Books I Love
Saturday, December 4, 2010
We Three Kings...
6:04 PM | 
Posted by
Jen Pietsch |
Oh my goodness it has come to this. I am using Christmas Carols.
The next three days I will be dedicating to what we here on the farm call 'the little boys'. This name was given when they were indeed little. These boys are from last year (2009) when we had three boys and a girl. I am puzzled as to where to begin. We always talk about them as a group but when you meet them individually they are obviously nothing alike- except anatomically well almost. Mysterious huh?
The game is afoot! (Too much Sherlock Holmes)
Here is the biggest of the 'little boys'...(drum roll)
Weighing in at 21 pounds at birth..fawn and cimpy I am pleased to present
BUDDY
Buddy is from the year of herbal names so his 'real' name is Orcas Moon's Sage Prince- why such a big name? he was huge, and has only gotten bigger. Buddy was born on the day that the movie Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince was released. Let me clarify, he was born while we were in Friday Harbor watching the release of the Movie.
Don't you just hate it when you miss the cool stuff. The movie wasn't really great, loved the book- however, there isn't anything better than watching a smooth birth.
We came home and well there he was. He gets his giant stature from mostly his giant (not freakishly so) mother, Ember. Ember is a fantastic Mom. You don't want to get close to her cria- she is a little protective (understatement).
Shortly after farmer Jeff took this photo we all had to run- Ember was getting a little defensive.
Buddy is a gentle giant with beautiful, lustrous, apricot colored fleece. He went to four shows last year and our boy took home a pair of ribbons from the two biggest ones. I am taking him to show again this year which is a big decision. It is challenging in my trailer to load a yearling male with all of my babies from this year male and female.
I will try, no really I will, to get a couple of more current, photos of him to share. I so wish everyone could visit with Buddy- he leads well, and is sweet, sweet, sweet. (I do not say this about all of my animals, just wait till you read about some of our less angelic camilids)
Well Ember I guess you were busy while we were at the movies.
Buddy being taken care of by mom Ember and his big sister Channel.
Almost ready to go to show.
Friday, December 3, 2010
On The Third Day of December my Farmer Gave to Me...
BROOKLYN!
I finished yesterdays blog by letting you know that Brooklyn and Pippi are never apart. It only seemed right to talk about Brooklyn, Pippi's mom next.
Brooklyn was one of the first alpacas I trained. Okay let's admit it, I was trained to train with my girlfriend Brooklyn and her equally good looking girl friend Manhattan. I spent a bitter cold March week with Janet Franklin (master of 'pac training) being taught how to teach Brooklyn and Manhattan to walk on a lead. This was done in preparation for my first show- Alpacapalooza! I will never attempt to train two alpacas in a week. Now I usually start in February and give it plenty of time.
Janet got me trained and I helped her to train the girls. Brooklyn, Manhattan and I left Janet on the farm and were lucky enough to hitch a ride with my not yet good friends Kris and Albert Olson from San Juan Island. Off we went to Puyallup, Washington (Do not attempt to say this word you WILL say it wrong. It is pronounced Pea-y'all-up).
I was only able to stay for the first two days of the show, and then had to get back to Chicago for work. I showed Manhattan and we got the gate (I have of course, a story about that). Before taking the girls back to the islands Albert did me the kind favor of showing Brooklyn. She took a fourth.
It was unreal to be called in the middle of Seatac airport by someone who you never knew was going to be such a great friend, and to be told that an animal, that up until two weeks ago you didn't know, and that wasn't able to walk on a lead, won a ribbon at a show with over 900 animals. I was actually smiling and jumping up and down (only a little jumping).
My doe-eyed beauty princess.
Brooklyn
Thursday, December 2, 2010
December 2nd
Pippi!
Yesterday I told you about or oldest alpaca, today it's our youngest. It's any ones guess who is tomorrow! Feel free to leave feedback here all you folks that have visited us or lurk this fine blog.
