Nueva Vida Photos and Diary

June and it's already HOT IN AUSTIN!

2009-06-17T12:12:00.000-07:00

We are really getting into summer early. For the past few days it has been over 100 degrees and there is no end in sight! We go out 3 times a day to water the alpacas' bellies, and make sure that we add electrolights to their water. Hope we have a break soon, or it's going to be a long summer!

Shearing us All!

2009-04-15T12:55:00.000-07:00

Well, this is the day Uncle Sam shears everyone, so it was fitting that it was the day to shear the heard! We had lots of help, and Jenifer and Stever Oldacre brought their six animals to join us. There were some "screamers" (you'd think you were killing them if you didn't almost have those that go to sleep while they are being sheared). We finished by noon, and they guys from Alley Packa were great!

Shearing at the Pearce's

2008-04-15T09:20:00.000-07:00

We took the animals over to the Pearce's to be shorn. We had to take two loads to get them all over there. Maybe next year we will have enough to do it at our ranch. This is a picture of S'mores getting a haircut! Since she is the "spitter" everyone held their breath, but she was pretty good! I don't think I'd like my feet tied up while someone sheared me, either!

2008-02-10T08:59:00.000-08:00

Here are Tina and Zoe in their coats to protect them from the cold nights. Aren't they cute?

Princess Zoe

2008-01-31T11:33:00.000-08:00

Today, we had our first assisted birth . I have been checking on Carmella every few hours for several days, now. This is her first cria, and she has been pretty uncomfortable for quite a while, with a lot of pacing, hard breathing, etc. Finally, when I went out this morning, I could see the tip of a nose (not a good sign, since they are born front feet first)! I waited, and since there was no progress in 15 minutes, made an emergency call to the vet. Kim had come out to help in the meantime. I finally decided that I had to push the nose back in and try to retrieve the feet. I have to tell you my heart was beating faster than Carmellas! Luckily, with just a few minutes of moving the cria around, I finally got her positioned correctly, we pulled, and just after she was born, the vet arrived. Everyone checked out fine (me, included). and we all breathed a sigh of relief. Since it was such a tramatic birth, we gave Zoe plasma.

When we bred Carmella (brown) to Cambridge (white) We had no idea what color cria we would

have! She is a beautiful, fluffy, white little girl! Hooray!

Tina Turner of NVA

2008-01-13T11:26:00.000-08:00

Another girl!!! Today Tina Turner came to our farm. She is a beautiful, brown, long legged, eyelashes to die for, little girl. Minnie is her mother and Rigoletto is her father. I think she is a beaut!

Welcome, Latte!

2008-01-05T12:39:00.000-08:00

Today Latte was born! She looks a lot like her mother, Crescent Moon's S'mores. Her father is Tierra's Rigolletto (Dom Lucilio son). S'mores had an easy birth, as usual, in spite of the fact that she is such a diva!

Dinner with the vet!

2007-12-08T13:04:00.000-08:00

We have been so happy to have a new vet, Sierra Guynn, move to Bastrop! She was with a vet previously who had 25% alpaca "clients" so she is very experienced! She and her husband, Richard and several other neiborhood alpaca farmers had dinner on the back porch on a beautiful December evening, and we ate and talked and talked!

I think we should at least do this yearly. Besides, Sierra and Richard a good folks!

White Shadow and Zoomer

2007-11-17T12:43:00.000-08:00

We bought a pregnant female today, and lo and behold, she delivered a little boy! We bought her from John and Jan Pierce, who are gearing down their operation, and she is really pretty. We named the little boy Shifting Gear's White Lightning, but we're calling him Zoomer. His father, Crescent Moon's Shifting Gears, is a champion many times over. Expecting good things from this little one! We'll probably bring them both over here in about a month.

Taking in a boarder!

2007-11-04T12:51:00.000-08:00

Today, Blue Gate Woodford (Woody) became a member of our heard. Mike and Eileen Coyle have brought him over here to board, until they are ready to have their own farm.

He rode back from the show in Louisiana, with us, so by the time we got home, he was great buddies with Mr. D and Sonny Boy.

He is beautiful dark brown, with a black face. We're very happy to have him in in the fold!

Show results

2007-10-30T12:19:00.000-07:00

Well, we came back with 2 ribbons, 1 first place, and a 5th place. The Convention Center was new and this was the first show of this type that was held there. The floors were very slick, and the animals were jumpy. Kim showed both Sonny and Mr. D and let us say that they weren't on their best behaior. The fifth place ribbon was for "show" so we hope to improve in the future! Our next door neighbors, The Jacks came to Louisiana for the show, and we were happy to have them there to cheer us on

Showtime!!

