A visit to Lavender Park

Yesterday I visited my friend Ruth King of Lavender Park Alpacas.  Had a lovely time meeting and cuddling the crias and meeting the mums.  This is the lovely Jaelea:

And this is Ruth with the delightful Zena, who not only has an excellent fleece, but also a gorgeous temperament.  Could have taken her home, no worries, but apparently that's true of everyone who has met her.... but she's NFS!

Babies, Oliver left (first cria for our boy LP Ezariah) and the very promising Zanthe right.

Oliver with milky moustache:

I was very pleased this one already had a halter fitted, because catch and hold could have been tricky!

Ruth's garden was looking wonderful, flowers and lushness everywhere :)  The aquilegas were stunning, masses of blooms:

And the dahlias flashy:

But the roses were the show stoppers, just fantastic, from big blousey doubles to the old fashioned singles:

Rookie Mistake

As we got close to shearing day I realised that I hadn't got around to putting ear tags in my little black girls, but thought I'd leave it till after shearing in case they got knocked and thus hurt, while they were on the table.  But now.... I have 4 little black weanlings who all look quite similar.  I am sure about Scarlett and Nefertiti, but I will have to line Chianti and Jumanji up against each other and see if I can figure out which is which!!

This is definitely Scarlett (Cushla x Alba):

And this is definitely Nefertiti (Black Narcissus x Alba):

But which of these is Chianti (Colette x Callisto) and which is Jumanji (Joeley x Alba)?  Any guesses Ruth King?  I'm thinking the top one is Chianti and the bottom one Jumanji??

3 Weeks Later, My Computer is Back - Lots to Catch up with :)

My computer is finally home after its trip to the repair shop, just don't get me started on the unreliability of Macs in general and their graphics cards in particular!!  Lots of people are just getting along on their old PCs... there is no such thing as an old Mac.... nuff said!!

Let's start with our newest grandchild, Scarlett-Rose, here she is on April 6th, getting ready to go out shopping with Freya's friends, while Freya is shouted a hot rock massage :)

With mum, Freya:

And here she is a week later (April 13) having a cuddle with me :)  She's a month old in this pic.

And last week, (April 20) showing off her new trick of trying to stand!!

Back at the farm our newest arrival is a medium brown male cria for MidSummer, he is a big cria and required some help to make it into the world.  At first MidSummer was not certain she wanted my help, even though it was plain she needed it, thankfully she acquiesced after a little while and he was safely delivered.

We've called him Mad Hatter :)

My journey to collect new bugs Lla Traviata and Red Riding Hood meant travelling down the back roads to Dalton, on the way I found some interesting sculptures:

Then found the letterbox:

Across the road from the letterbox:

And on the other side of the driveway from the letterbox:

And further down the driveway:

Many thanks to Ruth King of Lavender Park Alpacas for her astute observation that Jade's symptoms may represent a vitamin B1 deficiency.  The vets agreed, but didn't have any B1 in stock - Ruth did, for which I am forever grateful.  Jade's sight has been restored after 7 days of treatment and she is now a fully functioning member of the 'gang'.  She and mum Trinket are about to make front page of the Crookwell Veterinary Hospital Newsletter :)   Will post a link when its published.  On my way to collect the 'stuff' for Jade I stopped to photograph Peter King's fab Highland cows - the calf is just too cute!!

Enjoyed a trip to Accapacca Lodge to collect a new boy, Accapacca Mandrake, a dark fawn boy with lots of style - pics soon.  On my visit I also spent some time with the Accapacca studs, a small selection shown here, but including the distinctively marked A. Grey Minstrel:

Also got to visit with Murumbung Paris and her son Pierre who will shortly be joining the Maison Mauve team:

They weren't very keen to come closer, but Jim managed to catch Pierre so I could have a proper look at him, on a scale of zero to cute... he's cute!!

 You can tell that Jim is justly proud of the little guy, he is a Callisto son and looks like he'll have a very nice fleece :)

We have chosen Grey Minstrel to be the sire of Paris' next cria - fingers crossed for a grey girl :)

My friend Shayne has indulged me with a very good deal whereby I keep her 2 lovely boys Tarquinn and Tikal, in llama lollies for a considerable period of time in exchange for these fantastic art deco club chairs for my reading nook, hopefully its a win/win!  Cant wait to have them installed :)

And lastly, in the yards today, darling Lucien, with his 'who me?' look:

Aymara, filling out and looking happy :)

Bentley, who will be leaving us at the end of next month for his new home:

Yep, definitely a stunner!!

Bentley is going to a very good home, and while I'm sure he'll be happy there, he will undoubtedly miss his pal Lucien - they are as thick as thieves!!

In the home paddock the crias are growing up, still looking gorgeous is Collette's daughter, Chianti:

 Growing well, Joeley's daughter Jumanji:

New bug Lla Traviata, a very laid back girl with lovely markings and a friendly disposition.

Misty was enjoying the sun this morning, and in no mood to leave in a hurry.  She'd just like her llama lollies delivered please!!

Namoi's cria is looking good and gets richer and richer in colour, delightful.

Noisette, attracting more attention from the young boys than she'd Iike I expect - they are all over her like a rash at present!!

Another recent arrival, Red Riding Hood, is a lovely BIG TALL girl, but a little bit shy.  She is settling in well and we are getting to know each other.