Shearing is nearing!

It's an alpaca's life, lying in the sun, soaking up the morning rays!  Fyta is a real sun lover, getting down and pointing his belly at the sun whenever he can.  It's always a bit heart-stopping seeing an alpaca like this initially, as many of you know, and it's always a relief when the animal lift's it's head to confirm that it is OK.  Fyta is lying here next to Gaucho with an assortment of hay buckets thrown around the shelter - also the work of Fyta!

Heads down, grazing time again.  The cloudy sky was the first sign that heavy rain was about to descend .  We still have a section of this paddock 'fenced off' as the large pool of water refuses to budge - normally by this time of the year it is completely dry but we've had so much rain over the past month that it is still there.

Rufus (left) and Gully grazing head to head.  The boys are due to have a visit from James the shearer on Monday afternoon so their thick coats will soon be in bags!  When this photo was taken this morning they were all nice and dry but would you believe they are now soaking after another day of rain.  The forecast is a bit better for tomorrow (Sunday) which I hope will give them a chance to dry out, if not they'll have to be inside tomorrow night to make sure they are ready for their Monday perm.  James will do the small herds in this part of the world before heading along the coast to Jayne at Zanzibah to do her lovely beasties.  On Tues and Wed he will be in Moray and Aberdeenshire shearing bigger herds and we hope to catch up with him again then.

And finally........... an update on Duncan (Hunkey - Dunkey) the Buff Orpington cockerel we were given recently.  He's settled in really well with his three hens and this is a shot of him with one of them, 'Buttercup.'  We bred her ourselves with several others 8 years ago, so she is doing very well.  Her mother was a Sicilian Buttercup breed, well known as 'flyers' and this little girl can still get over an 8 feet high enclosure with no problem!  She is still laying as is another of the trio who is also 8 years old, and the third is a Maran who is 5 years old, so they must be happy hens for sure.