Missed in the mist!

The misty weather has been with us for most of this week and sometimes early mornings have been worst. Fidget is waiting for his breakfast here, now that he can see the human appearing through the mist!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Fyta is always up for a laugh and often does this when the camera is pointed in his direction, even with a misty background.

This is Faro giving the human and the camera a good checking over, with Fyta behind! The boys have been permanently wet this week because of the mist.

At last the sun is beginning to climb and will soon be shining over the nearby trees.  Fergus (left) and Fyta waiting for breakfast too.

Fyta (left) likes to have some of his haylage hand-fed then he gets the under side of his chin tickled.  Fergus (right) is not interested in chin tickling!

Fidget demonstrates the correct way to eat haylage!  Fyta is at the rear and the boys appear happier now that the mist has lifted.

The Grumpy Gardener has been in the veg garden a lot this week, turning over the plots before the winter weather arrives and also re-positioning some fruit bushes.

And finally............ the boys at sunset today near their shelter, with a dusting of snow evident on the hills and a forecast of windy weather for the coming week.

Chillier weather

Daily feed time around 3.00pm is always a highlight for the boys.  From around 2.00pm onwards Fergus starts to look intently towards our house hoping that a human bearing food will appear! From the left, Fergus, Faro and Fyta.

Fidget - last as usual but no less interested in his food.  Sorry about the quality of this photo, it's a bit hazy.

Fidget again. This time enjoying a handful of haylage before bedding down for the night.

All four boys have heads down and tucking into their haylage.

This photo was taken around 8.15am one day earlier this week.  We've had some frost this week so Fyta (left) and Fidget are ready for their morning haylage.  They have a big handful in the mornings then late afternoon and their hay buckets are also filled for them to help themselves.  They can be messy eaters in their shelter with their hay, but outside they are 'hoovering' up every piece of haylage off the ground.  I think they enjoy it!

And finally.............Fergus enjoying his morning haylage with Faro behind him.

Pronking!

Two of our boys, Faro and Fyta, often take off 'pronking' across the paddocks.  For those readers who have never seen alpacas 'pronking', the animals seem to bounce on all four legs at once instead of running normally.  It's lovely to watch and we think the boys are happy when they are doing this.  In this photo, Fergus is in the background, watching - he doesn't pronk!

Faro and Fyta go pronking off, overtaking Fidget who is in front here, taking  a leisurely walk.  Fidget doesn't do pronking either!

In a couple of seconds Fyta and Faro are pronking in a far paddock with Fyta deciding to chase a crow on the ground!

After all the excitement, Faro decides to have a break and watch the others catch up.  Faro can outrun all the other boys, followed by Fyta, Fergus then Fidget (who normally doesn't do running either!)

The other three have now caught up with Faro - Fyta in front, Fergus and Fidget at the back (as usual!)

This week was Verm-X granules time for the boys but that is not why Fergus is putting on a face.  Yesterday we trimmed his and Fidget's nails and Fergus decided to spit in the air as a warning to alpacas and humans that he was not impressed by this activity!  The spitting produces this open mouthed, dripping scene which lasts about five minutes.  We give him a handful of hay which helps and he is eating normally after about ten minutes.

And finally............this was the scene at 8.00am today, Remembrance Sunday, as the sun was climbing and the boys were waiting for their haylage near their shelter.  The white in the middle of the photo is not water or the sea, but mist rising from the River Beauly below.

Still enjoying the sun.

Another sunny day and the human has approached one of the field shelters pushing a barrow - that's enough activity to get any alpacas interested!  Faro leads his pals Fergus, Fyta and Fidget to see what is going on.

Faro can always be counted on to be first to check out any human or any activity going on in the paddocks.  He's a 'one-off' and has a totally different attitude to the other three boys.

Fergus (left) and Fyta with the strong morning sunshine getting in Fyta's eyes.  By now the boys suspect that they might just get into a closed off shelter for a roll in the dust as the human is working in there!

Here they are waiting outside the shelter, from the left Fidget, Fergus, Fyta and Faro.

