Photos and Pumpkins

 

I haven't spent much time getting to know my new camera, but I am still amazed at the difference in photo quality that the new, better technology and a real zoom lens makes! 

 

Sweet Banty Hen

(Miss East Ferris Township 2011)

Evil Killer Hen

(RunnerUp Miss EFT 2011)

Georgie

KaKocha's Nose

(yes, alpaca noses are soft!)

Not-Quite-Cured Pumpkins

 

My pumpkins did not quite ripen on the vine.  We've had heavy frosts lately which has killed the vines, so I picked most of them today.  There were a few already starting to rot in the garden.  From what I've googled, I should be able to 'cure' these ones so that they turn orange.  Regardless, if they don't get squishy, someone can make jack-o-lanterns from them even if they are green.

 

It's very cold and very wet this weekend.  I saw a few flakes of snow today.  Tomorrow, we have wood being delivered.  It's definitely time for toques and boots and hot apple toffee lattes!



Top Ten Reasons for Owning (Loving) Alpacas - Chicken Guardians

Well, I did mention that these reasons wouldn't be in order of importance.  This is my third entry in the Top Ten. 
If you've been reading my blog, you know that I keep chickens for eggs, fly-control and entertainment.  We started with five, then the next year had ten, and currently have more than I want to admit.

Our chickens are free-range.  They have a nice chicken house and coop within our front alpaca pasture.  During the spring, summer and fall, the chickens are free to roam where they want always returning to their coop at night. The usually stay within the fenced pastures.  They have a lovely little life and provide a great source of entertainment as we watch them from our kitchen table.


We never had any trouble with predators for the first fourteen months that we kept chickens.  I was surprised, as I had heard many stories from other farmers about raccoons, foxes, weasels, large predatory birds, etc. taking their hens.

We learned our lesson one day.  We had been keeping two of the older male alpacas in the front pasture over the spring and into summer.  I decided to move the boys back into the main male pasture area, to allow the front pasture grass to renew itself.  Three days later, as usual when I rose from my bed, I glanced out my window to check that the farmyard was still as it should be.  Even without my glasses, I could recognize the shape of a large fox carrying off one of my hens in its mouth.  To make a short story, the fox had made off with 4 hens that night.  I realized that the front pasture had not been empty at any other time that we had chickens.

We put alpacas back in that pasture that day.  The fox never came back and we haven't lost a chicken in the last sixteen months (touch wood!).  My neighbours have.  Case closed!

Easy Summer Living

My schedule has been varied a bit over the last 2 weeks, so it seems almost like a holiday.

I had a booth both at the farmers' market in Rosseau and in North Bay on the August long weekend.

The young cria, Lily, started refusing the bottle from us. I guess after tasting the real stuff from her adoptive alpaca mom, the kid replacer just didn't cut it. She's also eating grass now. We need to keep an eye on her weight and make sure she keeps gaining.

Without the regular bottle feeding schedule, we've been able to spend some more time out at the lake. We still have to run home to look after the animals at least twice a day. Still, it seems like a holiday to be swimming, relaxing in the shade with a good book, visiting with family, fishing, etc.

We had a good rain for most of today. Tonight, I went out to take some nice shots of the green fields and perhaps some alpaca pictures.

It's hard to sneak up on the alpacas with a camera. Either they come up to put their noses into the lens, or more often than not, you end up taking a lot of pictures of alpaca butts as they turn and move away.


I was able to take a picture of one back pasture before the girls noticed me and figured they should run in to get some pellets.


We often have deer in our back pastures, sometimes even grazing alongside our alpacas. I counted six there tonight, although I couldn't get them all in one picture.

Do you remember Mr. Lonely?
Uhmm...pretty sure it's a Miss. Isn't she pretty? I think we will call her Miss Lovely from now on.
She's not so lonely anymore. Aren't they getting big?


I've been doing a lot of hand dyeing, both yarn and rovings.

Here's my 3 ply sock yarn in "Feet on Fire" colourway.
and "In The Navy" colourway.
This coming weekend, Aug 14th & 15th, I will have a booth at The Artist's Garden on Hwy 654 in Callander, Ontario. Check out the link. 22 artists and artisans show their wares and demonstrate their craft. I'll be hand spinning....alpaca, of course!

Thanks for stopping in to read my blog. It makes my day when I see that someone has left a comment.

July Farm Pictures

This morning, Smokey the barn cat puts action in as he retells me the story of his latest barnyard kill....(not really, this is him saying 'Hey, get rid of that camera and pet me already!").

Pepita and her baby are doing just fine, even with this oppressive heat.

With a healthy cria at side, a nice snooze in a sun-baked dust-bath is an alpaca mom's spa!


Awkward teenage chickens...

Have a great day!

Chicks and Crias

Yes, Mr. Lonely settled in well with his new playmates. There are 45 now, of 4 breeds. I've stopped naming them ;)
I believe this handsome guy shown below is a 'Partridge Chantecler', a heritage breed. This breed is a variant of the Chantecler chicken which originated in Canada, and is resistant to our cold climate. Do I know what I'm talking about? Not really. I do find the whole chicken breed research fascinating though.


Well, it's summer here at Misty Haven Alpacas. Our weather has been pretty decent. Not too hot. Enough sun and rain to make things nice and green.


And what could summer be on an alpaca farm without some cria to adore?

