Hummingbird Hill

PACA CUTENESS!

2011-10-16T12:13:00.001-07:00

Some updated pictures of my girls.

Darby is doing well. We are supplementing her with some extra milk because it doesn't seem that Drizella is producing quite enough. Just a few extra ounces three times a day. She readily drinks it then goes right over to mom and nurses a bit more.

Our next show will be the first weekend of December and we will be taking Shenanigan, Rowena, Fiona, Guiness and either Tipperary or Dakota.

They changed the date from mid October to early December and moved the venue. It will be held at Meadow Event Park just outside of Richmond. This will be SOOOO much better for us, it is a bit less than an hour from us instead of three hours from us.

Meadow Event Park was the horse farm where Secretariat was born and raised. The State bought it and has turned it into a very nice place. This is where the Virginia State Fair is now located.

GOODNIGHT IRENE!!!

2011-08-29T11:28:00.000-07:00

We survived Hurricane Irene with minor damage. We are far enough west to have the Tropical Storm force winds and rains instead of the full Cat 1 storm. It was a bumpy ride though. We lost power mid-afternoon on Saturday and are still out. Thank goodness we have a pretty big generator It is out there just humming away!

Had a couple of trees down, some limbs down and lots of debris. The only thing that I would consider to be real damage though is that side of one of the barns got blown off. Of course it was the lady pacas barn. We found them wandering around, happily grazing and flirting with the boys. They were easy to herd back in with breakfast though. No injuries and I think they enjoyed their little jaunt.

I got a couple of pics of the storm, but the worst of it came later and the pics didn't turn out at all, too dark.

My poor little hummers took a beating. They were soaked and would light on that string and shake their feathers out. I was pretty worried about them, but I think most of them weathered the storm just fine. They were back at the feeders early Sunday morning.

UPDATES!!!

2011-06-26T20:00:00.000-07:00

WOW, has it been a month since I posted? Big doings at work and at home have kept me very preoccupied.

These are just some updated pics from around the farm.

Garden is mostly doing very well, tomatoes suck but guess who will be inundated with squash and zuccini? The cucs are doing well but the green beans are not. My two favs are not going to pan out, SIGH!

Lots of other plantings doing well.

Threw in some pics of critter visitors we have here.

And, of course, had to throw in pics of a hound and his cat, LOL!

How do you like my new bed? Kevin found it on Craigslist for an extremely reasonable price. I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this bed. I have always wanted one just like it!

BETTER LATE THAN NEVER!

2011-05-23T09:00:00.000-07:00

Well, we finally got our garden going this weekend. We are a bit late, but that just means we will have fresh veggies a bit later than everyone else.

This year, Kevin contacted our buddy Charles about tilling up the garden. Charles, the guy in the blue shirt, is a native Charles City Countyion and if you need something, he is the go to man. That is his tractor with his new disc. Hell, why hand till your garden when you can have a big tractor with a disc, a nice guy (BUCK) with great dreads, come and do it for you in a matter of 15 minutes. Beautiful!

We have planted tomatoes, cucumber, cantaloupe, green beans, zuccini and squash.

We have also put in some nice potted flowers and I am hoping the climbing climatis will do well this year.

SPRING AT HHF!

2011-05-10T10:00:00.000-07:00

Just a few new pics from around the farm.

My wisteria has come in very nicely this year. Last year, one side came in way after the other side. I almost thought that one side had died. This year no problem.

I included a shot of Buck and Spunky enjoying their grass. Those two are so funny together but I think old Spunk looks good for thirty. That odd post in the middle of the picture is part of a fenceline that Kevin is taking down by the way.

A couple of new pics of our cria, Rowenna aka Wenna, Fiona aka Fee and Guiness the Menace.

The last two are of paca "romance" Artie style. We are putting Dancer and Artie together for an early April 2012 cria. We will put Artie back with Bubbles later this month. Chantilly won't be rebred until November, Chloe next spring and Caitlin will not be bred again. She is 15 this summer, so she has earned her retirement.

BUBBLES'S CRIA HAS ARRIVED!

2011-04-28T15:27:00.001-07:00

Isn't she just as cute as she can be?

She is definitely Artemus' girl with all that white on her front legs and chest.

Delivery was great and Bubbles' is just the greatest mom, she is all over her baby. They will stay inside tonight but will be out with the herd in the AM. Thankfully, we didn't have the storms/tornados (sp) that were a possibility today. Expecting great weather for the next few days, so Bubbles' timed it perfectly.

She weighed 14 lbs, while not quite what cria monster Fiona weighed, it is a good weight. Vet out tomorrow afternoon.

She doesn't have a name yet, but I think she looks like she is wearing a mask, so want to find an Irish name that fits.

Any ideas?

DANGER, DANGER, NEKKID PACA PICS!!!

2011-04-10T13:38:00.000-07:00

A few pics of newly shorn pacas with a couple of before pics.

They are soooooo funny looking right after they are shorn. Their necks are very skinny in comparison to their heads because they do leave a bit of fiber on their heads but shave their necks down pretty close.

We now have 21 bags of prime fiber and 21 bags of seconds residing in one of our spare bedrooms. We didn't have Darren shave Fiona which would have made it 22.

I have added the 3 bags of cria blankets to my collection from last year. One day I will have something made for myself.

BTW, the grey paca, Bubbles, is due very shortly.

MEET OUR NEW CRIA!!!

2011-04-05T15:17:00.000-07:00

I went out to feed on Saturday evening and look what I found!

I knew Dancer was going to pop very soon. I was glad she did before yesterday, which was shearing day. While she would still have been shorn, it was less traumatizing to her to already have delivered.

Anyway, she is a big un, weighed 19 lbs and she is as tall as our two month old male Guiness.

This is the first cria Dancer has had for us but she has proven to be a stellar mother. That baby nursed four or five times in the first two hours and Dancer is all over her protecting her and keeping a very vigilant eye.

Guiness was messing around with her on Sunday, and mama Dancer was having none of that, she gave him quite a shove with her nose.

We haven't settled on a name yet although Kevin mentioned Galway Bay, which fits her color and we could call her Gal for short, but it sounds kinda masculine to me.

Keeping with the Irish theme, anyone have a suggestion?

I included a pic of my lovely cherry blossum tree, a pic of my cute little girl Gracie and one of Colonel Parker who had a good time playing in a box I had set out when I was cleaning out some kitchen drawers. What a kook he is, LOL!

NEW PICS !!!

2011-02-20T14:32:00.000-08:00

Some updated pics of Guinness and Shenanigan, plus a pic of Drizella, Clare, Kerry and Bubbles.

All is well here at HHF, just waiting for Caitlin to pop and as you can see, Dancer is rounding out quite nicely. She will be due in early April and she will have Dakota's first cria. I would like to give a shout out to my Canadian friends as that is where Dancer is from. We were lucky to get her, not so easy to obtain them anymore. She does have nice lines to Snowmass Braveheart as well, so we are excited to see what this cria will be.

Hope all is well with everyone

UPDATES!!

2011-02-06T14:25:00.000-08:00

Some updated pics of our cria.

Meet Guinness, he is hanging in there very tough. Momma Chloe is doing much better but there is something just not quite right. Oh well, as you can see, the little guy is doing okay. We are keeping a very close eye on him.

Also, our girl Nanny is doing terrific. Isn't she beautiful!

That is her with her older sister Kerry and just wanted to throw in a cute pic of Clare.

NEW CRIA AT HHF!!!

2011-01-31T13:31:00.000-08:00

Here are just a couple of new pics of our little cria born this morning. He is doing pretty well but mom Chloe hasn't been interested in him much. I have had to feed him several times but I think Chloe is settling in now.

Thank goodness that I was here today!

JUST A COUPLE OF SILLY PUP PICS!!!

2011-01-09T18:38:00.000-08:00

Don't have anything interesting going on here at the farm, just took these pics of my silly critters.

Did include the two pics of the interesting blanket.

Mom brought it up over Christmas. I don't think I have ever seen it before. It is a Navajo blanket that my dad's mom and dad picked up in their travels in the 1930's.

I sure wish my dad was still here so he could give me the story behind it, but anyway, it is beautiful and VERY warm. I certainly appreciated it yesterday when I had the heat set on 56 because the gas company that we deal with totally sucks.

RANDOM PICTURES!!!

2010-12-26T09:38:00.000-08:00

Just some random pictures from the last few days.

We are getting lots of snow (at least for us) that began yesterday afternoon.

Gotta love the cat who ate Christmas Town!

2010-12-14T16:17:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics of my tree and decorations.

I am still holding tough on having real trees, just can't do the fake ones.

I love the feel and the smell of the real ones and cleaning up the needles is a big family tradition, and they have to be at least 9' tall because anything less is just small!

NEW PICS OF CRIA!

2010-12-11T12:01:00.000-08:00

A few new pics of Shenanigan.

She is doing very well, already up 4 lbs from when she was born and VERY active. I have nicknamed her Greased Lightening, catching her is definitely a challenge.

MEET HHF SHENANIGAN!!!

2010-12-03T11:45:00.000-08:00

New pics of baby Shenanigan!

Doesn't she look cute in her little blaze orange blankie?

She is doing very well, ***said with fingers and toes crossed*** and mama Chantilly is just fine too ***said while knocking on wood***

She is very strong and fast, we have had a heck of a time catching her to weigh her and put her blanket on, LOL!

She is a light fawn, much like Kerry, but I think a wee bit lighter.

I also included pics of our four breeding males:

--Artemus with the white chest
--Dakota with the white leg
--Barney the medium brown
--Impact the beige one

They never get much camera time because the cria are just so damn adorable!

LOOK WHAT I FOUND THIS MORNING!!!

2010-11-30T05:58:00.001-08:00

I went out to feed about 7:30 this morning, and Chantilly had popped!

We have a new baby girl!

Sorry for the crappy pictures, will do better later.

Vet coming out shortly and we have the cow colostrum ready to go.

CRIA WATCH BEGINS!!!

2010-11-11T16:49:00.000-08:00

Well, Cria watch starts again.

Chantilly is exhibitng signs that she is ready to deliver.

Barney is the dad of this one. He is the one in the profile picture. You can't tell from that pic, but he is a gorgeous shade of dark chestnut brown. We are hoping for some color for this cria. Chantilly's first cria was white, but she was bred with Impact who is a very light beige and given that her mom is Caitlin who is well know for throwing white no matter who she is bred with, well, hell, I guess I don't care. I just want the delivery to go well, Chantilly to do well and to have a healthy cria.

Chantilly is the girl on the left in the pic by the hay feeder. She is as big as the side of the barn, LOL! Her mama Caitlin is to her left.

Chantilly is also the one with the cria laying pretty much on her. That is her very first cria, born last November. She proved to be a very good momma.

I would appreciate positive thoughts from my blogger friends on this delivery. After our recent losses, I am scared.

I will say that we have 2 quarts of fresh frozen cow colostrum on hand, fcuk that powdered shit!

Will keep everyone updated.

COOL STUFF IN CHARLES CITY COUNTY!

2010-11-05T17:55:00.000-07:00

First thing, I want to thank everyone who visits my little blog for their kindness during the past few very hard weeks. Your kind and supportive words brought tears but helped me so very much!

The pics are from Shirley Plantation here in Charles City County. This plantation is the oldest family owned and operated business in the USA. SOOOO much history at this place that I can't even keep it all straight.

A couple of facts:

Robert E. Lee lived here for a number of years when he was young.

The ladies saved the whole plantation from devastation during the Civil War when the Union troops camped on the property after a battle at Malvern Hill (I believe) by helping the troops with food and care. They hoped that the same care would be accorded to their loved ones if they found themsleves in a like situation. The plantaion was neither burned or looted.

During some really hard times in the early 1900's, the plantation had fallen on hard times and the ladies were looking at losing the whole thing when they had a visitor buy an original painting from the family collection. It was a full length portrait of George Washington. It was okay because "he wasn't family."

That is why Southern Belles are referred to as "Steel Magnolias."

LOL!

SPOT SULLIVAN 3/9/98-11/2/2010

2010-11-03T16:00:00.000-07:00

We have had a bad couple of weeks here at Hummingbird Hill Farm.

Yesterday, I had to have my old Dalmation Spot euthanized and after the recent losses of Annie and Aran, it was extremely difficult. However, it was time and he was ready.

He went quickly and peacefully in our van and we brought him home and buried him in a sunny place near the house!

I know my dad was waiting for him.

I have had dogs all my life and, no matter what the situation, the end always rips my heart out, but I would never trade the love, affection and joy that these wonderful beings have brought me during my lifetime for anything.

Godspeed my darling Spot!

GODSPEED BABY ARAN!

2010-10-28T07:46:00.000-07:00

We lost little Aran early this morning!

Unfortunately, she did not get the immunities she needed from her mom before she died, and the powdered colostrum didn't help at all. She was doing well, eating and gaining weight, but it seems she got some kind of infection and didn't have the ability to fight it.

She is now with her mother!

BACK IN TOUCH!

2010-10-25T16:29:00.000-07:00

Things have been really crazy around here this past week. In addition to taking care of the new orphan which means feeding every 2-3 hours around the clock, we had out of town company for four days. We really enjoyed seeing them, but it was a bit challenging to make sure they had a good time and also take care of the Aran. I think we were successful.

The pics are from the last week.

Godspeed to our girl CPHA Anastasia! She was such a good girl and an excellent mom. We are waiting the results of the necropsy because this was so unexpected and tragic.

Baby Aran is doing well and Dancer, the big brown and white female has taken her under her wing, she will let Aran snuggle up to her at night. Bless Dancer's mommy heart!

I have also enclosed some pics from the show. Please ignore the fat woman with the cute pacas. We did pretty well and learned alot and made some more really wonderful contacts.

We are thinking of showing in Lexington again in March.

