Let the Sun Shine

August tiptoed in this year under a cover of fog.  Our mornings have been cool, our afternoons beautiful and breezy, and the evenings even a bit chilly sometimes.  My sunflowers finally bloomed one foggy morning.  I am absolutely delighted!  Yesterday didn't even get to 80º F!  It can keep this up the rest of the summer and I won't complain, but I do like the sun.  😊

This mama and baby pair are just the cutest!  This is Bourbon and Candles and her little boy, Take It to the Bank.  Bank is the first cria by GLR Suton and we all love him.  When they strike a pose like this they are just irresistible, don't you think?

A few days ago I was driving the Kubota along the north side by Bradley Rd. and noticed some odd figures just outside the fence.  We have a lot of chickens on the property but no Rhode Island Reds.  I called Don, and he took our volunteers that day out to catch them.  They came back with 2 very well-fed roosters!  Normally we don't collect roosters, but these guys are very agreeable with the other chickens.  And Reds are known to sometimes lay twice a day, so we're going to keep them and see if we can introduce that quality into the population.

Don has been hatching some chicken and quail eggs. The chicks so cute!  And the other day a friend traded him 3 quail eggs for 3 turkey eggs.  We'll see if those hatch.  Meanwhile we all enjoy fresh eggs anytime we want them.  There's no comparison to the ones from the store, that's for sure!

Our friends Lindsey and Jeremiah recently took a trip to Reno, and when they got back, Lindsey presented Farmer Don with a pair of Tractor-themed suspenders!  Since Don and Tracy moved to the ranch 5 years ago, Don has lost almost 100 lbs and is always having to hitch up his pants.  So THANK YOU LINDSEY!   Besides, we all like to wear clothes that follow the themes of our favorite things, right?  So here are Don and Lindsey standing by the beloved tractor.

Oh, don't get me wrong.  Don is not the only one who loves the tractor!  I love it dearly-- it makes life on the ranch possible in so many ways.  

My darling Jade really wants a swimming pool.  She tells me that almost every day.  Bless her little water-loving heart, she can't stay out of the water bucket!  I've been trying to catch a picture of her in it for about 2 weeks, but every time she sees me coming with the camera she walks away.  Yesterday she was so "in a zone" that I finally caught her in the act before she saw me. LOL

Yes, we do clean our the water buckets, but honestly, alpacas would much rather drink out of a puddle left by the rain or the sprinklers than out of a civilized water dish, so they are no stranger to mud.  Silly creatures!

We broke 2 streaks yesterday:  1) 10 days without crias being born, and 2) a string of boys.  Meet Jubilee, the apple of Tracy's eye. 

 Juliet, her mama, went into labor in the morning, just as Dr. Nenn was arriving to do some routine things for us.  She had said she hadn't seen an alpaca born yet, so Juliet decided to give her a tutorial in classic alpaca birthing.  This was Juliet's maiden birth, and she just did everything right!  An hour after Jubilee was born, she was up nursing like a champ.  Dr. Nenn and her assistant Kim were thrilled to get to watch, and we were all glad to see this beautiful girl join the herd.

It was a great week for Tracy.  Thursday afternoon Hula, her labradoodle, went into labor and produced 5 gorgeous male pups--4 black and 1 fawn.  Hula really knows the drill and is doing a great job being a mommy.  Last time Hula had pups, we all fell in love with them.  

These little guys will have new owners soon, I'm sure. 

They are actually 3/4 poodle.  Hula is fawn, and  "aarf and aarf" as my dad would have said-- "aarf" poodle and "aarf" labrador.  Daddy Maui is 100% standard poodle, and has the most wonderful color combination of gray, white and black.  That said, black is the color of choice for this litter apparently.  

Just like that box of chocolates--you never know what color to expect from labradoodles or alpacas!

This is the mural my friend Britta Phillips painted on the side of our tool shed.  Isn't it adorable? That was almost 5 years ago now!

Britta started a Kickstarter Project for her 40th birthday to celebrate and fund her Art career.  It ends tomorrow night, August 9th, and she asked me to post her Kickstarter link in case anyone is interested in a mural. She is offering several at very low cost--just enough to cover time and materials, and loads of fun.    

If you have a wall that is just begging for a colorful mural, this is a great opportunity!  I really encourage you to get on Kickstarter and make a donation.  Britta is also a lot of fun to have around--she is a very dear friend.

Her email for questions is storyshower@gmail.com.  The Kickstarter link is  http://kck.st/2WV7N6L  

Here is what Britta says:  "I am offering eight commissions for murals for $1000 each. I will either paint an original mural on your wall (indoor or outdoor), OR a portable mural on 4'x8' plywood (in the latter case, you will have to come get it from Ventura County and install it yourself). All materials are included. I plan to complete all of these murals, COVID permitting, by mid-2021 (we will have to work out scheduling and individualized safety conditions on a case-by-case basis). Wall MUST be ground level. Can be up to 15 feet across and 10 feet high. This reward is ONLY open to people in the Los Angeles, Ventura, Santa Barbara, and San Luis Obispo counties, as well as the Bay Area." If there are only a few murals, I should be able to complete them by the end of 2020, if safety conditions can be agreed on. This is at about half my current rate, and I have seven of the eight slots left! One more commission will get me to this goal, and two more will enable me to make a lot more art this fall, which is one of my two small sources of income.

REMEMBER--

NEXT SATURDAY, AUGUST 15 

is our

FIBER PLAY DAY

sponsored by the Windy Hill Alpaca Owners Club

9 AM to 3 PM--come and go as you can

$10 entry (no reservation necessary)

Bring your own lunch and drinks

and any fiber projects you would like to play with.

We will have a great time 

sharing fiber projects

talking about fiber projects

learning fiber projects

  

Materials and kits for sale 

Mini-Lessons in

Knitting

Crocheting

Spinning

Felting

Weaving

for you to try.

Kids are welcome with parental supervision.

NO PETS PLEASE.

Questions? Call Cindy at 805-907-5162 

or email me at cindy@alpacalink.com

 

Alpacas at Windy Hill  ~ Cindy Harris ~  www.alpacalink.com

805-907-5162 ~ cindy@alpacalink.com

FREE 1-HOUR CONSULTATION ON STARTING YOUR RANCH.  

CALL FOR AN APPOINTMENT TODAY!