Saturday Morning Check In

Last weekend I posted: February Goals. It is a list of goals I have for the month of February. I said I would check in every Saturday morning with an update of my progress. I thought Saturday morning was a good time to check in because I would still have all weekend to really work on the goals to help me stay on track.


1 ~ halter train our alpaca juvis: Thunder, Shamballa, Lady Bing and Dutch: result 2/4

The good news is that Zack and I got in 5 halter training sessions this past week. Saturday was a quick session with just juvis (Lady Bing and Dutch, Shamballa and Thunder). Sunday was a full session with everyone (when we did herd health). On Tuesday we haltered the girls with a friend, meaning we put Lady Bing and Dutch on a triple lead with Twilight (so Twilight could show them how it's done). Wednesday we haltered Thunder and Shamballa with a friend (Gabe). I also spent some time alone with Dutch since she is not taking to haltering very well. Thursday was Lady Bing and Dutch again.

I would say I have 2/4 trained. But unfortunately that includes 2 who are 1/2 trained. Shamballa is completely training (though I use the term "trained" loosely as I really had nothing to do with it. He was one of these compliant young things who just took to the halter without any coaxing from me). Lady Bing would be the next best on the halter, she might be closer to 3/4 trained rather than 1/2 way. I have taken juvis to a show trained as good as she is and it was fine. But I'd like her to be a little bit less hesitant. Thunder is 1/2 trained. Yeah I've taken some trained at his level to a show, but it wasn't fun. He does ok most of the time, but sometimes bucks and holds back. Dutch on the other hand is ZERO trained. We have had the halter on her many times, all she does is pull back and/or buck. I can make her move her feet if she walks with another alpaca, but she walks pulled back and defiant. At this rate she'll look terrible in the show ring. I do know if an alpaca cannot walk ok on halter, they can receive a worse place in an alpaca show because the judge cannot see them walk right to judge their conformation.

We have lots of work yet to do. But I'm not worried, as I've trained alpacas like this before. I have a lot of tricks left in my bag. I'm more frustrated about how much time this is going to take. If she only knew that if she just walked fine, we'd leave her alone, which is what she clearly wants. The irony.


2 ~ spin a skein of yarn a week: result .7/4

This goal I am a bit behind on. I would ideally have 1 skein completed, which I don't. I plyed two very small skeins last Saturday and I started a new skein (a very large skein of Tehya's fiber). I have one strand spun and the 2nd strand about 1/4 of the way spun. I will finish spinning that today, but it makes me behind for a skein for next week. I need to work harder on this goal in order to achieve 4 skeins by the end of February (and no cheating making smaller skeins, as that is not the point, the point is to have plenty of yarn to knit up hats while riding to and from alpaca shows).

3 ~ run 60 miles this month: result 18/60

I am super happy with my progress on this goal. For the month of February I have run 18 miles so far. The breakdown was:

Medium 4 mile run on Saturday,
Long 6 mile run on Sunday (typically this one is 7 miles but I cut it a bit short)
Short 3 mile run on Wednesday and
Hills 5 mile run on Thursday.

I got in all four runs this past week. I did cut my long run short to 6 miles but that was for a few reasons (I very rarely cut a run short, as I believe what I set out to do I can and should accomplish). But it was a combination of my having not run much prior to that run (I took 10 days off of running, then ran 4 miles the day before). I worried what pain I might be in. And it was busy out there on the roads, which meant I was running in the ditch a lot (something I hate to do). I figured 6 miles was great in itself :) And actually I figured with everything else I have going on that meeting my typical 19 miles a week wasn't realistic (which is why I set my goal low at 60 miles for the month).