WELCOME TO OUR NEW CRIA, SURPRISE!!

2010-10-18T11:00:00.000-07:00

These are a few pics from today of our surprise cria. She was not due for about 3 weeks. Her official name is Hummingbird Hill Araon (pronounced Erin). My daughter and her best friend did a great job as we were still at the show. Unfortunately, her Mom had some complications later, and did not make it.

I will post some more later.

OPEN HOUSE PICTURE FAIL!!!

2010-10-14T06:01:00.000-07:00

I was going to have some pictures of the Open House we had at the farm on Sunday, but the camera went missing. We did eventually find it, but by that time, it was mostly over. There were a couple of our guests who were taking pictures and hope to get a few of them sent.

It was a wonderful day though. The weather was very cooperative, sunny and about 80 degrees with a light breeze. I had lots of good food and plenty of beverages and about 75 people came.

We enjoyed introducing everyone to our alpacas and even had some scarves, gloves, socks and hats that were made from paca fiber to show people and to sell.

Gracie got lots of good belly rubbings and the horses got plenty of attention and treats.

We leave tomorrow for Lexington, VA for the 2010 Virginia Alpaca Owners and Breeders Expo. We will be showing 3 of our babies, Clare, Kerry and Killa. We were going to be taking Tip as well, but his hind end still isn't 100% after his recent illness.

I WILL have pictures!!

LOOKING FORWARD TO FALL!!!

2010-09-04T13:54:00.000-07:00

It has been awhile since I posted anything.

It has been a miserable summer. Extremely hot weather, meager amounts of rain and really buggy. Needless to say, I have been pretty crabby for several months. I am so looking forward to the Fall which is just around the corner. I know we will still get some hot days for awhile longer, but I can see the light at the end of the tunnel. I am just hoping we don't get as much rain as we did last Fall although we really do need a bunch to get back on track. I had hoped that Hurricane Earl would bring some rain our way, and we did get a bit, but it wasn't near enough.

To update everyone, Tip is doing just fine now. We never did figure out what happened. The West Nile Virus titer was negative and nothing unusual showed up in all of his other bloodwork. Oh well, as long as the cute little bugger is strong and healthy, that is what matters.

We will be microchipping the four cria tomorrow or Monday and getting their final papers in order. DNA testing is required by the Alpaca Registry to show parentage and they must be registered in order to show. We will be taking them to Lexington this year in mid-October. We went last year with Portfolio and little Annie, but that was really just to get our feet wet. I am excited to show our cria.

As far as this year's crop, we are thinking we will have four, the first one would be due in early November. I, of course, will be putting up posts about that as time gets closer.

The pictures are just some ones I have taken randomly.

The little frog was in the plant I have on the table out on the back porch. I think he is pretty cute.

The picture outside was of a storm that was approaching a couple of weeks ago. Notice that Colonel Parker was monitoring the situation on the TV.

And a few pics of my hummers. I haven't been able to get a good one of the whole flock, just too dang blurry. Little suckers are very fast!

UPDATE!!!

2010-08-04T18:15:00.000-07:00

I want to thank everyone for their well wishes for my boy Tip. As you can see, he is up and walking around as of this morning. Still a bit weak, but damn, sooo much better. We still don't have the results from the West Nile Virus titers, but at this point, who cares.

He and his little bro Killa will stay in the basement for at least several more weeks. I don't want to risk putting him back too early.

This weekend we will set up a small pen outside the basement so they can graze for a bit before it gets too hot each day.

I will say, we are lucky to have a walk out basement with a single car garage door as access. That has allowed us easy access for them and any other critter that might need it.

SICK PACA ALERT!!!!

2010-07-28T11:34:00.001-07:00

My boy Tipper is not doing well. He has major muscle weakness and can barely stand let alone walk. His temp is normal, he had good heart and gut sounds, is eating and drinking well and is alert but he just can't stand or walk much. Vet was out this morning, gave him thiamin, banamine and an antibiotic and left me the same for the next few days. Pulled some blood to test for West Nile. We are thinking that it is cummulative effects from this God awful heat.

We moved him on a blanket, travois style into our basement where it is 68-70 degrees to help him. Also brought over his little brother Killa so that he has company.

Good thoughts would be appreciated!

SWEET, SWEET RAIN!!!!!

2010-07-18T08:51:00.001-07:00

We have been having a terrible summer, really hot and dry. We went for five or six weeks with no measureable rain and temps in the upper 90's and 100's. I even had to start feeding the horses hay.

Kevin and I decided to go ahead and stock up on hay for the year because it isn't looking good for more cuttings. We now have about 600 bales of good quality orchard grass stored. It is a wonderful thing to have that kind of storage building here.

Anyway, we have had some rain over the past week, thank goodness. Friday we had two separate storms go through that dropped a bit over 1" of rain. Perked all of the flora up quite a bit.

However, temps are going to be holding in the mid to upper 90's all week.

SIGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

As you can see, the little Hummer was watching the beautiful rain from the rail on our porch. They like to hang out there under the ferns. Sometimes there are three or four of them perched there.

DAMN IT'S HOT!!!

2010-06-26T18:46:00.000-07:00

It has been so hot here for several weeks. Our average daytime temps this time of year are about 85, but lately, they have been in the mid-90's and we have even been at 100 and above. It is supposed to cool down later in the week, thank DOG!

These are just a couple of pics of my pacas trying to keep cool. The beach ball has a sprinkler inside, Clare Bear sure enjoyed that. As you can see by the pics, they do love their fans.

Also have a few pics of sunset here at HHF!

GODSPEED MY DARLING DAD!!

2010-05-22T18:48:00.001-07:00

My father passed away somewhat unexpectedly on Saturday 5/22/2010. As you can see by the pictures (these have been posted before), he was career Army. He was a proud Alumni of Texas A&M and a Veteran of the Korean and Vietnam Wars.

The pictures of him in uniform were of when we were stationed in Ethiopia in the early 1960's. My dad was in charge of teaching the Ethiopian Army how to operate the tanks that the USA sent over.

He was a Helluva great guy and I will miss his humor and kindness. Our Saturday morning talks and the stories we shared with each other were so very special to me!

His Spirit lives on here at HHF forever!

MY HEART IS HURTING!!!!

2010-05-16T18:46:00.001-07:00

On Friday, I read a story about two seventeen year old boys in Ohio who have been arrested in the death of a three month old alpaca cria named Masterpiece. These boys stole this animal, beat him to death with a makeshift club and dumped his poor, lifeless body in some barn.

As I scratch and love on my cria, I can't help but think of Masterpiece.

I put the pics up of my cria because they are the faces of Masterpiece. These faces are what those two boys looked at while they intentionally beat the life out of him. Why would someone do something like that? I can't comprehend this sickness.

The State of Ohio is stepping up to the plate on this one at least. As of right now, one of the boys will be tried as an adult on the felony charges which include grand theft. The other boy's charges are still pending and the twenty three year old woman who was in on it is being charged as an accomplice.

I HATE what this world has become!

