I think i'm turning into Victor Meldrew

Honestly I am , the weather is just not suiting me ! We have had amazing winds the last couple of days . On Friday we woke to find that the boys playhouse had blown onto the hedge - it took 6 men to move it to it's original resting place , but yesterday it moved of its own accord . Today we woke to find DH's boat had blown from the field , over the hedge and was sitting right in the middle of the bridle path - what is going on ?! We have lost a couple of old trees and various items have moved around , a gate has blown down - but the animals are all fine , which is the main thing . The alpaca are all scootched up against hedges , looking reasonably content , but I am having sleepless nights with all the wind , please just let me have dull and mild for the time of year , and I promise to be happy !

Concerned - a bit

Still horribly windy , but not wet - is that an improvement I wonder ?

When doing the vit injections yesterday I did a quick condition score on everyone , all good at 3/5 except Artemis who is a 4/5 ( but she is a suri) , and Calpurnia who scored 2 - 2.5/5 . She is the only weanling who has shown any distress at being parted from mum , and even after nearly 3 weeks still spends a reasonable amount of time standing at the gate humming . She is happily eating grass , and hay , but refuses to touch hard feed like the others. I have tried feeding her separately with the rest of the herd nearby but unable to get at her bowl , but she pays no interest , I have tried sugarbeet- hot, warm cold , nothing! Does anyone have any ideas how to get her to eat better? All advice welcome , I've never had this problem quite as bad before . Calpurnia's mum still doesn't like to eat with the herd and will only eat substantially if penned next to them , is this the alpaca version of ' too posh to push'?

By the way , the new additions are ...... turkeys! A sort of rescue , 1 male 2 female , Norfolk bronze I think , but not really sure . The idea is to breed them and eat the offspring as DS #3 said to granny ' Of course we're not going to eat them , just their babies '!!

new additions!

Today has been horribly windy and a little bit wet. Nonetheless I took the opportunity to do some Vit injections for the weanlings and their 'aunts' , Athena started spitting as soon as she saw the needle , needless to say we dealt with her first and put her outside the pen so that she had less access to us ! DH insisted on standing against the fence nearest her and then saying ( in a very male way) ' she'll just have to learn to not spit at me '!! Guess who smells particularly pungent??

I also took the chance to introduce a new member to the weanlings in the shape of Flag. He is not the smartest alpaca brain wise , but simply the nicest alpaca I have ever met. He walks beautifully on a halter , is very majestic , and just a generally great animal . I have put him in with the weanlings so that he can get to know Cassius , because in the fullness of time Cassius will have to meet the other boys and that could be nasty since he is my only male from last year - I thought he could do with a friend and Flag is perfect.Plus he is the respected leader of the boys .....

I also have 3 more new additions to the farm . Can you guess ? A clue - the male is called a stag. Answers tomorrow.

Still here!

Christmas has been and gone and now we are almost at the end of January- where has the time gone ?

Like most people it has been a busy and hard time , the weather has made sure of that , and I am personally quite tired , both of the bad weather but also physically as a result of the weather . The alpacas are all well , a couple of weeks without significant rain means they are looking fluffy and well if a little dirty - the soil is very red here so as a result he white ones are all looking pale pink , a new colour for the BAS to consider?

Now that the snow has abated for a while and the night time temps are not so low I have taken the opportunity to wean the cria . Really it should have been done at Christmas , but I couldn't bring myself to drag them away from their mums in such horrid cold. As usual , the mums have barely given the weanlings a backward glance - if they could go out on the town I feel they probably would! The weanlings and their 'aunties' , however, are still occassionally looking longingly in the direction of the others , but time spent at the gate humming has reduced to almost nothing over the course of a week.

