Gorgeous Day, Hanging out with Alpacas

Well it doesn't get better than the beautiful day we had today. It was sunny first thing in the morning and the temperature was lovely and hot. We even hung out down by the pool for a while. Husband went in, but it was still too cold for me (76 degrees F). It is difficult getting the pool up to temperature this summer due to lack of sunshine (we use solar heaters) and the fact that any heat we have is lost over night. If we get a couple more sunny days, it will make a huge difference!

Today our daughter went to a local alpaca farm. She has a summer job working for a radio station, driving around to events and places helping to promote them by posting photos and writing information that goes on the radio's website and other social media. She had contacted the owners to see if they would like her to promote their business and they were happy to have her. My husband and I tagged along. I had visited this farm a couple of years ago with my kids and previously posted about it. This was the first visit for my husband.

We learned a lot about alpacas and how to raise them from the owner. (He is a retired secondary school math teacher and was a fantastic tutor for our son this year, too!)

They all wanted a treat from the bucket! They are very gentle. One thing I love about them is the sound they make which is little bit like Chewbacca from Star Wars.

I think this little one is about three weeks to a month old. I just wanted to hug it, but it stayed just an arm's length away.

My daughter really tried to get these little ones to come closer.

Almost!!

No, this isn't a disturbing picture of an alpaca having some sort of seizure. She is just enjoying a nice rolly dust bath.

I'm a real sucker for animals. If money were no object, I would have a perfect little hobby farm with chickens, ducks, a couple alpacas, maybe a sheep or two, perhaps a miniature horse. I do realize what a lot of work it is to have animals, so for now I'm more than happy to visit other peoples' farms.

The alpacas are tidy, inquisitive animals. They are not good at being solitary animals, you should always have at least two. The couple who own the farm make most of their money selling the fleece. I am certainly not a knitter, so the fleece is of little interest to me. Because these pack animals are originally from South America, they have all been given Spanish names.

Back home after supper, I put in some time raking and loading up more apples. At least this bunch is bigger than the first very small ones which made clean up easier.

It is amazing what a difference a change in weather can make in one's mood and perspective. I was about to say I am looking forward to another nice day, but when I just checked the online forecast, it indicated rain for the next seven days. Oh well, I have some books from the library to keep me happy for a few days.

October Happenings

Misty, frosty October morning.

This has been a month of many happenings, some wonderful, some busy, some "under the weather", and one quite tragic. Thanksgiving came and went with turkey, outdoor work being done, and then coughing and nose blowing! Our daughter celebrated her Commencement at her highschool being an Ontario Scholar and winning other awards as well. We were very proud and she looked lovely in her little black dress.

Our son just got braces on his teeth, a new experience for our family, as neither my husband nor I had them when we were young (but gosh, I wish I had, would still love to have beautiful straight teeth), and our daughter, who is older, never required them. I discovered that mouths really hurt after braces are first installed and one must have enough "mushy" food available for the first few days. (The discovery of making a protein shake of frozen yogurt, vanilla protein powder, banana, and milk in the blender was a happy one!).

More work was accomplished in our kitchen by hubby, but then he was struck down by evil viruses. It is the ceiling trim that is currently being worked on.

We have wasps in our house. Everyday when I come home from work, there are a few wasps to swat as they gather against sunny windows. We think we know where they are coming in, but do not have  a ladder tall enough to reach the upper most corner of our old house, nor do we wish to crawl around on our bellies in an insulation-filled attic. I am hoping that cold weather will decimate them. Unfortunately, one landed in braces-boy's hot chocolate the other day (unbeknownst to him! with unfortunate results!).

The tragic event is one which has made for sobering discussions and moments. The young mother (42) of three lovely teenage girls, one of whom my son had a special relationship with for a couple of years, died after fighting cancer for a year and a half. In a small community such as ours, this hits people very hard. My heart goes out to that family and I wonder, as a mom, how these girls will cope. I will attend the visitation with my son. I feel, lately, that I have gone to too many visitations of people who have not lived long enough.

To end on a much more upbeat note, when the family was all together after Thanksgiving, with my coughing daughter home from university for "reading week", I decided to get an animal "fix". I grew up in the country, spending time at my uncle's farm a lot. I love watching animals, being around them, talking in ridiculous voices to them... Now that I do not have my backyard chicken flock anymore, I do not have the same contact with critters, other than our two cats. So, I read in the local paper that there would be an open barn at the alpaca farm at the edge of town. Off I went with son and daughter on a cold, windy morning to visit a lovely farm with a small barn filled with alpacas. Many were outside grazing and wandering around, but inside were still others. Moms and babies, weaned young ones, all willing to be photographed. The people who own these creatures take them to the Royal Winter Fair in Toronto, the C.N.E. (Canadian National Exhibition) in Toronto, sell breeding stock, and have their incredibly soft fur (wool?) knit into gorgeous items. I treated myself to mittens for this winter! I was in my glory in a barn, surrounded by animal / hay smells. My kids enjoyed the experience too, although perhaps not to the extent that I did. Enjoy some of the pictures that were taken that day.

This is one of the young alpacas. Doesn't it have sweet, gentle eyes?

Alpacas eat hay. When you have such groovy, spiky hair as this, sometimes you get a little caught in your hairdo.

These two were brought out into the aisle and enticed with treats so that I could pose with them. Hubby saw the charge on our credit card account before I came home and was worried I had put a down payment on an alpaca, but it was just the mittens I bought.

I'm ready for my close up!