FINALLY! MEET THE NEW LADIES OF HHF

2010-05-08T10:47:00.000-07:00

It finally happened, we were able to pick up the new ladies. The grey is Ore Hill Bubbles and the brown/white is SNF Wind Dancer.

I will get some more individual pictures later. They are all kinda milling around each other at this point, but it is going pretty well. It was funny to watch Boots, he kept sniffing under Dancer's tail, and she kept kicking him in the chest. Apparently, Boots isn't the sharpest tool in the shed. Bubbles just spit on everyone, LOL!

I had to add the pics of my baby girls Clare and Kerry, sweet wittle things!!!

A COUPLE OF VISITORS TODAY!!!

2010-04-24T13:04:00.000-07:00

GOBBLE, GOBBLE, GOBBLE!!!

2010-04-22T16:16:00.000-07:00

I was supposed to be productive today, but, alas, didn't happen. These are a few pics of my equine babies. Whinnie is the grey mare, Wizard is the dark bay, Buck is the Perch (takes up alot of real estate doesn't he) and Spunky is the pally. I am happy to say that Spunky is turning 28 in June and still looks pretty darn good. I poopoo on the myth that old horses are skinny because you just can't keep weight on them, Spunky is proof that it can be done.

Oops, meant to say, Skippy is our resident coyote/fox look alike, she is a great dog even though she really was supposed to be a temp. Oh well, she can live here as long as she needs to.

The pic of the field is what we are going to work on fencing in over time.

SOME SPRING PICS AND WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED TO MY PACAS!!!

2010-04-09T17:55:00.000-07:00

Here are a few pretty pictures from around HHF and some before and after pictures of the pacas. Since blogger will only allow five pics per post, keep scrolling down.

2010-04-09T17:53:00.000-07:00

2010-04-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

2010-04-09T17:11:00.000-07:00

2010-04-09T17:06:00.000-07:00

2010-04-09T16:55:00.000-07:00

THE DAY BEFORE SHEARING!!!!

2010-04-07T18:48:00.000-07:00

Been a busy day getting ready for shearing tomorrow. I am so glad I took today off so Kevin and I could go over to Clearview Farm and watch. We rearranged some things and I went into "town" to pick some more things up.

Buck and Spunk are happy that I am letting them out in the far pasture at night. It is pretty rich, so I have to limit them.

Doesnt' Miss Skippy look like a coyote? That is why she wears a neon blaze orange collar.

That is Casper-Batman grooming himself. His idea of grooming is to roll around on the gravel, not real effective, but he enjoys it. BTW, he is a hunting machine.

We have set up the shearing area inside the hay barn, I think it will work out really well.

There will be lots of pics tomorrow.

I am off to bed, apparently, we should have more helpers, but we don't, so it will be interesting. I guess I will need my rest!

I AM NOT SPOILED, REALLY, NOT SPOILED AT ALL!

2010-04-03T13:27:00.000-07:00

MOMMY, PLEASE RUB MY BELLY!!!

I NEEDED A LITTLE SPRING BEAUTY TODAY!!

2010-03-30T18:56:00.000-07:00

It has been a bad week so far, and unfortunately, it is only Tuesday. The beautiful Cherry tree at my house made me feel better. Spring does have a way of making me feel better!

RANDOM PACA PICS!!!

2010-03-21T12:24:00.001-07:00

Geez, I never thought it would happen, but here they are.

OFF WITH THEIR NUTS!!!!!

2010-03-09T11:56:00.001-08:00

The deed is done. Boots, Honey and Portfolio no longer have their dangly bits.

Boots and Honey were really not breeding quality and while Portfolio was, he is now six and had never been bred. We have his full brother Impact, so he isn't needed for our program and there is no market for a six year old unproven herdsire.

Gelding them will make them much more affable and will make living arrangements easier.

Very interesting to watch the procedure, I haven't even seen a horse gelded. Give em some drugs, a few cuts with a scalpel, pull out the testicle, cut some things, a few ligatures, push it back in and BAM, instant nice guy!

BIRTHDAY CANDLES HHF STYLE!!!

2010-03-07T05:03:00.000-08:00

Kevin's birthday was yesterday, so we did it up right. His daughter and some buddies of hers came for a visit and a cookout. We then had a bonfire using the Christmas tree as kindling. Worked great!

Really good weather this weekend, almost 60 yesterday and mid-60's today.

Wizard got a workout and was a good boy considering how long it has been since anyone rode him, and DD did a great job, especially considering that she is a full-time college student and doesn't get much saddle time.

FIERCE BAD MOLE HUNTER!!!

2010-02-23T17:36:00.000-08:00

Gracie worked really hard this afternoon and finally was successful. I watched her for a bit, but I couldn't stand it anymore. I could hear the damn thing screaming from up on the porch, so I went down and got it away from her. I heaved it into the woods, don't know if it survived, but Grace watched for awhile.

Sorry, my fierce bad hunter, but I will make it up to you later!

KEVIN & HIS NEW FARM EQUIPMENT

2010-02-20T11:04:00.000-08:00

They delivered our new tractor and manure spreader earlier this week. Kevin is like a kid in a candy store. The tractor has alot more to it than our old lawn tractor that is 11 years old and Fred the big tractor that is a 1965 model, so he is still learning. He is calling the manure spreader his shit slinger. LOL!

He informed me at breakfast this morning that there is a big farm equipment auction not far from us on his birthday, I think I am getting scared!

HAPPY PLACES & HAPPY VALENTINES DAY!!!

2010-02-14T10:37:00.000-08:00

HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY EVERYONE!!!

Just a couple of pictures of my babies in their happy places.

Colonel Parker loves to snuggle up on the back of our sofa, very soft and comfy and he thinks no one sees him because he matches the throw.

Elvis' favorite place is on our bed, even when the sheets are in the wash, all of those pillows makes for good snuggling. Yes, he is a fierce, bad hunting dog, NOT!

LOOK, a coyote snuck into my house and is taking a nap in the chair.

MORE PACA PICS!!!

2010-02-07T10:15:00.000-08:00

MORE SNOW PICS!!!

2010-02-06T14:41:00.000-08:00

WINTER FRIENDS!!!

2010-02-06T09:38:00.000-08:00

More snow falling today. This is much wetter, heavier snow than what we had last weekend. Sticking to the trees which are very wet from all the rain we had last evening. That could cause some problems with breaking branches and power lines down. I just got a lesson from Kevin on firing up the generator because he is working this evening.

These are just a couple of pictures taken from the back porch. The birds are enjoying their feeder. Cardinals are so pretty against the snow.

Be sure to click on the pictures to get a closer look at the wittle birdies.

Elvis is showing his extreme handsomeness against the snow and I think there is a coyote who wants to come in and take a nap on the couch.

PONY NOSES!!!!

2010-01-31T14:40:00.000-08:00

Wizard and Whinnie say NEEEEIIIIIGGGGGHHHHH!

I tried to get Spunky and Buck noses but they kept trying to eat the camera.