2007-10-26T15:28:00.001-07:00

Showtime! We're getting ready for our first show where we will be physically showing our own animals. We're going to Shreveport LA on November 2,3,4 and taking Mr. D. and Sonny Boy. Vicki and the Jacks are going with us, and Carl, Mindy and Cole are going to baby-sit the remaining animals! We decided to take the little boys, because they are the easiest to handle and hopefully it will be a good learning experience for all four of us. Kim is going to show them in the ring. We've been doing all the prep work like designing and having a banner made for the stall, printing brochures, getting new air-conditioning for the trailer along with a trailer cam to watch and hear the animals while we're driving. The cam can be used in the barn after we come home, and we can put a picture on our television in the bedroom! We've also designed a way for Cagney and Lacey to go from pen to pen via a sort-of doggie door cut in the fences/gates. So as you can tell, we've been busy bees!Making my lists and checking them twice!

Fleece!

2007-10-17T12:44:00.000-07:00

I went to a seminar in Medina (near San Antonio) this past weekend. It was a fleece seminar, hosted by Leigh and Chuck Thomas and I learned so much about the fleece that I did not know before, but even more beneficial was that 10 ranches were represented, and it was very valuable to be able to share info and ideas over the two days. We had a vet who had taught at A&M for twenty years (before they closed the camelid program) come for dinner Saturday night and speak to us and answer questions, which was really great! I am going to try to do this more often, as it is good information and they actually offer credit toward a "masters" credential.

Kids and 'Pacas!

2007-08-15T12:20:00.000-07:00

There is something about kids and alpacas! They are both at ease with each other and oh so curious about each other! Zack was visiting Carl and Mindy from California, and he and Sonny really hit it off! (I think Sonny is telling him a secret). Ah to be young!

A new ranch hand!

2007-07-03T18:41:00.000-07:00

Austin came to visit us from Los Angeles, and he is a great ranch hand! He gets up early every morning and goes to feed the alpacas, and pick up poop! (it's a dirty job but somebodys got to do it!). The alpacas are all very comfortable around Austin, and he does a great job. Here he is with Mr. D.

Shearng Day!

2007-04-06T13:18:00.000-07:00

Today was really busy! We took all eight of our animals over to Jan and John Pearce's farm for shearing! The same guys (who go all over the states doing this) from New Zealand were our shearers once again. They really have it down to a science! And the alpacas don't seem to be too traumatized by the process. The Pearce's have a great set-up organized and make a pretty hard task seem easy. They have 20 animals so it was a full day. We all had crock pot stew and cornbread when we finished, and it was good even on a hot day. Vicki, Rachel and my Dad stopped by for a visit to see how it is done, and seemed to enjoy the day, too. Everyone trailered pretty well, but I think this may be the last year that we can cart all our animals in one trip! It's amazing how different everyone looks when the fuzzy coat is removed!

The Trio

2007-04-01T19:00:00.000-07:00

This picture just makes me laugh! I swear they are humming "I'm Just Wild About Harry" or something like that! Hum along with Mr. D, Carmella and S'mores!

Camelidynamics!

2007-03-26T18:40:00.000-07:00

Kim and I took Sonny Boy and Silly to a Marty McGee Camelidynamics seminar on Saturday and Sunday. (it was more for us than it was for them, but since Silly is our diva, we thought it would be good to work with her.) It was a great experience! Marty is such a great proponent of keeping the alpacas' interest paramount, and showing us that as long as the alpacas are comfortable and you are respectful of their feelings almost anything is easily accomplished! Robin and Paul Roberts were the hosts at their beautiful ranch in Navasota. If any of you alpaca owners ever had the opportunity to attend this seminar, we highly recommend it! It makes you a better owner and I'm sure that the alpcas appreciate it! *grin*

Gaining strength everyday

2007-03-11T13:25:00.000-07:00

"Sonny Boy" (we're trying this name on for size) Royal Son aka Sonny Boy, has been getting stronger every day. He is so cute and he is finally up to the weight he was before he started nursing, so we think that we've turned the corner and Silly is producing enough milk. He's quite a hot rodder at sunset and early in the morning, and his idol is Mr. D whom he imitates all the time. Julia is his good friend...she helped me talk him to the vet in Blanco on the 24th and I think he remembers that she held him and fed him a bottle during the trip.

