going... going.... gone

Hi all,
Just an update for ya. I will be gone for a while, on December 2 I will be having some major back surgery, fusing 6 vertebrae and so I will be recovering from that for a while. I do hope all is well, and apologise for not being able to keep up my blog!
I just can't sit here that long right now.

So, see you soon and everyone have a super wonderful Thanksgiving and Christmas! I will try to post my last year's holiday writings in a timely fashion, my daughter can do that for me.
Slainte~
Rachelle

Things that make me smile

I originally posted this in 2007... I feel the need to smile again.

All photographs copyrighted by: Rachelle Black

Today I thought I would share with you some things that make me smile. I hope you enjoy them, and, perhaps something will bring a smile to your face as well!
Pay it forward.

My husband- because after 14 years, he still can make me laugh out loud, and visa-versa

Where we live- could we be any luckier??

Sunsets- because they show us each and every day that God cherishes us enough to paint us a new picture every evening.

Rainbows- need I say more?

Funny faces - tee-hee "O solo mio...." :))

Flowers- to remind me that there is beauty all around, if we take the time to see it.

ALPACAS! Remind me that we are stewards over all creatures great and small

And last but certainly not least- Children.

To remind us that within the heart of a child, is the promise of tomorrow. And to remind us to live in the moment, love without fear, and laugh- loudly and as often as possible.

Till next time

Slainte~ Rachelle

It's not easy, being green.....

What part of "I'm PREGNANT" don't you understand????

Here is my Jemma, gooey from spitting off her prospective date.

Spitting you say?? What??!! Yup, alpacas spit --gasp--

There are many types of spit- it's how they communicate. They can't talk using an actual language, so they communicate through body language and, well, spitting. Let's sort them into categories, shall we?

1) There's the "you don't want to go there" fake out spit, where the paca looks menacingly over their shoulder at the other paca (who is usually sniffing under their tail) and lays their ears back. Sometimes this is accompanied by a 'pre-chew' as well, where they chew their cud rapidly to warn of impending projectiles. Usually the annoying paca leaves, but sometimes they persist, whereupon the faker then unloads on the annoying pest.

2) The "this is my space/food/shade/cria (fill in the blank)" air warning spit. This spit doesn't carry any green material, but is only air and is just a warning. But it does come with impressive posturing!

3) The "I'm 11 months pregnant, don't even LOOK at me full-on, full of green- can last up to 10 minutes or until all parties involved walk around with droopy lip and green drool due to excessive 'spittiness'- attack. This is my personal favorite. I have witnessed this every year as my pregnant girls get imminently due and these are pretty funny to behold. I can guarantee you I do not exaggerate when I say it can all start with an innocent look in the preggos general direction. Since alpacas are obligate nasal breathers, the smell from all that green causes the droopy lip and open mouth like the female above.

4) Then there is the "I'm pregnant" spit. You don't even want to know, believe me...

See, alpacas can be bred all year round, they ovulate regularly- and can be 'induced' by the actual act of breeding them. So, we as breeders do what we call behavior testing.

It goes something like this:

Princess to Die For gets haltered up for a date with Prince Charming for the first time and they are introduced.

Princess runs around, flirting and playing hard to get, while Prince tries his darndest to 'convince' Princess he's The Man by chasing her and orgling (the sound males make during this act) and trying to jump on her.

Eventually Princess decides he is the man of her dreams (or she just gets tired of running) and she drops down for a love filled interlude that ideally lasts about 20-40 minutes. Sometimes there are multiple females lined up outside the love nest, and that makes it really easy for us 2 leggers to guess which females are not pregnant, little hussies. :))

7 days pass and we introduce Princess to Prince again. We either get a repeat performance, or Princess spins around the nanosecond Prince enters the arena and blasts him full on in the face with really green spit. Prince can either a) retreat with his dignity intact, or b) continue to pursue Princess in the hopes that eventually his charm and his lovely baritone orgling will win her over. Usually he fails miserably and goes back to the boy's pen covered in green slime where he is greeted like a conquring hero anyway because, well, they are boys.

When we get continued results that end up with the female spitting off the male for 45 days, we ultrasound to see little Junior/Juniorette floating peacefully in his/her amniotic fluid, and then we resort to spit testing every 30 days until about 6 months to make sure the pregnancy doesn't slip. Roughly 345 days later, it's stork time.

