You are currently browsing the category archive for the 'Llamas' category.
This week I got llama:
Yarn – which is the first commercial 100% llama I have seen.
And a boy:
Meet Mini Hot Fudge Sundae, aka “Little Ricky”, a sweet and gentle 1 year old boy, formerly of Windy Valley Llamas. He seems to be settling in fine. Our other two llamas are less than impressed. Hopefully, he will grow on them, as he is slated to become herdsire when he is a bit older.
Here is what it is like to bring home a llama in a cargo van. Actually, when he settled down, he did not give any trouble. Notice (if you have the sound up), the bawling sound he made. He did this every time we stopped. This boy wanted out!!!
We live in an area that is not that keen on fairs. Of course, most of the living around here is coastal rather than rural/agrarian. Not that there is not a fair handy nearby. There is a fair in Brunswick, but we went once and were not impressed. It definitely is ALL about the midway and nothing else. The home arts displays/contests leave much to be supplied. So, when I found out there was a small, regional fair around 1 hour away, I decided we should give it a look-see. We went last night. Admittedly, it was very small, but we got to see goats, sheep, bunnies, chickens (included one who looked like Tina Turner, I kid you not!!), cows and horses. We weren’t expecting much else, but they had a “farm” display section with representatives of all of the above, PLUS, a donkey and a very, very cute little male llama. They didn’t have too many home arts (only 3 knitted items that I could see, which ALL won blue ribbons – eh, how could they not if they were different items… one was a pair of socks, another a sampler afghan and the last a cotton dishcloth-in the youth division). All else was crocheted items. However, I spotted 2 very impressive items – one a very detailed, very small gauge counted cross stitch of a small town scene, which took the sweepstakes and the other, some sort of woven rag rug – I couldn’t quite figure the technique, but it had tapestry like detailing in it. Small though this fair was, it was enough to satisfy our urge to “go to the fair”. We had a very nice time all in all.
We are getting a nice, soaking rain today which should be great for the additional sod we added to the sides and back of our house.
I’ve ordered a beginner primitive hooked rug kit and hope it will come today. It will be a nice thing to tackle on a dark rainy day, don’t you think?
For awhile there, everything was pretty routine and dull around here. Exciting, though, that we NOW can park our cars in the garage. That’s progress, thanks mostly to Bill, not me. Then, I got sick with the stuff that makes your ear stop up. That, in itself, did not make me feel bad, but loading up on antihistamines and decongestants to unstop it, did. So, I guess you think I have just been sitting around watching the grass grow, which it is, as you can see by this lovely green picture:
But, no, I have been busy with work, especially. I have managed to start some projects. I even finished one – some basic socks for Bill. More about my WIPS in a bit.
Can you tell llama farmers live at this house? By this?
Or this?
I like to sit out on my front porch and spin and look at this:
Look carefully in the lower right hand corner, and you can see part of Sugar. Sweet Pea’s out there in “the back 40″.
While sitting on the porch watching llamas and spinning, I came up with this:
I LOVE this roving, Northern Lights, by Louet in the Tropical Skittle colorway,
and purchased at Creative Yarns in Macon, GA. Did I tell you that this gem of a shop, arguably the best in Georgia, sits right in front of my husband’s company’s home office, and I did not even know it until about 2 years after it had opened? Where were my fiber feelers all that time, I wonder? I bought the handmade orifice hook there, as well.
Yes, I am knitting a February Lady Sweater, too. I am finding it to be a very pleasant knit and looking forward to being able to wear it, as you can see, I am not too far along with it.
All scrunched up on the needles, and not a great indication of how it looks. I am loving the one-row buttonhole she suggests one use.
O.K., that’s all for now folks. Have a great weekend!!
I was reading a post on Ravelry recently and was delighted to discover this great resource on the internet.
