These are the days in my life as an alpaca rancher. The ups and downs, the thoughts and musings done best when surrounded by furry companions and in the company of inquisitive crias. Humor is my silent, er, maybe not so silent, companion throughout life.
Friday, November 13, 2009
going... going.... gone
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
Wednesday, October 14, 2009
Things that make me smile
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
Saturday, September 05, 2009
It's not easy, being green.....
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
Wednesday, September 02, 2009
Alpaca gals for sale
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
Her first cria BMAR's Fanny Bryce
Wednesday, August 12, 2009
Goodbye old friend
Saying goodbye...
"It doesn't have feelings like we do."
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.
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.
Monday, August 10, 2009
Wowza~
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?
Monday, May 18, 2009
Happy New Year?
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
Sunday, April 19, 2009
Wildflower season!
No spring flower showcase would be complete without peach blossoms!
This is a Lupine, they come in blue and white, and blue as well as the purple seen here. They are all over the place, and I was well known by my neighbors after first moving up here by my fanny up in the air while I crawled on my hands and knees pulling up each and every one frantically before my alpaca girls got here. They are toxic and had sprung up literally two days before their arrival!
The Antelope Valley in 2003 (2004??)
Rachelle
Monday, March 09, 2009
Within
A place of sorrow, steeped in woe,
Where sunlight never dares to show,
I go
Into the depths, into the pit,
Into the wherenot I admit,
Cast I myself without all wit,
I sit
Within this place I often stray,
Where darkness winds its strands away,
A place of nevermore today,
I stay
I linger here I know not why,
Until the time of by and by,
Until there are no tears to cry,
I lie
There sit I under shadows in,
That place of tragedy within,
Ponder I the circus held therein,
I grin
A rictus strained, full of deceipt,
The abyss opens, then I leap,
Become I bundled, rag doll heap,
I weep
Torn and battered, upon the path
I drag my mind a leaving half,
Bitter, twisted, full of wrath,
I laugh
And from the corner of my eye,
A sliver paler than shadow I spy,
The darkness shreds, its tatters fly,
I sigh
This where I go, I must not tarry,
Or chained and bound my thoughts will marry,
While although shackled, the key unwary,
I carry
Sunday, March 01, 2009
alpacas for sale
Male Alpacas
Due to life difficulties, all males shown are being offered for free- to good homes only!
$500 sale price SOLD
ARI # 510367 Luxor- fawn appaloosa with gray and rose gray spots, who has criated in rose gray, fawn and black, out of Peruvian Platinum.
Born on Valentine's Day 1999, this Romeo's looks may have faded with time, but he has proven himself again and again to us. Check out one of his crias below- BMAR's Light of Earendil.
A steal? You betcha.
$500 sale price- regular breeding fee $750- you do the math. SOLD
ARI # 821602 Pacifica's Eclipse- white, but just say that to his face- he has criated in many colors, maintaining his fineness over his 9 years. With Peruvian Aladdin and Accoyo Leon as his sire and grandsire, his potential has played out several times on our ranch and his babies are always the first to sell. Eclipse is one of the sweetest, most gentle alpacas we have ever had on our ranch. We breed for temperment, and he sure does fit that bill perfectly. And, Eclipse is conformationally correct in every way. Simply perfection.
What are we thinking?? Well, we believe in paying it forward. We have used these males to our benefit, now we would like to pay them forward at a price that is remarkable, hey, it's what we do!
BMAR's Light of Earendil ARI # 30369276
What can I say about this male? He is gorgeous. Long staple length with a fine handle, nice Vicuna like waves in his fleece, he tested at 21 microns at 4 years of age. Earendil is a completely correct redwood rose gray with an easy going personality. We are breeding him for the first time this fall (no fault of his own, we just have had lots of males!) and are looking forward to seeing what he will criate. Luxor- you done good!
$3,000 sale price- $750 introductory breeding fee
Faramir- sweet, unregistered SURI fiber male alpaca. Very laid back, County Fair favorite! Faramir is just a sweet, sweet boy. $300 SOLD
Al- rescue paca, white and gelded - fiber male, Al has a bit of an attitude, experienced owners are the best for Al.
$200 SOLD
Also we have Janus- brown and white male fiber alpaca $300
Easy to handle, and easy going.
$3,000 SOLD
Elbereth's adorable cria face, how can you resist such cuteness and photogenic talents?
BMAR's Lady Galadriel ARI# 30369269- a white beauty- born 2004- comes with a breeding to Jazzman ARI #1091243- a fawn male out of Dominator, who is a well known stud in Canada. With Acero Marka's Amazing Grace and Acero Marka's Jasmine as dam and granddam, you can't go wrong.
Jazz also boasts PPeruvian Guellermo genes, he's Jazz's granddad! Jazz is a tall, gorgeous fawn male with nice, fine fleece and excellent density and crimp, with exceptional staple length. We are excited to see what Lady G. does next!
Lady G's lineage includes Pacifica's Eclipse, Peruvian Aladdin, Accoyo Leon and NWA's Anastasia.
$5,000
Hally-Boo- ARI # 847086- born on Halloween in 2001- huacaya
Caramel colored, super typey and at 7 years of age still super fine. A totally easy keeper, never a vet visit for Hally in all adult years.
Hally is a proven mother of two gorgeous female crias, one dark fawn, and from our own BMAR's Bilbo Baggins, was born BMAR's Rosie Cotton- who you can see at the top of the page!
Both crias have taken the best from Hally, with their fine fleece and typey heads. Hally boasts two perfectly unassisted deliveries and plenty of milk. She self weans her crias at just the right age, and that head, oh isn't it to die for?
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.
Great combination!
$6,000
BMAR's Heathertoes ARI pending- Huacaya- dark rose gray- out of a black dam (Osita) and silver sire (Mithrandir) Born June 2006, Heathertoes is a big, beautiful girl with excellent staple length and super crimpy fleece, that is extremely fine. Heathertoes has perfect conformation and she is big enough for us to consider breeding her this fall! Heathertoes fleece won first place at our county fair last year. Heather has the most unique fleece color, being a solid dark rose gray with no white on her body, she is really stunning.
Unbred: $8,000 bred to Jazzman, a Dominator son: $9,000 SOLD
BMAR's Arwen Undomiel-ARI # 30359956 Huacaya- black headed roan proven female.
Born on 9/28/00
Ever heard someone say, "She has a great personality!" That is Arwen, she is an 'old Chilean model' with the potential for great crias all locked in.
Arwen is the sweetest, most easy going female I have ever owned. Easily handled by one person, and breeds up to excellent quality crias very easily.
Her previous cria was a beautiful true black male out of our white Eclipse, and I am still kicking myself for selling him as a cria as a fiber male.... oy....
Arwen has her crias without any assistance, and has plenty of milk for them.
Bred to Garemo for a fall 2009 cria.
Questions as to her breeding history? I'll gladly tell you the story- email me!
$3,000 SOLD
If you have any questions about these alpacas, contact Rachelle Black at Black Magic Alpaca Ranch- wyattblack@earthlink.net References available upon request.