The Garden in Bloom and a Trip to Sydney

The garden is ablaze with colour at the moment, and the orchard is waist deep in flowers!!

These are pear blossoms:

These are Nashi pear blossoms:

Bless it the flowering quince is having another go at blossoms after the crimson rosellas stripped it of its first flush.

The wisterias are also in bloom, the blue in the more usual flowers first and then the leaves:

And the pink in 'everything all at once' mode:

Whenever we are outside Morse wants to know what we're doing??

Yesterday we drove to Sydney to deliver Yoo Yoo and Jesse to their new home with Liz and Tori.  Their block is quite steep and backs onto a reserve, perfect for alpacas and the boys settled in quickly to their new surrounds while we enjoyed a delicious lunch before our homeward journey.

We also got to meet the delightful Cricket :

Who also comes in a lumpy mat version:

And dear little Scooter, who bears more than a passing resemblance to a meerkat!

Boys gettting prepped for their new home and New Roo

Jesse and Yoo Yoo (previously known as the Jester and Yuri) had an important appointment today, 10:30am shearing with Jason at Crookwell, in preparation for delivery to their new Sydney home on Sunday.  Yoo Yoo's day started badly, he arrived for breakfast this morning with about 1.5m of barbed wire tangled around his legs and chest, not a good look!!  It took Eddy and I about 20 minutes to free him of this dangerous hobble.  I think he was very tired because it must have been hard to find a comfortable way to sleep with all this metal in the undercarriage section!!

No sooner had he had brekky and a nap than we bundled him and Jesse into the trailer for the trip.  Neither of them walked happily to the shearing table, and any on-looker would have described the gait as 'dragged' rather than led!!  None-the-less the job was soon done and they were bundled back into the trailer for the trip home.

They look quite different without their fleece!!  Phoebe is a full time photobomber!!

 While everyone else decided to run, Phoebe thought it would be prudent to check for the presence of treats before committing to exercise!!

And Casper is a full time scene stealer!!  Such a cutie, even though he is proving resistant to halter training thus far!!

 We have a new roo!!  Needs a name (no pressure Al!) I dont know why I think he'll be more successful than the last, who was a perfectly good roo before he arrived here and started drinking bromide laced tea.  Hopefully this guy will abstain from tea and partake of sex!!  I want some silkie chicks!!  He is a nice size, good stance, good leg feathering, including middle toe, but yes comb and wattles are mulberry rather than black, perfect roo hasnt been bred yet!

Bubbas, now and in the future

Casper and Nanook are growing up nicely, as is Missy Moo.  She is the youngest, but is nearly the tallest, though not the heaviest, but she's got the meanest temper and will not tolerate the boys trying to push her around!!  Casper is sweet and gentle like his mother, Nanook is larger and very curious, very people friendly like his mother.

Casper:

Nanook:

 Missy Moo in the background, her mother Myriah in the foreground.  Myriah's mother is a suri, and although Myriah is a huacaya her hairstyle and neck fleece have definite suri 'influences'!!

Up at the road paddock I keep talking myself in and out of Tiana Rose being pregnant, her friend Vynka is due the same day and is looking very nicely rotund, but some days I can talk myself out of Tiana being pregnant at all... time will tell.

Tiana Rose:

Vynka Lee:

Took these pics of Collette today in order to show you how much like Alba she looks, but unhappily my camera battery went flat before I got to the boys paddock!!

Collette's signature look is very much deer in the headlights!!

Also up at the road paddock and in the pink is Jemma, still very keen on her brekky being delivered on time and with a side of more brekky!!

Dont be fooled by Misty's soft as marshmallow looks, she's very much in charge of herself and anybody else who'll stand still.  She and Noisette have been teasing the boys mercilessly, getting these girls through to breeding age without boys jumping fences will be a difficult job!  And they are definitely working against me!!

Old friends The Jester and Noisette, before Yuri and Misty arrived they were inseparable, but now they are not so often together, still get along well though :)  Both dominated by their more forward pals Yuri and Misty.

 Yuri, on the 'for sale' list - please see www.maisonmauve.com.au (shortly) for details.  Colour?  Technically white, but more accurately 'also comes in white'!!  LOL!!  Needs his toenails trimmed, down for a pedicure on Sunday!!  Doing well in lead and halter class, nice fleece for home spinner.

After the fog, out came the sun

This morning began with a thick fog, which cleared to beautiful clear sunshine.

Lead and halter class this morning went well :)  The Jester is still the star pupil, once his circuit is complete he likes to rest his chin on the rail while I remove the halter - very cute!

Yuri probably has the furthest to go to be fully trained.  The rain last week has given him a distinctly grubby appearance!

Misty only likes to participate under her own rules, but this morning, after an email from the hugely talented Marj, I went back to the beginning with Misty and got good results :)

Noisette looks quite fetching her in halter, and she getting much better about having it put on, but she doesnt like you to use it to lead her around... not part of her plan, improving slowly, but still a way to go!

Up at yards Azzura is looking well and happy.

There's a bit of dithering going on, Trinket and co have headed off, but there is a big gang of stragglers!!

Jemma, doing well in the road paddock even though there arent treats for breakfast, lunch and tea!!

Michelle is doing well too, she doesnt look very round or fat, so while I'm hoping she's pregnant, I'm not expecting it!!

Midsummer - in mid winter!!

The fawn girls, Midsummer, Yolanda (at the back), Nellie Melba (middle front) and Medallion (Midsummer's look-a-like!), I've been doing a little research and I think they'll all be going to our grey boy Bracken next season in the hope of black cria!!  This time round Nellie and Yolanda have been mated to whites, and Medallion and Midsummer have been mated to our black boy, Alba - roll on 2014!!

Orchid, demonstrating the economy size 'sulk'!!  LOL!!  Not sure who she had the argument with, but they definitely won!!

Pearl, looking gorgeous, even with dust on her nose!!

More milling of stragglers!

This is Vynka, she's not black, but I am very fond of her, she is a gentle soul and very friendly, especially if you might have llama lollies in your pocket.  Vynka and Tiana Rose (front left in the above photo) are both due to pop in November, so 2013 is not without merit!!  LOL!!

Back in the home paddock, Cushla seemed to be in need of some of the cooling effects that can be achieved by dipping  your feet in the water trough.  Even though the sun was shining I cannot believe this was warranted even for a black alpaca - surely you cant over heat when the temperature is still in single figures Cushie?

Cushla's son Casper, who is a little sweetie, very calm and quiet like his mother.

 Missy Moo and her mum, Myriah enjoying an intimate moment, which is really nice to see as mostly Myriah seems a bit over the mothering thing!

Kids in the sun, Missy Moo, Nanook and Casper

 Nanook is very curious and seems endlessly fancinated by the camera.  He has a dark wishbone of colour across his nose, a nod to his black mother?  He's going to be quite a big lad, like her, and is enjoying life and the general rough and tumble of home paddock life.