Some females I have are as reliable as clocks. They breed once or twice, and then they spit and I know they are pregnant. I don't even have to ultrasound or pull blood.

See the picture above? That was my Jemma, who now lives in Texas. As you can see, she is pregnant in this picture! She was very reliable. So is my Osita. Never has to be bred more than once, even with inexperienced herdsires, and tells me she is pregnant very clearly.

I have never had to ultrasound her in the 10 years I have owned her.

Others, like first time maidens, are not as reliable. They may spit, then drop and continue to spit. Or, run and not drop, but not spit either. Generally first timers get a US on our ranch. By the second time around, they are usually more reliable with spit testing.

The humorous part in all this is the human element. I mean, we take the girls to the boys or however we are doing it this time, and then we monitor the ritual closely.
Well, some of my girls take it closer than I would like. They know me, and trust me, therefore when they are pregnant, they run to me to save them from the big scary Macho chasing them. I am sure you can see where I am going with this... I usually get green myself. It is quite comical, I'm told, to see me ducking and running from said harassed female who in her great desire to flee the pen forgets to turn her head to aim the spit his way, causing me to dodge the great flying green as I go. For the record, while it is only green food that is partially digested, it stinks, stains, and causes me to run around with my mouth open drooling, trying not to breath in the fumes too.

To let you know, my alpacas do not spit on me intentionally for no reason. Occasionally I am involved in a food fight, or domestic dispute through merely being in the wrong place at the wrong time, but the only time I have ever been spit on intentionally was while weighing a female's brand new cria (What are you doing with my baby???!!!) or giving a shot in the butt, and let's be honest, wouldn't we all like to spit at our doctor when that happens to us??

On to my Arwen Undomiel. It is fall 2006, and she is spitting, and spitting... and isn't pregnant. Last real breeding was 9 months ago, and we thought she was pregnant, but no, the ultrasound in August says, not so much.


Now Arwen needs a guy who doesn't get discouraged easily. She doesn't like breeding, and will sometimes spit even as she is dropping for breeding. Enter Luxor- he is a "yes means no" kind of Macho.
In very early August (4 days before the ultrasound to be exact) during a cool spell we had tried her again. She dropped for a breeding! Trouble is, it only lasted 5 minutes... tops. Then she popped up like a Jack in the Box and was done.
Now Luxor is potent, and he has a nice, er, um, "set" but 5 minutes is really not going to cut it. The actual time it takes the male to reach the right spot is pretty long, both in distance and in actual time, not to mention the rest of the act required for pregnancy to result.

So, come October we are thinking, she has got to be open still, and we start trying again in the cooler weather. She is acting so pregnant, and we are unable to convince her she couldn't possibly get pregnant from a >5 minute breeding. So we look over her behavior all year long, and consider she might have a retained CL making her think she is pregnant when she's not, and talk to the vet about using a hormone to dislodge it, but we would never do this without another ultrasound to make sure there isn't really a cria in there. The most common reason for being unreceptive, is pregnancy! Hearing horror stories about breeders who use Estrumate, thinking their female is not really pregnant, and then the next day finding a dead cria in the pasture were not needed for us, we know better.
So here we go for yet another ultrasound.... and lo an behold, she is pregnant!

Ah, the joys of being a breeder. The ups, the downs, the spits and misses. The sting of being wrong....... who knew what we were really in for 10 years ago? Not I.

The moral of the story? When you breed alpacas, wear rain gear and protective face covering, or risk getting covered in green slime..... um, nope, that's not it.......

When in doubt, trust your female and get an ultrasound, or, two or three. LOL, and yes, nearly immaculate conception is entirely possible.
Oh, and Go Luxor!!

Tune in next week for the "How to Drive Your 2-legger Crazy with False Labor" chapter. I laughed, I cried.... it moved me, and it will you too!
Slainte~
Rachelle

Alpaca gals for sale

We know these gals are one of a kind, got quality, color and fiber? You can get it all here with these females.

Allow me to introduce BMAR's Lady Galadriel

With her cria standing proud
Her Poppa- Pacifica's Eclipse

At one year old


At 6 months old.



We knew she was something special right from the start. Good mother, plenty of milk and easy birther. Comes from a black dam- so there is color potential there! Her cria, a stunning white female, we lost at 10 months of age to a bowel impaction... :( She was outstanding- and of course, not registered yet.

