Big boys meet the little boys

Posted on September 19, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

We’ve been a little nervous about introducing the big boys
the herd, since Marcello has a bit of a reputation. But now that the big boys
have had their *ahem* operations…we figured the timing was right. Besides, when
it gets cold and snowy, we’ll want to be able to bring everyone into the barn.

Mom, being the brilliant stock woman that she is, decided to
let the big boys into the little boys’ paddock, so that the little guys
(Tuscany and Morocco) had the home field advantage. Marcello blustered up to
the feeder, and was promptly put in his place by Tuscany, the most delicate
alpaca in the herd. It’s probably a product of the “adolescent males” still
being *cough* intact, but they did better than hold their own, the established themselves
at the top of the male pecking order.

Now that the politics are out of the way, the boys are all
enjoying each other’s company during the day. Merlin loves to lay down in the
doorway to the barn and look out over the paddock and the turnout. Marcello
thinks looking over the stall door and into the sprawling plains on the south
side of the cliff is pretty much the most awesome thing ever.

After turnout, everyone goes back to their respective
paddocks. We still haven’t put the big boys in with the girls, but that can
wait. The important thing is that everyone has somewhere warm in the winter.

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Herd dynamics

Posted on September 16, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

One afternoon last weekend, I went out to the alpaca turnout to shoo the girls into their paddock and let out the big boys, and I couldn’t find them. They weren’t at the feed troughs, or grazing on the stubbly, end-of-summer grasses. Now, I knew I’d closed all the gates. So they had to be in the turnout somewhere, which really only left one place.

The second half of the shed, on the left side of the fence Bravado is looking into, is open to the turnout.

The shed sits in the center of the turnout, and is divided in half on the inside. The right half opens onto the big boys’ paddock, and the left opens to and unfinished paddock that is open to the turnout. I wandered down so I could see into the shed, and then I hollered, “Brit-tan-y!” Sure enough, Brittany came to the doorway of the shed, and then looked back over her shoulder to the other girls and the babies, who had all voluntarily secured themselves into a paddock with no gates, so they could hang out in the shed with the boys.

Mikayla came to the doorway next, with a very, “You called?” look on her face, and then she led the herd out of the shed at a sedate walk, through the gateless unfinished paddock and around to the girls’ paddock as I stood there useless and dumbfounded. Tulip brought up the rear, as usual, stopping a few times and looking around unconcernedly, so I would know this whole thing was her idea.

It’s probably because I don’t spend as much time with them as Mom and Dad do, but their personalities and behaviors crack me up.

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Knitting/spinning clubs

Posted on September 15, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Last night, an awesome friend of mine organized some of us crafty folks for wine and spinning/knitting. I know she read my burnout blog post, I suspect she was trying to get me moving on spinning again.

The first thing I've spun for months.

It worked. I have finally gotten started on spinning to fill the orders I have. Thank goodness. I was starting to worry I’d never be able to look my wheel in the face again.

It also got me thinking about spinning in groups. I know that you don’t actually need someone else to accomplish the task of spinning, but I also know that it was not a solitary pursuit in the past. And I can’t help but be a bit wistful, because the idea of a bunch of women my age spinning and talking over wine sounds worlds better than spinning while watching Family Guy reruns. It must be the gloomy weather, which us Coloradoans are ill-equipped to cope with, but I’m fighting a desolate, pit-of-my-stomach emptiness that feels like loneliness.

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Retroactive post: A quick story about gates (and closing them)

Posted on September 14, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

The very first day that I took care of the animals all by myself was a proud one. Mom and Dad were somewhere, off at a work conference maybe. I only had to keep things running for one whole day by myself.

It started off like most days at the barn: with feeding. The horses get turned out and fed their breakfast, then the alpacas get turned out and have their feeders refilled. I turned out the horses, and then walked through their paddock into the alpaca turnout, and let the alpacas out. At that time, the girls were not separate from the boys, since Morocco and Tuscany were still babies.

Feeling rather proud of myself, I got started with the poop scooping. It was a lovely day, warm and sunny, a good day to be scooping poop. I glanced up to check on the ‘pacas, just to make sure no one was doing anything too silly (falling in holes, squeezing through fences, etc.) and counted one, two, three, four…four. There should have been five alpacas out there. Where had Tulip gone?

“Tulip?” I shouted, as if she would pop up and say “Right here!” As I dropped my shovel and turned towards the barn, I saw her. She was standing in the exact center of the horse paddock, wearing an expression that said, “Hey! Look where I am!” Apparently I’d left the gate between the alpaca turnout and the horse paddock open, and being a smart and curious alpaca, Tulip decided to investigate.

What is that over there? I shall investigate.

“Ok,” I thought, “No problem, she’s gone from one enclosed area to another, this is fine.” And then I realized that I’d left the stall door between the paddock and the barn open, AND the door between the stall and the breezeway open, creating an open path between Tulip and the driveway. Spectacular. They leave me alone for one day, and I lose Tulip.