We have lift off!

2007-03-06T12:38:00.000-08:00

Well, it has been a long time coming, but little boy started nursing Silly, just a few minutes ago! (I am so relieved that I can probably skip the 3am and 6am feedings!) I think I will still have to give him a supplementary bottle for a while until she has enough milk to feed him, but, boy! are we relieved! He weighs 13.6.

Now we have to officially name him...got a few ideas, but not decided just yet!

Breathing a long, exhausted sigh....

A Difficult Birth.....

2007-02-22T22:00:00.000-08:00

Hi...the last few days have been really hectic, but the bottom line is that we have a beautiful white baby boy cria. (not named yet).

Silly starting acting strange on Tuesday, lots of pacing and "moaning" and she seemed really uncomfortable on Wednesday night, so I got up and checked on her every two hours. By Thursday morning she was really in distress, so we called the vet. He came out and tried to examine her and take an ultra sound, which was inconclusive, and her pelvic exam he thought he could feel the baby's ribs. We decided that it looked like she needed a cescerian so he went back to prepare and we started hooking up the trailer, and by that time she wouldn't stand up, so you should have seen Kim and Diana and me trying to carry her (192 pounds) to the trailer! When we got to the vet, and opened up the back door, we could see the baby's head out. Long story shorter, she had one leg in front, and the other locked behind her, so the doctor had to help deliver him. He's really tiny (10 pounds) and is pretty stressed from the birth so we've had to give him plasma and tube feed him (in the parking lot of Wal Mart in San Marcos with Rhonda Deshner), and bottle feed him every two hours, since he is still not strong enough to stand up and nurse). So....we're tired, but hopeful that both he and Silly will be okay.

Mr. D's games

2007-01-28T18:11:00.000-08:00

Mr. D is quite a card. He loves to hot rod and he plays a bump and run game with the "ladies". They all fuss at him and he usually backs off, but he's especially bad with his sister, Carmella. It's fun to watch and I think secretly the girls think he's cute!

Baby Cole Meets Mr. D

2006-12-31T13:34:00.000-08:00

This has been an extraordinary Christmas! We were visited by our daughter, Mindy and her husband Carl with our new grandbaby, Cole! The 11 days they spent with us were great! It has been a long time since we've had a baby around, and Cole is the greatest! On the day he left he met "Mr. D" and they "bonded"! It was pretty funny to see each of them checking the other out! We can't wait until they come back and Cole can really get to know the alpacas!

Christmas Baby!

2006-12-28T12:28:00.000-08:00

We had a late Christmas present from Minnie...a new boy cria born on the 28th! His name is "Mr. D" and he is the first cria of Rigoletto (a Dom Lucilio son). He was born without any problems and everyone is doing fine. His face is great and he's got a great personality! We're having a great time!

Green Grass for the girls!

2006-10-24T15:01:00.000-07:00

Kim bought some fence panels and we have created a new pen for the girls that has lots of grass in it! (The biggest problem we're having is getting rid of sand burrs and growing grass in the pastures for the animals!) They absolutely love it! When I go out to open it in the morning they make a dash for the grass! (The boys already had a lot of grass in their pasture, so can't say we're not equal opportunity! )

Of course, the grass is always greener.........

Starting a Petition to Enlarge the Pool!

2006-08-22T16:48:00.000-07:00

MAN! IT'S HOT!

Honeymoon and Shearing!

2006-04-05T14:03:00.000-07:00

Last Thursday Silhouette went to visit Poseidon. Rhonda reported yesterday that they "got married" on Monday and seemed to have a very enthusiastic honeymoon. They will behavior test on Saturday to see if she is pregnant.

We are still breeding S'mores, will behavior test tomorrow to see if we have been successful.

On Saturday night, we got a call from the rancher in Del Valle (Jan and John Pierce) saying that the shearer was going to finish early on Sunday at Rhonda's, and they could come over to her place and shear her animals and ours! We were thinking that it would be in May, but turns out that this was more convenient for the shearer. They are a bunch of guys from Australia and New Zeeland and all they do is travel around and shear alpacas. They were really awesome to watch. So, we borrowed the trailer from the Pierces, and tried to get out as many of the burrs as we could and we got them over to Jan and John's about 1:00 on Sunday. They finished about 3:30 and we were all bushed! John recommended that we keep our animals separate from theirs, and it's a good thing, because some of them were really quite unrecognizable when they were sheared. (Cambridge had 7 pounds of fiber!) It was pretty successful, considering that we haltered the little girls for the first time...that was fine, but they didn't lead very well....good thing they are small enough to pick up! And we had our first experience of loading animals into the trailer (boys were a piece of cake, but the girls were a little difficult).

