Can't resist the 'Paca Pics

I had to take more pictures of my little alpaca buddies. I tried to take close up pictures of each of them but some were more cooperative than others. It is a little difficult getting good pictures of them while they are eating but I also thought it made for some pretty funny expressions on their faces.

Breakfast!!!

It has been interesting to see their different personalities over this past week. I think I've figured out the alpaca hierarchy of my little herd. It seems that Huxley is head honcho, followed by Tobi, Chaucer, and Blaze. Tobi and Blaze are the  younger two and they tend to get into some battles with each other. I find it funny that my goat, Wetherby, has taken it upon himself to act as referee when those two get into fights. The couple of times when Blaze and Tobi have started fighting, Wetherby walked up and head butted them until they broke it up. Then he just walked away. I guess he likes to keep the peace in his pasture.

Tobi needs to learn to chew with his mouth closed!

Huxley has a nice swoop of hair.

Blaze is very expressive.

Chaucer wasn't so excited about having his picture taken.

Farm Lessons

Farm Lesson #1:

Don't forget to take the egg out of your coat pocket lest the dog jump up on you and break it in said pocket. 

Life in the Trenches

Once we had our trenches dug for the electric and water lines, the kids had fun playing in those trenches while Mommy and Daddy spent a lot of time and effort filling those trenches back in with dirt. Most of the week, I filled in the trenches while the girls napped. Sometimes I also shoveled dirt while the girls were playing outside. We were under a bit of pressure since the weather was turning cold and the ground was starting to freeze, which made the process much more difficult! But we really didn't want our brand new water lines freezing up! We finished up just in time, with a little help from our neighbor and his tractor. That same night, we got about three inches of snow. Now, instead of a huge trench, we now have a large ridge line. I'm not sure what's better. But at least I now have electricity and water at my barn!

Even the chickens and cats enjoyed playing in the trenches!

'Paca Pics

If you don't like alpacas, then you won't like this post. I happen to think they are adorable. And so fluffy! Don't forget the fluffy! Some people post pictures of their cats or dogs. I post pictures of my alpacas! Well, I guess I also share pictures of my dogs and cats, too. And my goats. And my chickens. And random wild animals. These pictures are just from my cell phone. Soon I hope to use my nice camera to get some really nice photos but for now, these will have to do.

So far the alpacas seem to be doing well in their new home. They are already getting used to me and I was able to pet a couple of them this morning. Did I mention they are very fluffy!? Unfortunately, my goats have turned out to be a couple of bullies and they sometimes try to scare off the alpacas. I think they just want my attention (or any treats I have) to themselves. Kinda makes it difficult to try and befriend the alpacas when the goats keep chasing them away from me. It has also made feeding time somewhat problematic. I've been learning to distract the goats first with their food so I can let the alpacas eat theirs. We'll get this figured out yet!

Alpacas!!!

 Our alpacas finally arrived today! How does one have alpacas delivered when you do not have a trailer to haul them in, you might ask? By minivan, of course!

Tobi is waiting patiently for Blaze to get out of the car.

They weren't so sure about going into their new pasture.

They were happy to have grass!

Still eating...

Blaze just noticed the goats in another part of the pasture.

 

 

Tobi now noticed the goats.

 

The youngest two alpacas showed up first and I was able to get some pictures of their arrival. The other two alpacas, Beau and Bisque, came after it was too dark to get pictures. I will share pictures of them later. So far, they don't seem to mind the goats. Tobi first approached the goats and as he sniffed their noses, he got scared and took off running. The goats took off the other way. It was pretty funny. Now they seem to be interested in just ignoring each other. Should be interesting to see what tomorrow brings!

Diggers

This Fall, the thought of winter scared me. For most of the summer, I used a LONG hose to supply my critters with water. Occasionally, I also had to haul water with buckets and water is fairly heavy. I dreaded the thought of trying to carry buckets of water down the hill and through the snow for my nineteen barn-dwelling critters. So I made my husband get me some water down to the barn. I also demanded electricity to the shop so he could do wood-working all winter. Okay, so maybe these things would be beneficial to him, too, so he readily agreed.

I was nice enough to not make him do all the work at least. We actually hired someone to do the plumbing and the electrical. So one day we arrived home to find giant diggers (as my girls call them) in our yard. The work was about to begin! We had fun watching them dig a huge trench from behind our house down to the barn. The trench was six feet deep and dirt mounded along either side. Getting to the barn became much more challenging and I was now without power in my barn since those lines were cut. But I knew it would be worth the temporary challenge so I could have water nearby.

We had fun watching all the digging going on!