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

Funny lookin bunch...

Well here are some pictures of the defluffed alpacas. They are all legs and necks. It's awesome and it makes me chuckle over my morning coffee every day. Fluffy is the most curious one. If there is a head in the immediate foreground, chances are its Fluffy.

Group shot! Got four out of five. On the left is Chantal, then MacFluff, then Airo, and Thunder behind him.



Oh Fluffy. MacFluff. He's all like "mmmchop?


"mmmmmmchopchop?"



This one below is Honey. She stands so dainty compared to the others. We are currently unsure as to her pregnancy. Apparently she has fooled the previous owners every time. Last time the lady had just mentioned to her husband that they should do a preg check on her cause she couldn't feel a baby in her belly, and the next day she popped out a little cria. So we are going to be prepared for it. She'll be due near the end of June.



And my silly muttski just can't stand it when I pay too much attention to the Alpacas, so today when I was taking the photos he made a big fuss, whining and groaning and showing me his belly, until I finally gave him some TLC.



Here is a shot of the juice mix dye work that I got up to after shearing last week. I like it because its quick and easy. I purposefully made the dyes weaker so that I could get some baby colors. Remember, I am gonna be an auntie in November!



Also, I got two books in the mail from Amazon the other day. One of them is about start to finish spinning, and I have already gleaned a ton of info out of it, just from scanning the pages. For instance I found out that I can use some local plant life as blending fibre, like cattail fluff, and thistle down. I CAN'T wait to collect some! I think I'll have to wait until fall for both.

Okay well that's it for now! Scroll down to see my tapestry cartoons...
Hearts off the charts,
JQ