Angel at 3 months

2006-03-23T14:08:00.000-08:00

It's fun to see how fast the babies are growing. Angel is three months old today, and she is growing very fast! I have to weigh her and see how much she weighs now, but I'll bet that she is more than fifty pounds. Her fiber is very fine and silky, while Carmella's is longer and more dense. They have a lot of fun playing together, but Angel is clearly the "boss". Here's a photo of her with her mother, S'mores, who has been a wonderful mother. We'll find out soon if she is pregnant with Rigoletto's cria. It will be interesting to see what color they make!

And there was Rain!

2006-03-20T16:41:00.000-08:00

Finally! After months and months of no rain, we finally had a gully-washer last night! The pond had been going down steadily and is now full again! Every one of the animals seems to have a new attitude today!

Rain: Part Two

2006-03-20T16:31:00.000-08:00

Cagney and Lacey are so happy to have water to play in again! They chased, ran, wrestled and rolled in the stream until they almost dropped!

Rain: Part Three

2006-03-20T16:29:00.000-08:00

And most of all, the alpacas were grateful for the rain that will bring some great grass to eat!

In this photo the girls are watching Cagney and Lacey play in the water.

Minnie's pregnant!

2006-03-09T14:33:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess that this breeding stuff isn't all that hard, after all! We got the progesterone results back today and Minnie is pregnant! Her due date is December 27th! Guess Mr. Rigoletto is "proven" now. It's weird, because we were sure that he wasn't successful. We bred him to S'mores earlier this week, and will put them together again tomorrow, so hopefully this will be just as easy. Cambridge will have to wait his turn, and hopefully he will be mature enough when he has his next opportunity. (He's really got beautiful fiber, so I'm sure he will make pretty crias).

Silhouette goes to see Posideon just as soon as we get a health certificate back from the vet. This is a match that we've planned since we bought her in December of 2004! Can't wait to see this baby!

Cagney and Lacey's Birthday!

2006-02-26T14:25:00.000-08:00

Today Cagney and Lacey are one year old! We're hoping that the bad habits of climbing the fences and digging holes will disappear with "adulthood"! They are calming down a bit and Cagney hasn't escaped for a couple of weeks, now. (Kim has put electric fence around the first three pastures, so hopefully just knowing that it is there is enough deterrant for Cagney to stay inside...she's awfully smart!) Right now they stay with the male alpacas and visit the girls on a daily basis. We haven't quite felt like they should sleep with the girls in the barn area, because it is so small, and we do feel like they are pretty protected there! It's amazing how big they are (about 70 pounds each) and they tell us that they will continue to grow for another 6 months. They are both great dogs! (despite the bad habits!) It is worth noting that since we got them, we haven't spotted a coyote on the property!

Girls Day Out

2006-02-12T13:05:00.000-08:00

We've been pretty busy, as usual. We cleared the corral of Fawn's poop and leaves and now we let the girls out there during the day. They were like little kids when we first let them out there, running and jumping and chasing each other. (The pen by the barn is really too little for them, but its smallness does help us to take care of them better). The babies have outgrown their coats and the cold weather is just now starting! I'm going to try and figure out how to make some extensions, because their fur is not quite full enough yet to keep them warm.

Escape Artist!

2006-02-06T13:17:00.000-08:00

The babies are fine. I've stopped giving Carmella a bottle and she still seems to be gaining weight (28.2 today) and Angel weighed 35 pounds the last time I caught her to weigh her (she's a brute)! We've had quite a battle with Cagney getting out. She actually got out last week and was gone all night. (she hasn't gotten out side then, but we'll see...it's a challenge!) Kim has put up fence extensions, and finally an electric fence, but she actually climbed out twice with the electric fence on! I hope that she learned that being out all night wasn't a lot of fun, and won't try it anymore!

Our Christmas Babies

2005-12-24T14:39:00.000-08:00

Our little Reindeer, Carmella, born December 19, 2005
Angelica (Angel) born December 23,2005
Carmella, standing at 30 minutes!

