Help in the Pasture

I've been waiting for some rain to soften up the ground so that I can pop out some more burrs in the little boys' pasture. We have had 5 1/2 inches in the last couple of days. My ground is mostly clay so you can imagine how hard it is without moisture. Today seemed the perfect day to finish up. It always surprises me how little time my chores take once I get at them. Finished the entire pasture in less than two hours.
I'm glad that I had my camera in my pocket so that I can share the pictures of my helpers. On the left ↓ is little JR with his best friend, Snickers.


Slammie (Orion) was there to help also ↓

I think that I have become quite the pro at thistle removal. If they are little I can just slide my shovel under, loosen the roots, and pull them out by the roots. Of course, I wear my thickest leather gloves 'cause those babies are sharp. If they have grown tall, I push the top down and hold it with my foot, then take my "sharp" shovel and whack it at ground level.
Here's the hat that I just finished knitting and put in my Etsy Store.

Chinella & John at the Fair

Here's John and Chinella after their costume class at the Alma Fair last Monday.

Posting here has been difficult for the last month and I'm not totally sure why. It is somehow related to Smitty's death (8/21/08), but I just don't understand how the upcoming anniversary is keeping me from blogging.
I am doing sort of a weird thing but it feels necessary..... Everyday I check my calendar from a year ago to see what was going on. A year ago Thursday we checked him back into the hospital for his last stay there and this coming Wednesday was when he came home - with Hospice's help.
All these little anniversarys are helpful to remind me of all that has changed and how grateful I am to my family, friends, and dear 4-leggeds.

My Cassie

Mac, Mary, Kathy, Berta, I'm fine. Have been crazy busy and know that I haven't blogged for two weeks. I do have lots of pictures from the two weeks and will try to get some up later.
Today Beth and I are taking a Birthday Road Trip to the Pontiac area to visit her new, won't be home for a few weeks, Golden Retriever puppy.
Oh, and go here to see what really cheered me up yesterday - well, actually it made me cry, but they were good tears.
The comments are what did me in.

Alpaca Obstacle Training

Beth and John came out yesterday to work on alpaca training. These alpacas are white Snickers and brown JR, both born last September, making them 10 months old. They will probably both be neutered this fall to become fiber boys. Although I don't know, Snickers looks pretty proud in that picture above.
Next month Snickers will go to the Alma Fair as Amelia's 4-H project, and John will take his black girl, Chin.

This is John teaching JR to walk across a bridge. All of JR's fans should be cheering to see that he appears healthy. He runs and plays and Snickers is his best friend. I think he is going to remain a small guy - definitely 4-H material because he's so people friendly.

Backing between poles

John is teaching JR to go over a jump and you can see Beth and Snickers behind them going over the tippy bridge

The final picture is Beth teaching Snickers to give his foot. Alpacas don't like to be unbalanced so this is quite the trick - and valuable when it comes time for us to have to lift each leg and snip those toenails.

Celeste is Pregnant

EEEHAW! Yesterday Russ Vet was here to ultrasound 3 of the girls who we hoped were pregnant. Celeste ↑ is at 35 days!
And this is the handsome stud,
Polaris. We are especially pleased
because both of these alpacas were
born here....and Polaris's first
confirmed pregnancy. What a stud!!

Now the long, long 11 month wait and hope that the pregnancy holds.

The other two girls didn't look pregnant with the ultrasound so Russ drew blood and will do a Progesterone check.

Good morning, World

...My reward for getting up at 5:30 to clean up Cassie's doggy barf ☺
I'm really frustrated about the way little pop ups appear on some words in my post below and I don't know how to get rid of them....

Thank you, Kelly

Probably one of the hardest jobs in the lives of all of us animal lovers is to have to put down our dear friends. Our responsibility to them is to not let them suffer. Yesterday, Russ, our dear vet came out to help us say good by to Kelly.

These top two pictures were taken on Monday and if you look closely, you can see that she was blind and was losing weight. Her arthritis was very bad and sometimes if she laid down, I had to help her get up. This last week, she sometimes would get disoriented, especially when the wind was blowing. My guts and conferring with Beth told me it was time.
Beth (critter lover who comments here occasionally) owned Kelly before me and her nearly grown up kids learned to ride on her so Beth had lots of love invested in our dear little pony mare, and came to help say good bye.
Once again I am so grateful to friends and family who gather around in stressful times and offer their support. I'm so thankful to Matt who took time from his crazy, busy farm work to bring his back hoe over and bury Kelly in the woods, and to Russ, our dear vet, who gives supportive hugs.
I would like to tell you what a loving, kind pony Kelly was. She was gentle and even after going blind, trusted humans to help her out. Like this spring, when she was down and got caught under the bottom rail of her fence. Even though she was terrified at being trapped, she stayed still while I talked to her and knocked the boards out so that I could help her up.
She patiently helped many youngsters learn how to ride back in my riding instructor days. She even made it to a few horse shows. Below is a picture of my now 10 year old grand daughter taking first place in a lead line class at a local show.
So, Thank You, Kelly, for the lessons in patience, kindness, trust, and love that you have given to so many of us.

With love, there is also great loss and suffering....