For some reason training season always seems to bring the rain and wind. As an added bonus today it was cold. The cria are really getting the hang of the whole walking on a lead thing. It is a slow, individually paced process. Some days they are more interested than others. This is my preliminary evaluation.

Clackama- he is just like his father Phoebus- aka the Ninja, he is a close walker. The challenge with him is to get him to walk a little away from me. Given his choice he would tuck himself up under my arm and walk that way. I love this but it will be hard to show him if he is hiding.

Ranger- Ranger is a slow and steady kinda guy. I am trying to speed up his pace to show off his lovely stride. What Ranger has head and shoulders above the others- aside from actually being head and shoulders taller than the others- is presence. He stands like he is the king of the world. Head held high legs straight - although sometimes splayed- which we are working on. He is a picture perfect stander.

Holly- Holly comes from a nervous family and I am so proud that she is learning to accept being handled without going into a panic. She like her half-brother Ranger is a picture of standing perfection. Head up, chest out and proud. Her only challenge at this point is physical contact. She doesn't mind having me close but when it comes to examining her she is uncomfortable. We are working together, at her pace to solve this, what I can only imagine to be a genetic trust problem.

Pippi- Itty bitty Pippi. She is a doll. She is the best walker of the bunch but stands like a shrinking violet. I have been finding that unlike Holly she is more comfortable the closer you stand to her. You can see her physically relax. I wish there was a way to teach her to keep her ears up. Kahana, my son who has been helping with training has decided that her ears are just proportionately too small. I see it as her top knot, the fleece on her head, is just so long and luxuriant that they appear small. Big or small I wish she would let the world see them.

Wow can you say windy?

Even though it cools things off our alpaca love to pronk when it is windy. Pronk you say? Yup it is this really cool run, hop, spring type thing they do. Imagine being able to spring off the tips of your toes and not have to bend your legs while you go way up in the air. The girls usually start the whole herd a pronking.

I have tried to capture this on video but it is just too mesmerizing to watch I don't seem to be able to stop watching long enough to film it. I instead have decided to share a couple of pictures of my team with their windswept locks.



The donkey girls don't pronk but the wind has brought down a brand new madrona tree branch so they are happy as...well...donkey girls.

Today I received an anonymous letter from someone who was upset about my cat, "Pretty Kitty"

This brave person, who didn't sign their name, is obviously not a frequent reader of my blog, nor are they are familiar with my sense humor, nor the high level of love, attention and care I provide all of my animals adopted or otherwise. My self deprecating sense humor about how I feel about a specific species of animals in this case, cats, has no relation to my affection for and how I treat, Pretty Kitty.

I would never deny any creature the love, attention and care they deserve.

Believe it or not, I do not blog on every occurrence here on the farm. The day after Pretty Kitty arrived she was whisked away directly to our local vet for a check up, worming and to be checked that she was spayed ---which she is.

She has since been moved comfortably into the barn with access to a warm, safe, indoor place to sleep with fresh food and water.

My most heartfelt apologies to the Orcas Island Animal Protection Society who does great work. I feel confident that if I had any doubts about Pretty Kitty, and thus had chosen to take her to them they would have found her a great home.

She has chosen to live here with us and we are glad she is here.

Well nothing says I love you like three dead voles all lined up in front of your office door.

Thank you Pretty Kitty!

Spring Training has begun in earnest.

I am in the process of getting those cute little cria to tow the line and walk like the pretty little creatures they are. You know, my arm candy.

Actually, halter training is a must for herd management. It makes everything run more smoothly and safely on the farm. We have a couple of older girls, or shall I say more mature, that are not halter trained. Any time we need to halter and move them it is a challenge for me and a huge stress for them and that is when they are healthy, forget about what is does to them if they are ill.

Sheering is a great example of when you really wish all of your animals would walk on a lead for you. It is stressful all around. I am stressed, the animals are stressed, and farmer Jeff is stressed- not sure why? but he is.

If the animals have a serious medical problem that I or my local vet can't handle here on the farm, it requires either a trip to mainland with the animal- expensive but not too hard if you can handle you animal, or an all expense paid trip for the vet to come here from the mainland. No ferry for her, she flies and charges by the hour.

Taking the animal to the vet instead of the other way around is much more economical. Having an animal that is familiar with how the lead works makes travel easier and safer.

Besides it is fun to have a big animal to walk with you! Talk about arm candy.

Okay, so a well known writer, whose books I have never read, writes a book about books he has read and how they fit into his life to make him who he is. What a great book idea huh?

Well that is what Pat Conroy wrote about in his book My Reading Life. I thought I would share this book with you because I know I can look back in mark time and periods in my life with what I was reading.

From my initial reading of his book I could tell that he had a crummy life in many respects. I at that point almost put it down- there is enough of that in the world I don't need to read about his issues.

But I kept on reading and enjoyed

1. The interesting stories he tells about who set him on the path of reading a certain book and how it effected him.
   
2. Loved it when I had read one of the books he read and could reflect on how it changed him/me or reminded him/me a period of his life. This happens to all of us...doesn't it?
3. When it ended. Frankly, I was happy it was over because I could go back and think about books I have read during different periods of my life.

See, so, I have saved you from having to read this book because I have told you what it is all about. Take a seat and think about books that you have read during dynamic periods in your life---ponder them.

If you still want to read it. I will randomly select whoever emails me with an interest in it and send them my copy- I have already read it! (yup- my copy-not new-so don't expect it to be)

Happy Reading!

emails can be sent to jenp@orcasmoonalpacas.com

Please someone take this book off my hands.

Even though I have been doing the up-keep on our donkey girls hooves (hee-hawwww) I thought they deserved a professional pedicure to make them feel special.

We had a great farrier come over from Lopez island to trim and polish- okay no polish- I was willing but farmer Jeff thought it was over the top...maybe next time.

This was my first farrier experience, Greg came right on time and we were off to the pasture. Once I called the girls over he got a little twinkle in his eye and said 'I know these girls- Pink Lady and Marika right?' Apparently he had worked on their feet when they lived elsewhere, two owners ago and a couple of islands over. An aside-as usual- they are never having another owner they now live here and will always live here- aren't I the luckiest?

I glowed with pride when he told me how wonderful they looked and how well they took to getting their feet lifted up and picked out. Pink Lady alas is a little too buxom but we will continue to work on that. He suggested fencing them off a small part of their pasture with a gravel base where they can't graze all day. An added benefit to this is that their hooves would wear down naturally and I wouldn't have to trim their hooves as often. Win-Win---unless you are Pink Lady who does so enjoy a good graze.

Here are a few shots of the whole affair.