Pippi is our youngest girl and animal on the farm. She is a go getter...she has to be if her mother is ever going to feed her. Pippi joined our family in late August of this year a full month later than the three other cria born on the farm.
Looking back on the day I shutter to think how it could have gone all wrong. Brooklyn her mom, was a maiden (aka a first time mom) and a beauty queen on top of that. And was in labor for EVER. Okay much of the day. She would moan, yell and separate herself from the herd- classic labor. Brooklyn seemed to be pushing but getting nowhere with the whole thing. She was wearing herself out.
I have been able to ease other cria out who were a little stuck but this one wasn't going anywhere. It seemed that Brooklyn wasn't dilating and Pippi wasn't going to get out.
Dr Schuler came out after my failed attempt to scootch the Pipster out and it took three of us (not including Brooklyn) pulling, prying, praying and holding to get the itty-bitty out.
She hit the ground at just shy of twelve pounds.
As soon as she got her feet on the ground from a pretty traumatic birth she was off. Brooklyn was a bit reluctant to feed her. Pippi wanted to nurse and Brooklyn wanted to be next to her, but nursing was not what she had in mind. Eventually Pip wore her down and got what she wanted and we all believed this would be the end of it.
No way! Pippi has to chase her every time. Brooklyn will take her to the far end of the field and maybe consent to nursing. Pippi is getting bigger and Brooklyn is getting smaller so they must have worked it out. The two are never apart and are constantly humming back and forth. To hear them is one of the sweetest sounds ever. She is a looker just like her Mom.
Here are a few pics. (Do you like how I put them at the end so you have to keep reading?)
Looking back on the day I shutter to think how it could have gone all wrong. Brooklyn her mom, was a maiden (aka a first time mom) and a beauty queen on top of that. And was in labor for EVER. Okay much of the day. She would moan, yell and separate herself from the herd- classic labor. Brooklyn seemed to be pushing but getting nowhere with the whole thing. She was wearing herself out.
I have been able to ease other cria out who were a little stuck but this one wasn't going anywhere. It seemed that Brooklyn wasn't dilating and Pippi wasn't going to get out.
Dr Schuler came out after my failed attempt to scootch the Pipster out and it took three of us (not including Brooklyn) pulling, prying, praying and holding to get the itty-bitty out.
She hit the ground at just shy of twelve pounds.
As soon as she got her feet on the ground from a pretty traumatic birth she was off. Brooklyn was a bit reluctant to feed her. Pippi wanted to nurse and Brooklyn wanted to be next to her, but nursing was not what she had in mind. Eventually Pip wore her down and got what she wanted and we all believed this would be the end of it.
No way! Pippi has to chase her every time. Brooklyn will take her to the far end of the field and maybe consent to nursing. Pippi is getting bigger and Brooklyn is getting smaller so they must have worked it out. The two are never apart and are constantly humming back and forth. To hear them is one of the sweetest sounds ever. She is a looker just like her Mom.
Here are a few pics. (Do you like how I put them at the end so you have to keep reading?)
That was a lot of tugging for such a little bit of a thing!
Brooklyn and Pippi- ALWAYS together
Look closely and you will see mama Brooklyn in the side of this picture.Wednesday, December 1, 2010
Even Mother Doesn't Believe I can Do It!
Thanks Mom for your extreme vote of confidence. I can tell you are behind me all the way.
I have puzzled over what order to talk about all of my fabulous fleeced friends with you, but really haven't come up with a plan. (Don't worry I didn't hurt myself with all of that thinking.) I really don't have a favorite but there are days that some are more entertaining than others.
So...totally almost at random...
Number 126
MICKEY
Ahhhh The Queen!
Mickey is our oldest girl in number of years on earth but one of the youngest we have on our farm in spunk and attitude.
You are probably wondering why
When Jeff, the kids and I moved to our new home I was seriously concerned how I would ever be able to tell all of these camels apart. My goodness they all looked the same. It took me less than a week of 'getting to know them' (scooping poop, feeding etc.) to figure out who they all were and how they fit in.
