Another week, another blog!

Not too much happening here this week.  The weather generally has been uninspiring, lots of mist and sometimes cold winds.  The sun has shone occasionally so the boys have been wet, dry, wet, dry etc.  Gaucho is looking less than enthusiastic first thing on a damp morning!

Just before this photo was taken a rabbit ran in front of Faro (left) and away into some long grass,  but Faro and Rufus continued to look for it.  Fidget, Fergus and Fyta are lying down, completely disinterested! 

Trying to get the boys to pose for a group photo can be a bit of a struggle.  Faro (right) and Rufus are paying attention but Wee Eck and Gully can't be bothered!  The (almost) new house is behind on the hill.

A little later and Gully (right) and Rufus decide to stand still long enough to have their fringes snapped.  Might need to get the scissors out shortly I think!

"Psst Fergus - lets ask the photographer if we can borrow the camera and do a selfie!"

Down in the chicken compound Hunkey Dunkey is looking good, chasing his hens and 'cock-a-doodling' as if there was no tomorrow!  The boys often stand watching him through the chicken wire as he throws his head back and sounds off about his territorial rights!

And finally............as a result of the mild winter we've just had with no deep frosts, many bushes are showing lovely colours.  These are a few of the Azalea currently in bloom.  Have a nice week.

New grass and visitors.

Following on from the previous week when the boys were anxious to get to new grass, this was the scene first thing on Monday with Faro in front asking the question with his big eyes, "When are we getting on to fresh grass?"

The answer was, "Now!"  This then starts a charge which is a joy to watch when, led by Faro, Eck, Fyta and Gully, the herd takes off for the bottom paddocks. 

They are soon all heading in that direction - just look at Rufus on the extreme right cantering (if an alpaca can 'canter') down at the rear!

And they start nibbling the grass straight away before a rolling session in their favourite shelters!  Monday and Tuesday were clear, frosty days but on Wednesday and Thursday the temperature plummeted.

Regular blog readers may have noticed a comment a couple of weeks ago on this blog from the Huang family who wanted to come and visit.  On a very cold day Teng-Wei Huang, his girlfriend and Mum and Dad arrived and  spent a couple of very enjoyable hours with us.  They are from Taiwan where there are no alpacas, and having seen our blog, wanted to see the boys during their tour of the the Highlands.

The boys were delighted to see visitors as this usually means carrots!  Here are Fyta (left) and Fergus enjoying being hand fed. On the Wed evening before the family's visit, all of us in the Highlands, Western and Northern Isles endured a major power failure which left everywhere in darkness for a couple of hours.  After coping with that in a strange Bed & Breakfast the family then had to endure Arctic temperatures on Thursday - not the sort of welcome we like to give our tourists!  However we enjoyed their visit, so come back and see us again Teng-Wei when the weather is better!  Enjoy your holiday on the continent.

And finally...........as if on cue for Easter, - Friday, Saturday and today have been sunny and very warm!  This is the magnolia tree at Tigh Mhor with the bud 'candles' just beginning to open.  Have a very happy Easter everywhere.

Gate watchers!

Dog alert!  Faro (left) and Fyta are looking out for a dog which they can hear barking some distance away.  Alpacas it seems have excellent eyesight even over quite long distances.  There is no way of telling if they can make out the image of what they are seeing but they definitely can detect movement over distance and will watch it for some time.  For instance, our boys will watch a cat two fields away or a pheasant walking through long grass over the same distance.  Obviously part of their 'herd protection' abilities hard wired into their system over countless years.

This is a close up of the flowering currant bush in the hedge shown in the previous photo.  The bush looks  and smells lovely at this time of year and is attracting lots of bumble bees - but no honey bees yet.

We've mentioned in this blog previously the fact that the boys can sense when they are going to move to new grass.  Maybe it's simply because they are fed up with their present grass and can see and smell new grass nearby.  Here the boys are spending more and more time over the last few days waiting near the gate into an adjoining paddock where the grass is fresher.  We'll move them during the coming week as this week they are having their Verm-X granules with their feed and new grass will put them off the feed.

Waiting at the gate - just look at the expression on Fergus's face (nearest camera)! A happy bunny or what?  Rufus  and Fidget are also lying down with Wee Eck and Gaucho behind.

This is the view from the new house and you can see the boys in the middle distance sitting at the far end of the bare paddocks waiting to let rip on new grass.

I wonder if any of you alpaca owners have an animal which has a really favourite  place to lie?  The boys lie around all over the place, any time, but Fidget makes a deliberate effort to return to this place just inside the gate and behind the fence for a lie down and to chew the cud!  The others can be quite a distance from him or sometimes they come and lie on the gravel, but we've never seen any other boy lie in this exact spot - they wouldn't dare!