SNOW PACAS!!!

2010-01-31T14:27:00.001-08:00

The Girls say Hey Everyone!

SNOW PACAS!!!

2010-01-31T14:01:00.000-08:00

My babies in the snow. They are tromping around in it, but so far I haven't seen any pronking going on. It is a bit hard for the three smaller ones to get around in too quickly. Notice Kerry has her blankie on, thank goodness yesterday when we tried again, it went just fine. It was bitterly cold for us last night and with the snow getting on them, we were very concerned for her since she is so young. They did end up spending alot of time in their stall.

THE DAY AFTER!!!

2010-01-31T11:46:00.000-08:00

A couple of pics from this morning. The sky it a most beautiful blue, tonight the moon will be just brilliant.

Kevin plowed us and the neighbors out with Fred the tractor. He also pulled Dolly the golf cart out from where he got her stuck last night.

The pic of the field is actually how you get back to our place and the plowed road is our road. A bit of the way down is our first driveway, which he did not plow, when you wind around a bit you come to our second driveway.

Going out in just a bit to get some paca pics.

LET IT SNOW!!!

2010-01-30T11:43:00.001-08:00

Just some pics from the house today. I am going out in a few minutes to check on everyone, will get some more pics. The pacas are being smart and staying in their stalls so I might wait until tomorrow to get some of them.

NEW PICS!!!

2010-01-28T15:12:00.001-08:00

Kerry is doing really well as you can see. She is very curious and independent. I put the cria blanket on her later as it is going to be very cold tonight. I am waiting to see how well that goes, they all acted like she was an alien.

NEW PICS!!!

2010-01-28T15:01:00.000-08:00

Some new pics from today. It was a lovely day, sunny and about 62. We have snow moving in tomorrow night and Saturday and some really cold temps, well that is cold for us.

NEW PICS!!!

2010-01-28T14:47:00.000-08:00

NEW PICS!!!

2010-01-28T14:40:00.000-08:00

SOMEONE STOP ME PLEASE!!!!

2010-01-25T17:59:00.000-08:00

OMG, I am out of control with Kerry Berry. They had to stay in one more night since we had a bunch more rain but hopefully they will be out tomorrow. These are just a few shots of her in action. She loves pulling on her little blanket that I have hung over the gate, she will eventually pull it off and drag it around. The one of her face is her trying to eat hay, and I love the one with her and Spot. Priceless!

NEW PICS FROM HHF!!!

2010-01-24T14:10:00.001-08:00

Just a few pics of pacas. See how big Tipper has gotten, that is him next to his mom Caitlin. He is only 17 weeks old!

The first pic is Gracie doing something she shouldn't be doing, she is a sneak thief.

If you scroll down, you will see some new pics of HHF Kerry. She is doing very well. Her IGG results were fabulous, she is nursing very well and is very active.

YEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

NEW PICS OF HHF KERRY!!!

2010-01-24T14:02:00.001-08:00

Kerry was terribly fascinated with Spot, they touched noses through the gate which caused Spot to lick his nose. The picture of her tail is as I was rubbing her between the shoulders, she really likes that. Her tail comes up and it wags back and forth.

I am hoping we can let her and Chloe out tomorrow, it just depends on the weather. It is definitely warm enough, but rainy and really muddy.

I think Clare Bear, Killa and Kerry Berry will have big fun together.

NEW PICS OF HHF KERRY!!!

2010-01-24T13:48:00.000-08:00

I sat down in the pen with Chloe and Kerry. Kerry was so curious I had a hard time getting a decent pic. She thought my boot was quite interesting, so nibbled on that for a bit. She chewed on my pants, snuffled me in the face, tasted my hair and just generally caused me to go into a cria cuteness coma.

A FEW MORE PICS!!!

2010-01-19T18:49:00.001-08:00

I just got back in from my feeding/haying/watering and checking up on the new momma/cria. They are doing well. I did try to put a blanket on the new baby but Chloe was not happy. She started to act like she didn't know her baby. I watched for a bit, then took it off. The pic of the two laying down together was after I took it off. It isn't going to be THAT cold tonight, baby is dry and fluffy and they are very sheltered where they are.

MEET OUR NEWEST CRIA!!!

2010-01-19T12:59:00.000-08:00

Our newest Cria was born this morning shortly before 10:00 AM this morning. I had gone out to feed at 7:30 and Chloe was laying down, but she got up when I came over to feed and seemed fine, she ate and was moving around with the rest of them like usual. Kevin was out doing clean up and went back over to check, and she was laboring, cria's head and legs were out so Kevin helped her deliver.

She weighed 16 lbs and has been up and about. She is nursing very well and is bright eyed. She is already trying to pronk.

THE HUNT!!

2010-01-16T09:36:00.001-08:00

THE HUNT!!!

2010-01-16T09:20:00.001-08:00

CHARLES CITY COUNTY VIRGINIA!

2010-01-16T08:34:00.001-08:00

This is Fort Pocahontas where the hunt was this week.

There was a civil war battle here, I beleive in 1864. If you look at the pictures of the house, you will see the embankments that were built up. That house was not there at the time of the battle. Mr. Tyler who owns the property had the house moved from Ivor via semi-truck. It was built at the same time as the one that was originally here, 1732. The view from the house is spectacular, that is the James River. The pilings you can see in one pic are from the original dock, amazing that they are still there.

SKIPPY DO & GRACIE TOO!

2010-01-16T08:25:00.000-08:00

Yesterday was a nice day, about 62 degrees and sunny. Skippy and Gracie were loving it out in the sun on the back porch.

Oh and look, I found Elvis!

OMG, IT SNOWED AGAIN- PART ZERO!!!

2010-01-08T16:35:00.000-08:00

Just a few more pics because they wouldn't fit on the other two posts!

OMG, IT SNOWED AGAIN - PART ONE!

2010-01-08T16:23:00.001-08:00

We had what some of you would call a pitiful amount of snow last night. I took the camera out with me early when I went to feed before it melted and got icky.

OMG, IT SNOWED AGAIN - PART TWO!

2010-01-08T16:07:00.001-08:00

Just some pictures in the snow.

My little coyote Skippy was loving it. She still gets to come out with me, she hasn't run off. Elvis and Grace were having a good time too, but within the confines of the invisi fence.

SOME DOGGY FUNNIES!!!!

2010-01-05T16:00:00.000-08:00

These are just some cute doggie funnies for those of you who love dogs as much as I do. Several of them remind me of my motley crew.

The card on the top is actually the front of a card Kevin gave me yesterday. It is good to know that he finally understands the proper order of things. LOL!

We might be on cria watch again, Chloe is starting to exhibit some behavior indicating that her time might be getting close. She is the one that was bred at 14 months for some unknown reason and given that this is her first, she could go early. She is as broad as the dang side of a barn that's for sure. I will keep a close eye on her and update everyone.

NEW PACA PICS!!!

2009-12-20T14:20:00.000-08:00

We had some snow that started on Friday, YEEEEHAWWWWW! Unfortunately, it did rain on Saturday morning so kinda messed up the pretty. I took these pics today because the sun was out.