This is SCA Pepita and her new baby from noon hour today.
It's a girl weighing 19.4 lbs! I love the medium fawn colour. The dad is our multiple ribboned bay-black DEA Cyrano.

Pepita is a new mom and even though she had a pretty tough time delivering this baby, she has taken to mothering like a pro.


Thanks for popping by to read my posts. Please leave a comment if you are inclined. I love to hear from others who either share my interests or those who are drawn to read about a lifestyle far from their own.

Mr. Lonely

Lonely, he's Mr. Lonely.....
Poor little chick had a rough start. Mom kicked him out of the nest and hubby found him on his side with his eyes closed. So, the back of my alpaca trailer has become a chick nursery. We've been wearing a path to the trailer checking on him. None of the other eggs have produced a live chick. We suspect some nasty chicken business is going on...I'll leave out the details for the faint of heart.
Hubby has ordered some chicks to arrive tomorrow, so Mr. Lonely will have some friends.
It was either that or I was going to bring him in the house.

I did some crock-pot dyeing of rovings on the weekend. Wild and crazy colours. The colour is random and fun to spin.
Some for sale, but I just have to try some of this myself.

Saturday was my first day at the North Bay Farmer's Market this season. I'm an occasional vendor, which means that I get offered a booth when a regular can't make it. I like to talk to people so I usually enjoy myself there. As usual, I run into old friends and customers that I haven't seen for a while. It didn't rain, which was a bonus on a market day.

Smokey the barn cat. "Mr. Cool" defined. It's his barn...don't forget it.

Our hay lady called to tell me that they've started cutting. Hopefully, within a few days, the hay loft will be full and another job will be behind us.

Chickens Gone Bad

Somehow in college, while studying and working, I had the time to follow a soap opera. My drug of poison was 'Days of Our Lives'. Twenty-some years later, I've flipped the channels and found that series...many of the names are the same. I bet that if I watched it for 3 days, I'd recognize the same plots being played out.

We have our own daily production here. Today's title is "Chickens Gone Bad".

While I was supposed to be catching up on some handpainting in my sunroom....

I spotted Big Red outside the pasture fence. Apparently, he and a couple of the Elsies struck out on their own. I kept an eye on them hoping that they would decide to go home on their own.

They really can't get in much trouble unless they go mess on the neighbour's deck or they venture over to our house where the dogs are sleeping on the deck.
I'm sure Big Red had big plans of starting his own coop without any male competition.

I could hear some pretty sad rooster sounds. I don't know if it was Bates back at the coop trying to figure out where his missing two hens went. Maybe it was Big Red, now regretting his idea and realizing that the two Elsies weren't the ticket to hedonistic freedom he thought they were.

Well, after a while, I couldn't see them anymore so I headed over to the barnyard to find them and herd them home. It wasn't hard.
Sometimes the grass just looks greener on the other side. Their little outing complete, Big Red and the two Elsies were happy to rejoin the flock and resume exploring the thawing fields in search of the first worm.

Yep, it's been a slow day on the farm ;)

A few bellies are starting to show. Here's Makushla.
She should be having her first cria in early June. "Cria" (pronounced cr-ee-ah) is what alpaca babies are called. I often get asked in public if I am having any babies this year. Since I don't like having the people from Guiness World Book of Records calling me about my own reproduction status, I answer clearly and loudly "Well, not me, but I have three alpacas expecting cria in June."

I've finished weaving my heron and black alpaca scarves. Hand twisting the fringe is not my favorite task. I find it boring and have to be in the mood to basically sit and roll my thumbs...
It's a good feeling when it's done, though. I'm happy with the first one that I've finished. I brushed the textile to make it even softer.
This one will be going in my shop.

I've also been busy skirting and sorting fleece that I bought from my friend and alpaca farmer, Sally. I know Sally from the shows and association happenings, but I've never seen her herd as she lives many hours away. I was very pleased with the fleeces that I bought from her sight unseen. It takes beautiful fleeces to make beautiful yarn, and this batch of yarn should be wonderful.

It feels like we've been living in spring for weeks now. Apparently, tomorrow is the first official day of spring. I think we are expecting cold weather and snow. Go figure...

O Tannenbaum!

O Christmas Tree! It's fake - can you tell? I promise I will never buy another one...well, maybe if it comes with the lights already installed. 10 more days until Christmas. Our community public school had their Christmas concert tonight. The countdown is on.

Here's a spinning project that I've been wanting to try for some time now. I handspun the alpaca\merino blend singles and now I am plying them together with a polyester thread strung with beads. I'm finding it kind of tricky to hold the beaded thread in one hand to pop a bead off into the yarn while plying. The tendency is to hold back on the thread itself, so it is much tighter than the singles yarn. I'm thinking that the colour beads on the white yarn looks kind of clownish, but perhaps it will make a nice edging on a scarf or shawl someday. Come to think of it, it looks a little Christmas-sy itself.






Our chickens are not loving the winter...although they do venture out of the chicken house to get fresh air.

















The rooster Big Red is a handsome devil, isn't he?
The hen's name is Elsie.

People ask me whether alpacas like the Northern Ontario winters. Well, they do like the cold weather of December better than the heat and humidity of our typical August. They need shelter from the wind and from getting too wet, but other than that, they do very well in our climate. Today was a mild winter day, but when the sun started going down, it got cooler. In the twilight - which now happens about 5:30pm - I could see this 6 month old weanling and another running about playing and pronking. It's fun to watch.