Today we photographed 21 alpacas prior to shearing. 18 alpacas were completely sheared and 3 were just belly sheared. This will allow those 3 to be shown as yearnings unshorn.
This is what occurs on a farm with registered animals that exist and are bred to further a breed...suri alpacas.
I am so fortune to be a part of such a wonderful farm.
I'm about to enter another crazy night of dreaming.
Dreams about past boyfriends and childhood crushes and schoolmates, neighbors and previous houses, of Ayrshire and my dogs.
One of the highlights last night was of the 2 sheep (though in my dream I think I referred to them as goats) that kept turning up in my car parked at my parents house. Their mysterious owner would stall them in my car at some point during the night. No one ever saw them being put in there and no one knew who they belonged to but there they were.,.every night.
I found a long line of twine tied to a tree where they must have been tied during the day. There was only one line though. I tied the female up and the male stuck around. I was trying to figure out a long term solution to containing them when the anonymous owner replaced his tied sheep (in my dream I called them goats but they were sheep...doll sheep) with cali, who when at my parents spends time outside on a long Iine.
Juvenile white female suri alpaca class.
6th out of 8 in one of the most competitive classes. Very proud of her!
Juvenile male white suri alpaca at the 2016 MAPACA Jubilee in Harrisburg, PA.
This was a top tier very competitive class of 6 other white juvenile males.
Alpacas are judged both on physical conformation and quality of fleece (structure, density, luster).
From placing the halter on him for the first time to training and showing...very fun.
http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2016/04/girth-matters.html?m=1#comment-form
Was is the bugs?
The girth?
Lack of ground work?
Btw, if you aren't an equestrian...rarely does a completely made and experienced pony in their 20s need ground work before each ride. Merlin is basically retired. He has done it all and seen it all, including being a breed ambassador at the Kentucky Horse Park.
There's something amiss if he actually is bucking up a storm. I'm curious how her tack fits (remember the bridle incorrectly put on Jasper?) as well as what size/type/fit the bit is.
I cringe thinking of that video of her on Pattys horse, she is so rough on their mouths.
It would behoove her to take some lessons.
Cali doesn't understand why she's not allowed through those doors.
At the alpaca farm the backyard shares a fence line with the field the LGDs are in.
Cali is one of the reasons LGDs exist. She has high prey drive and would go after the chickens in a heart beat. At her age I think she'd leave the alpacas be but 10 years ago if one ran she'd chase It.
If I let Cali outside she might be gobbled up by one of the LGDs who just might hop the fence to keep their charges safe.
http://www.mapaca.org/page/5289/jubilee-show
Anyone in the Harrisburg area free this weekend?
Come to the Farm Show Complex for an Alpaca show! Ill be there with Thunder River Alpacas.
We will be showing 5 alpacas. It Wil be the first show for these youngsters.
Who else loves them?!
I end up lingering in my car to listen. I get so wrapped up in the stories.
I love npr.
I feel guilty for looking forward to when I don't count the days he's been gone...if that's even possible.
He wouldn't want this.
My heart goes out to everyone who has lost loved ones, especially in unexpected ways.
After a year off meds for Chronic Fatigue Syndrome I now am back on medication.
I thought energy would be a gift.
At this point I have the energy and clarity to recognize what I have lost, the wrongdoings, and the grief I haven't had the energy to face.
These are dark times.
I wrongly anticipated that medication would in a sense fix everything. I'd have the stamina to meet each day head on with no limitations. Instead, I'm greeted with daily defeat. Never ending acute reminders of what was and never will be...and how unjustly, unfairly, and unexpected these circumstances came to be.
Broken. Lost. Lonely.
Medication I thought would be a blessing is nothing but a curse.
I'm consumed with grief.
I thought meds would dry my tears and give me the ability to concur all, instead the tears multiply.
I didn't anticipate dealing with almost 2 years worth of reality and emotions I've slept through.
I want to flush these pills but know in order to flourish I have to take them. I've never run from anything...I absolutely confront everything...I didn't realize what I've slept through.
Eddie, Ayrshire, a miscarriage, prioritizing my dogs through endless moves and temporary living situations.
I thought meds would gift me my creativity back but they've gifted me the cognitive ability to understand why I'm no longer creative.
I feel more paralyzed on medication that gives me energy than I did without it.
Thinking in circles, walking in circles, crying in circles.
My meds were always a gift, now they are a curse.
My life is nothing like it was. Limited thinking tells me it's worse, but I know it's all a part of life and a way to grow in a stronger and more resilient way.
A part of me wishes I didn't have the energy to find and watch videos of Eddie, of the pigs, of my past...another part knows I must confront it all without holding back.
There is SO much I never returned to or accepted.
What to do with it now?
How to continue? Where to continue?
Live is difficult for those with big hearts and analytical minds.
How have you coped great losses?
Tips and suggestions are welcome.
One day I'll purchase this print, frame it, and likely hang it above the toilet in a bathroom.
....or perhaps hang it in a nursery if there ever is one.
I just love it!
She was a little unthrifty and has been getting extra feed and starting to look herself again.
Tomorrow we are installing more fencing to provide additional fields to the 2 groups of alpacas.
The areas you see here will be rested and seeded.
Expecting a fence with holes to hold livestock is akin to expecting a bucket with holes to hold water.
Its never worked and never will work.
http://coldantlerfarm.blogspot.com/2016/04/thatll-do.html?m=1#comment-form
I came across this photo yesterday from my high school years, I must have been 16 or 17.
Pictured is Adam, my first "real" boyfriend.
I acquired an adult coloring book.
My thoughts...
I wish it was easier?!
Its hard to turn off the perfectionist, the realization there is no eraser, the options, second guessing, twenty second guessing...
This made me realize to truly relax, I need a paint by number!
