Aymara's Cria and a Visit from Scarlett

After several false starts last week, Aymara came up with the goods yesterday.  A fantastic little female cria, Dad is Carter who was killed by his paddock pal, Totem, last month.   Carter and Totem had been together for 4 years without an incident, so we were all pretty shocked by the first major argument resulting in a fatality.  It is lovely to have something to remember Carter by, and she looks very like him.

Later in the afternoon Scarlett came to visit, she and the newly named Bumble Bee seemed to hit it off immediately :)

The day did not end well, very unexpectedly we lost Sevanna's cria.  Not sure what went wrong there, only 2 days old, very distressing, especially for Sevanna :(

Big Bellies

There are some big bellies out there!!  We've had one little blue black female alpaca so far this season - good start - but I am looking forward to things really getting under way .... soon!!

Some of the biggest bellies are on the maiden llamas:

Aymara:

Chaska:

Kantu:

And biggest belly of all, Noisette!!

Sunshine, Sun Dragons and Sleeping

Beautiful sunny days at the moment, and cool nights, good for sleeping... but I'd rather TC didn't sleep when we're in lead and halter class!  It takes a lot longer to train calm quiet animals like TC if they choose to lie down rather than walk!!  The rowdy, boisterous, bucking, rearing ones are actually easier I find!!

One of 3 sun dragons regularly seen in the yards.  I have seen a llama step on one, and it just waited till she moved on.  And I've seen the mad Myriah take exception to their presence and try to stamp them out of existence, but mostly they seem to get out of the way and live to sun themselves another day.

Some of the girls in the Creek Paddock:

Aymara:

Misty:

Noisette:

 Heavily pregnant Orchid, very much looking forward to this cria, hope it is the same temperament as previous cria, Lucien - repeat mating:

Also looking rotund, Paris:

Due March 1, if she can hold out that long, Pearl:

 Sevanah, always wants to be first, but not always sure where we're supposed to be going.... sometimes more trouble than help!

Disappointingly Sweet Pea was a late slip, start waiting all over again, a Totem cria this time we hope.

Sweet, quiet and friendly little TC:

Trinket, in the pink, and generally behaving well lately... for a change!

Vevina, looks to be faking for a second time... not impressed!

Wia, looking good, Manrico baby on board :)

In the Home Paddock, Myriah's son, Monty, little cutie:

Voodoo Love, with Monty behind:

Red Riding Hood, who was a bit stand-offish at first, but is now very calm and quite forward :)

RRH's daughter, Rapunzel and Michelle's daughter Mareebah are as thick as thieves, mostly together and often a long way from either of their mothers.  Rapunzel is lovely and easy going and her halter training is going really well.  Mareebah is more like her mother and she is not fond of co-operating, though she knows very well what she's been asked to do.... just more time and we'll get there!!  She's not as stubborn as her half-sister Misty.. but close!!

Welcome Rapunzel

This morning Red Riding Hood gave birth to a very pretty appaloosa female cria.  We've named her Rapunzel.  She's already up and about and has figured out the milk bar, Ms Hood is a first time mum, and she's done it all by the book so far, so its working out very well :)

Everyone is very keen to meet the newcomer, Aymara with her head through the fence!

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.