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Summer Has Arrived

Wow.  "It's hot!  We need a pool!"  This is a common phrase uttered by either Jon or I on any given day at any given time of the day when we find ourselves, well, hot.  We would love to have a pool but we've yet to "take the plunge!"  Boy, I'm funny this morning and only one cup of coffee in.

Well, I've been fighting with my computer for several days and need to take my mind off of it before I explode so I thought I'd chill out with a little update from the farm.  It seems like it's been longer since my last up date but it's still been too long.  I look back over my posts and realize, I don't update often enough so when I DO sit down to write, I write a short novel which probably turns people off from reading.  I need to write more often and not be so long winded.

I was tickled to find I have my very first "Follower" on my blog!  Thank you Catherine! 

We are happy to announce the birth of our two 2010 cria, two little boys, one is jet black & we call him, "Cooper."  The other is dark brown and we're calling him, "Indy," which is short for Independence.  He was born on July 3rd so we tried to find a name that was a little festive for the holiday.

It's going to be one of the hottest days of the summer today with an "excessive" heat warning in place with temperatures expected in the upper 90's and a heat index of 105-110 degrees in some places around here.  The alapcas will be suffering for sure.  You do what you can do and hope they do ok.  Poor things.  I can't imagine how the farms in states like Texas & Florida manage to keep their alpacas healthy.  Just the few weeks out of the summer here in Missouri when it's this hot and humid really makes it a challenge for us.   I can't imagine dealing with hot weather almost all year round.  I guess you'd have to shear them more often than our once a year but then, the fiber wouldn't have a chance to grow long enough to process so you're really just raising pets if you can't use the fiber.  Oh well...I guess I don't need to worry much about that, but I do worry about the animals (all of them) out there that are outside all the time when it's this hot.  Folks, take care of your furry friends!

Until next time...

Sleepless in Missouri

Getting up at 3am has been good for my daily production rate.  I've gotten a lot done that needed to be done and I've wanted to come back to my blog and once again resolve to keep adding to it more often.

Well, from the looks of things, it's been a while since I've sat down to do any blogging.  Life gets in the way of my journaling obviously and this nonsense must stop!  Writing is passion of mine and always has been.  I'm sure my friends moan when they see another email come in from me.  Before they open it, I imagine they first, ignore it.  Next, they sigh and look past it.  Next, they groan, slump their shoulders and move on to the next email in their spam folder, then, knowing they can't avoid it any longer yet with a strange anticipation, they pour a cup of coffee, or glass of wine, close their eyes, hold their breath, then...click!  The dreaded email opens!  Peering out of one eye, they peek to see if it's another novel from me or a brief howdy do.  My brief howdy do's are several paragraphs long, always.

Today is my long day at work running a busy clinic but knowing I have the next six days off is a breath of fresh air.  Spring is here and there's a lot of work to do outside but I love being outside and getting things spiffed up again after a long winter.   Over the past weekend, we replaced the fence in the paddock that the horses had destroyed leaning over the top to nibble the grass on the other side.  Even horses believe that old myth.  We polished off the finishing touches to that project yesterday by re-hanging the gate.  What a nice sense of accomplishment!  After that, Jon attached the harrow to the 4-wheeler and drug it over the dirt to smooth out the surface that had big, hoof sized holes in it from all of the spring time rains, snow melt and mud that followed.  The horses are banned to the pasture now until after we shear the alpacas tomorrow as we'll need the paddock area for them.

Time has slipped away once again.  Time to get ready for work.

Until nex time...