Garden in Crisis

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We have made a start on the garden at the back of the house.  Mike designed the stone garden using rocks found on the farm.  We are trying to create an attractive jungle with areas of  more common plants.

I went to the garden centre yesterday armed with some vouchers we had been given as presents, one dating back to 2008, which luckily they accepted.  I bought rockery plants to go behind and between the bamboo, whilst it is growing up, some herbs including Mint, Ladies Mantle, Lavender and Thyme and some Agapantha and Mombresia.  Previously we went to a nursery called "Desert to Jungle" and bought Bamboo, Fatsia (not sure if that is how you spell it) and some other jungle plants.   We will also be transplanting our Honeysuckle, Hydranger, and some other shrubs from the area which used to be the garden when we had behind  the log cabin.

A day in the life of........

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Jax, my son's dog, is staying with us for a few weeks while the rest of the family are on holiday in their French holiday home.   She is a retired working sheepdog (David used to have a small flock) and so when she comes here she likes to organise the alpacas.   To start with she was moving them around so much that I decided to move them to a different paddock so that they were not disturbed.

They are now back free-ranging and Jax, for the most part, leaves them alone, but it seems she cannot resist the temptation to tidy them up at least once a day.

The cria are getting more independant day by day.   The love taking the high ground of the earth mound outside the barn.

It is also a great suntrap for them.

Fleeced

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Mike is now on the waiting list for a double heart bypass and replacement mitral valve.  He is glad in many ways as he is beginning to feel short of breath and tires easily.

I have sold the Gotland sheep and they have gone to two very good homes, I believe.   Apart from cutting their toe nails, when I need someone to hold them, I can carry out most husbandry on the alpacas myself, whereas I needed help with the sheep.

I have 3 x 2k bags of fleece available to hand spinners at £18 per bag..   All our alpaca fleece has either been sold or gone to the mill for spinning.

Fleeced

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I am just coming to the end of sorting the alpaca fleece from shearing at the end of May.  Despite having a much reduced herd the yield has been very good.  When we sold off part of the herd we kept the youngest and best and this is beginning to pay dividends.

Annie, my favourite cria from last year (pictured on our website as a baby) has produced the most amazing fleece but sadly she managed to get lots of vegetation in it.   This needs to be cleaned or the fleece discarded as the mill cannot spin contaminated fleece.   Their machines will only  remove a certain amount of vegetation.  The time I spent cleaning her fleece was not cost effective, but there is nothing more pleasing than what is called a "baby" fleece i.e. the first fleece from a young alpaca.  The finished article is a bag of almost clean fleece which is a lovely fine light fawn and has lots of crimp.

The job is also very dusty so I try to do it at the end of the day so I can jump in the shower straight away.  Only two bags to go and next week it will be ready to send off for spinning.

Teaching the children in the garden

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So this is how the next generation of alpacas learn where to find the best grass and how to prune hedges and shrubs - at mother's knee.

 All the cria seem to be thriving.  They are growing fast and getting very lively - chasing each other round the paddocks and up and over mounds.

I have been taking advantage of the good weather to bath all my dogs, except old Millie - it really would not be fair to expect a 15 year old to take a cold shower.  I have suggested to Mike that we have a bath and electric shower in dog room but am still waiting for an answer!!!

Keeping cool dogs

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The weather has been lovely today but rather hot for the animals.   The alpacas have been rolling around in dried mud areas and making them into dust baths.  Unfortunately they tend to stop rolling when I approach with the camera.

The dogs, on the other hand, have no such inhibitions and Mike took these photos of them helping me to fill the water trough outside the barn.

Diggerman strikes again

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Mike is finding lots to do with his digger these days.  He and Nick (when he is working here) are clearing the boundaries and digging out the ditches and Mike has also started on the sunken garden at the back of the house.

He assures me that it is not hard work, although he is quite tired by the end of the day. 

We now have quite a flock of sheep but I have decided that, fun though they are, they are not really for me and they are up for sale.  We had 4 ewes and they had 4 ewe lambs and 4 ram lambs between them. 

I am really enjoying the alpacas again and after downsizing we now have a lovely young herd and so far 5 cria this year, so it will not take long to get back to a commercial quantity.   We downsized partly to help finance the barn conversion and also because of Mike's health and our age, but hey, we have to graze the land (too much for the lawn-mower) and we do not fancy renting it out and having to worry about the dogs and giving access to a tenant all the time.