Carter has a Rubbish Day, Kiki, Sunsets and Cria Updates

Yesterday Carter had a day that was absolutely pants, vet Will Lucas from Crookwell Veterinary Hospital and vet student Jock made a farm visit to check out the progress on Carter's corneal laceration.  Unfortunately what they found was that it had progressed to a melting ulcer and the eye needed to be removed.... erky perky.  They had the devil's own job getting Carter to succumb to the IM anaesthetic and eventually added some IV drugs and still nothing... Carter was literally asleep on his feet and refused to go down.  We decided to secure his head to the yard railing and go from there with a bucket load of local anaesthesia, just as the grizzly op got under way, Carter collapsed!!  Rush to undo the ropes and let his head go down with him, and he was in a gate way... open said gate and have to move Totem away... again!!  I absented myself while Will and Jock got on with the job - too much for me!!  Today he is looking OK... although not so much from his side!!  He is getting around OK, and has his appetite back, so we are hoping for a good recovery.  He is now a Pirate Pete llama!!

Cumberbatch is growing up, he is a lovely looking cria, and very much a llama in his head.

You can see that he is quickly catching up to mum, Wia, in size.

Wia is supposed to be pregnant, so I wasn't so pleased to see this conversation between her and Mandrake, however nano seconds later it deteriorated into a spitting match... all good!!

Paris and Pierre are now well integrated into the group and thriving :)  They both learnt the morning drill very quickly and are at the front of the queue each morning to leave their paddock and head into the yards for muesli!!

Winter sunsets are spectacular, this one on May 28th was no exception.

Kiki and her favourite toy - Mr Ted.  Kiki is seen here, with Mr Ted, doing the famous 'do-it-yourself belly rub', this involves lying on the carpet and pulling yourself along with your front legs.... with or without Mr Ted!!

The Garden and the Boys

Not much flowering at present, a very late agapanthus, some May = Mothers Day = Chrysanthemums and some very early jonquils!!  Very grateful for a few splashes of colour!!

Carter and Totem are doing a stint in the driveway/Jennie Craig paddock.  Carter is learning to cope with life, with sight in one eye only after an accident a couple of weeks ago.  We've had to clean it up twice and give him antibiotic injections, but it seems to be healing OK.

Totem with his best 'did you bring treats?' look!

He's a very handsome boy as you can see from this very hard to obtain profile shot!

Bentley, Paris, Pierre, Rhys, Totem, Jade and the Crias in General

Yesterday I visited Jim and Connie at Accapacca Lodge to deliver Bentley to his new home.  Connie was very excited to welcome him and Bentley seemed to settle quickly and I was very pleased and yes, a bit proud, of how well he behaved especially when walking on the lead to his new paddock, which included a step down and of course, unfamiliar surroundings.  Enjoyed a delicious lunch, cooked by Connie, and then loaded new bugs Paris and her son Pierre for the trip home.

It was easy to tell that Bentley will enjoy life in his new home :) and I know he'll bring a lot of joy.

This pic of Paris and Pierre taken today, they are settling in very well and enjoying the company of new friends.

Pierre:

All the crias are doing well, and are very inquisitive, following me, following them around the paddock!  LOL!!

Jade is growing well, and filling out, she is a very solid little cria now:

Her best bud Rhys is also doing well:

Totem - no show without Punch!!:

Scarlett Rose, New Fence, Llama and Alpaca Updates

On Sunday I went to Canberra to visit Scarlett Rose, she was bright, happy, alert, chatty and all smiles :)

But there must be something about city air... because all I had was one cup of tea and honestly, you'd think I'd been on the sauce for a week!!

Even Scarlett was not immune! and she didn't even have one cup of tea!!

Very excited about the new fence being installed:

And even more so about it being finished :)

Anybody wandering about in the paddock is in need of investigation, apparently... or at least Noisette and Misty think so:

This is our new alpaca boy, Accapacca Mandrake, he Alba and Bracken are enjoying their new and very lush paddock, plus they have more room to move about, they spend quite a bit of time wrestling and sparring, and while Mandrake was a very clean and good looking animal when he arrived, you have to look a lot harder at him now as he is almost always filthy!!

Trinket's wound is all healed up now and she and the other mum with young bubs are also enjoying a lush new paddock.

Jemma, on the other hand, is still waiting to become a mother again.... and we are all growing a bit impatient, she was due on the 18th of last month, day 367 today... come on!!

Lucien is thriving and shares his mum Orchid's love of llama lollies... though he prefers the little ones, but like his mum he is very particular about which other animals have taken treats from my hand before him.... if it was Jay Jay or Michelle, he won't touch them!!

Scarlett - Rose, the Garden, Llamas at Nowra and Minto the Wonder Dog

Not so much colour in the garden at present, so I am pleased to have these little perennials that pop up and perform every year:

And even though if you asked me I'd say I'm not a fan of geraniums, these guys are adding a welcome splash of colour:

Even the leaves are looking good:

In the veggie patch we are preparing to havest the Marina de Chioggio pumpkins :)

A trip to Nowra on the weekend, Minto's time is nearly up.  Here is getting comfy on the couch with her huge baby bulge!!

Xena, the one winged rescue goose, continues to care for and very robustly protect her adopted family of Call ducklings

Equally vigilant and protective is this tag team of Muscovey mums with 'their' ducklings:

Another stay with Shayne and Brad meant that I also got to catch up with Tikal and Tarquinn.  Tikal is doing so well,and filling out nicely, he was first to front up at the fence in the hope of 'treats'.

Tarquinn is ever the handsome lad:

Cambewarra Mountain road was closed for roadworks, so I headed off for Canberra via Nerriga.  The Oallen Ford crossing was following swiftly and looking very picturesque.

In Canberra I was greeted by Rocky, Dan's dog, he looks quite fierce, but is very friendly and obedient.

Got to spend time with Freya and Scarlett-Rose who is much more animated and smiling like crazy - except when I get the camera out!!

A full on photo sesh is very tiring... going going ....

Gone.....

But earlier: