Nope, Carmella Didn't

Nope. Carmella has decided to hold on to that cria a little longer. Although Star's due date is August 10th, she really isn't showing the "labor" signs. She's as big as a house, and grunts when she walks or tries to roll, but other than that, she's acting pretty normal. That's O.K. That baby can cook for at long as she wants :) I'm so anxious to see what Star and Fred can do together.

It was a nice day at the ranch. Warm, but with a great breeze. The weather was perfect for spit testing and breeding. I went down to get Fred and he ran to the gate when he saw the halter. He almost put the halter on himself and galloped up the hill to the show pen, where girlfriend #1 was waiting. Nope. She spit. Next. Nope. She spit. Next. Nope. She spit. Next. Nope, that was just a trial to see if this maiden will sit August 21st. Sorry, Fred. Treats didn't seem to take the place of a date. Next up: Mo. Yep, got the job done, IN AN HOUR. Dang, dude! Next: Blade. Oh yes, this guy knows what to do and makes a lot of noise doing it. I hope they didn't brag too much in front of Fred. Poor Fred.

I hung out with the girls for awhile and can't believe how big Norma Rae is getting. She looks just like the mature adults, and she is only 10 months old. Pati Cake is getting really tall, too. Vanilla has been hanging out with mom, Carmel Sunday. They are due at the same time. Princess has teamed up with the "Sisterhood" of Prissy, Aria and Manda Smith. Rick and Pati noticed the 4 of them hanging out together quite a bit. They are the Grumpy Plumpies. Princess is the youngest at age 10, and Manda is the oldest at 15. Go Girls!

Rick and I took Apollo and Kona for their first official walk. They've been on a halter once, to move from shearing the Boy's Town. Apolla did great, and Kona did pretty well following. By the end of the walk, they were both doing pretty well. Since Suris tend to be high spirited, they really did well. Rick thought Apollo would be a challenge, but he was the best of the two. I hung out with the little boys (little boys? they are all getting pretty big, except for little Patron). The weeds with the yellow flowers are getting scarce now that it's so warm. I was able to find a handful to give the boys. Luther, Felix, Majik and Alpha are all real friendly. Patron is a little stand-offish, as is Sonny. Sometimes Sonny will eat the weeds and let me get pretty close, but not often. Felix was a love bug (but spit at me later in the day when I walked Kona instead of him), and Alpha is just a sweetheart. He still keeps getting more spots, and now there are threads of silver blending through his blanket. Wow, we still have no clue what color he will be.

It was fun to sit around with Rick and Pati and talk about our upcoming cruise. Wow, less than 3 months. We've been planning it for so long. It is going to be great to spend 7 days in the Caribbean in a balcony cabin! We also talked about the AOA Auction in Las Vegas in January. They go every year. In 2009, I'm going too! I can't wait. I really enjoy meeting Alpaca people. And, it's my very first live Alpaca auction. I must show restraint :(

Pretty soon it will be time to start thinking about Alpaca Farm Days and upcoming shows. All American Alpacas is participating in Alpaca Farm Days in September. This year there will be more Alpacas, more crias, Alpaca products and Mexican food! In November is AlpacaFest West at Industry Hills. Next March is the Southwest Alpaca Show in Phoenix. Diane and I went last year and will be going next year, as well. I'm not sure which of my Alpacas will be going to shows, but I'll decide soon (with Rick and Pati's input, of course).

I've posted a picture I took of Tiffany last Saturday. I posted a blog about the birth of Tiffany. Is she cute or what? Her dam is Nala and her sire is Show Me The Money. Nala is my Vanilla Sundae's half sister (same dad, Vivace). Nala and Vanilla have similar coloring, except Vanilla wears medium brown thong. Vanilla is bred to Show Me The Money. Would that be cool, or what, for me to have a cria from Vanilla that looks like Tiffany? YES!