The chickens have been doing well , until today when a fox took 2 of my Legbars - I am gutted , I only had 3 Legbars and I have just bought 15 eggs for the incubator from a very nice chap who gave me a mixed box of my favourite breeds , including 3 legbar eggs - my hopes where high that I would get a rooster and thus have a breeding quartet, not to be this year I'm afraid. Silly birds they would insist on roosting in a tree - Lord knows how the fox got them.
But the 18 eggs I have in my incubator are looking good - fingers crossed

Now my task is to get a couple of fleeces ready for the futurity...... oh , and raise £25K for the school . Ho hum

time flies

It's ages since my last post , Christmas school activities seem to have been at the forefront of our daily lives. With 2 performances each and 2 children to whom this applies ( the twins don't do these things at high school) I have spent a fair amount of time ferrying people here there and everywhere. I also organised the first annual carol service for the scouts , cubs and beavers. To say I had sleepless nights over it is no exaggeration - the main problem being that nobody seemed to communicate with the other leaders in their troupe and the vicar was out of the loop completely . Suffice to say that on the night it was a huge success , the church was full ( thank God ) the troupes all sang what they promised to sing , the organist played beautifully even thou he didn't get the order of service until 30 mins before ( don't ask) and everyone enjoyed tea and mince pies afterwards ! Phew!
After that I thought it would be a breeze until Christmas - didn't factor in the huge amount of snow , the crash which saw me tipped over in the 4 x 4 or the schools closing early! Anyway , we are all safe and well . The alpacas have reluctantly taken to the stables , althou they all venture out periodically just to check that the snow is still there , and to consume huge amounts of hay and sugar beet, preferably warm please!
Bizarrely the chickens have started laying again , and I have gained the 3 school chucks for the holidays .
The shopping is done , presents and food , barr a couple of non-essentials from Waitrose tomorrow , and we are snuggled down and ready for Christmas - I think !

Freezing

Will it ever let up? I have had to ask for extra thermals to be dispatched ! It has not gone above -4 for 5 days now and frankly I've had enough. To start with I found it quite exciting to see -10 on the car thermometer as we drove to school - it's the southerner in me , it never gets that cold on the south coast- but now I've had it.
The alpacas seem to be coping fine , now that the snow has stopped and we have ice and a few green patches( not many) they are sleeping out in the fields again , scoffing hay and alpha a nuggets , and all the sugar beet I can prepare ! The hens are finding it harder . They seem mainly to spend the day in a large conifer tree on the yard , feet off the floor , pretty miserable.Last night I bought the smallest 5 into the utility room just to get warm for the night ! they make me laugh , they are like teenagers at a sleepover , they are constantly chattering until you open the door and then they all shut up!
We have entered the realms of school Christmas plays , I am loathed to say nativity since Jesus doesn't seem to make much of an appearance , he is some what swamped by the donkeys ( OK) sheep(OK) camels( a bit iffy) bees(???) mice (???) and all other manner of creature who I'm pretty sure isn't in the biblical tale . Add to that the strange phenomenon that every important speaking or singing part is held by a child with a varying degree of speech impediment , and you have a slightly surreal experience! Even ( particularly) DH commented that it was shocking to witness such a high level of talentless kids in one place !! However , they all show remarkable courage in standing up ( prob cos they don't know how bad they are ) and seem to thoroughly enjoy themselves , so we all sit through it and smile and clap , and everyone is happy . Thank god I only have 2 and not 4 this year! Am I the only parent who finds it a chore ?

Success , of sorts

As many , we are covered in snow , not the proportions that the North and Scotland have thank god - I feel for you - but enough for hot water and extra hay for the alpacas !

They are all quite happy , some venturing into the stables at night , some preferring to sit on the yard , but all down by the yard and out of the snow and wind to a greater degree.

My success is with the sickly chicken . Finally , after a week of bathing her eye twice a day I think I have conquered whatever was the problem. Without putting you off your dinner , suffice to say that I have finally managed to get the last bits of pus out of her eye . It was congealed and set firm , but now it has gone . The eye looks a bit milky and I fear she may have lost the sight in it , but she is quite happy pottering around , albeit out of the snow as much as possible.

Other than that , we are bracing for a lot of snow tomorrow , the kids are begging not to go to school , but I feel that they may be disappointed , and we look forward to the weekend which should bring some rain and some sun , hurray!