ARI# 30369269 Born 2004, currently bred to Jazzman- ARI# 1091243- a gorgeous fawn male out of Dominator, a well known Canadian stud. With Acero Marka's Amazing Grace and Acero Marka's Jasmine as dam and granddam you can't go wrong with this breeding! Jazz also boasts Peruvian Guellermo genes. Jazz is a tall stately male with nice, fine fleece and excellent density and staple length. We are excited to see what Lady G. does!




Add her to your herd, packaged with the lovely lady below for only $9,000 through the month of September.





Allow us to introduce Hally-Boo

Grazing in 2009

In 2007

Showing off her new hairdo in 2004

Her second cria BMAR's Rosie Cotton



Her first cria BMAR's Fanny Bryce

This lady is the PERFECT foundation female.

Hally-Boo, ARI #847086

Born on Halloween 2001, Caramel color, super typey, and at 7 years of age still super fine. A totally easy keeper, never a vet visit for Hally in all her adult years.

Perfect conformation, and that head, it is to die for!

Hally is a proven mother of 2 gorgeous female crias. One dark fawn from our own BMAR's Gil Galad. And one black female who sold at one year old from our BMAR's Bilbo Baggins. Rosie was everything we could ever want in an alpaca. Dense, fine, amazing crimp and mom and dad's head.

Currently bred to Garemo- ARI# 1129274 for a fall 2009 cria. A gorgeous typey male out of Peruvian Guellermo, with incredible fleece. Seriously, this male has the whole package- staple length, crimp, density and fineness. A great combination.

Both of these ladies are due in November, and come with a breeding to one of BMAR's Super Studs next year. This makes this package a total of 6 alpacas, for only $9,000 for this month only!!

Contact Rachelle Black at wyattblack@earthlink.net for more info.

Black Magic Alpaca Ranch

Honesty, Integrity, Quality

Lebec, CA 93243

Goodbye old friend

Saying goodbye...

People say, "It's only a dog."


"It doesn't have feelings like we do."

"It's only a dumb animal."

"What are you getting all worked up about? Just let it go."

They look at you, and they don't understand. Call you crazy, say you are just making up for not having children, or call you "the cat lady" or worse.

They don't get it. I used to try and explain it, try to get them to understand.

Now, I just pity them.

They've never known that kind of love. Unconditional, devoted, one of a kind love.

They've never looked into a dog's eyes and seen a glimpse of something much better than we are. Never judging, ever. Peace, kindness, trust and love unfeigned. No pretense, no act put on to look good. Nothing fake or insincere... just purity, goodness and a gentle nature that surely comes from a God given soul.

They say that because a dog will love someone, even if that someone is terrible to them, they must be dumb. I say it's because they believe there is good in everyone- they're just waiting for it to show up.

Of course, by now you know why I'm writing. Writing is what I do when I am in pain, when I am suffering grief and can't do anything else but cry and write.

On Wednesday I had to put down my companion of 10 years. Ironic that picture above of her and Diane our cat. Ironic that it's the two I've lost, both within a year.

We got Tequila from a man who was dating a friend of mine. He said he wanted to get settled in his new place, then he would come and get her. We didn't know anything about her, so we put her outside near a shed on a tie out. She seemed to be a pleasant dog, she was quiet and nice.

After the first bag of food was dropped off, her owner disappeared and we never saw him again.

Tequila's endless pacing and staring down the road at where his car had vanished were the last straw for me and in the house she came. One night, looking so forlorn at the loss of her owner I couldn't bear it, I invited her up on the couch where I was laying. She didn't want to get on the couch, she knew she shouldn't, but I managed to coax her up and we lay there together for hours bonding. That did it.

I soon found out what a wonderful dog she was, well trained- very obedient, Tequila became my dog, and I told my friend if her boyfriend ever showed up for her I would call the police, he didn't own a dog anymore.

Tequila quickly became a member of our family, she tolerated the cats, never went after the alpacas, and was all together perfect. My son Cameron loved her greatly. He would even greet her sometime before me after being gone! Excellent watch dog, always let us know if someone, or something was here that wasn't us.

She had two litters of pups from the boxer down the canyon who managed to get into her pen somehow and knock her up while we were gone one day. He used to sit on my porch staring onto the house and whining for her...