Give these boys an inch and they'll take a mile!  All four get into the shelter and do what they love best - rolling in the dust.  Fidget and Faro are rolling with the other two about to start.  They really enjoy this activity.

For the earlier part of the week we had sharp overnight frosts but that meant clear, sunny days.  This long range shot is of the boys in the farthest away paddock enjoying the sun with the bulk of the snow capped Ben Wyvis in the distance.

And finally............ yesterday and today have produced gales for us and when this happens the boys tend to hit the ground in a hollow in a paddock and let the wind blow over their heads.  Clever 'pacas!

Seafield Alpacas and snow!

We paid a visit further north this week to see Alison and Brendan at Seafield Alpacas in Portmahomack, Ross Shire. This was a nice visit with lovely friends and very photogenic boys.  In front is Flynn, then Chocolate behind him and Echo (Wee Eck) at the rear.  The white boy at the rear is Gully and in front of him is Merlin.

This is Gully who is the tallest in the herd and just as good looking as always.  He's a lovely boy with a terrific 'top knot!'

And just look at these two cuties - Flynn on the left with Chocolate who has a piece of clover sticking from his mouth.  Aren't they lovely?

This is Merlin getting up close and personal with 'mum' Alison with Flynn behind.  Merlin is such a friendly character and not at all phased by humans in close proximity.  In fact this is a very laid back herd, obviously very happy with acres to run about in and being well looked after by the humans!

Isn't Flynn a really handsome boy?   Like all alpacas he's also very inquisitive. Thanks for being lovely hosts, Alison and Brendan - great to see the boys again and Milo & Jasper the dogs too.

Back home again and it's that time of year once more for Halloween and pumpkin soup.  Faro, Fyta and Fergus aren't sure whether to eat the pumpkin or run away from it!  Fidget is way back on the sky-line, he's not coming any closer!

As forecast, yesterday morning saw a dusting of snow around so the boys were keen to get more hay to eat for breakfast.  They had already emptied the four hay buckets.  We'll start giving them some haylage as well as their hay next week as we get into a winter feeding routine.

And finally.............. this was the scene viewed from our house early yesterday morning and before the sun had properly risen.  Winter's a-coming!

Fun in the sun

This is Fergus, out and about today with the other boys and enjoying a bit of sunshine after a blustery and wet week.

The four boys, from the left, Faro, Fidget in front, Fergus and Fyta at the rear.   They've just had apples and are ready for some fun.

Faro, Fyta and Fergus lining up near the water cans because the human sprayed the hose and they thought they would get a bit of that.

Fyta decides that if he can't get hosed down by a human then he might as well do his own thing in the water, starting with his feet.  Fergus had already been lying in the water tray before Fyta arrived.

Ah that's better.............!  This is the type of water activity we are used to seeing from the boys in the height of the summer but not at this time of year, although the temperature is still mild.

After the water comes the dusting down!  Fergus is at the back of the shelter, Fyta is at the front having rolled and Faro is just about to have a roll.  They love this activity.

And finally.............we are used to seeing large skeins of geese flying south at this time of year and occasionally swans, like these.  The were flying high so difficult to identify the type but probably Whooper Swans making their familiar "whoop-a-hoop" call as they fly.

Not the cleanest of boys..........

It's always obvious when Fidget wants his feed as he tends to stare directly at the human with the bowl - just like this!

You can see from this photo and the previous one that the boys are a bit damp and dirty looking.   We've had a fair amount of rain recently but thankfully, nothing like the amount some areas have had in Wales and parts of England.

When it rains, Fergus usually manages to get his wet nose into the dust of the field shelter - and this is the result!

At the end of a very wet day on Friday the boys were pleased to get into their shelter and the hay buckets.

All except Fidget that is who wanted a handful of hay outside before going into the shelter for his bucket.   Spoiled or what?! 

The boys on one of the sloping, rough paddocks, facing into quite a stiff breeze which was blowing at the time the photo was taken.   The leaves are all changing colour on the trees now and more and more are dropping.

And finally.............it can't all be bad when we are still getting roses blooming in the garden. Although it's been wet and windy this week it has also been very mild for the time of year so there are still flowers around.