Friday, April 25, 2014

One Last Look Before Shearing

Leezza

Asterius and Brutus

Mango

Took

Nikko

Take a good look at this lovely "floofy" herd because they are about to lose their winter coats. On Sunday afternoon we are taking them down to Grass Run Alpaca farm in Crawford County where they will be relieved of their coats for the warmer months. The shearers will set up on Saturday morning and breeders and 4-H kids from miles around will gather to have their animals shorn on a first come first served basis. We are tentatively scheduled for 1 p.m. on Sunday afternoon. The next pictures on this blog will be drastically slimmer animals. I am always amazed at how little animal is hidden under the volume of fleece. Their behavior changes temporarily once they are released back into their pastures. Even the mature animals seem to frolic about a bit because they must feel so much lighter. I'll write more about shearing day after the fact.

We are also planning to have Mango and Leezza ultrasounded after shearing to verify their pregnancies, although that is not always a reliable indicator as we found out last year  when Firenze and Took were pronounced "not pregnant" and a few months later  they each delivered darling little crias. But it's worth it to have a herd health inspection after the long winter.

Rich and I traveled down to Columbus to spend Easter Sunday with the kids and had a lovely time. Son-in-law, Steve, had been up since 2 a.m. preparing a lovely smoked brisket in his "Big Green Egg." It was possibly the best brisket I have ever tasted. Amy made popovers and roasted carrots to go with it...love popovers. Olivia made her new famous peanut butter cup mini cheese cakes...yum! Since my birthday was the day after it was a combined celebration. And because it was 70 degrees and sunny outside we were able to spend much of the time on the patio. All in all, a wonderful day.

I'll close with a final picture of Rich up close and personal with the "boys." Yes, Asterius is giving Rich a sniffy kiss. More next week after shearing.


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