Everyone wanted her puppies, they were so good, and they went fast. After the second litter we had people lined up for more. One lady who had taken 2 of them brought them up several times to show us, and asked us repeatedly if we were going to breed her again. But we got her fixed. Perhaps even then the cancer had started, because the vet said her uterus literally fell apart in her hands when it was removed.

The greatest gift she gave me was one of her pups- my Fatty Lumpkins. You can see him in the silly hat on the left with his momma. He is the dog of my heart, and I treasure him. Without him now, I simply could not bear being parted from my friend.

He is grieving now, this 'dumb animal without feeling' cried Friday night while he lay next to me.

He looks for her... we look for her to come home. He paces, he whines, he lays on her bed- he would never lay on her bed, only on his- and he doesn't eat.

There is an empty place in our hearts and our home.

I feel blessed to have had this precious animal in my life. I am glad I was there for she who comforted me so often in my life, at the end of hers. To hold her head in my lap, and tell her how much she meant to me, and how I loved her. To look into her eyes one last time.

My darling girl, I miss you so. I will never forget you. Thank you for being in my life, I hope to live a live worthy enough to be reunited with you someday. Until then, wait for me....

Rainbow Bridge

Just this side of heaven is a place called Rainbow Bridge.

When an animal dies that has been especially close to someone here, that pet goes to Rainbow Bridge.

There are meadows and hills for all of our special friends so they can run and play.

There is plenty of food and water and sunshine, and our friends are warm and comfortable.

All the animals who had been ill and old are restored to health and vigor; those who were hurt or maimed are made whole and strong again, just as we remember them in our dreams of days and times gone by.

The animals are happy and content, except for one small thing: they each miss someone very special to them, who had to be left behind.

They all run and play together, but the day comes when one suddenly stops and looks into the distance. Her bright eyes are intent; her eager body quivers. Suddenly she begins to run from the group, flying over the green grass, her legs carrying her faster and faster.

You have been spotted, and when you and your special friend finally meet, you cling together in joyous reunion, never to be parted again. The happy kisses rain upon your face, your hands again caress the beloved head, and you look once more into the trusting eyes of your pet, so long gone from your life, but never absent from your heart.

Then you cross the Rainbow Bridge together...

Author unknown

Wowza~

It's been so long... where do I begin? Well, let's start at the very beginning (that's a very good place to start).
Been busy, Cameron graduated High School - YES!! Now he's officially a bum... :)) Until School starts in the spring that is. He will be studying music- but of course!

I am possibly facing some neck and/or back surgery- things have really gone downhill in that department. Moving on...

Downsized the ranch to 12 animals- still need to move a couple more- but I don't want to let anymore go!

Codi wants to graduate HS early, and has been taking BYU courses over summer- also she wants to transfer to a new HS... she hates this small limited one we have here and can't say I blame her. But I am not sure I am comfortable with her riding the bus 90 miles a day by herself to get to the one she wants to go to.... hmmmm. The jury is still out on that one.

I miss all of you, my friends, and want you to know that I think of you often, even if I don't visit or write.

So- thought I'd dredge up my very first poem, this one was published in a book of poetry- it is not as it was originally written, but my memory is not that great and I can't recall the first draft.

This was written first when I was in 8th grade- after the suicide of my brother. I had a wonderful English teacher, he thought he was reincarnated from Paul Revere's horse!! Seriously, he used to joke about it being the 'left front horseshoe'. He was weird, he was strange... he was just what I needed to help me sort out my feelings after Jeff's death.
He helped my tap into my creative reserve, and if I had managed to stay sober- who knows where my writing would have taken me?

Green Fields

He lies in green fields thinking about life...

he recalls how he had it soft when he was small.

now he's on his own with two kids and a wife.

as he listens to the birds sing he remembers it all.

His thoughts go astray,

to a time far away

when life seemed simple and love so sweet.

Now his wife is gone, and he's out on the street.

Cruel torments alone await,

he has learned the meaning of hate.

There's a gun by his head,

he wants to be dead.

He lies in green fields, thinking no more.

God has softly closed the door.

This is the way it was published- the original was a bit longer, but I don't remember all of it.

So,

Here's to you all my friends- a token- to let you know I am still here!

Slainte~

Rachelle

Happy New Year?

Thought I'd recycle while I await brilliance- this one I liked and is from 2006. I know it's not New Year's day, but anywho........



