Today was a beautiful WARM Arizona day for a change. The wind is picking up as usual this evening, but it sure was nice to be outside in sandals and a t-shirt!

My mother-in-law is still in the hospital but doing well. I spoke to her on the phone last night. Her voice was rough and gravelly but she still had her sense of humor. She will recover from this ordeal, I'm sure. I am so thankful, for in spite of common fears about mother-in laws, I love mine very much.

As shearing draws near, I am starting to worry about preparations for the big day. Do I have enough clear plastic bags? Do I have enough Ivomec left from last time to cover the goats this time? Do I have enough needles to give CD&T shots? I will have to check all these things and more. Then collect all necessities for easy access on shearing day. And now the additional worry, will Steve be back in time to help out?

Falkor's toenails are getting too long again. Caramel may have a problem with one of her front feet. She has been limping a little lately, although her nails were done.

Tinker has been eating timothy pellets out of my hand and letting me place my hand on his back as I am filling his feeder. Kardigan, the black alpaca, still freaks out, jumps and kicks if I touch him at all. Cimarron is the most vocal with his humming and the most timid of the three alpacas in the back pasture. Prince and Stewie have had a few disagreements but nothing of the magnitude of the fights between Tinker and Prince. Stewie will also eat pellets out of my hand and follows me when I call his name. Prince will always be aloof I think. He would not even back down from me when I tried to move him away from Stewie yesterday at feeding time. He just put his head up higher and stood his ground. I don't know how the shearer is planning on shearing the alpacas. It will be the first time he has sheared my alpacas. He was very fast and good with the goats though. He'll probably be just as good with the alpacas.

I have seen alpacas sheared three ways. The first way I witnessed was to lay them on the ground. When shearing this way, a lot of human hands are needed. The alpaca's legs are tied and then stretched out and the alpaca is tied down so that they cannot move except for their head. Someone has to hold the head so that the alpaca does not thrash about and bang his head on the ground. One side is shaved, then the alpaca is rolled to the other side by the people assisting the shearer. Then the other side is shaved. Some alpacas do not like this at all. Some of them will spit and scream. Some of them spit and pee and poop and scream and wriggle about as much as they can.

A second way is to shear the alpaca on a table. The alpaca is tied up pretty good this way too because you don't want them to fall off of the table. Shearing this way is easier for the shearer and the assistants. They are up higher and the shearer is on his feet instead of on his knees on the ground. The table also flips so it is easier to get the alpaca into a prone position for shearing.

The third way is to shear the alpaca standing up. The animal is lead into a chute and only the head is tied. Sometimes the shearer can get kicked but, to me, the standing method seemed to be the easiest on the alpaca. I don't know how Danny will do them but I'm hoping that he can do them standing up. We'll see.

Some people don't like having to put their alpacas through the hassle of shearing because it is traumatic for them to be handled so much. I think shearing is the most exciting time with the alpacas. It is fun to have hands on contact with them and to see how much fabulous fleece they produce each year. We raise them and keep them for the fleece. Shearing day is the culmination of a year's care and work. We should make the most of it and enjoy the intimate contact with our alpacas.