A Busy Morning

This morning the puppies raced around like mad things after breakfast and then fell in a heap!!  But not together, Yoyo curled up with Kiki and Coco went back to the crate for a nap.

Meanwhile out in the paddock Eugenie gave birth to a medium brown male cria and very shortly thereafter Narcissus dark brown male cria.  These are cria numbers 2 and 3 for Dad, Mandrake, and they are his second and third brown males!!

New Puppy!!

Yesterday we got a new puppy.  He is a Chug (50/50 Pug/Chihuahua), but he is a lot smaller in person than he appeared in the photos and it looks like the only pug characteristics he inferited are his colouring and his curly tail.  Not to worry he is as cute a button and Kiki loves him!

Today he is chillaxing on the couch with Parker.  Kiki has given up her favourite cushion for him :)

And then on Tuesday....

... Scarlett and her parents came to the farm to visit us :)

Kiki and Ruby were very pleased to meet Scarlett, and both behaved very well.... although they were both very licky licky licky!!  And after another funfilled feeding time, Scarlett was in need of a good wash!!

A 'shower bath' is the current favourite for getting clean :)

The only hat Scarlett really likes to wear is this 'bath hat' which means she can have water poured on her head without it getting in her eyes.

Kiki made sure that bath time was well supervised!!

Gardeners and Garden Gems

Sometimes the dogs want to give more help in the garden than is actually useful!!

Kiki:

Ruby (now with her second ear up!!) .... who has been pruning my kiwi vines whether I like it or not!!:

And some 'shots' of colour around the garden, blue star flowers - several clumps amongst the roses:

Some lovely little daffs, a bit bashed by dogs!!:

The daphne a riot of blooms again this year - star!!  And heavenly perfume :)

The flowering quince, tons of flowers and ignored by the crimson rosellas this year... maybe thanks to the dogs?

Have been looking around the shops for a red japonica, since the flowering quince is doing so well, but then I found I already had one!!  Not very big yet, but very pretty :)

A couple of pockets of grape Hyacinths looking lovely :)

And not to be forgotten the natives are also doing well, the grevillias are in full swing:

 Jonquils, nearly past it:

And just 2 flowers so far on the prunus, small but perfectly formed!

The Bouncy Chair

Everybody loves the bouncy chair... and guess who is the latest to discover it?

Kiki likes to sit behind me while I'm at the computer... so now Ruby does too.... but as you can see that leaves very little/no room in the chair for me!!

No need to get a second dog bed, just because we have a second dog!!  They only use one!!  Not too bad now, but Ruby is growing like a mushroom, so soon it will be very squeezy!!

A New Puppy at Maison Mauve

Just in case I had any extra time on my hands, we've taken on a new puppy to fill that void!!  Meet Ruby :)

Kiki and Ruby are getting on very well.... except at mealtimes, when Kiki, AKA The Food Whore, gets a bit aggressive.... feeding in separate rooms!!  You can see by Ruby's fat belly she's not missing out!!  And you might be tempted to think they spend all their time asleep on the couch... but when they are asleep on the couch is the only time they are still enough to photograph!!

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!!

Fond Farewells, New Arrivals, Flowers, Genetics and Halter Training

On Sunday we visited Apu Royalla to collect Aymara and Tikal, they said their farewells to Lorraine and Barry, mums Machu Picchu and Ara, grandma Bella and friends Salcantay and ??? (sorry Lorraine I've forgotten the other boy's name!!)

I had a theory that small mothers gave birth to small crias, regardless of the size of the dad, but Bella proves me wrong on this score, she is a small-ish llama while her daughters Machu Picchu and Ara are very big llamas - from big dads!!

Bella is an 'old girl' now, and enjoying her retirement.

Tikal's mum, the lovely Ara.

Mother and son, Tikal and Ara.

Aymara, looking very much like a leggy teenager.

Last treat time with Lorraine.

Machu Picchu with Salcantay behind.

MP and Aymara sharing farewells.

Salcantay is a lovely boy with the most amazing eye make up!

Does Tikal have a tear in his eye??

Aymara giving the landscape one last look.

Bye Mum!

In the garden at the moment the gladiolis are making a good show, but the wind is knocking them around and I've had to tie them up!  Fantastic splurge of colour, love it!!

Kiki in her best, no, it wasn't me, I wasn't there pose!

The darling Misty, as stubborn and as beautiful as ever!

I was worried we'd have trouble telling Noisette (left) and Aymara (right) apart, but they are chalk and cheese - at least to me!!  LOL!!

Bentley's lead and halter training sessions would go better without the peanut gallery… but some days, rent-a-crowd turn up uninvited!!

He is doing really well and walks nicely most days, stands to have lead and halter fitted and is for the most part a star pupil :)

In the home paddock Yolanda has a fortnight to go, and looks to have a large-ish cria on board, fingers crossed it all goes well and she has her first ever daughter!!