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 21 July 2013

It ain't 'alf 'ot, Mum!

Probably the best thing to do in this hot weather is to flop amongst the buttercups - just like Fidget.  He enjoys his own company sometimes and likes to watch the rest of the herd from a distance.  It's been a busy week of water carrying and hosing down of animals because it's not often in this part of the world that we have day after day of sunshine with no rain!
We had a visit from near neighbour Marion along with Anne this week.  Anne and husband Archie have two alpaca boys, Bo and Paddy as well as other animals but this was the first time they had come to see our boys.  Another hot day with troughs, trays and sand pits all in action as the boys tried to keep cool.  Here, Marion tries to get Gully to turn around for the camera - no chance!
Favourite spot in the heat, especially after getting a soaking in water is one of the dusty rolling patches, recently enlarged by someone who wanted 'divots' for the garden at the new house!
Another day, more heat and another chance for Fyta to get a splashing.
Flies and other beasties are a problem for the boys at present.  We penned the boys at one point and sprayed them with Barrier healthcare fly repellent and that does seem to keep the flies at bay for a while.  On another day we tried (unsuccessfully) to spray them again in a paddock and all that happened was that they ran off and formed a sort of protective circle.
Down in the chicken compound, the birds are also feeling the heat and spend long periods either in the shade or spreadeagled out in the sun.  The black-currants have now ripened and Hunkey Dunkey and his hens enjoy having a handful thrown for them to find.
And finally...........following on from Jayne at Zanzibah Alpaca's recent blog photo of her roses, thought I'd post this shot of one of our multicoloured blooms.  Is anyone else finding that this year, probably due to the weather, their flowers and bushes are more colourful and lasting longer?

Posted by at

3 comments:

  1. Zanzibah Alpacas23 July 2013 at 18:43

    The rose looks lovely .... and it looks like a much cooler week ahead...I think we all will appreciate a break from the heat ! Jayne

    ReplyDelete
  2. Apple Vale Alpacas23 July 2013 at 21:48

    'Forming a protective circle' - sounds like your boys have watched a few cowboy movies with the wagon trains under seige from the indians! I like the thought of a chicken being spreadeagled! (ours do the same, after scouring out a dust bowl). Our roses were over in a flash, I think the heat finished them off (warning, I know very little about gardening!).

    ReplyDelete
  3. Unknown24 July 2013 at 08:36

    This is my fourth attempt to leave a comment...what's going on. It will probably publish this one when I have forgotten what it was I was going to say!

    ReplyDelete

Subscribe to: Post Comments (Atom)