|
Wednesday, October 15, 2014
|
|
Monday, March 10, 2014
Calling the girls in for dinner! Woo hoo! Chow time (again!). While Kailee stops to Flirt with a couple of boys….
|
|
Tuesday, February 18, 2014
Waiting patiently for my pedicure and trim
SPA DAY AT THE RANCH
WHEN THE LADIES COME IN TO HAVE THEIR HAIR AND NAILS DONE
By Howard Kuhlmann
Waiting patiently for my pedicure and trim
This much-anticipated event happens once or twice a year.
Our Winter Spa event gives the girls a chance to look their best for date night which will happen later during the Spring Dance. However, not all can be chosen, as only a select few will meet the high standards that we have set for the boy’s dance cards.
Spa day begins with the girls assembling in the laneway. They tend to be a little bit nervous about the whole thing, because, after all, they know that only the best will be invited to participate in the dance. We set up a waiting room at the top of the laneway. The girls crowd around this and can hardly wait for their chance to be brought in. We only allow five or six to be in at a time. This gives us the opportunity to look more closely at each one and to determine just what can be done to best bring out her inherent beauty.
During this examination we also look at eyes, ears, nose and teeth to see if any additional cosmetic work may need to be performed at this time or during a later appointment.
From the waiting room, the girls will be led one at a time into a personal, private space where the beauty treatments will be performed. Here Cynthia and I work as a team to see that everything that needs to be done is done. Cynthia handles the hair and fleece trimming while I work on the toe nails.
Many of the girls have long, luxurious bangs. While they may look nice, they can be difficult to see through and they also hide those beautiful dark brown eyes. Cynthia makes sure that each girl can show off her eyes to best advantage.
My job is Carefully clipping alpaca toenails. Notice the soft padded foot? Makes them easy on the land!to make sure that their nails are trimmed evenly and of the proper
Carefully clipping alpaca toenails. Notice the soft padded foot? Makes them easy on the land!
length (no nail sets or polish please; our girls prefer the natural look.) Long nails can grow out crooked and may also chip or crack, resulting in infection or other long-term damage.
When all is done, the ladies (all 30 of them) stand around comparing their new looks and discussing who will be chosen for the Spring Dance. Who do you think should be chosen for the boys dance card?
My turn next!
|
|
Monday, October 28, 2013
|
|
Saturday, September 14, 2013
September 28-29, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m. at Sierra Rose Alpacas
Last year, our Alpaca Farm Days Festival was a huge success! We hosted nearly 200 guests, who joined us to learn about sustainable small farming with Alpacas.
• This year’s celebration will focus on the care and raising of Alpacas, as well as their luxury fiber. Are you thinking of adding an Alpaca to your family? We’ll be covering everything from fencing to shearing, and what to do with the fleece once it is off the alpaca.
• For those fiber addicts (you know who you are), we’ll have a soap felting demonstration, learn how to card fleece or spin gorgeous yarn. Beautiful raw Alpaca fleece will be available for spinners – come early to get the best selection!
• You can enjoy learning how Alpaca fleece is processed into that luscious yarn you love. From shearing to cleaning, carding and spinning, we’ll cover how it’s done – and how you can do it too with a little practice.
• Learn all about carding and spinning with Hailey Parker! Hailey is a Natural Fiber Producer’s Certified Sorter Apprentice™, and Hand Spinner. If you haven’t before seen Hailey’s yarn, you are in for a treat! She will share her expertise and tips on spinning.
You are invited to learn how to do a wet-felting soap class. Bring a favorite soap, and for $2 to cover materials, you can learn how to make felted soap – a great gift for the holidays.
• Demonstrations are planned to showcase the care, handling, haltering and herding of Alpacas. If you have never handled an Alpaca, come learn just how easy it can be.
• Are you an avid gardener? Learn all about the magic of gardening with ‘organic gold’, (better known as Paca-Poo). You will have the most abundant garden ever! Whether you grow ornamental plants, vegetable gardens or fruit trees, you’ll want to watch this fascinating demonstration.
• We’ll have special pricing on select Alpacas. If you have been thinking about adding Alpacas to your family, this is a good time to do so. By this time next year, you can be producing your own yarn while you watch your garden grow.
