Today was an exciting and exhausting day at Saguaro Hill.  Today was spring shearing day.  Danny and his wife, Marilyn, arrived at about 10:30 am and the work began.

We decided to start off with Falkor because he is the biggest goat and the most difficult to handle.  It turned out he was not the most difficult.  Donald ended up being the most difficult.  He bit Danny and tried to wrestle away and refused to sit on his behind.  Danny promptly showed him who was boss though.  Then there were no more problems.  Caramel definitely looked pregnant.  She is due at the end of next month or early in May.

After each goat was sheared, it received a CD&T vaccine and a toe trimming.  Falkor also got a dose of Ivomec, which gets rid of lice and other parasites.  I only had one dose left so I will have to get more for the others before their coats grow very much.  It hardly took any time to do the goats and then it was on to the alpacas.

We went in the backyard pen first.  My intention was to do Tinker first, again because he is the biggest.  Also after his foot injury, I thought he would be the hardest to handle.  He ended up running and being more elusive than Kardigan or Cimarron, so Cimarron got caught first.  He was a very good boy.  He hardly kicked and he stood more still than any of the others.  Danny sheared all the alpacas standing up, well, except Stewie! Ha!  He cushed!  But he was also very well behaved.  He likes putting his head next to my chest which is where his head comes to on me.  He is much smaller than Tinker who towers over me.  Kardigan has the blackest nicest fleece.  Stewie has the thickest nicest fleece overall.  It was everywhere and filled two bags with his blanket.  The "Blanket" is the most desirable fleece on the alpaca.  It is the area that would hold a saddle on a horse.  

Taking one alpaca out of the pen and then returning him causes much commotion and aggression in the ones still in the pen.  They think it is a new alpaca and get all weird.  They spit and rear up on each other.  Then they have to sniff behinds and spit some more.  Handlers have to be quick and agile to keep from getting spit on and to get that halter off before any of the free alpacas can do harm to the animal you are holding or yourself.  Kardigan and Cimarron had the most spectacular reunion.  They reared up as high as they could and rammed chests together.  Glad I got out of the way.

So now the goats are short haired again and good for 6 months.  The alpacas will not be sheared again until next spring.  So now I've got another ton of fleece.  It needs to be washed and  carded and spun into yarn.  It would be cool to get the alpaca and goat fleeces spun into one yarn.  I still have much work to do.  And that is good.  That is why I have the animals. 

Thank goodness for Livestock Guardian Dogs!  I've been up about an hour, had my first cup of tea.  The world is still mostly sleeping but I let Buddy out for awhile and he'd already come back.  The sun was just starting to really shed light.  Suddenly I hear a coyote howling RIGHT IN MY FRONT YARD!  WOW!  Buddy is running to the front gate and I race with him to open it.  I can see the coyote!  He's looking at the chickens in Prince and Stewie's pen.  He sees me and Bud and starts down the hill.  I see him look over his shoulder and then he shifts into high gear.  By this time I've got the gate open and Buddy is after him.  I didn't know that big old dog could move so fast!  He's not fast enough to catch that wiley coyote though!  

I hear Buddy barking at the bottom of the hill and know the chase is over at our farm fence.  I see two dark shadows in the neighbors field slink away into the tall grass and mesquite bushes.  There is still howling going on.  The rest of the pack still calling and encouraging the two who had to abandon the chicken hunt.  I walk over to check on the chickens.  Stewie comes to see if I have anything good to eat.  I see three of my old hens.  I'm sure the other one will be there when I feed them this morning.  She probably never left the shelter and was blissfully unaware of her eminent demise.  The coyote did not have a chicken in his mouth when he looked over his shoulder so I know the chickens are fine.  He seemed to be giving me a challenge though.  "I got really close!  I'll get one next time!  Just you wait and see!"  Well, as long as Buddy can do his job, Mr. Wiley Coyote, you will have a long wait!

On Friday I spent most of the morning waiting for an appraiser to show up.  He said he'd be here between 8 am and 11am, but actually showed his face at 11:30.  I spent the next hour walking around with him.  He took measurements of our 2 houses and our outbuildings.  He took pictures of everything too, including all the things that need repairs.  It made me pretty nervous but only because I'm hoping for a good appraisal so that we can get the money we need to fix everything.  He was a very nice man.  He must've thought I was younger than he was.  He asked me to read the numbers on some of the tags on the house for him.  He said now that he is 47 his eyes don't work so well.  Probably if he had known I was a decade older than that he wouldn't have asked me. I was glad I had colored my hair this week! Ha!

