OUR SMALL HERD

Our original four boys came from Ardo Alpacas in Aberdeenshire. We are not alpaca breeders and have our boys purely as pets. Our experience is that you don't need to be a breeder and that a 'batchelor herd' can give much pleasure to the owner. We have 5 acres including our big garden and grazing for the boys, 15 miles north of Inverness, Scotland. I spin, knit, felt and crochet with the fleece from the boys.

Clicking!!

Just a reminder that clicking on (most) of the photos will show them greatly enlarged.

Sunday 11 November 2012

Neeps and hay bale.

It's the time of year when the boys enjoy eating neeps (turnips!)  Well, most of the boys anyway, some need to be coaxed a bit whilst others chew them eagerly.  Fyta here enjoys being fed his by hand so that he can scrape the bottom with his teeth then snap off a bit to chew.
Fyta chews a bit whilst Gully, who is not over fond of neeps looks on.
Faro loves them and prefers eating them on the ground.  His fleece is a lovely deep copper colour at the moment but has no length to it - a bit like his black half brother, Wee Eck. 
So whilst the boys enjoy their veg, the humans have a wee problem to solve - how to get this bale of hay from the car park down to the steading.  A crofter friend had borrowed the trailer several times and when he returned it he kindly gave us a round bale.  We could have taken the trailer through the paddocks but they are a bit too muddy at present and we didn't want to get stuck so it was a bit of a team building exercise - except 50% of the team was still having a long lie in her bed!  Getting the bale from A to B using only two strips of black polythene, lots of calories and a few choice words is no problem to an ex-military man, but............
..............steering one of these bundles along the front of the house and through the garden can be tricky!
We're on a roll now, it's all downhill but mind the black currant and rasp bushes!
Easey -peasey!  
And finally...........a view from the build site, over the boggy paddock and the turnip-filled boys to the hills beyond!

5 comments:

  1. Great photo blog Shirley...nearly had me perspiring just reading it!

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  2. It's great to overcome a big problem with a little ingenuity, but is Robbie like a flattened cartoon character out of picture?

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  3. Well done! Great photos and they show how everything is possible with the right attitude and a little imagination! We have moved large granite bolders with planks and rollers...takes ages but great to know that we can do it!

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  4. I love the photo of Fyta eating his neep while Gully looks on most distastefully! It looks like Gully has pinched his lips together thinking 'eewww...how COULD you?' :) Lisa

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  5. It's a good job you were on a downward slope as they weigh a ton, I know I've done it!

    Ours love turnip too.

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