Of course the little dark fawn cria is Clare Bear, the smaller white cria is Killer, the larger (snork) white cria is Tipper, the adult white paca is Chloe, she is due at the end of January, she is bred to the adult male that I have pictured. That is Artemus, he is our mega herdsire. Blood lines to die for, great fiber and a healthy show record. Doesn't he have a gorgeous face?

FOR ANYONE INTERESTED!

2009-12-20T12:15:00.000-08:00

The first thing I will say is that I have never met Fugs, so my dislike is not caused by anything she did to me personally. I do not have any interesting Fugs did me wrong stories like YHI does. I do know someone who has met her. She is not impressed. When my friend met her, Fugs was complaining about a poster who critiqued her riding on the VLC blog. She was not happy and used foul language, including the c*nt word. All of this was done right in front of my friend's eleven year old daughter. That Fugs, what a class act!

I was a regular follower of FHOTD until mid-February of 2009. I did enjoy the blog for quite awhile after I started reading in late 2007. There was lots of good info and lots of really witty people on there, unfortunately, there was also alot of things put on there that were just plain cruel. Over time, well I just started getting a bad vibe from Fugs herself and I only stayed on because I had made some internet friends there, and while some of the posters were obviously "out there," many were truly good people. I was always amazed about how funny and clever so many posters were.

Based on reading Fugs, my opinion of her is that she is condescending, judgmental, opinionated to the point of inflexibility, a know-it-all who can't admit when she is wrong and she has a mean streak a mile wide. This bullshit that I continuosly hear from her, "don't dish it if you can't take it," well maybe she needs to heed her own words, cause she has proven many times that she can't. Do as I say, not as I do just doesn't friggin fly.

To those who are interested in what she said to me about my pacas that had me upset, here is what it was about. I freely admit that I started the whole thing, she was posting on the thread that was about Tiger Woods' problems. Frankly, I found it truly amusing and ironic because of her past and her stated morals or lack there of. I said just that in my PM. Please note that I did this all via PM. Of couse I got back the usual blah, blah, blah from her. It turned to how I only post nasty stuff like the advice I gave to Sarcasta about practicing without stirrups. We then went back and forth a bit about that with her saying I should post pics of myself riding. I told her I didn't know how to post pics on HD but gave her my blog address and told her to look in the older posts for some pics. In the meantime, she received a PM from a friend of mine that was less than nice, that apparently really pissed her off. She came back, said I was stupid because I didn't know how to post the pics on HD and said that after looking through three pages of dying Alpacas, she was put off. I am going to assume that she didn't follow my instructions so never did find the pics of me riding.

Now, theoretically, the words themselves weren't ugly, but the intent behind them was. She didn't mention the fact that she had to scroll through several pages of my Christmas tree first, she went straight for what is obviously a very painful thing that recently happened to me. Like I said, I did start shit with her via PM and even though I did not have anything to do with that other PM that was sent, it really isn't that surprising that she retaliated, however, never, no matter how much I hated someone or was angry at someone, would I ever go after their kids, family or animals to get back at them. As I previously mentioned, she has a mean streak a mile wide. I was truly surpised given her claim to being such an animal lover that she would stoop so low.

Anyway, she also said she was done with the silly conversation. I did respond but I am sure she didn't read it, that is why I made that post on the RIP thread.

That is my story and I am sticking to it!

WE HAVE CHRISTMAS TREE!

2009-12-13T15:07:00.000-08:00

Okay, this is the finished product and a few pics along the way. Kevin had to take some off of the trunk to get it into the tree stand and snipped a bit off of the top.

Notice Gracie is helping.

KEVIN IS GOING TO KILL ME!!!

2009-12-11T17:40:00.001-08:00

I went shopping for my Christmas Tree this afternoon. I went to this garden center on the other side of town that has great trees at good prices. I am a stickler about my tree. It must be a real tree and it has to be as tall as I can fit in my home. So much about Christmas has changed since I was a kid, I really miss those days. The one thing I can and do hold onto from my childhood is my tree.

My tree is full of a hodge podge of ornaments that I have collected over many years. There is no theme other than sentimentality.

Anyway, I usually buy a 9' tree and I always buy it the weekend right after Thanksgiving, but this year was different. The garden center had no 9' trees left, the only ones they had were 7'-8' or 10'-11' and above. I refuse to go down in size especially since I have vaulted ceilings, soooooo, I went up.

These two pics are of the tree in the back of the truck in the garage. It looks big even in the back of my rather large truck.

I just found out that Kevin signed up to work tomorrow even though he knew my office party was at the same time. He thought he would get day shift, well no, he is on afternoon shift, so I guess I get to go stag. I am not happy, but at least when he bitches about my tree, I can just say "shut it."

SHANNON IN TROUBLE!!

2009-12-05T11:40:00.001-08:00

I had noticed that Shannon wasn't really thriving like the other three cria had. Drizella seemed nervous and upset about being separated from the herd. Shannon was nursing but didn't seem to have any energy. We decided that maybe she wasn't getting enough, I spoke with the vet and he advised milk replacer. That was Wednesday. Kevin stopped and picked it up, when he got home, he found Shannon collapsed. He brought her in the house and began giving her some formula. He called me and I came home immediately. We fed her at 20 minute intervals for several hours and then started spacing it out as time went on and she was improving. By midnight, she was standing up and walking around. The next morning, we put her back in the pen with Driz and planned to supplement her nursing for as long as we needed to. That day (Thursday) Kevin fed her at 11:00 and 2:00. I came home at 4:30 and immediately went out, she was nursing so I left her alone for a bit. I came back out and fed her, then did some other things, came back out again and gave her some more. I checked on her about 15 minutes later, she was down again. I brought her in the house, covered her with my heating pad and tried to revive her. She did respond a bit, she was holding her head up at least, but she went down again at about 3:15.

The above pictures are from Wednesday night.

The ones on the following post are from Thursday night.

GOODBYE SWEET SHANNON!!!

2009-12-05T11:29:00.000-08:00

Shannon died at 3:30 Am on Friday 12/4/09. She took her last breaths in Kevin's arms. So young but so loved, you will be remembered forever.

MEET HHF SHANNON!!!

2009-11-29T10:19:00.000-08:00

Some new pics of our newest cria, Shannon, born Thanksgiving night about 8:00 pm. It was so exciting because Kevin, my daughter and my dad got to see it. When Audrey and I went out to feed, her toes were just peeping out. Of course, Drizella did fine, she was up then down, then up several times, but the cria came out while she was standing. There goes a couple of myths, they don't always have their cria in the afternoon and they don't always have them laying down.

Anyway, she is a lovely shade of dark brown. Much darker than either parent. Her dad, Smith Barney is the picture to the left. Sorry I couldn't do better, he wouldn't stand still because he was pissed off that Artemus got to do the Wild Alpaca Dance again and he didn't. He is next though, we will breed him to Chantilly next weekend.