Okay, so maybe it's because I'm older, or maybe it's because I don't party anymore, but to me, New Years isn't such a big deal.

I remember the first year I got sober in 1990, it was a hard year. Every holiday reminded me of drinking.... okay, every day reminded me of drinking, but holidays especially. Every year New Year and Halloween, Christmas and Fourth of July got easier without alcohol.

After I had my first child, I tried to celebrate New Years in a sober fashion. I went out with some friends after getting a sitter, and I sipped my sparking cider. By 9:00 pm I was face down in the quacamole- dead asleep.
Okay, so toddlers and late hours don't go together. I tried again with my husband when the kids were older. A sitter again, and out we were. Two adults, no kids, candlelight and good food.
we held out till 11:00 pm, then we both decided we missed the kids too much and went home. Personally I think it was just an excuse, neither one of us could hold out any longer without sleep.

When my children grew old enough to understand the concept of New Years Eve and midnight, we decided we were going to party all night long! Woo-hoo and pass the grape juice. This time I planned carefully, we were going to play board games and around 10 pm would watch videos until we could ring in the new year with Dick Clark- a new family tradition!

Everything went according to plan, for a while, the only problem is the last thing I remember was Cinderella washing the floor.... the next thing I knew I was pulling Doritos out of my hair the next morning and trying to figure out how chocolate chip cookies got into the VCR. It was then that I realized mothers don't need alcohol, they just need more than one child to keep life interesting.

So, I decided after that last adventure I didn't need a New Year celebration to bring on the new year, it happened just fine without me. So my hubby and I sleep like every other normal night, and my kids (who are old enough now to know better than to put cookies in the DVD player) are free to stay up without us. Besides, it is a dangerous night to travel, right? Heck, when we lived in Downey it was a dangerous night to step outside your door, you never knew when a stray bullet fired into the sky in 'celebration' was going to land in your head as it fell to the ground. Duh! What part of Newton's Law are you having difficulty with?? I digress...

Just when I have a good night's sleep all planned out, one of my friends reminds me about her New Years party. Okay, so I figure I can take the kids and the hubby, and we can skip out about 10 pm, right? No harm, no foul.... no way, her party starts at 10 pm..... and goes till 2 am.

Is she serious? What was she thinking?? Forget about me for a minute, teenagers out until 2 am? Does she realize how cranky they are already in the morning without adding 2 am into the equation? HA!!

Okay, lets sum up: It's 3 in the afternoon and I'm already tired. At 9 pm I will begin to yawn uncontrollably, and by midnight I can be found under a table somewhere out of the way sound asleep... not my idea of a good time. She told me to take a nap this afternoon. A nap, in the middle of the day? I am afraid I don't speak Klingon, that must be what you're speaking I tell her, because I don't understand you.....

Tomorrow my in-laws are coming. And my house is a disaster- except for the kitchen. Tomorrow we are supposed to be cleaning the house as a family. I can see it now......

I am up at 5 am to get a jump start on cleaning the house, and my body is punishing me for refusing to listen to it last night when it told me to go to bed at a decent hour. Being a Zombie however is not conducive to cleaning anything and I consequently make a half of an attempt to vaccum, clean the bathrooms and mop, but pass out on the couch around 9 am. The rest of the family drags themselves out of bed around noon, dirties up the kitchen I cleaned yesterday making breakfast, and my in-laws walk in the house at 1 pm to find four of the living dead inhabiting their son's messy house. Wow, now that is impressive let me tell you.

The weirdest thing of all is that I have suffered from insomnia throughout my life. So what, some nights I can't keep my eyelids open without toothpicks after 7 pm, and others I can't keep them closed without super glue..... what is that all about???

So, what to do? I mean, this friend of mine keeps the oddest hours, to her I am weird because we eat dinner at 6 pm and go to bed at 9. She eats dinner with her family around 9 pm and they stay up all night and sleep during the day. I remember the first time we went over for dinner, it was 10 pm before we sat down to eat. I almost passed out in the dessert. We certainly don't speak the same language... but she makes a mean taco, and I really love her. So, I guess we will go the the party, and the devil take the dirty house (and I mean that, if he wants it, he can have it) I plan on having a grand time.


Here is Gil Galad the alpaca- wishing you a Happy New Year in his own alpaca-ish way.


Have a safe and happy New Year, and take good care of yourselves!
Till next time,
Slainte~
Rachelle