Another update

Sorry folks! Still no pictures to show off.

I am super busy getting product made for the Blueberry festival in three weeks as well as preparing some tapestry samplers and frame looms for the workshop I am putting on at this year's Boreal Mixed Media Jam. There will definitely be a few picture posts made in September once all the manic panic dies down.

Things are happy in Murphy land. He is now out in the pasture with his mum and all the rest of the alpacas, and I have stopped trying to force him to take the bottle. He is gaining weight and growing softer and fluffier by the minute. I will try to get over to the pasture to take some photos now that we finally have some more batteries in this house!

I have been picking Saskatoon berries like crazy out here. They are just dripping off the branches and hanging in clusters like grapes. Some of them are as big and purple as blueberries. It's bowlfuls of happiness. :)

Also we just finished making about 140 lbs of sausage with homegrown beef garlic, salt and pepper. Pops in law even smoked some of it and I haven't had a chance to try it yet but I hear it's super good. September with be time to butcher chickens. Yick. My favorite time of year. Plus we'll have to start thinking about what to do with all the produce from the garden. I don't really know where we are going to come up with all this freezer space!

Anyway, August is a busy month so I may not get around to making a post again until Sept rolls around, but in the meantime I wish everyone a fantastic summer.

Cheers n Beers!
JQ

Quick Pictureless Update...

Hey folks!

Well I went outside this morning to take a few pictures of Murphy and the two yearlings, Remington and Marlo, and just as I was heading in to post them my batteries died! I will have to pick up some more in town tomorrow and make a second post later in the week. I am really bummed out about it, because I got myself all gung-ho to spend the morning uploading photos (it takes quite awhile for me to post a picture update with these dial-up blues). Oh well!

Murphy has had some gashes on his front legs for the past three weeks, and it has been a real gong show trying to get them healed up, but finally, with the help of some antibiotics he is on the mend (we hope). He keeps itching at the wounds with his teeth and his hind claws, so they are constantly re-opening. Otherwise, he is still spunky and healthy. I have a ton of trouble getting him to take the bottle, which to me means that he is obviously not hungry enough. He doesn't show any signs of dehydration, and he is voiding regularly. I feed him only once a day, if I can catch him! He just turned one month old on Friday and already he is grazing and drinking water. Every time I go out to peek at him he has a huge clover flower hanging out the side of his mouth.
:)

That's all the news I will post for now. I'll try to get those pictures up pronto.
Hearts off the charts,
JQ

Murphy's Law!

So Honey was due on the 2^nd of June and I have been pacing my house and peering out my window every half hour until 2pm each day, waiting for her to pop out a little cria. I was beginning to think she really wasn’t pregnant even though I could have sworn I saw something kicking at her sides around the 3^rd.

Because Honey doesn’t make enough milk, I was worried about the baby getting a healthy start and was bent on getting out there ASAP and feeding it some colostrum and shooting in some vitamins etc. Of course this meant that one or the other of us had to be home at all times prior to 4pm each day.

Well it happens that Hubby and I had to go in to court as witnesses today, which meant that we were leaving Honey alone for at least three to four hours. I had been stewing about it saying things like “That would be just our luck” and “She’ll have it while we are in court, just because we are both gone.”

Uh huh.

So we got back from court around 1pm and, lo and behold, there was a tiny little head poking up in one corner of the pen. It was BROWN!

He is healthy and strong so far, and has bonded with Honey. They croon back and forth to each other and she makes little clucking sounds at him when he gets too far away or when he is trying to suckle. It sounds like an encouragement. He was already dry and fluffy when we got back, which meant that she likely had him just after we left. But I am a happy camper because he is so beautiful, healthy and soft and brown too! I am doing the happy dance because I have a brown alpaca of my very own!

Because of the nature of his arrival, my mom suggested calling him Murphy (Murphy’s law) and then my mother in law speculated that Murphy Brown was the name of a sitcom TV show. I thought that was amusing, and although it was the name of a girl in the sitcom, I have decided that this little cria be dubbed Murphy Brown.

Here are some pictures...

Murphy as we found him:

Murphy with Mum:

Lunch time:

This is an old picture of Murph's Dad, Choco:


And lastly... I hold muh Murph:


Ooooooh soooo cute! I love him!

Okay! Back to my lawn chair to watch them while I knit baby toques for the Blueberry festival!
Hearts off the Charts.
JQ