It is called Smartflix. It is just what it sounds like. It is an online video store that specializes in “how to” DVDs. And yes, you cant rent spinning, knitting, dyeing and weaving videos from the site. A rental costs $9.99 and you get to keep it a week from the time of receiving it. It has a prepaid return box. Pretty cool if there is something you really want to learn.
Can I bore you with more kitchen pictures:
You can’t tell I am getting anxious to get moved, can you? And yes, we have a moving date. August 20.
(The next day Elayne and I leave for the natural dye workshop at Foxfire. She is getting to share our first night in our new house. Fortunately, she is up for the adventure!!)
Another look at the bee-you-tee-ful finished kitchen:
Look closely and you can see our pretty drawer handles. Our cabinet man could not believe we wanted so many drawers. Drawers do totally rock!! We had lots in our last house and got very spoiled.
Today, Sally comes to pick up some more llama poo for her composting.
Grin… I get to show off the house. It looks a lot different from the last time she came.
Sometime this fall, when we get settled and get another pasture fenced in, this little boy is coming home.
”Little Ricky” is his nickname. His real name is Mini Hot Fudge Sundae.
ETA since Sally asked…
“Little Ricky” is immature (less than 2 yr. old), but not a baby, and definitely not one born to us.
We have chosen him for our herd sire.
Blogged with the Flock Browser
Tags: llamas
It was pouring down rain, but plenty of fun was being had in my studio. Why? Because Sally and her “girls”, Kate and Lisanne came to visit. (She made a very nice write up about their visit). She is an avid gardener and was happy to relieve us of our overflow of llama “beans”. We all retired to the studio, and I got to give them some spinning demonstrations! We had a blast.
Sally also brought some brownies and blondies. Yum! Thanks, Sally. And thanks, Kate and Lisanne for coming along and adding to the fun!
Where are the llama babies, I am sure you are asking.
Well, we were told that both of our llamas were pregnant when we bought them.
Someone must have forgotten to tell the llamas… Both are quite past their due dates, so we have given up any hope that they are pregnant. Given the horrible heat we have had here lately and all the hustle and bustle of trying to finish up a house, I am not particularly disappointed. However, soon, I hope to have a little bit more of llama news to share.
Today was the day. With temperatures hovering around 90 degrees here yesterday, we decided we could not put it off any longer, so this morning we set out to shear Sweet Pea and Sugar Magnolia.
The Payday:
Sweet Pea certainly lived up to her name today and stood still for me to do the major part of her shearing with hand shears. Here’s Sweet Pea’s bounty:
Here she is, still standing very still while Bill puts the finishing touches on her shearing with the electric trimmers:
What a little trooper she was! I gave her an A+ in grooming. She “thanked” me afterwards by giving me numerous llama kisses and snuggles. “My” baby! I could tell she felt a lot better after losing her winter coat.
Here is some of her fiber drying after I rinsed it a few times in mesh bags to get out some of the grit.
Now, I suppose you are wondering about the “Ruination” part in the title. Please do not ask me to wax eloquently about what I will do with Sugar Magnolia’s fiber. Please do not ask me if I will give away or sell any of Sugar’s fiber. Suffice it to say, there was a shearing disaster which rendered her fiber not suitable for processing or spinning. I have to keep repeating, “The animal’s welfare is what’s important.” We did not get an auspicious start with her, as she sneaked out of the pasture through the gate, which was open, whether because it did not get closed or because the wind blew it open, we are not sure. Bll was able to run her down and hold her until I came with her halter. She tried to go through some woods and got caught by a vine. Then, we tried the electric clippers on her – she did not cooperate – fiber went everywhere. But, the upshot is that she did finally get a good haircut as you can see here, but unfortunately the fiber was fairly ruined.
On a positive note, notice how green our pasture has gotten!!
We still don’t have a baby llama yet. I am beginning to believe the folks we bought our llamas from must have been mistaken about the conception date. According to records, Sugar has now been pregnant for over a year!
The average gestation period for a llama cria is 350 days.
It has been 346 days… Still no baby.
Recent Comments