other hand I hear about the difficulties
some have during delivery and it makes my normally higher than average
anxiety spike even more. She is from Peru, and it seems as though the
Peru bred girls heed the genetic behavior of daytime births. So that
makes it a bit easier as I know it will likely be daytime. Her
previous birth dates have been all over the place so I have no idea if it
will be early or late. Thank goodness for the good weather. I
hate the thought of a cria being born into cold.
8/30/07
Massive rains this past week made the grass grow like CRAZY.
It's like springtime again with me averaging 2-3 hours of mowing a day.
Alpacas love it - it's like I'm their own private landscaper. Jerry is
here putting in another pasture... hopefully the last pasture. Trying
to make sure there are enough spaces to rotate them on and off the pastures
to allow them to grow back after they are eaten down. John Heinz is
getting ready for the fall alpaca shows. He is going to attend the
Empire show and the
Columbus show.
8/13/07
So yes, things are back to normal which means that I have
been not so good
 about
posting. Since last posting Willa and Jonas have both been sheared and
under the baby fleece were two absolutely perfect little alpacas!
Planning on adding another pasture to help with the rotation and keep them
on as much fresh green as possible. Oh yeah, and I just came back from
a trip to Peru! I'll be posting pictures to show what it was like
which in a word was "breathtaking". Didn't learn as much as I would
like about the alpaca farms since most I now know are in the south of Peru
in the Alta Plano (sp?) but I still had a chance to review quite a bit of
product and hear from several alpaca folks. Here is a picture of a
llama at Machu Pichu. No alpacas grazing there... just llamas.
More pictures to post soon!
7/5/07
Things are back to normal around here. Brad came and
did a vet check and kids and moms alike all checked out healthy and
thriving. I weight them each day and they are putting on a half pound
a day minimum like clockwork. Jonus is growing like crazy.
That's been the case with all of Fiona's cria - she always has a big baby
and she has tons of milk. So now I turn my attention to the task of
figuring out who they will rebreed to? Who is the luck herdsire?
7/2/07
Wow. What a weekend.
Willa Cather was born today. So I'm exhausted and going to bed. Suffice to say I am a very
grateful and fortunate gal with two beautiful new babies and two wonderful
healthy moms!
6/30/07
What a day. Tess is still overdue... by 10 days!
And let me tell you that baby in her is knockin on the door!
So what a surprise; Fiona gave birth one day early! She
had a robust 21.4 lb baby boy at 1pm on a gorgeous sunny day. You can
see more pictures here. His name is
Jonas Salk after the
famous Pittsburgh doctor. Jason and Matt were here to witness the event.
I had to help a little when (just like with her last year pregnancy) Jonas
got stuck behind his shoulders. I gently held his legs with a slight
downward pressure and Fiona immediately pulled away - she really used the
help! Jason put a towel under the area where he dropped (since it was
right over the poop pile, not the most preferred drop off point in the
world) and when he was out I gathered him up and brought him outside
into the sunshine to dry him off. Fiona is such a great mom! She
took over pretty much from there. He found his legs within an half
hour and nursed in the next half hour. Couple of dunks of the
imbilical cord into iodine and a quick weight and he is off and running in
this world. Thanks goodness that Fay and Jen were around. I
called them in the middle of the delivery and they are always such an anchor
of knowledge and support!
6/29/07
9 days overdue...
6/28/07
Okay, so we are 8 days overdue on Tessa and creeping up on
Fiona's due date of July 1. Yikes!
6/27/07
 Day 535. Very hot. She was in the barn alone in
front of the fans when I just went out. So I gave them all a belly
wash. All alpacas love this; you just squirt their bellies with cool
water. They jostle each other out of the way to get a refreshing under
shower. You have to be careful to not get it on their blanket because
it can create stifling insulation that keeps the heat in. But on the
belly it apparently feels really good! Particularly a pregnant belly
that is late giving birth!!!
6/26/07
Day 352. Universe is teaching me patience.
Heavens knows what it is teaching poor Tess. Very hot temperatures can't
make being so pregnant a comfortable thing!
6/25/07
Day 351. Can you believe it?
6/24/07
Day 350. Oh my gosh this is very difficult... the
waiting. It forces me into a monastic life style out here in this
beautiful world that normally is so enjoyable and now it feel a little like
a beautiful jail! To I am hoping that Tess and Mother Nature get it
together here and do their thing.
6/18/07
Day 345. Still watching.. If you would like to
experience the joy of being on "baby watch" simply spend your day staring at
this photo. That's what I look at every couple of minutes. You
can't see her, but Tess is inside staring out.
6/18/07
Baby watch. It's an elaborate waiting game. Tess
is in her 344th day. She has given birth at 341 and 347 in the past
two pregnancies. So we are in the thick of it. Lot's of getting
up and checking going on. Seeing if she is spending too much time on
the poop pile. Peering underneath to check her udder and teats which
are definitely dropping as they should. It's not much fun waiting...
but it's so much fun seeing the newborn!
6/15/07
Sarah was bought by Bob and Pam Moriarity in Jersey.
Sarah was my first ever baby so she has a special place in my heart.
Glad to know that she is going to such a good home. I met these folks
at an alpaca marketing seminar I gave at
Highland Alpaca.
5/27/07
The article on Darren (the shearer) came out in the PG.
Check it out!
