After spending Saturday and Sunday last weekend helping with Farm Days, I was really too tired to write. The open house was great with visitors interested in Alpacas, as well as Alpaca products. The local ladies Stitch & Bitch Club (is that a great name, or what?) had their meeting at the ranch and bought lots of yarn and knitting supplies. Imagine, buying alpaca yarn and seeing the Alpaca it came from, all in one day :) Rock It Taco provided the yummy tacos and burritos.
WELL....yesterday was a perfect Fall day, cool, breezy and overcast. Also a perfect day for breeding and spit testing. Normally, Alpacas just spit at each other, but they also spit at their beau to confirm they are pregnant and to leave them alone :) Real high tech, called a Spit Test. Two weeks after you breed a female, you introduce her, once again, to the male. If she spits at him, ande runs around the pen (some even growl), she's saying "no way, Jose", which means she is pregnant.
I love Alpacas that spit! Especially when it's Star and Meg Ryan! Yep, both of them made it very clear to Conquistador (Fred) that he did the job the first time. After a very frustrating year with Meg Ryan (is she pregnant, isn't she pregnant....no clear indication, final answer, NO), she has finally begun acting like an Alpaca. Go Girl! Star and Meg should deliver within a week or so or each other next September. Best buddies are pregnant together by the same sire :) Yeah!
Mo (Show Me The Money) was the winner in the date department, with two females. Conquistador (Fred) spent the day being spit at. But, I know today he had a date with Sambuca, so hopefully he's feeling better. Storm also had a date yesterday and today. Yesterday was to Carmela, and I'm not sure who Rick bred him to today (Kalea?).
We spent most of the day breeding and spit testing, then halter training. Cher is doing pretty well and should have it mastered before AlpacaFest West in November. Paris Hilton is a pro. Norma Rae is slowly coming around. Pati Cake....oh Pati Cake the weenie. The minute the lead goes on the halter, she hits the ground and plays dead. If you try to pick her up to stand, she tucks her legs under her so you end up with a big black ball of Alpaca with no legs. Rick, Pati and I all tried to work with her. I think she may have stood up once or twice. She needs alot of work, and we don't have a whole lot of time. We leave for our cruise on October 18 and return the 26th. AlpacaFest West is November 15 and 16. Hopefully, she'll get the hang of it soon. I sure don't want to carry her in to the show ring. :(
I didn't spend any time with the boys today (Felix, Alpha, Majik and Luther), so they'll probably be mad at me next weekend. I spent a little time in the fields with the girls and crias, trying to get a Macy Grey kiss. She finally kissed me and let me rub all over her. She is priceless! Aurora is still friendly, but seems to be a little more standoffish as she grows older.
Rick & Pati popped a bottle of champagne, with cheese, salami and crackers, and we sat in the Sun Room and watched the crias play. They love cool weather. It is so much fun to watch them chase each other, and try to assemble and organize for a field to field pronk. In the summertime, it's usually too warm for me to see them play. They wait until the sun goes down. So, this was a real treat for me.
Alpha will not be going to AlpacaFest West, as there are no other boys going. It's all girls we're showing off this year. Cher, Paris Hilton, Gabrielle, Pati Cake and Norma Rae. I was worried that Pati Cake and Norma Rae would be competing against each other, but they won't. We thought Norma Rae was Bay Black, which would put her in the same category as True Black Pati Cake. Rick color checked her and Norma is clearly Dark Brown. I am so glad.
Rockstarr is getting big, still has very crimpy fiber and is getting to be a fuzzy face. It's funny, the fiber is growing in around his eyes, so he looks like he's wearing goggles. He and Aurora still look like twins. They are so cute together.
We're expecting a gaggle of crias around Thanksgiving (8 to be exact). Two are my girls, Princess and Vanilla Sundae. I am so anxious to see what Princess blesses me with this year (she is Alpha and Pati Cake's mom). Vanilla is a maiden, and bred to Show Me The Money. Her cria will have a ARI Registration that reads like "Who's Who". Famous names on both sides of the family.
Two weeks from right this very minute, Rick, Pati, Shelby and I will be sailing from Port Canaveral to the Western Caribbean aboard Royal Caribbean's "Mariner of the Seas". We will be meeting the owners and friends of Shady Creek Ranch (Missouri) and Gemstone Alpacas (New York), as well as the Alberts from Panama City, FL. There are a total of 49 of us in the group, which includes the wonderful people from The Groves Travel Club in Irvine, CA and our dear friends Robert & Sherry Porterfield and their family. It's going to be great!
Pati and I finished up the day with treats. When you walk in the field with the blue bucket, you are their best friend!
Yes, another great day at the ranch.
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You always have a good time with the "kids" and the Ranch Folks. Good for you. The lady at the Golf Cart Business, in Canyon Lake was all excited, she received some photos of a 7 day old Alpaca, from her friend in the state of Wisconsin. He is a cutie and looks like the coloring is white and rose, can't think of the correct word for the rose color, anyhow, the owner has a winner. See ya later and please keep up the good work. B and J
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