Alpaca Boys, Scarlett Rose, Goulburn Auction and Orphaned Lambs

At present it is really hard to get any work at all done because I am raising 2 orphaned lambs, Pete and Dud.  Pete is doing well and loves his food, guzzles the bottle down with gusto, but Dud managed to steal a few half feeds from a ewe and having tasted real milk, he's not keen on my powdered replacement!!  He's still deciding whether to hang in there and live or give up and die.  I have been force feeding him and he's getting better, keep your fingers crossed for him.

Skinny is not looking too flash at the moment, his dilated pupils are a give-away that an asthma attack is imminent!

The Goulburn Poultry Auction was on again on Sunday, a speccy peacock who needed 3 cages because of his full train, a couple of nice polish hens and a few other good lookers, but managed to keep my hands in my pockets.

Went looking at alpaca boys, went with the intention of 'liking' Dusty a lovely rose grey male... but foolishly also looked at Sampson, a black with an excellent fleece... decided on Sampson!!

Dusty:

Dusty's fleece, hip, mid side and shoulder:

Jim with Sampson:

And his fleece shots, again hip, mid side and shoulder:

Also met Romeo who is a lovely boy:

Got to meet Porsche and her son Ferrari, and also catch up with Bentley :)  Bentley and Ferrari are good buds :)

The lovely Porsche:

Lunch with Freya and Shayne at the Astor in Goulburn was fun, and delicious, and then on to Canberra to visit Scarlett Rose... she had just woken up when these photos were taken, a bit mean, but time was a-tickin'.

Llamas, Cats, Dogs and Llama Association AGM

Its been a little while.... so we're due for a bit of a catch up.  Unfortunately I forgot to take my camera with me last weekend when I took Ruby back to visit her mother and sister.  She seemed a little reluctant to play at first, but soon decided to get involved.  She had a fun time and totally wore herself out.  She slept all the way home in the car, AND all through my visit with Scarlett Rose, no pics of that either - next week!!

But there are some pics of the Llama Association (NSW/ACT Branch) AGM.  First we had llama play at Glynda's place, where we practised some handlings skills and got some practical advice on training llamas :)  We had a lot of cute crias to play with, as well as some older bigger/trickier animals.

Jennie was attempting to explain to us, and then show us how to help a llama that doesn't want to be handled/around people in a pen full of llamas, when this one decided that far from pretending not to like people she'd show us how very keen she was to interact :)

Afterwards we all went to Gundaroo for a delicious lunch at the pub :)

You know its cold when..... all four animals are on the same mat in front of the fire!!

Seconds later the blissful scene came to an end when Kiki got too close to Fatty and WWIII broke out!!  Winners and custodians of the mat were the dogs!!

One of Ruby's favourite places to sleep is in Kiki's cage!!

Ruby's ears are coming up.... one at a time!!

This is Red Riding Hood - believe it or not!! - although round here she's more commonly known as Ms Hood.  We are very much hoping that this very round belly is because she is going to produce a cria in the next month and a half to 2 months time ... if not, she better spend some time in the Jenny Craig paddock!!

Orchid, always worth a picture :)

Waterlilies and Hot Weather Cats

Last year the water lilies didn't flower - the leaves are a bit small and they are probably light on for nutrients… need to fix that… but this year we've got one small but perfectly formed bloom.

The cats are flat out coping with the heat wave, Skinny would like to travel to cooler climates…

And Fatty is watching TV shows about the ice polar caps…. don't change the channel… I was watching that!!  LOL!!

Cria updates, Christmas and Kiki!

After a brekky of muesli, its mostly time for everyone at the mothers club meeting to have a rest in the shade.  Sweet Pea is a ring-in, but she is very much enjoying the role of 'auntie'.

Bentley is growing up very nicely, getting bigger before our very eyes!!  He's doing well in his afternoon training sessions too, and has had a halter on twice now… doesn't like it so much, but its a start!  He's an absolute stunner!!

Taking a dust bath

 The alpaca crias are also doing well, Tiana with T Rex

Vynka with Victor Hugo

Michelle with Bentley - Bentley is into 'tasting' everything, the fence, the food bowls… pretty much everything!!

Skinny enjoying the morning sunshine - its making fab patterns, from the Chrissy decs, on the wall!

Kiki is not keen on a small water bowl from which she can lap some water when she's thirsty… her favourite is a bowl that's big enough to stand in and bite some water!!  And then to finish off, wet footprints all through the house if she can get away with it!!