Blue is deaf

Yesterday was the Valley Fiber Art Guild meeting/get together here. A number of the ladies wanted to go out & see the cria that are learning to live away from mama. When we got into the corral 5 of the cria ran over to check everyone out. I got out some alfafa to feed them. Suddenly I noticed that Blue (the blue eyed white guy) wan't with them. So I went over to the loafing shed to check out why. He had his head way down in the hay manger that I have for them. I stood to his side & said, "Blue". No response. So I started yelling his name & clapping my hands. He just kept eating.

Dennis & I had debated ever since he was born if he was deaf or not. I had decided he had partial hearing at least. But they pick up so many clues from each other, looking & observing. I've heard from friends that it is really hard to tell. Well, now we know that he is. I reached over & touched him & he jumped & took off. He seemed disoriented for a while probably because no friends were with him. Then he came over & ate with everyone else.

Now Sadie, who is a blue eyed white also & the mother of Freckles ------- I still don't know if she is deaf or not. I've not been able to catch her in a position alone where I could test her.

But for sure Blue is. I'm thankful that he isn't like our friend Janet, who has a BEW (blue eyed white) female who hums continually & loudly. Blue does hum.

Today is windy, windy although the sun is out & shinning. I'm tired, not sleeping well last night. Have a class at church today. Had a great day yesterday with all the fiber art people!!!

God is good.

Spring in the air

Yup, Spring is getting closer. We have garter snakes around the area most all Spring, Summer & early Fall. They like to get on the cement or lay next to the foundation on the house & soak up a lot of sun. Yesterday for the first time this year there was a snake next to the house. Jamie & Malen sniff them out, kind of. It is funny to watch. If the snake lies very still neither corgi will notice it. BUT one movement & the fun starts. This time I think Malen discovered the snake. I was surprised as I thought it was still a little cold out in the mornings, but yesterday must have heated up enough.

It has been 4 months now since Dennis died. Jamie still waits and watches by the door for him in the evenings. Jamie used to stay under the computer here in the kitchen when I work on the computer. No more, most of the time she is in the small computer room off the kitchen where Dennis had his computer. Funny thing though, he was never on his computer that much. But she waits there. Perhaps she can still smell his scent. It seems I miss him more and more as time goes on. There is so much to do & I can see him being so excited about Spring. I'm overwhelmed by the taxes as he did all the farm stuff. Lots to learn this year.

The cria are doing ok away from Mom. They are not real happy & I hear a fair amount of humming when I am in the area. BUT they know who I am & that I bring food. They come running now. I'm going to try and work with a couple of them on halter training. We'll see how it goes.

God is good.

Cria weaning

Today became the day to separate the cria from their mom's. I ask our neighbors to help because I wanted to take them two at a time. I've learned from times past that it is better to have the cria out of sight of their moms. So we had to take them all the way across one field, through the front yard, across the driveway yard area & into the barn corral. Such fun. Willie & I ended up with two that decided to lay down & refused to move. But we got all 6 of them over to the new area. I need to start working for sure with the females & haltering, etc. Perhaps returning them to the rest of the females in a month will be a lot easier!! So far all the moms seem to be doing well & not that upset. Hopefully the cria will do well also.

I've finished my mom's taxes & they are ready to mail off. I now need to start mine. Dennis' estate is becoming more understandable & I know where I am headed on that. So it's uphill now. Of course there is still the rabbits that need to be sheared!! AND the weather is beautiful right now.

God is good.

A Surprise

You just never know what is going to happen. I was headed out to feed the female alpaca this morning. The corgis of course go along to "help". As I was about half way through the field I suddenly realized that a non-alpaca was in the loafing shed. The alpaca were away in the side field anyway. It was a CALF. What a surprise. The neighbors were walking behind the loafing shed when I was walking toward it. A year or more ago Dennis moved the water trough into their property, but the lowest barbed wire line was broken. No one had fixed it & we hadn't had a problem. Today there was a problem.

I managed to distract Malen with a "treat" but Jamie refused to be distracted. She had to help HERD that calf. And help she did. The calf ran back under the fence where she belonged!!

It was a beautiful Spring day today...............I think we got above 60 degrees!!!

God is good.

Snow

Well, we woke up this morning with a light snow............never really did anything. The radio claims we should have 1 - 2 inches.............doubtful on the valley floor at least. Even Wolf Creek pass only had a trace overnight. But it is good to see the moisture.