I began casually strolling towards the barn. Tulip watched me suspiciously for a moment, and then began to mirror my movements, heading towards the open door to the barn. I began to jog, Tulip began to jog. Then I broke into a sprint, skidded around the corner into the barn, and slid the stall door shut in her face.

And that is why I now shut and latch every single gate and stall door, always.

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On Burnout

Posted on September 13, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

I’m embarrassed to admit that I haven’t spun since before the art show more than a month ago. I have orders to fill, but it’s not as if I feel restricted or anything. I don’t even want to work on the experiments I’ve got floating around in my head. I’d like to blame it in my job (which doesn’t involve alpacas or yarn in any way). And a by-product of loving your job does seem to be that it creeps into the rest of your day. I spent most of yesterday evening catching up on emails and it’s not uncommon for me to start answering them before I even get out of bed. But really, I’m just burned out. Anyone have any ideas on defeating burnout?

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Video of crias

Posted on September 9, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Trip and Marsy don’t let their Mom’s lack of interest in turnout keep them from enjoying the open space. They appear to have springs in their legs, right?

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Baby update

Posted on September 9, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Yesterday Dr. Balsch, our vet, came by to give Trip and Marsy their first shots! I apparently left my phone in the office, so I haven’t been able to call for updates, but I’m sure it went fine.

I had intended to post video of the babies being freaking adorable, but video posting is an extra $60 dollars, and I’m not sure how often we’ll use it.

So…sorry about that. Honestly, quite a bit of fail going on in this post.

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Random fiber word of the day: Niddy noddy

Posted on September 8, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Or is that two words? Or not words, according to spellczech. No matter.

I usually get about three sentences into a yarn about yarn when my non-fiber friends interrupt incredulously, with something like “What in the world is a niddy noddy? Did you make that up?” No, I didn’t. I would never give something so useful such a silly name.

My big 2 yard niddy noddy, and my little sample niddy noddy.

Niddy noddies are spectacular tools. They allow you to wind your yarn off a bobbin into a skein in regular, countable lengths. Every loop around my big niddy noddy makes two yards of yarn.

See, you don't have to let go to wind...brilliant. The loose yarn over my hand is wound down and left, up and back, down and right, up and front.

And, they come with a quaint rhyme. There are theories that the name and the rhyme evolved at the same time, both owing their distinctive rhythm to the way the head of the niddy noddy dips up and down as you wind.

“Niddy noddy, niddy noddy
Two heads, one body.” (said while you tie on to the top arm)

“T’is one, t’aint one,
T’will be one by an by.” (said on your first round)

“T’is two, t’aint two,
T’will be two by an by.” (said on your second round)

And so on…until you get to 50. At 50, you’ve wound 100 yards into a skein. Winding more will distort your length estimate, as the yarn is wound over the ever-increasing bundle of yarn already on the niddy noddy. The arms slide right out of the main shaft, and the skein comes off easily. Yarn is easiest to wash and dye in skein form. Until I became a spinner, I cursed skeins as impossible to unravel into a workable ball, but now I know skeins show the yarn best and don’t put unnecessary tension on it.

Wow. WordPress had a seizure on the spell checking in this one. T’will is a word, t’isn’t it?

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From start to finish: Step 3 – Picking

Posted on September 7, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

We are on part three of our fiber series now: picking. Picking…sounds kinda gross, doesn’t it? Well, it’s not, or it’s no grosser than any of the other processes, anyway. Picking is the process of removing the clumps and opening up the locks of the fiber. It’s also the last chance to get out ANY of the vegetable matter or sub-par fiber. Beyond this point, everything is so well homogenized that you’d rather pull your hair out than try to remove any of the straw or hay (read: I’ve tried it and it was not fun).

My brother holds the bag open as I pick straight from the skirting table.

Continue reading →

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This is Brittany’s story

Posted on September 6, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Millions of Americans are struggling with addiction. This is Brittany’s story.

What? I can quit whenever I want.

Brittany had a rough childhood. Her mom, Bookoo, couldn’t provide what she needed, and Brittany nearly starved. She was forced to turn to foster parents for milk and love.

Tulip says: “Brittany was always searching for a mother figure, a positive role model. The fosters parents tried to help, but…they’re humans. So Brittany had a terrible habit of latching onto anyone who was still nursing a cria. I spit in her face myself, so she wouldn’t steal my milk for Tuscany.”

When Brittany was almost one, she was adopted by her foster family and brought to Cliff House Alpaca Ranch. Everything seemed to be going fine, until they began passing around a bag of carrots.

Mikayla says: “Brittany is clearly the family’s favorite, even though she is spoiled and pushy. So of course she got the first carrot. What none of us realized was how that first taste would change her forever.”

Brittany ate all the carrots, before any of the other alpacas could even try them. She even knocked Mikayla and Tulip out of the way, to prevent them from getting their share. Mom and Dad know they are enabling Brittany’s habit, but they can’t help it.

Dad says: “We know we shouldn’t let her push the other girls around, and that she shouldn’t get all the carrots…” Mom breaks in, “But she’s the closest thing to a grandchild we have.”

If you or someone you know is struggling with a carrot addiction, congratulations. They’re good for you. Just don’t let Brittany see you eating them!

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