Woeful

I have been woefully inadequate as a blogger for the last week or 2 for which I apologise. The thing is , I am beside myself waiting for the new cria to arrive - and no she hasn't yet . Alpaca gestation is an inexact science , depending which book you read or which breeder you ask , the gestation period is somewhere around 11.5 months but that can vary by 2 weeks either way , and depending upon the time of year mating took place , and my best guess - how harsh the winter was ! The up shot is that Kirsty is still waddling around the paddock , periodically giving the odd sign just to keep us on our toes , and then miraculously - nothing . DS #2 came rushing down at breakfast time shouting ' she's having it ' , are you sure ? 'yes yes , she's doing that thing again ' 'what thing ' ' you know , eating !!!'
if that was the only sign , god help us , as it is , it might just as well be !

Anyway , we had a great weekend . We had some friends to stay , which was less of a squash than expected , we did some walking up table mountain , we went to see the bluebells , we went riding and amongst all this managed to put up another alpaca shelter( to replace the one that blew down) and weed and plant a couple of flower beds . Thanks guys , we really do appreciate it . Oh , and we ate a bit and drank a bit and i think we all had a good time .

Another batch of chicks is due to hatch on Saturday , whilst I am away bee keeping ( probably the best place for me , so I cant interfere) and I have planned all the vaccinations for the next few months so that all the girls get the right stuff at the right time . And it suddenly occurred to me that we could start our mating season with the first mating of Bozedown West and Bozedown Hermione , which we hope will be successful now that her hymen has been sorted out , and should produce a beautiful rich fawn cria next year . Fingers crossed. Oh , and I planned the building of new catch pens and mating pens - all this at 3am when the wind was very strong .

Hope the wind drops tonight or DH will have a list longer than his arm , of jobs to do in the next week !!!