Well, after 11 months of waiting, we finally have our first babies (crias). We are really fortunate that our first additions are both girls, and they are both beautiful and healthy! All those nights of worrying if everything was going to go alright, was not necessary, as both mothers delivered without any assistance, and I found both babies a few minutes after they were born! (I had been checking the mothers every half hour during the due week). This is really exciting as Nueva Vita really has its first "new life".

Baby #2

2005-12-23T13:49:00.000-08:00

Well, I guess I worried for nothing as these mothers seem to know exactly what they are doing! Although she was a little later in the day than is "normal" S'mores delivered a beautiful white baby girl this afternoon! Again, the baby was on the ground before I discovered her and she was covered with dirt, so I couldn't even tell what color she was. Again, all the females were standing around checking her out. I picked her up, took her in the barn to dry her off and for number two, everything seemed just a little easier. Putting iodine on the umbilical cord (there seemed to be a little hernia, so I tied her with a string dipped in iodine). Her neck doesn't seem to be as strong as Carmell's was, but each hour that passes seems better. We've called the vet to come and check her tomorrow and draw blood for the IgG test, but she seems to be great, although she is about a week early. I think we will call her Posiedon's Angelica (Angel). She is bigger than Carmella (weighing 16 pounds) and the only way you can tell that she is early is that the covers that are on her toenails in the womb are still there, so he feet look a little funny. I called Rhonda and she said this was normal and that the covers would wear themselves off. This is fun....and makes it really feel real that we are truly alpaca ranchers, now!

Our first baby!

2005-12-19T12:12:00.000-08:00

Well, it's been a long day, but very exciting. Carmella (a combination of Carl and Melinda) was born between 11:15 and 12:30 today...I was on a conference call, and when it was over went out to check on Minnie and there the baby was, on the ground with all the girls standing over her and nudging her. I took her in the barn and started drying her off, called Kim in the house, and naturally, got the answering machine! When I tried again, he came running and we started drying her off with the hair dryer and doing all the things that the book says to do! She was pretty alert and active and was standing within a few minutes and looking for the "milk machine" within an hour. We had the vet come out and checked her out (since we are so new to this) and he says she looks fine. She weighed 13.10. So we weigh her tomorrow and if she is gaining weight he seems to think everything is ok. The big question was if she was nursing, which she seems to be doing fine (really cute with a milk mustache)! She is the same color as Minnie, even though her father (Bossman) is light fawn. Can't wait for everyone to see her! She is so fluffy! She is really cute!!

The Boys and Silly Arrive

2005-11-17T12:03:00.000-08:00

The other alpacas were delivered on Saturday. They are doing well, except that Cagney and Lacey have been chasing the boys, and we've had to separate them from time to time. The boys are very curious and friendly. Cambridge will eat from your hand, and when he does, Rigoletto is right there, too. The sand burrs are still a problem, but not quite as bad as they were when we got S'mores and Minnie.

The boys are not as fastidious as the girls. The boys' bean pile is "in the general vicinity" and while the girls line up to go the bathroom one at a time, the boys back up to the pile spread their legs really wide and go at the same time...it's pretty funny and probably more than you wanted to know.

Silhouette is just as georgous as we remember...she is quite an animal!

Minnie is due on December 10th, so we're getting a little nervous that we know what we're supposed to do! Wish us luck!

Life on the funny farm...

2005-09-08T12:02:00.000-07:00

lately has been more work than funny...

The land management team goes home today. They have done a great job! we even let them out by the pond for a couple of days and they cleared that out, too! (Just had to watch them closely because they wanted to head for the front and the flowers!) Kim thinks that we may be able to make this a yearly thing with the goat guy and that would be a lot of help for us!

This morning we had Rhonda and Jenny come over from the ranch in San Marcos where we've bought our alpacas. They gave us a school on giving shots and trimming toenails. I'm afraid I'm still a little wimpy so Kim got the lions share of the work, but I held them still! I don't know if I have told everyone that we decided to get Cambridge (white) and we also had to have another male so that he wouldn't be by himself, so we bought Rigoletto (black with dark brown legs) too. The leaf vacuum is here in town, and Kim has to make arrangements to pick it up tomorrow, so as soon as we see if this works, we'll have Silly, Cambridge and Rigoletto delivered. Then, we'll have two crias in December, so we're movin!

Was nice to have weather in the 60's this morning! Let's hope that the hottest weather is soon going to be behind us!

Prisoners, Intruders and Escapees!

