Dodging the trees as they come at us

What a crazy week it’s been here. Not bad, mind you but just mind numbing in the fullness of the calendar. Some of my personal numbness may also be coming from watching my Red Sox self-destruct in slow motion. Just brutal.

Jen got home from the ARI conference in Houston, TX late on Sunday night, exhausted but very happy to have attended. If there was a downside to the conference — which tackled topics ranging from genetics to reproductive technologies and techniques from across the entire camelid world — it was that there were fewer than 200 people in attendance. From the bits and pieces I’ve gotten out of my better half it sounds as though we all missed quite a show even if at times the material went over people’s heads. Many thanks to ARI for putting it on!

We’ve spent the past few days running around prepping for National Alpaca Farm Days this coming weekend. Though there are still cookies, donuts, sodas, and waters, and coffee to buy we should be all set. We’ve had open farm weekends before that attracted as many as 300 people and others that brought in fewer than 20. We shall see! If nothing else, it certainly gives our local community a chance to come and see what’s happening here on the  mountainside. For my part I got to use NAFD as an excuse to procure one of those heavy plastic sandwich board signs that I’ve been coveting for several years now.

In between the farm/soccer craziness breeding and birthing watch has continued of course, though my theory is that the girls are currently waiting for a crowd of people this weekend so that we can have some real fun. Years ago we actually had our first ever uterine prolapse in the middle of an open house so it would surely be nice not to repeat that little episode at least. How about 1 nice easy birth each day during the weekend say 11 AMish? Or you could all wait until Monday, that’d be fine too.

We have also started to see the exodus over the past several days of outside females that have been here for breeding, some since early this spring. There was a group of 5 that left us yesterday and another trio that are most likely headed home late next week as well. With any luck the chickens might get the Main Barn back mostly to themselves for a month at least before they themselves get moved up into their winter quarters at the Arena. Things are moving fast around here: in less than a month we’ll be at our first show of the fall. Yikes. All we can do is hold on and try to enjoy the ride…