It was a busy weekend.  We watched the grandkids all day Saturday while their moms went to the Renaissance Fair.  Then Steve and Jeff tore down the old rotting roof over our garage patio. It looks much better now.  We still have to buy wood and stuff to put up a new roof for the summer.  Wish they could've gotten it done before the appraisal.  Now the old roof is stacked in the driveway and will require a trip to the dump.

By the time Sunday rolled around I was ready for a little time away.  I managed to persuade my husband to take me out to lunch in town.  We went to a place called the Longhorn Burger.  Steve got the biggest burger I have seen in a long time.  I don't know how he managed to eat it all.  I got a salmon sandwich with pesto and pineapple coleslaw.  It was very good.  I did not cook dinner for anyone last night.  A nice break.  We also discovered some new stores on Old Spanish Trail in Tucson that we had not visited before.  I plan on going back to "The Dress Barn"  to get a dress for my niece's wedding in July.  It would be nice to lose 10 or 12 pounds by then but if I don't I will just get a bigger dress.  As Steve says, "You're not fat, the dress is the wrong size."  Gotta love a man like that! Ha!

Happy St. Patrick's Day

Happy St. Patrick's Day Y'all! Are you wearing your green? I discovered I only have one green shirt. Oh well, better than none I guess.

My husband returned from Oregon last night. I had a big pot of chili waiting when we returned from the airport. His mom is home again. Unfortunately, as she was leaving the hospital, the doctor told her that the cancer has spread throughout her body. When she recovers from the surgery, he wants her to have chemotherapy to prevent more tumors from growing. I do not know what exactly that means for her continued health. I suspect that chemo will make her very uncomfortable at the least. So we will continue to keep her in our prayers. She will be 80 years old this summer.

Our 2 oldest daughters are planning a trip to Apache Junction, Arizona this weekend. They are going to spend the day at the Arizona Renaissance Faire.
I took some pictures of them in front of our big Saguaro Cactus in their Ren costumes. I made some of the skirts, the plaid one and a white one. Ren Faires are great fun. I've been to several and had the most fun when I went in costume. I'm sure they will have a great time. And Steve and I will have a great time watching the grands while they are gone.

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.

Yesterday we woke to foggy conditions. I worried because Sara and Steve had to go to the airport and to school. Sara said the fog was very dense until they got about 5 miles down the freeway. It cleared at that point. Steve arrived in Klamath Falls safely. His mom's surgery had been moved from 5:30 p.m. to 12 noon. By the time he got there at 1:30 it was mostly over. The doctor removed a tumor about the size of his fist from her intestines but it had not spread so he got all of it. He was able to fix the intestine too so that she will not have to have one of those awful little bags. Praise the Lord and the doctors! Now the doctor is worried about her heart. It is not working the way it should. So she will stay in intensive care for a week or until she can resume taking her heart medications.

It is bright and sunny and cold this morning. There is a thick layer of frost covering everything and the water buckets are frozen. I spent the morning cleaning up the mess the goats made in the barn when they had their little break out. I also wired shut their pens until Steve can repair the closing hooks or put on new ones.

I will not be going to the alpaca show in Phoenix as Steve is away and I do not want to go by myself. Our oldest grandson, Jacob will be 8 years old on Friday. We are having a party for him on Sunday. So there will be a fun time this weekend in spite of my husband's absence. He will miss the birthday party but it could not be helped.

After a beautiful spring-like week, our weather turned ugly again yesterday afternoon. The wind hit 50 mph and the rain came down in sheets. It isn't much better this morning.

I went out to feed the animals this morning. Surprise, surprise! Little Bones, Mouth and Caramel were all loose in the barn. It looked like they had been at the hay but nothing else was much disturbed. I figure Mouth and Little Bones butted their way out first. One of the doors on their pen does not have a hook so I keep the heavy feed cans pushed against that door. When it gets a little low, it is easy for them to push it away and escape. Then they were probably butting heads with Caramel and her door gave way. The loop for the hook on her door was missing. They might have chewed it and it fell off, but most likely they were butting heads and it popped off. I will have to check on them again when the baby takes his nap. Once goats escape, they like to do it over and over.

We had some bad news on Sunday. Steve's mom is in the hospital. They think she has a tumor on her intestine. Steve is waiting to hear when surgery will be scheduled. He will probably fly to Oregon to help his Mom. Please remember Steve and his mom, Betty, in your prayers.

The shearer called me on Friday. He will be here before or after March 27 to shear my goats and alpacas. I will take lots of pictures then. I may also go to Kathy Wither's Spring Fiber Festival which is on the 27th. The shearer will be doing all 300+ animals of Kathy's that day. If I go I will take pictures there too.

March 13th and 14th is the Southwest Regional Alpaca Show in Phoenix. I am thinking of going to that. It will depend on if I can talk my husband into going I guess. He may not want to or he may be in Oregon so we'll have to wait and see.