2005-07-17T12:14:00.000-07:00

This week has been especially eventful! We need a vacation! On Tuesday we took Cagney and Lacey in to get shots, and ended up leaving them with the vet to be spayed, so when we got them home on Wednesday, we had to keep them in the kennel to restrict their activity. We moved the kennel into the alpaca shed as we had rain predicted, and didn't want them exposed to the weather. They didn't like being cooped up, but were pretty good about it.
On Thursday night as I was doing my nightly trek to the barn to turn off the fans and close the doors, when I walked through the front, I heard a noise to my right and Belle growled. I looked, and there was a raccoon eating KC's food! We looked at each other eye to eye (with his little burglar mask), I calmly collected Belle, turned off the fans, and left! (In all honesty, it was a little one and didn't look very threatening, but I wasn't taking any chances). We had the vet come out for a farm visit on Friday morning. he checked Minnie and S'mores out said they looked fine, (except for the burrs) gave Fawn a vaccination, and said we could let the puppies out for a little activity.Friday night we got that expected rain. And RAIN it did! Suffice it to say that the pond is full and overflowing again, and the grass is looking a lot more healthy, too.
In the alpaca books they say alpacas are "easy" ...just give them a shelter that is dry and clean.....well that is easier said than done, especially when your land slopes down and all water is running to the shed! (shudda thought of that one!) So Kim and I are out in the rain trying to divert the water away from the shed. We worked a little more on Saturday during the break in the weather, and time will tell if we have managed to secure the floor of the shed (OR AS KIM CALLS IT, THE ALPACA HILTON).
This morning after feeding everyone, and starting to come back to the house, I accidentally let Cagney out. It was total chaos! Moxie and Belle were barking at her to go back, Lacey was barking to get out too, and Cagney was having a great time. Eventually, I put Moxie and Belle in the house (while yelling "KIM I NEED HELP") in the hopes that they would get Kim ("What, Lassie? Is someone in trouble?) and in the meantime, Lacey climbed OVER the gate and got out too, just about the time that Cagney discovered the Ducks! Where are the video cameras when you need them? Cagney chased the ducks who scattered for the pond, but did that stop her? NOT A CHANCE! Both Cagney and Lacey were in the pond swimming after the ducks, and eventually Kim heard the commotion (mostly me SCREAMING) and came out with leashes. I caught Lacey, but Cagney was still dog paddling her heart out! I think she only came out because she was tired. Clearly we have some dog obedience school needed.
Well, that's our news...I think I'll take a nap now....

Love, Ronda

P.S. for those who have asked, the Cleanup Crew (Billy and the girls) is making amazing progress!

Life at Nueva Vida

2005-07-13T11:02:00.000-07:00

We had our first "outing" today. We were successful in catching and haltering Minnie (she is the smallest, so thought we would be good to start with her). She was hard to catch, but easy to halter. I put her on a lead for a few rounds around the pasture, and then Kim and I walked her to the barn to weigh her. She was a little intimidated when she saw Fawn in the pasture by the barn, so ultimately, we had to enlist Michael to help (literally lifting her onto the scale) She weighs 106.8 so she has gained a little! (She was 105 when she arrived, which is a little underweight) Tomorrow is S'mores day out!

We have the appointment with the vet for a farm visit on Friday morning. (We had the puppies spayed yesterday). He will examine and ultra sound the girls. (Hence the increased need for us to be able to "catch" them....we don't want to look like amateurs, for goodness sake!)

Seems like we are making progress, but I tried to brush the burrs out of Minnie and I think they are there for life! (The only thing that seemed to work was picking them out one at a time, and forget getting them out of her top knot!...me oh my!)

The clean up crew is doing great work...we have to hurry and fence the next pasture as I think they will soon be ready to tackle it!

Land Management Team

2005-07-10T11:42:00.000-07:00

We had our Land Management team start yesterday.....ten South African Boer Goats! They must have been really hungry, because Kim and I swear that we can tell a difference in the land clearing already. We have them on loan from a friend of Michael (the kid who is working for us). There are 9 nannies and a Billy. You'll be happy to know that only 4 of them have names, Billy, Cloanie, Patches and Saddleback. They are pretty big (not what I expected at all) and they are really serious about tearing down brush...it's pretty interesting to watch. We're starting to feel like real ranchers!

We put in a misting system on the back porch today, not sure how we feel about it...it is a little cooler, but a lot more humid....guess we should have expected that!