• You won’t go hungry! Food and drinks will be available for purchase.
Alpacas provide a unique ‘circle of sustainability’ for anyone who wants to have a small farm. They eat vegetation without damaging the soil or ecosystem, help create fire breaks, their ‘Paca-Poo’ is considered to be as valuable as gold for vegetable and ornamental gardens, and they provide the highest quality fleece for fiber arts. If you have always wanted to live a more simple and sustainable lifestyle, the Alpaca is a wonderful animal that will provide much of what you need. Here are some of the most important attributes of Alpacas:
• They live happily on very small acreage. Two Alpacas can happily live on as little as 1/3 acre.
• They don’t hurt the soil. Because their feet are padded, Alpacas don’t cut through the top layer of soil and contribute to erosion. They don’t graze down to the dirt, either, making it easier to grow pasture.
• An Alpaca will eat vegetation that would otherwise be a fire hazard. You will not need to do much weed eating if you own an Alpaca.
• They are economical to own. They don’t need much hay to stay in good weight, and are generally healthy and easy to manage.
• Alpacas like people and because of their reasonable size (50% smaller than Llamas), can be even handled by children.
• They keep their pastures quite clean by creating a ‘community bathroom’. Alpacas make their own manure piles, which makes cleaning a breeze.
• The Alpaca manure can be used even without composting, though composting will make it easier to spread on your garden. It is considered the finest fertilizer available for plants, and will help your vegetables grow fast and produce more.
• Alpaca fleece is as warm as wool, but without the ‘itch’. Alpaca fleece is hypoallergenic, fire retardant, lightweight and insulating, even when wet. It wicks away sweat and is water repellent and stain resistant. It’s soft as cashmere; but Alpacas are not hard on the landscape like Cashmere Goats.
|
|
Monday, December 24, 2012
A story in a Swedish newspaper relates that an enraged Reindeer terrorized schoolchildren at a local school. (Some accounts say it was an Elk, not a Reindeer) It was thought that the deer had gorged itself on fermented apples. Jan Caiman, a police officer in Molndal, said, ‘That could be the problem. We could be dealing with a boozy Reindeer’. Reindeer can weigh as much as 1,100 lb and personnel at the school described the erratic male as ‘completely mad’ an Alpaca would never do such a thing. We have far too much dignity.
|
|
Monday, December 24, 2012
On The First Day of Christmas My True Love Said To Me,
Francesca, Your Fleece is So Sil-ky
On the Second Day of Christmas My True Love Said To Me,
Francesca, Come Here and I’ll Praise Your Beauty.
“Boy, that Maverick sure has a crush on me” Kiss Kiss, Francesca
|
|
Monday, December 24, 2012
Dashing through the snow
Alpacas pull the sleigh
Over the fields we go
Laughing all the way
Bells on Maverick’s neck
Making Cowboy fly
We hope we do not have a wreck
Our sleigh is in the sky!
|
|
Monday, December 24, 2012
THE NIGHT BEFORE CHRISTMAS…….
‘Twas the night before Christmas, and all through the barn
Creatures were stirring, after all it’s a farm.
Our fleece is so warm we want to be fair,
Santa may come, we don’t have a care.
We’ll be snuggled together in our straw beds
While visions of pellets still dance in our heads
Our present to you is some warm winter socks,
Which sure beats a stocking all filled with old rocks.
What’s that? Is Santa here in our yard?
Gather up DSC03331herd, look out and stand guard.
It’s our chance to be famous, to save the holiday,
To hear Santa say, ‘Up up and away!
The Reindeer are sad, their harnesses off
We hijacked their sleigh, their bells in the trough.
There goes Maverick; he’s right up in front
He’s going so fast, I heard Santa grunt.
Snow Angel is ditzy, she might miss her chance
To show off to all her dainty light prance.
On Cowboy, On Maverick, Francesca’s behind
Santa’s hanging on for dear life, he’s now lost his mind.
|
|
Monday, December 24, 2012
All I want for Christmas
Is my two front teeth
My two front teeth
See my two front teeth
What do YOU want for Christmas?
|