MORE CRIA CUTENESS!!!

2009-11-29T10:07:00.000-08:00

WE ARE AT IT AGAIN!!

2009-11-29T09:53:00.000-08:00

It was time to check and see if Caitlin took on her breeding to Artemus. Kevin lead him in and directly over to her to get her reaction. She wanted no part of him and told him so with a big gob of spit. Score!

So, since Clare is about a month old, it was time to rebreed her. Kevin lead Artemus over and bam down she goes and Artie did his thing.

As you can see, there was quite a crowd of interested spectators. I think Tipper was a bit too interested.

The bottom picture was afterwards, I guess it is like smoking a cigarette.

I HAZ NEW CRIA!!

2009-11-26T19:08:00.000-08:00

Drizella finally gave birth. My daughter and I went out to feed about 8:00 PM after a very lovely TG dinner and I could tell Drizella was in labor, it was really obvious . I actually got to watch this one being born.

These pics are very shortly after she was born. Yes, I said she, Yaaa Hooo!

CRIA WATCH IS ON!!!

2009-11-21T11:14:00.001-08:00

Drizella is due on Wednesday, but this morning she started exhibiting behavior that she might be ready to pop. Her belly has dropped and she is keeping some distance from the herd. She also didn't eat much feed this morning. A couple of times she has laid down but not in kush position, her back legs were to the side and she had her tail up. I am checking her every thirty minutes. She is five years old and I don't know if she has ever had a cria. The record keeping of the previous owner is less than optimal.

The other pictures are of a bit of cria games that I took while observing Drizella. Cute little buggers and even Currency, the big fawn girl got into. Such joy baby animals have, it never fails to make me happy.

GODSPEED JASPER!!!!!

2009-11-19T16:10:00.000-08:00

Artemus' Jasper 6/1/05-11/18/09

The last year was unkind to you. You are now in a better place and I will see you on the other side.

CRIA CUTENESS ALERT!

2009-11-15T10:50:00.000-08:00

We turned the new cria and Mama Chantilly back out with the herd today. We finally have sunny, warm weather. Chantilly really appeared to want out after being stuck inside in a pen for almost a week.

Meet HHF Killarney, otherwise known as Killer. We found out his IGG was low, but he is doing just fine. He has gained weight and been just as active and bright as either of the other two. I think his ears are looking a little better, hopefully, over time they will straighten up more.

One of these days I will get some video of them pronking around. Everytime I have gone out there to video, they just walk or stand around.

Cria Cuteness Alert!

2009-11-15T10:33:00.001-08:00

CRIA UPDATE!!!

2009-11-09T15:22:00.000-08:00

Meet our latest addition to HHF, Chantilly had her cria this morning probably around 8:30. Another boy and weighing in at 15 lbs. Kevin got cria duty this time. He had gone out to do his chores and there he was. He was still wet and covered in afterbirth. Chantilly hadn't even passed the placenta. Kevin looked around for it and couldn't find it. Eventually, he saw it kinda just hanging there, he walked up behind her and took hold, she walked off and out it plopped.

I knew she was going to go today so I was going to leave work early, well she foiled my plans by having him in the morning. Hummppfhhh!

He has been nursing very well and the vet will be out in the AM to do the necessary shots and bloodwork.

Doesn't he have the cutest ears? I have a feeling they will straighten up but I am glad I got these pictures before.

Random Pics!

2009-11-07T13:08:00.001-08:00

These are the pretty bushes that are outside of my bathroom window. I have no idea what they are but I really like them.

One of the few birds that has remained other than the wild turkeys, hawks and crows.

Boston Ferns do really well on our porches. None of them have even begun to turn brown. Skippy, our house guest is standing by the grill, she looks kinda like a coyote. Of course, Elvis is at the top of the stairs enjoying the sun. He is such a hound doggie.

I love Boston Ferns. They are such a lovely shade of green and are soft and wispy.

Gracie running around the back yard wishing she could get past the invisible fence to chase that damn deer that just ran through the woods.

Paca Pics!

2009-11-07T12:55:00.001-08:00

This is Clare running up on poor Mama Annie!

Little Annie decided to wear her hay!

Double Poop!

Chloe and her killer bangs!

Cria Watch Is On!

2009-11-07T12:37:00.001-08:00

Well, just waiting for Chantilly to pop. She is due on Tuesday. She is bred to Impact who is also Tip's daddy. I really want her to go this weekend so that I can see it. Pacas have their crias during the afternoon. It doesn't look like it will be today, I was just out there and nuthin, she just looked at me like what?

I took some more pics of the two cria that we do have. I tried for some video, but they weren't doing anything but nursing.

Look at how much bigger Tip is than Clare. He is only 6 weeks older. Doesn't Clare have the cutest face? She always looks like she is smiling.

Bored Totally Silly!!!!!!!

2009-11-01T11:20:00.000-08:00

I am so totally bored, we have had another crummy weather weekend. It is so unusual for this time of year. Normally, we are a bit on the dry side with lots of 70 degree sunny days.

The top pic shows what my backyard looked like about 30 minutes ago, what you can't see is the rain that is coming down, dreary, dreary, dreary.

The next pic is out of one of my bathroom windows, I love those bushes, such a pretty color and they get pretty red berries. Our house is on a slope, so on that corner, the bathroom windows are probably 25 feet off the ground, that shows how high those bushes are. I have wanted to get pics from the outside but the weather has been so poor.

The puppy is of our house guest Skippy, she belongs to our friend T.J. who was such a big help with the Alpacas. He is Irish and went back there because his mother is ill. He has decided to stay (boohoo), so Skippy has had to go through all kinds of stuff before she can be shipped over there. T.J. is working on the last details with Ireland's AG Dept, and he needed somewhere for Skippy to stay until she leaves. Well, we love her, so volunteered. She spent lots of time here while T.J. was helping and was just wonderful. She is some kind of Japanese breed and very smart, makes my yaahoo dogs look positively atrocious.

Darn, I think the rain stopped, gotta run!

A Couple of New Pictures

2009-10-30T17:41:00.000-07:00

Just a couple of quick pics of the crias of HHF. Hasn't Tip grown? I think he is going to be a beast like his daddy Impact. Mama Caitlin is no small gal herself. The fawn girl in these pics is Currency, she is a 200 pounder so that kinds shows how big he has gotten.

The one pic of out newest, HHF Clare, is the best I could do at the time. I took bunches, but they were all a blur as she is just pronking around their pen like a silly little cria. I will work on more pics this weekend.

I was wondering about how she came up with her coloring. Her Mama is a black and daddy is a multi-color brown. She is definitely a fawn color. Well I looked into her daddy Artemus' background, she takes after her paternal GF, he is a medium Fawn, and he is spectacular.

She is a keeper.

IT HAPPENED AGAIN!

2009-10-27T17:49:00.000-07:00

Well, it happened again. I got home from work on a cloudy drizzly day, went out to feed and clean up after pacas since Kevin was down in VA Beach on political business. I am carrying seven feed tubs full of paca chow, and what do I see but another bitty baby cria. This one is really early, Annie was not due until 11/17. The cria was so new that she still had afterbirth on her.