And finally............couldn't resist a selection of Daffs picked from the garden.  Aren't they lovely?  Have a good week.

Soggy blog!

It's been a bit of a 'driech' week with heavy rain and mist although thankfully by the end of the week it had cleared up a bit.  Wee Eck with his ears like radar scanners approaches out of the gloom to see what is going on.

The rest of the gang are equally unimpressed by the elements with Fergus and his wet knees in front.

Always camera shy, Faro gives the photographer the 'tail in the air' sign that he's alert.

 Fyta likes to show off his haughty look.  A damp looking Fidget is in the background.

Remember that it doesn't rain for ever, Gaucho!

Gully - he just loves having a roll when he is soaking wet.

And finally...........couldn't finish without a final Wee Eck photo of the dripping fringe!

Pen pals

We put the boys in the pen early in the week to check on Wee Eck's ears and apply some cream.  Normally we pen the boys in the morning if we are going to work with them but we were having a busy day and decided to do them just before their feed time around 3.00pm.  So around this time the boys see us coming down the track and because they can tell the time (!!) they think they are going to be fed their supplement.  Surprise, surprise then when they find themselves being guided into the pen!  So now they are not the happiest of bunnies because instead of feed in the mouth, it was cream in the 'lug' so there was much huffing and puffing, pushing and shoving and general moaning and groaning - and that was just from the humans!  This shot is of Rufus who is humming away and deciding to look out of the pen ignoring the fuss.

Gaucho has decided to do the same but he is also under a certain amount of pressure from his pal Gully who is pushing him from behind.......

..........see what I mean?!

Looking the picture of innocence and waiting to see if they are going to be 'creamed' are Fidget (left) and Fyta.

And at the end of the penning, what better than to lie down in the corner of a paddock with some favourite haylage  and just chill - like Fidget.

And finally..............at the end of a sunny but chilly day, the boys make their way from the new paddock across to the  field shelter in the overnight paddock, just as the sun is setting.   Aaaaaahhhh!

New paddock

At the beginning of the week we let the boys into the new paddock.  It's on a slope, like all the ground around here, and the quality of the grass leaves a lot to be desired but the boys enjoy it.  Here they are checking out the new views. Gully is nearest to the camera.

Wee Eck (left) and Rufus climbing the slope with Fyta still down at the entrance gate behind.  We left the gates  open to all the paddocks so they could get used to the layout.  It's very muddy at the entranceway so we'll have to do something about that.

Any fresh grass is good news for Fergus!  Here he is at the top of the slope looking back over the older paddocks.  Our new house is behind him so he knows that he is closer to the supply of carrots!

At feed time the boys were in the new paddock and we called them back.  With a bit of enlargement you'll see them all running in a long line with Faro in the lead (naturally) and Fidget bringing up the rear.

And here they are for their feed, led by Faro.  Second is Fergus proving that even the 'bulkiest'  beastie can shift himself when food is on offer!

Now the fluffy boys take it easy.  They were lovely and dry at the beginning of the week but then we had a couple of days of driving rain and sleet so they ended up soaking wet again.

And finally............by Friday we had a dusting of snow everywhere with temperatures taking a plunge.  This photo was taken at 7.10 in the morning just as the wintry sun was rising and the boys were having some hayledge.  This is the first week they have used their new field shelter and there has been a lot of 'huffing and puffing' as they get used to the new space and who gets to lie in what corner.  Fidget came off worse and spent two nights outside until he found his new bed-space!

Visits in the wind

A busy week for the boys this week, some visitors, some nail clipping and the monthly Verm-X granules in the feed! Most of them have now inspected the inside of the new field shelter which we will start using in the coming week in conjunction with the new paddock.  Daren't let them into the new paddock to eat all that grass whilst on the Verm-X otherwise they wouldn't eat the latter!  Fidget, above, giving a toothy welcome with his pals behind him.

We had a welcome visit from Wendy and Paul of Woodleigh Lodge alpacas during a day which typified our weather this week - sunny but very windy!  The boys are getting the once over here with Paul feeding carrot to Fyta.

We had to see if Fyta would do his 'party piece' in the water tray for Wendy and Paul.  The trays have all been in storage during the winter but Fyta remembered straight away what it is used for! Fergus also loves the tray.

So with Fyta out of the way Fergus can take over, rubbing his neck in the water but only for so long before Gaucho takes a turn.

Today we had a flying visit from Louise and daughter Catriona, en route to Inverness for some retail therapy, all the way from Achiltibuie, near Ullapool on the west coast.  Fyta managed to mark time in the tray but was reluctant to have  a dunk in the cold wind - clever boy!  Hope the alpaca therapy was as good as the retail kind ladies, and trust that you will drop in past again and see us.

And thats all for this week folks..........finally! (Fergus)