Spring clean.

Two old buddies - Fyta (front) and Faro.  These guys are never very far apart, where one goes - the other will follow.

The warm temperatures earlier in the week reduced Fergus to posing like a beached whale!  At one point he was sound asleep and only awoke after repeated name calling from close quarters.

Time for a change of field shelter again after a couple of months so that it can have a 'Spring clean!'  This is Faro looking into the newly re-opened shelter and considering a roll.

Now there are two as Fergus arrives to join Faro in the hope of a dusty roll.

And now there are three - and we all know what happens next..........

Mayhem!  Fergus and Fyta get rolling about whilst Faro gets his head into the hay bucket and throws that around! Soon there is dust everywhere and the boys are clearly loving it.

And finally.............the Gunnera was uncovered a couple of weeks ago following the winter after the worst frosts had passed.  The brown coloured 'crowns' are now beginning to sprout their leaves again and soon they will be bigger than golf umbrellas!

Happy Easter.

Fergus is always 'up' for having his photo taken, just to show off - perhaps he knows that he's a good looking boy!

Faro between the paddocks suspecting that it's food time as the humans are approaching with a basket of goodies!

We just missed a great photo opportunity when Fyta picked up his bowl and threw it.  He does this with his bowl and with the hay baskets - rascal that he is!

And when feeding is over, the boys just walk away.  They have very little interest in hanging about with humans, if there is no food they walk away!

Plenty of lying around in the sand pit this week in the mild temperatures.  This long range shot shows Fyta lying down in the pit, standing in and Faro lying a short distance away.

And finally.........we still have plenty of daffodils around, some have passed now but the later varieties are only just coming into flower.  Have a very happy Easter wherever you may be reading this.

Water trays and visitors.

We had to get out one of the water trays this week for the first time since last Autumn as the current good weather was causing the boys to start standing in their water troughs to cool themselves.  This is Fergus in the sandpit, soaking wet down his front having been in the tray.

There is nothing fancy about these trays - they are builder's cement mixing trays, but the boys love going in them when they get hot.  Fyta starts his preparations to lie down in the water, watched over by his pal, Faro.

"Ah, that's better!" you can almost hear Fyta say as the water hits the spot!  Faro is behind him and Fergus is in the sandpit at the top of the picture. The normal procedure is that after several minutes in the tray, Fyta will run over to the sand pit for a roll - just like Fergus has done!

Another day, another paddock and this time the photo is taken looking south along Glen Convinth and showing some of the paddocks, the veg garden and Keder greenhouse with our house, top left.  The boys attention is drawn to our neighbour's dog which is nearby so they all check her out to make sure she is not a threat............she's not!

Fergus is always keen to have his photograph taken and will stand still for some time staring into the camera.  Fyta is looking on.

At the beginning of the week, on a bitterly cold day, young Dexter brought his mum Sarah-Anne, dad David, and big sister Sadie to meet the boys.  After a wee bit of hesitation Dexter soon had Fergus eating carrots out of his hand whilst Sadie coaxed Faro to try some.  It was lovely meeting you folks, thank you for coming and glad you enjoyed it.

And finally...............I couldn't finish without putting up another photo of Fyta, looking cool and contented in the water tray!

Winter's not finished yet.

Fyta's not impressed!   We all thought that winter might be behind us now, but no such luck this week.  Rain, sleet and snow for most of the week which soaked the boys.

Fergus looks a little uncertain about his carrots - but it didn't take him long to scoff the lot and look for more!

The three boys were soaked for most of three days although they went into the shelters at night they were out in the rain and sleet during the days.

The snow didn't do a lot for these daffodils, but they recovered after the snow melted and were soon upright again.

There may be cold weather about but that didn't stop Faro from charging around the paddocks - maybe he was keeping warm in the cold wind!

It wasn't all bad this week though and Fyta and his pals soon dried out in the combination of sun and wind.

And finally.........for a change one day the boys were up in the rough paddock, close to the garage and taking it easy in the sun.

Further north for a visit.

Monday dawned windy and cold as we headed about an hour's drive north to see Alison and Brendan at Seafield Alpacas in Portmahomack, Ross-shire. This is always a joy, not only to see friends but to see Alison's very photogenic herd.  This is Flynn, what a lovely looking boy!

Alison with her boys, from the left Chocolate, Echo ('Wee Eck'), Flynn, Merlin (front) and Gully (rear). The boys have acres of grass to roam in on the croft and they make full use of it.

Eck asking me why I'm wearing a heavy jacket when he is nice and cosy against the chill wind in his fleecy coat! He's a lovely boy with curls all over his face.

Flynn again with Chocolate behind.  They really are handsome boys with very long, fine eyelashes.  It was a lovely visit to see you and the boys, Alison & Brendan, and thank you for your hospitality.

Back home the week has been mainly windy, quite chilly with an occasional glimpse of the sun.  This is Fergus, taking it easy.

Not too far away are Fyta (left) and Faro, also 'chilling out' and enjoying the daffodils which are flowering everywhere.

And finally.............I love the colour that the flowering currant has at this time of year and it's a big attraction for the bees which are now around.

Lovely sunshine!

We've had some nice, sunny spells this week although the wind still has a 'bite' to it.  Faro is enjoying this moment in the sun.

Fergus sees the human approaching with the carrots in a lower paddock so runs to meet him.   Food is the only thing which will make Fergus run!

Fyta - the cheeky chappie - fancies some carrots too and is not scared to get up close to the human and the camera.

Fergus (front) with his mouth full, Faro and Fyta enjoy their carrots in the sunshine.

Whilst all three boys enjoy the sun, Fyta is the one who always sunbathes, lying with his belly facing the sun.  This long range shot shows him lying down being watched over by his pal, Faro.

Another day in the sun and another chance to sunbathe for Fyta whilst the other two boys carry on grazing.

And finally............. some of the fruit growing areas of the garden are showing some progress in the sun.  The rhubarb in front is coming on now, the black currant bushes behind are showing leaves, there are strawberry plants to the left and a gooseberry bush, with brambles (black berries) growing along the fence line on the right. The greatly increased hours of sunlight are doing wonders.

Wet and windy

Here's an interesting shot of Faro, taken from a lower paddock on a wet and windy afternoon this week, with rainbows appearing frequently.  Fyta is lying on the ground but his head can be seen behind Faro, peering at the photographer!

The three amigos - Faro (left), Fyta and Fergus.  We've had plenty of sleet showers this week but no snow to speak of although there is plenty on the hills beyond.

Fergus (left) and Fyta, chewing the cud and having a rest.  Our boys never lie close to each other, except when they are in the shelters, when they are outside they always keep a distance from each other.

Fyta - a lovely alpaca with a laid-back attitude to life,  Why should he worry, he's got his pal Faro to look out for him!

Taken today, Fergus like the other boys has had a good soaking over the past few days during miserable weather.  Today's sunshine will give them a chance to dry out.

Spring is on it's way and this Tree Peony (Paeonia) is already bursting it's buds to reveal the flower heads which should open in May or June.

And finally...........this is the top of the south facing gable end of our house and there are normally 3 House Martin's nests at the very top under the eaves.  They are usually damaged by winter storms but last week the gales brought down all the nests so there will be considerable re-building going on when the Martins return in late April.  Sadly one of the nests had the bodies of 4 young Martins within but we don't know the reason for this.  Something may have happened to the parents, or possibly it is was a late brood just before migration time last Autumn and they were deserted, but it was sad to see.