Well, as I said, Kevin was almost two hours away and it was drizzly weather. We did have a pen all set up for birthing at least and I did have supplies. I just picked her up and carried her out, Mama Annie followed me quite closely. I put them in their pen, pulled off the afterbirth and dried her up a bit. Finished cutting off the rest of the umbilical cord and put iodine on the stump. Annie is a bit more of a friendly paca than Caitlin was.

She started trying to nurse right away after I put them in the pen. Of course her first attempts were between Annie's front legs, but she did get it right shortly with a bit of a nudge from Mama. We tried to weigh her, but the damn battery in the scale is dead. I will pick one up tomorrow. She is a tiny thing. I will get our vet out ASAP.

Sheesh, my girls are trying to make my "naturally" blond hair turn grey.

DOING THE WILD ALPACA DANCE

2009-10-25T12:16:00.001-07:00

Since Little Tip is now about 5 weeks old it was time to breed Mama Caitlin again. We decided to breed her to Artemus. Keep in mind that this is the first time we have done this.

Kevin leads Artemus over, luckily, I had the brilliant idea to leave his halter on. Kevin let him loose in the pasture and Artie turned into a Wild Man. He went after everyone but was completely ignoring the only one who wasn't preggers. Of course, Chloe and Drizella, who are pregnant were majorly pissed off. Spit was flying everywhere. Artie was only thinking with his little head so he wasn't the slightest bit effected by the spitting. It was amazing that he could be mounted on the back of a running female and still keep up with his hind legs only. Kevin finally caught him by the halter and led him over to Caitlin. She being the Superstar that she is, did exactly what she needed to do.

It is certainly interesting to watch. She just kushes and he does all of the work and makes some really funny noises the whole time. Apparently, the noises a male makes causes the female to ovulate. He went to town for a good 30 minutes, he rolled off one time and got right back on. He was finally done and Kevin led him back over. Boy was he panting, he promptly put both of this front feet in his water bucket to cool off.

I think these pics are funny, nothing like having an audience when being all romantical. Notice little Tip was all over the place. He was sticking his nose in all kinds of places wondering what the big guy was doing to Mom.

Alpaca Showing Basics

2009-10-20T18:12:00.000-07:00

I was asked to talk about what showing alpacas entails. Until last weekend, I had no clue at all. I learned so much and really enjoyed myself.

The first thing I will say is that it is so much easier than showing horses. Here is why:

1) Bathing them is frowned on, it is bad for the fiber.
2) Grooming them is frowned on, it is bad for the fiber.
3) You don't get marked down for an unruly paca.
4) Transporting them is really easy, you don't have to wrap their legs since they lay down the entire time and they rarely crap/pee in the trailer.
5) The only tack you need is a black paca halter and lead.
6) The handler is supposed to wear a white shirt and black pants with black shoes, although, from what I saw, this isn't exactly enforced.

We did halter classes with Baby Annie and Portfolio. This entails leading them in at a certain angle and walking them down the long line of the ring. The judge guides you to either stand in profile or walk directly forward. The judge will then inspect each paca. First they want to look at teeth, then they feel all over them for their fiber, then they lift the tail and check out their "parts." For NCC, I did not see one paca spit on anyone.

Baby Annie was quite good for the inspection. I wish we would have been able to get a critique of her but the judge only does that for the animals who are in the ribbons. She was in a large class and showing in a color class that really wasn't where she should have been. I really think there should be a way to get a critique of each paca even if they don't pin. There is a rule that a class can't have anymore than 14 entries. Geez, in the hunter world where I have shown, 14 is just a regular sized class. The thing about it is, these animals are pretty much very young, a critique from a judge would be very helpful in knowing how to breed the animal to improve it's young. Oh well, what the hell do I know!

As far as Portfolio, he was showing in the mature beige class. He was quite the Gentleman and was very impressive. He is just so very big and solid. We never did see any paca his size or bigger. Like I said, he caused quite a stir. The judge had issues with his teeth. She said they were quite long. I told her that we had them done recently, she was surprised. I did explain that the poor guy had been somewhat neglected, when we had them done, our vet had to take care of long teeth as well as 3 fighting teeth. He didn't want to do too much at one time. Oh well, I was really proud of him and several people thought he really was the best one out there. She was really lucky he didn't kick the shit out of her when she raised his tail and checked out his package!

There are other types of classes at paca shows:

They judge just fleece that is sent in, as a matter of fact, our guy Artemus' father won a fleece class at the age of 5 over all other age groups at the National show.

They do some performance and showmanship classes that I think are mainly for kids.

Then they do have some production/farm classes which judge the breeding programs of the bigger farms.

Virginia Alpaca Expo

2009-10-19T17:36:00.000-07:00

Kevin and I just got back from the Virginia Alpaca Expo on Sunday. We took Annie's Choice and Mr. Portfolio. Lots of planning went into this because Portfolio is a stud and she is a sweet young thing. Kevin, as usual, worked things out beautifully with various gates and bungy cords.

The weather was pretty crummy, cold, cloudy and damp but the rain mostly held off.

I learned alot and talked with lots of people who know alot about alpacas. I discovered that alpaca show classes are based on sex, age and color. Baby Annie was considered a juvenile because she isn't a year old yet. She had to show in the true black color class because there were no other juvenile bay blacks in her sex. It was a large class and she didn't pin. I was very proud of her, she acted very well. Portfolio is a beige and showed in the mature class because he is five. He did get a third. We also realized that he was pretty much the biggest paca at the show and there were 450 entries. He caused quite the stir.

I wish I could post pictures but that is the one thing that Kevin didn't do well, however, I won't go there.

I did discover that several of our pacas really came from some top quality bloodlines, so the future for Hummingbird Hill Alpacas is very bright!!

Details, Details, Details!

2009-09-29T06:48:00.000-07:00

Saturday the 26th was National Alpaca Farm Day sponsored by AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association). There were exhibits all across the country. Some were done at people's farms and some like us got together as a group. We were lucky because we were able to put it on at The Virginia State Fair at their new fairground at what used to be The Meadow. That is the farm where Riva Ridge and Secretariat were born and raised by the Chenery family.

Kevin and I trailered up early Saturday morning with Portfolio and Honey. As you can see by the pictures, we were in a large tent out by where all of the animal exhibits and contests were being held. This was not an Alpaca show, just an exhibition to promote Alpacas. This was the first year it was held at the Fair. We set up a table with brochures, pictures and some of Artemus' many ribbons he has won in the past.

Alot of people came through during the day and our Pacas were quite popular. Probably because Portfolio was the biggest Paca there and Honey was making lots of cute squeeking sounds. He became known as the talking Paca.

We handed out business cards and flyers, answered lots of questions and networked with the other Paca ranchers.

We will be going to a show on October 15-16 in Lexington at the Virginia Horse Center. We are taking Portfolio and Annie's Choice our young female.