Runners unite and take over

I try really hard to keep this blog about our farm, and I think for the most part I do.  But I'm not just a farmer, I'm a mom and an American, and well, a runner.  Maybe not a marathon runner... not yet anyway.

I have read about many in the running community wearing race shirts today in support of everything that happened in Boston, MA yesterday.

Here are my shirts (links to my race day stories too):

15K in June of 2012:



10K race in 2012:








And that same 10K race in 2011:

Wet

We have had a very wet and rainy spring.  The temperature has been lower than usual too.  The alpacas have their thick winter coats on, so that water doesn't bother them.  But they sure looks wet:

It has been a chore to keep the paddocks cleaned up too.  While we have sandy soil, we have experienced some standing water.   I do what I can to clean up, the alpaca deserve to have a clean area, plus it's a health consideration (parasites thrive in damp warm areas).

Twilight

This is one of my favorite alpacas, miss Twilight:

This time of year their fiber is so long and full they all look very bushy.  It won't be long and it will be time to shear them.  Typically we go from show season to shearing to cria time.  Lots of exciting things happening on the farm this time of year.

First Place Pictures

I can't believe I haven't posted these yet. I thought I had but when I went to look for them, they weren't here on the blog.  So I am adding them now!!

Gabriel Star of RobAsia 1st place at The Best of the US Alpaca Show:

And here is Princess (Rainbow Mountain's Duchess):

I also keep a running log of all of our show pictures  that could be found on the blog at the right side called "Our 1st Place Winners".

I also keep a photo album on our Facebook page.

The Hose Mishap

After splicing a hose trying to free it from some frozen snow:

This wasn't the first tear in this hose, it's been patched and spliced many times (see the duct tape in there? this is several hoses spliced and fitted together):

Like the wagon wheels, this hose has done it's job and it's time to be replaced.

So J bought brought home a new red farm hose:

My New Wheels

This weekend J put new wheels on for me:

I use this wagon every day, twice, each time I do farm chores.  A bale of hay fits in there perfectly and is an easy way to haul it out to each of the alpaca's hay feeders.

My old tires were so worn out they weren't even round anymore, they didn't really wheel anymore:

You can't say I don't use something until the bitter end!  These tires had more than done their duty.

I do have to say the new wheels wheel a whole lot better.

Working with Spring

The great thing about having a farm is having a lot of home grown fertilizer - the real kind, not the chemical purchased kind.

When I went out to do farm chores this morning, I was excited to see that things were not frozen.  Overnight temps were warm enough that nothing froze over.  This meant I could do some poop scooping even in the morning hours.  I had heard that the next 10 days are supposed to be wet and rainy.   When I put these two thoughts together I realized it was the perfect time to do a good deep down spring cleaning of the paddocks and pasture area, and put that on my garden beds.  In years past I haven't been so organized. I would haul the poop to the compost area, thinking another day I will put it on my garden.  Well, that other day never seems to come.  So this year I wheeled it right into my gardens (and the nice thing about alpaca beans is that you can do this, they will not burn plants).  I raked away a few leaves so that I can pour natures fertilizer right where it needs to be:

That is a bed of day lilies, though they are still underground.

The mix of old hay in there is perfect for my garden.  That will help hold in the moisture, and the fertilizer will be setting in even better once we get that predicted rain.

I think I am most excited that I was organized enough to time this all right! I almost never manage to do that.

After hauling 6 wheel barrows full of natures fertilizer, I still had some garden to cover.

My favorite part of spring ~ crocuses blooming:

They are only just showing color and not yet blooming, but they will soon!  I might wait until after my crocuses bloom before I give them a good cover of fertilizer.

Rushing Spring

Spring is my absolute favorite season!  I love the bright sunshine, the warming temps, the fresh spring air. I love everything about spring.

This spring has been slow in coming.  We still have snow in some shady places on our farm, and it's April!

Today while doing farm chores I was eager to get out the hose to fill the water buckets.  It is so much easier than hauling buckets up the hill.  So I set out to hook up the hose, except there was a patch of old crusty snow covering just one section of the hose.  Not willing to let that deter me, I suggested to Zack that he pull the hose out.  When that didn't work I got out a pitch fork and was set to hack it out.  I was going to use that hose.

Well:

I was able to use the hose, but I also hacked a nice tear onto the side of it :(

I just couldn't wait for nature to melt the ice and snow, I just had to rush spring.

Still, there was enough water flowing through  the hose that I could fill water buckets.  The alpacas are so funny, they were excited to see the hose flowing fresh water too:

It's the same exact water I've been hauling to them in buckets but I guess coming out of the hose was a treat for them too.

I love seeing cute little Ruby's face in this picture: