Libra, the Cria

Libra's barn name has become Junior. He just won't grow like a normal cria. His birth weight was 13.6 pounds on September 19th, the day this picture was taken. Even though he was full term, that is very small, at least for our farm. I would guess that our babies average 20 pounds. He was eager to nurse, but his mom, Sonata just wasn't making much milk. I'll spare you lots of details, but we (Beth & I) ended up taking both of them to Michigan State. They couldn't tell us much.
I tried desperately to get Jr. to nurse from a bottle but he was getting just enough from Sonata that he would just fight me. He started eating grass and hay almost immediately after birth.
Two weeks ago we had our good vet, Russ, draw blood from him but all the info that we could use was that his immune system is practically nill. Iron, thyroid, everything else is ok.


Russ did his research and got this recipe from a fellow vet who works for Alpaca Jacks, a really big Suri farm.
Grind up:
1 cup alfalfa pellets
1 cup alpaca pellets (Paca Nutrition)
jar baby carrots
2 cups yogurt
1 cup Glucerna (a diabetic form of Ensure)

Doesn't it look yummy?
At the beginning I had to force it down, but now he's slurping and sucking away. The syringe that I'm using is an old, washed out Vitamin container that holds 3 ounces. I use another syringe to load it up and then warm the whole thing in hot water, and feed him 4 times a day.






Here's a picture from this morning of Jr. chewing. He had just finished having a milk snack from his mom so you can see his little foamy milk mouth. He's 3 1/2 months and now weighs 24.3 pounds. He was gaining 1/2 pound a week, but last week gained 1 1/2 pounds. EEEHAW!

My Near Death Experience 0R Avalanche in Flatlands of midMichigan

I am obsessing about this experience so maybe blogging about it will free it from my mind. Christmas Eve Day turned warm and rainy here and I was out in front of the barn digging trenches to try and drain water away from the barn. I heard a little rumble and took off running (well, as fast as I run). The snow that you see in this picture came off the metal roof up above. It would have smooshed, broken, and buried me completely 'cause I was standing right in the middle. (Remember you can click on this pict to see how massive it really was)
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My first question is "What are the odds of this happening while I was standing there?"
The second is "How did my body know to move out of the way?"
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Of course, now I'm a little giddy thinking of newspaper headlines-
Alpaca Breeder Dies under Tons of Snow
Snow Breaks Every Bone in Senior Citizen's Body
First Known Avalanche in Michigan's Farmland
Widow Joins Husband in Untimely Death
Animals Survive but Caretaker Meets Death After Storm
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Do you have any headlines to add to my collection?
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How about this from my online friend Zuleika originally from Bermuda, now living in Edinburgh, Scotland:
'Freak Alpaca Farm Accident Makes for an Icy Grave'
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My friend Sharon Winsauer suggests:
"Death from Barn Chores"
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I was waiting for Beth to get home from the U.P. because I knew she would have some great headlines:
"Snow Slides....Granny Dives"
"Loud Cursing Sets Off Near Death Avalanche"
"Santa Makes Emergency Landing on Barn Top: Grandma Gets Runover by Cascading Roof Snow"
or how about:
"Metal Roofing Sends Barn Owner Hoofing"
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Just in from daughter Terre:
"Snow Avalanche Makes Alpaca Granny Move Her Fanny"
"Alpaca Granny Finds Get-up-and-go Because of TwoTons of Cascading Snow"
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From Friend Kathy down in Jackson at Luka's Alpaca Ranch
" Spinning Lady Spins Out, Saving Herself by a Thread"

Another Storm Blowing In

Another storm is blowing in today but I didn't have to shovel to get in to the animals in the barn. They are all cozy with food, water, clean bedding, and listening to Christmas carols. A lovely surprise while out there - about 8 o'clock Dean, my across the street neighbor, popped in to offer any help. He shoveled a path to the outdoor poop pile and dumped my wheel barrows for me.
The picture above is Max, my Sheltie, and Cassie, my Golden Retriever. They are just on their way back inside this morning. Max is a little short so I have had to keep a path shoveled off the deck for him.

More Damned Snow and Cute Alpacas

Folks told me not to be surprised if I got mad at Smitty for dying on me but I thought, aw, not me, how could I be mad? it's not like he did it on purpose. Well, this morning I was really p....d having to deal with all this snow by myself. How could you do that to me, Smitty, a 66 year old woman shouldn't have to take care of this mess by herself. Was probably a good thing that I was mad because although it was only 9 degrees, I didn't get cold.
This picture is the front of the barn. I had to snowblow a path out there and managed to blow out an area behind the drift so that I could open the big door.

..... and here's another shot of the front. You can see my tracks where I had to climb over the drift to get in to the service door.

Enough moaning and feeling sorry for myself. The rest of the shots are of the alpacas when I let them out this morning.

Sniffing at the curious white stuff that arrived overnight.

Celeste's cria, Lyra, stayed pretty close to her until she was sure the white stuff wouldn't hurt her.

The wild ones! Snickers (Astra), on the right, is only 3 months old and definitely the boldest, most curious of the herd. He was the first one out and went pronking through the drifts.

Snickers again with his mom, Goldie, needing a little snack.

Etsy Sale # 500

I knew that my 500th sale was coming up on Etsy but I didn't want to make a big deal ahead of time so that it would seem like a promotion. I just wanted to wait quietly and then ♪ ♫ ♪ TA DA ♪ ♫ ♪ announce to the person that he/she could pick something out in my shop as a thank you. Last night Edie Bowles from SpinningMoonFarm ordered a skein of gray yarn and was number 500. She preferred that I pick something out for her so I sent her a skein of my brown alpaca/merino blend and, now get this - some white roving that has mohair that I purchased from her.
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Edie was the person who convinced me that, yes, mohair can be soft and compliment my alpaca. We have become online friends and because she lives here in Michigan, we plan to get together for a spinning day. Couldn't have planned that 500th sale any better.

What Happens to My Fiber

This is a picture of Lynne Macco. I don't really know where she is going but I like to imagine that she is on her way to her spinning guild meeting. I smile every time I look at this.

Lynne, from BayShore, NY, has bought roving and raw fiber from me. This beautifully spun brown yarn is an alpaca and merino blend that she did up. Most of the alpaca came from Sonata, my visitor greeter and barn diva. The merino is from the McMurrays colored lambs.

And look at these lovely mittens..... Beautiful work, Lynne.

Spinning on a Wintery Day

This was a day to hunker down by the fireplace and spin. ♫♪♫ The weather outside is frightful ♪♫♪ Yesterday it was in the 40s and water was seeping into the barn. Tonight it's 12 with winds at 20 mph. This is Michigan!

This is the yarn that is on my wheel up above. I finished it up, took some pictures, put them in my Etsy store, washed the yarn, came back to my computer and it was sold. Will be off to California in the morning when it's dry.

And this is a cute little hat that I knit up with some of Sharon Winsauer's cochineal dyed alpaca. You really should click on that link and go see the awesome new butterfly shawl pattern that she recently created. The woman amazes me. I couldn't even knit those lace patterns, let alone create the actual pattern.

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I just spent 15 minutes trying to get that writing off the side of the hat pict. Sorry.....