5/24/07
My life mowing. Obsessing about mowing. Wondering
when I'll get the time to mow the outer meadows - a higher height than the
grass by the house. Mowing the alpaca pastures - no, they don't eat it
all down and you have to mow grass to help it grow. Weedwacking
the vineyard. Weedwacking the fenceline to make sure it doesn't ground
out the electric fence. Handmowing the 45 degree banks - now that's a
workout! Why so much mowing? Well, out here is a "culture of
mowing". Everybody does it. What isn't seeded and harvested is
mowed. And it discourages the critter population from creeping up and
assaulting the homefront - no cover for creeping! So I mow.
Sometimes this time of year it can up to 10 hours of mowing each week.
Thank god for a five foot mowing deck and the Massey Fergusen!
5/10/07
Shearing. What a hoot. So there were lots of
folks over -some to ogle the event, some bringing animals (Little
Brick Barn - John Gongos and Fay from
Highland Alpaca) neihbors
dropping by to watch and even the
Post Gazette (Annie O'Neill to photo and
Doug Oster to
write) to capture the whole circus! Darren Kennedy, the New Zealander
who has been here for the past three years is a marvelous shearer and a ton
of fun to be around. All went well, except for I sustained a nail
cutting injury that was just plain gross. Cut a 1/4 inch through my
finger.. right through the nail and out the other side. Thought I
could tough it out with hydrogen peroxide, Neosporin and a nice tight
wrap... but at 2am I drove my throbbing finger tearfully to the emergency
room where they fixed me right up. And the critters are happily cooler
in their new naked selves...
5/4/07
So I just spoke with Bill Shaddox of
Ozark Mountain Alpacas who now owns Honus Wagner. He reports that Honus
just won his first color championship at a show in Arkansas! Woohoo!
So proud of that guy! Here's a picture of spring on the farm - cherry tree's
last blooms in front. Time to shear - May 10th is the date.
Click here to see pictures of what a previous
shearing looked like..
4/23/07
3 hours of mowing. Yah, it's spring alright. So
why is it that the grass is growing everywhere except for the pastures?
Alpacas are gazing longingly at the little stubs of grass. I keep them
in the barn area on gravel for most of the day and then let them onto the
pastures for just a couple of hours. Necessary rotation to keep the
grass growing. Probably need to add another pasture to the rotation,
there are four now. Time to expand!
4/16/07
This morning was typical of the way most of my days begin.
Stumble out, trip over a dog or cat, let them out, get the coffee maker
started. Pull on assorted old and barn-dirty coat, hat, boots and
clump over the deck only to be confronted with the remains of Tommy's latest
evening hunts. Ugh. The universe is relentless out in the
country. Constant presence of little corpses from the kitty cats
contrast with the new blooms (or attempts, considering the chill weather) and
the emerging rich greens of spring. In the last month a deer that died
in the run has been an issue. My wonderful neighbor Billy helped move it out
of there and in the course of conversation he divulged his thoughts about a
bobcat in the hollow. A possum has forgotten that it's not nocturnal
and has been wandering around the vineyard. I love it all - the
earthiness of it. It's like an anchor of sorts. If I had stayed
in the city I wouldn't even have given any of it a thought. Not even
noticed it missing.
4/5/07
So we had some fabulous warm weather... then from a morning
that was almost at 70 degrees we plummeted to an evening in the 30's...
ouch! Good thing I got most of the pruning done. Still have the
bedding down in the barn. But the alpacas have been out happily
feasting on the new shoots in the last several weeks. Spring grass =
ice cream for alpacas!
3/30/07
It's official - Bill Shaddox of
Ozark Mountain Alpacas is now the proud owner of Honus Wagner. I am so glad it was Bill that purchased him.
It's hard enough to let any of them go, let alone such a handsome and award
winning dude like Honus. So to be
able to sell him to someone who I know, and who enjoys Honus as much as I do
is a real plus!
2/30/07
I love my alpacas, but I also am grateful for the other
critters that share my life. Who wouldn't love watching cats and dogs
curl up with each other? It's like the wolves laying down with the
sheep - such a ying and yang phenomena. This is Sophie and Moxie
curled up on a cold winter evening...
2/15/07
The big freeze. a 1/4 inch of ice on everything...
2/11/07
First big snow of the season... can you believe it?
February 11th and we are going to get wopped with a big one. It's been
the big chill lately with today being the first day in around two weeks with
the daytime temp above 25. Frozen poop - it's a blessing and a curse.
Some of it unfroze today. Reminds me that mud season is just around
the corner! Honus is going to the Texas show this weekend and John
heads to North Carolina the following weekend. The alpacas are getting
all the sun!
1/25/07
How quickly the new year comes and goes. My dear
Thunder and Fred are gone to their new home in
New Jersey. Lori Long, who attended one of the Alpaca Toolbox
workshops is their new mom and I know they are going
to get completely spoiled! Sarah and Sammy have gone back to
Highland Alpacas as Sarah is on
the sales list and Fay and Jen are much more capable of showing her to
potential owners. Honus is making his mark down south with
Bill Shaddox escorting him to the Oklahoma (another blue) Texas and St.
Louis shows. So it feels almost lonely with only six left here.
But I'm the only one who seems to care as the critters are just fine about
it! Here's a picture of Sammy right before he left...
Click here for 2006
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