A Beautiful Day At The Ranch

Last Saturday, I got out to the ranch about 9AM. It was a beautiful morning with clear skies and a view of the snow-capped mountains that was breathtaking. All the Alpacas were in the fields, lounging around in the sun, or hanging out at the feeder. They all looked so relaxed and content.

I took a walk through the fields to say hello to everyone. I love to sit on the ground in the fields. Most of the time, several of the Alpacas will surround me. They are so curious. They'll sniff my hair, and bite at my jeans, or try to untie my shoes. I was wearing sandals today, and Meg Ryan actually pulled off my sandal and threw it up in the air. I can count on kisses from Dusty Rose, and a friendly air spit from Penelope.

Our mission, today, is to continue halter training for the Phoenix show, which is in a little over 2 weeks. We started with Indy and Paris Hilton. They, both, did great. Then, Bianca and Zoe. Bianca is doing so much better than a few weeks ago. Zoe is having a hard time with this whole halter thing. The boys were great, with Felix walking with Majik, and Alpha walking with DJ. Today was DJ's first time on a halter and he was perfect! He acted like he'd been on a halter all his life.

Felix was a little moody today. He has his ups and downs, for sure. He came out into the alley between fields when I was haltering Alpha. I was having a problem getting him to go back in his field, so Rick said to leave him in the alley until I walk Alpha. When we came back, Alpha went right in his field. I left the gate open and tried to encourage Felix to go in. Oh no, he'd rather eat these dried up little clusters of weeks in the dirt. I had a heck of a time getting him in. Finally, I got behind him and started pushing his butt. He spit, and spit, and spit. Good thing I was behind him. Finally, he went in, but he wasn't happy about it. And, yes, Rick was at the top of the hill watching the whole thing, laughing out loud.

We took advantage of everyone that was on halters today and weighed them. Here are weights of some of my "kids". I don't expect to be weighing Princess, Vanilla Sundae, Star or Meg Ryan.


ALPHA/15 months 89.1 lbs
Felix/18 months 114 lbs
Pati Cake/at 2 months 46.4 lbs

My intention is to try to get Pati Cake weighed next weekend. Pati suggested I try putting a halter on her to get her started early for training. Great idea! As you can see, all my youngsters are doing well and growing. I'm anxious for ALPHA to exceed 100 pounds. Pati Cake is 4 months old now, yet was 2 months old the last time she was weighed.

We also weighed Paris Hilton (79.5); Indy (98.8), Zoe (126.5), Bianca (130), Majik (66.2), and
DJ (76.5). Paris Hilton must have lead in her belly. No way does she look like she weighs near that much. Overall, they did pretty well on the scale.

I helped with treats, one of my favorite things to do. I gave treats in the North field, so I can reacquaint myself with the moms and crias there. Oops, can't forget the Llamas in that field. Lillith, Rose and KoKo. They are a hoot. Rose gently body slams you for hugs; Lillith plays hard to get, except for Rick (she loves Rick), and KoKo is just a sweetheart.

Yes, it was another great day at the ranch.