A busy week

On last week's blog we started with a photo of Fidget absolutely covered in mud.  Just to show that he can be a nice, clean boy (after several showers of rain) here he is again looking like butter wouldn't melt!

We've had a busy week, mostly alpaca related.  We visited Liz a friend who lives near Nairn and she has 4 boys, Ragnar and Hector who are both 10 yrs old and Hamish and Torquil who are 2 yrs old.  Liz has owned Ragnar and Hector for 8 yrs, as well as other alpacas,  and took delivery of the other two boys this year from Ardo alpacas.  This photo shows Hamish (left) and Torquil under the crab apple tree.  Now, our blog readers will know that we give our boys slices of apple daily at this time of year as our wee orchard provides us with more than enough apples.  Liz though goes one better because she shakes the branches of the crab apple tree, the apples fall to the ground and her boys start eating them!  Thats what Hamish and Torquil are up to in this shot and it really is great to see the boys 'hoovering' up the fruit.  The 4 boys get on very well together despite their age differences and Liz says that her old boys are much calmer and approachable now that the young boys are with them.   

We had a very interesting visit this week from Jane Tyrer who is a vet as well as an alpaca breeder in South Africa (www.harmoniealpacas.co.za).  This is Jane giving our 'beefy boys' a professional look over.  She is finding quite a difference between the size and colour of her alpacas to those she is seeing in UK.  On the whole her herd is taller but UK alpacas seem to be generally heavier, apparently.  Jane is very interested in fleece and spinning and she brought along some scarves and waistcoats made from her animals' fleece and they were really lovely.  Accompanying Jane was Isobel Scott (www.naturally-sheepish.co.uk ) who taught me to spin so you can imagine that the conversation was intense and most enjoyable and could have gone on all day!

And finally........ this week has seen lots of fine weather and hot days so the boys were up to their normal tricks in the water trays.  Robbie had just scrubbed and filled the trays when Fyta decided he would take over with the brush!  Fidget is on the left and an amused Fergus on the right.  Wee Eck, our black boy is behind with Gaucho at the rear.  The coming week promises to be busy as we welcome my niece and her daughter to the Highlands.