I have finally moved the yearling males to another field & blocked them in it. The plan is to move all the cria over into the barnyard when I can get some help. It really takes two people to three people to move a cria..............they are not happy & put on their brakes. They have no idea what is happening to them. So I like to take two at a time, which means 4 people to get it done. Wish it were easier & I could move them into a closer field, but we are just not set up that way. Anyway they do need to be weaned.

The cattle next door should start having calves any time now. There was one that delivered two weeks ago Sunday & I was told that he was 2 weeks early. They had another one since then that didn't make it (perhaps fell on it's head?? who knows). I love calving season when I'm able to watch the calves born. Most of the time I only see one or two............but it is most interesting to watch. That's why I have binoculars in all the north & west windows............that's where the cattle are to the north & west!!

I think I'm going to lose one rabbit. She hasn't been acting right at all. Now she isn't eating nor drinking ALTHOUGH she did take treats out of my hand this morning. They all still need to be sheared but I don't want them to die due to it being too cold. Plus I have to get started on my taxes & mom's too.

I'm sleeping some better & have started walking on the treadmill that Dennis got last year (another of his shearing experiences where he "finds" things he thinks we need & barters for them). One year he came home with a male alpaca to geld and sell, a spinning wheel, and an agreement for mating one of their males with two of our females at a lower rate!! You would just never know what he would come up with. I've not been motivated to do much lately. I know it is partly depression and missing Dennis. Life is very different without him.

I have made some decisions about some rather not so significant things. First of all our wedding rings. I went in & spoke with a jeweler this week about what I could do with them. I will post a picture in a couple of weeks when he has done what we decided would look good. I had been wearing them on a chain around my neck under my clothing. I've also thought about the spot where he died. A lot of people put crosses & flowers (like at the site of automobile accidents). I thought about planting a tree or something like that. But the area doesn't really lend itself to that. I spoke with Sandi (Dennis' daughter) about my thoughts & she made some very good suggestions. I'm working on that for further down the road.........but I'll just keep everyone in suspense until then.

God is good.

Winter or Spring

Well, yesterday we had sunshine, snow & rain. This morning we woke up to about .3 inches of snow. The wind blew so much the last two days it was awful. My neighbor's loafing type shed had the entire roof blow off. When we went over to help pick up the pieces we were able to take some of the tin roofing, but there was one piece that was pretty well still together with major 2 x 4's nailed to the tin roofing. It was too heavy to even try and pick up. It was beautiful this morning, but the wind is up again this afternoon. I was suppose to go to an AB4C meeting (alpaca breeders) but chose not to go due to the weather over Wolf Creek Pass. I would have had to go alone & they were predicting 12 more inches on the pass today (although seldom is the weather bureau correct down here).

Saw the attorney yesterday. I need to get a lot of paperwork together for him. But I don't think it will be too hard. It was a relief to finally get started on some of this. Hopefully everything with th estate will be done fairly soon (although he wants to go through probate due to the trust being a CA trust here in CO).

Today I saw a coyote in the field behind the house. It's been a while since I've seen one up fairly close. He turned & ran to the East quickly. Then about 5 minutes later I saw him back & he just slowly trotted across the field going west ----- into the neighbor's field with the cows.

I dislike tonight with turning the clock forward..............I dislike getting up in the dark. I did it for many years working in the hospital in Santa Fe..........but I sure don't like the first couple of weeks with the time change.

God is good.

Almost Spring

The snow is almost totally gone, just some on the north side of the buildings. We really need more snow before Spring truly arrives. This week has been quite warm for this time of the year. We've been in the 50's most every day. But the wind has blown a lot. Monday was beautiful with no wind. Last night it blew all night.

In the meantime the neighbor's cows are having calves. I should say that one arrived Sunday & I saw him out in the field after we got home from church. He was jumping & running. I found out later that the neighbors were gone & didn't know the cow had delivered. The calf was 2 weeks early. They had another one born on Tuesday, but something went wrong & he didn't make it. In a week and a half I should be able to see a lot more being born. People laugh & snicker when they come visit because we have binoculars in the north & west windows..................specifically to see calves being born!!

I found a dead mouse in the feed shed on Tuesday also. We always keep a few traps in there & I haven't caught a mouse since before Dennis died. The next experience of course was resetting the trap. Now I've done it before but disliked doing that -------- it was Dennis' job. So I managed to get one reset. Since there was one dead mouse I thought I should set the other two, but had problems with both of them. One I think is broken & the other, who knows, it's a little different. Anyway no more mice yet!!

The wind gusts are now up to 44 mph. Sure wish I'd watched the news last night to see what the weather said............It would be nice to know the wind is ending soon.

God is good. I hope everyone has a good day today.