Mickey was a standout- she had a number tag in her ear...icky. Animals aren't numbers especially on my farm. The first thing I did once I figured out who everybody was, was to get that darn thing out of her ear. All it took was scissors. I saved the tag to remind me who she was when I moved in. It hurts me to even look at it.
The Queen
She is ALL that.
Mickey may be just a skinny little thing but man don't get in her way...or the way of her family. First in line for grain is always Mickey. Hay too, she is first. One more interesting thing about my girl Mickey is that she holds her head up high. We aren't sure if this is because she used to have really long fleece on her head or just really good posture but holy cow she always has her nose in the air.
Susan?
Okay we have reasons why we call her Susan- she reminds my husband, my Mom and I of my ex-sister in law. Not in a bad way at all, Susan is a very nice person with incredible posture and taste for the finer things.
So there you go Mickey!!
Here is the best stealthy picture I could find of her- skinny girl going under the fence!
Okay so I will go and take a couple of head shots!
Mickey is our oldest girl in number of years on earth but one of the youngest we have on our farm in spunk and attitude.
You are probably wondering why
- I prefaced her name with a number- 126?
- I call her The Queen - much like someone would call the president (whose name I cannot bring myself to utter) Mr. President.
- We sometimes even call her Susan
When Jeff, the kids and I moved to our new home I was seriously concerned how I would ever be able to tell all of these camels apart. My goodness they all looked the same. It took me less than a week of 'getting to know them' (scooping poop, feeding etc.) to figure out who they all were and how they fit in.
Mickey was a standout- she had a number tag in her ear...icky. Animals aren't numbers especially on my farm. The first thing I did once I figured out who everybody was, was to get that darn thing out of her ear. All it took was scissors. I saved the tag to remind me who she was when I moved in. It hurts me to even look at it.
The Queen
She is ALL that.
Mickey may be just a skinny little thing but man don't get in her way...or the way of her family. First in line for grain is always Mickey. Hay too, she is first. One more interesting thing about my girl Mickey is that she holds her head up high. We aren't sure if this is because she used to have really long fleece on her head or just really good posture but holy cow she always has her nose in the air.
Susan?
Okay we have reasons why we call her Susan- she reminds my husband, my Mom and I of my ex-sister in law. Not in a bad way at all, Susan is a very nice person with incredible posture and taste for the finer things.
So there you go Mickey!!
Here is the best stealthy picture I could find of her- skinny girl going under the fence!
Okay so I will go and take a couple of head shots!
Tuesday, November 30, 2010
My Gift to You
My gift to you is, no not hand knit alpaca sweaters or socks. Starting tomorrow and going through Christmas it is...
TWENTY-FOUR-DAYS OF ALPACAS!!!!
So see you tomorrow!
Tuesday, November 16, 2010
Troller Point
We pulled the boat out of the water today for the winter. Having docked it at our friends the Nutts of Warm Valley Orchard, the boat was used heavily...by sea otters! Man they must have thought they won the lottery. You can see just where the otters decided to spend the afternoon sunning themselves and eating crabs...you know...on my boat! It was kinda too bad we never ran into them I bet they were CUTE.
On the way home from West Sound Marina where the boat will get winterized before it spends the season on the farm we stopped by the West Sound Dock for the seasonal stop of the Alaskan fishing boat. What a smooth operation run by a really nice family. We bought a bunch of super fresh fish and prawns to last us quite a while. You WILL want to check out their web site! TrollerPoint.com You can think of us enjoying all that halibut!
Friday, November 5, 2010
The Boys are back in Town!
Last week we piled in the boat and went off in search of the male Steller Sealions that come up our way this time of year. Stellers are the largest of all sea lions. These giant pinnipeds hunt fish, squid, octopus and, rarely, smaller seals. They are found off northern Pacific coasts from Japan to California. We were lucky to catch a sighting of a few not as impressive as last year but still a great afternoon on the water.
I think they look kinda like pugs!
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