Sick Alpaca Getting Better

Aw, there he is, friends, our Lars is grazing again. You can probably click on the picture to get a better look. This is my view from the kitchen and deck. It warms the cockles of my heart.....

Behind him is a pasture for the fiber boys and way out there are the girls and their cria. Behind them is our corn field which is supposed to have a great yield this year - that means $s to me.

The farmer (Dave Eckelbarger) who plants our fields has been a great care taker of our land, and he's very careful what he puts near the critters. He has always been right there to help if we have tractor or manure spreader repairs. I feel very confident that he will continue to take care of me. Well, actually he made a special trip over to tell me just that.

Life is good!

Sick Alpaca

I'm so worried about Lars (Polaris) that I woke up at 4 this morning and had to go out to the barn to check on him. In three months he has lost 40 pounds and is constantly drooling and foaming from his mouth. I think that he has just about stopped eating. Two and a half weeks ago I had Vet Russ out to examine him. He drew blood, removed a little loose tooth, snipped off his fighting teeth, and got a stool specimen. The specimen indicated that he had some stomach worms so I dosed him for 3 days and have been giving him GastroGuard twice a day. He's just not getting better and he's annoyed that I'm shoving medicine into his mouth so it's getting harder for me to handle him by myself.

I'm going to call the vets' office as soon as they open. I'm thinking that I may have to hook up the trailer and haul him to Michigan State.

Sick Alpaca update: Vet Russ stopped by about noon to look at our boy again and suggested that we take him to Michigan State. Beth ran home and got her van and dear Lars jumped right in. He stood up all the way there and back home, humming the whole way, so he must be pretty tired tonight. Sparing you a long story, they x-rayed his head and found 3 teeth on the lower right abscessed with bone degeneration under them. Poor guy must have been uncomfortable. No wonder he lost so much weight. Must have really hurt to try to eat.

Treatment is rather simple - 9 cc of an antibiotic every 4 days for a month. The only trouble is I have to give the injection SQ, which is just under the skin. I think this is rather hard with all the fleece. The first time I gave an SQ, I slid it under the skin and out, like sewing. It's much easier to just pop it into a muscle.

Of course, being the tidy alpaca that he is, he didn't poop or pee the whole 4 hours that we were gone. After he relieved himself, Beth and I gave him a dose of GastroGuard for his tummy and an injection of Banimine to relax him and hopefully, ease his pain.

Life is good again!

EEEHAW! I Have Mowed

A couple of weeks ago my son-in-law gave me a quick lesson on driving the lawn mower. We have had rain the last few days so that the lawn ALMOST needs to be cut. I need to tell you that big noisy machines like tractors, snow blowers, and roto tillers really, really scare me.

I waited for today's company to leave (Heather, Beth and her son, John, daughter Nikki with grandgirls Meredith and Elizabeth). No way was anyone going to see me make a fool of myself.

OK, says I. I can do this. I read the manual in the house (see, it's on the tractor in the picture) and wrote some directions on a big sticky note. With the manual and my notes on my lap I started it and actually backed it out of the garage. Back to the manual for going forward. EEEHAW! I'm cruising, sitting on the manual, and having a great time when I realize that I'm not cutting grass. Manual reading again. I'm moving AND cutting and then I figure out that everytime that I go backwards, the blades stop cutting. I'll figure that out tomorrow 'cause I'm feeling pretty powerful and special right now.

Barn Boots

I can finally walk past these boots without welling up, getting snotty nosed, and feeling that heavy thud in my chest. They wait in the garage next to my Muck Boots. Family and neighbors would silently chuckle when we saw Smitty in his cut offs and these boots making his way to the barn, making repairs, or hauling manure.
I sort of understand the symbolism here and am reminded of Kennedy's funeral. We old timers remember the feisty black horse in the procession - the empty saddle with the boots hung backwards. It's sort of like that.......
I hope that this doesn't sound too maudlin but writing is so theraputic for me that I can now probably put them in the trash.

Simplifly, Simplify

Don't you think this is just too lovely? I'm going to use these colors the next time I get out my dye pots.
I'm on a really big "cleaning, purging, simplify my life" binge. My son said that he would take the aquarium back to Pennsylvania the next time he comes home. The neighbor across the street's daughter came and took the two fish that I had left. Last winter the tank heater got totally out of control and I poached all but those two. They must be hearty little guys and will be in a nice home.


This was my tank. It took several, as in probably 30 trips to the sink to empty the yucky water

And then I washed all the stones as I removed them. You're welcome, Rob.

The glass tank is sitting outside but I think that I better not let the sun dry it out or it may leak. You can imagine me getting it down the stairs and out the doors by myself. Cassie and Max tried to help....
My next project is to paint my bedroom. I already bought the paint.

I'll bet a therapist would have a field day with me. Do all widows feel this urge to clean up their past life? What's with it? I feel the urge to not only clean and pitch things, but also to do physical stuff. I wonder if there is some energy in me that needs to be released????

My bestest friends

My animal friends bring me unlimited joy. Throw on a granddaughter for absolute bliss. This is Elizabeth resting on dear, kind Cassie with little Max looking on. This Golden Retriever and Shetland Sheep Dog (Sheltie) are my best friends and constant companions.
They have been anxious and worried for the last six weeks but seem to be settling back to normalcy now. I am taking my cues from them.

Good bye to some dear friends

With Smitty gone, my morning barn chores went from taking 1 hour to 3 hours. I have found really good homes for some of my 4 legged friends. These three alpacas, brown Luke, gray Boris, and black Berringer, have gone to a 4-H family in Northern Michigan. I know that they are getting all the attention and love that they need.

A really lovely 4-H family in Western Michigan has the sheep: 1 ram, 2 wethers, a ewe lamb, and 4 ewes. They are a delightful family who already have a couple BabyDolls and will take some to the fair.

♥

The hardest friend that I said good bye to was little Haflinger Fiona. Smitty bought her last year as a 4 year old with aspirations of driving her. She spent two weeks with a trainer this summer and Smitty went up and drove her twice. She came home the weekend before we got his diagnosis.

My dear friend, Harmony and her two girls, Chelsea and Caleigh, have her to work with.

I still have 4 horses and 16 alpacas greeting me every morning. I can't imagine a life without animals.

I didn't realize how hard this post would be to write. ........ Bear with me, friends, you are all part of my therapy, I guess.