Hope all are well, it's been busy around here (and HOT)! We're staying out of trouble!

The Big Arrival!

2005-06-21T11:46:00.000-07:00

Today Minnie and S'mores were delivered to their new home! Kim also drove to Seguine to pick up the puppies! We are teaming with NEW LIFE!!! The alpacas seemed to like the new surroundings and the puppies were a little overwhelmed with everything. Not a lot of time to write....will do more later!

Getting ready for Alpaca Arrivals!

2005-06-18T11:29:00.000-07:00

I think Kim is going to retire me from working outside, it seems like everytime I do something now a days, I break something. I ran over a sprinkler head with the lawnmower, and then yesterday, I was cleaning out the front pasture in anticipation of the arrival next week, and I broke the outside faucet in the pasture! We couldn't get the water valve to turn off, so for a while we had "old faithful" in the pasture! Aqua Water came out and put on a new regulator, and shut off valve, and then we had to call a plumber to fix the faucet! Luckily, we got someone out right away, and he had it fixed in an hour! I just tugged a little bit on the hose, honest! (That pvc pipe is entirely too flimsy!) Today I picked up horse poop and fixed the automatic watering buckets and didn't break anything, so maybe my bad luck streak is over.

Minnie and S'mores arrive on the 21st and we can get Silly in about 45 days after that. If she isn't pregnant, we aren't going to try again until the fall (0r when Poseidon is back ). I am anxious to have some "little ones" around, and so thinking about getting a couple of animals that we could show while the girls are pregnant. (If we have males that start winning ribbons, we could start breeding them out and make some money!)

Bad News

2005-06-03T12:25:00.000-07:00

We had some bad news yesterday about Cracker Jack, the baby alpaca. It seems that he contracted diarrhea on Tuesday, and although they thought he was doing better, he died yesterday. It is sad, but I'm really grateful that it didn't happen after we got them, as we would have thought it was something that we did wrong. It makes me think that the alpacas are not quite as hardy as we thought, tho. He was the only one that we hadn't insured, as you don't insure until they are 6 months old, but Rhonda has said that she will give us another male that is about the same age to replace him. She and her husband are at the big show in Utah and so the couple that run the ranch called her to tell her what happened. She was very sad to deliver the news.

We found something strange on the driveway today...a craw fish! At first I thought it was something that the Jack's brought back from Galveston, but Jeff says that it was a fresh water one and probably came from our pond/stream. He and Michael called it a "mud bug". It was pretty funny to see it walking down the driveway! He was using his pinchers to defend himself pretty well! (Moxie didn't learn a thing from the turtle incident and had her nose right in there!)

Vicki and I are going to make a run to Tractor Supply tomorrow to pick up a few things in anticipation of the alpaca arrival. I'm making a list and checking it twice!

Kim is already anxious to get back to the land of humidity! LOL (better humidity than traffic, he says!)

We are official!

2004-12-18T12:29:00.000-08:00

Well, we went out today and took the big plunge! We are now the proud owners of ALPACAS! We went back to the ranch outside of San Marcos that we visited last January, and have been in touch since with the owners on a regular basis. We bought three females (Minnie Mouse, S'mores, Silhouette) and S'mores 7 day old cria, named Crackerjack (a male). Minnie Mouse is pregnant (they think). They will do an ultrasound next week (she would be due in October). The other two females will be bred to a "famous stud" "Poseidon" in late January and will be due in February or March, 2006). The bad news is that Minnie has to stay with her cria, Cinderella, until she is weaned, which will be April, and the other two females are going to stay until February to be bred, so we really won't have any animals here until March at the earliest! We can go visit anytime, but in the meantime we "have a lot of work to do, Lucy!"

Rhonda (the former owner) wants to show Silhouette ("Silly")at the El Paso show in January (the 20th, I think) so we'll go there and hopefully get our first ribbon! Should be a lot of fun!

It's very exciting and at the same time very scary. Rhonda and her husband have been doing this for 7 years, and have 90 animals (20 who are boarding). You should have seen us trying to round up the males after they figured out how to open a gate and got out! They just ran past me (Rhonda said I was "too nice"...so we're going to have to go to attitude school!).

Get ready to find your spot on the Nueva Vida staff and figure out what your specialty is going to be! (I think Linda already has dubs on Christmas photos!) I saw some chocolate covered peanuts being marketed as "Paca Poo" so put your thinking caps on!

And I heard them exclaim as they drove out of sight......