Getting Down and Dirty

We've really had a fantastic week.

Two beautiful cria, both of them girls and finally Cooper has decided he's really grown up now.  Until yesterday all he's wanted to do is play with the babies through the fence but we noticed that he had started to take an interest in the empty females that we had kept putting next to him to see if he would make any attempt to get at them.  Last night we realised that he had started to show an interest in Cricket and she sat down next to him with just a fence between them and he looked as though he wanted to vault over.  Today we put him with Mimi and he just shoved her down to the ground and mounted her.  I did think that because it was his first time it would be all over in 5 minutes and he would then light a cigarette or something but no, he seemed to carry on for ever.  I got bored after 30 minutes and went to clean the paddocks but Si sat there with the camera like a proud father.

I am more interested in the results of the matings.  I love having the cria running around, it really is what this business is all about.  We had a really good look at Exhibition today and are really pleased with her fleece and can't wait for the opinion of Carl, our shearer.  He is much more experienced than us at checking out the fleeces having seen a lot more of them.  Even though Exhibition looks as though she is probably premature because of the lack of teeth and her floppy ears she has been running around nearly all day, in fact even when the other babies had settled down for the night she was still charging round the paddock.  She really is hilarious with her ears bouncing up and down.  Timothy can't keep up with her but he isn't the most elegant of alpacas, he really is only pet quality but he has a lovely nature.  I said to Si today that he looks like a mix of Alan Carr and Giant Haystacks he is really careless and keeps running into the sides of the adult girls.  He gets up such a speed but just doesn't seem able to stop.

Oh, I almost forgot, because we have no births due until the end of the month I was allowed past the farm gate.  Nothing too exciting but I got to Mole Valley today for animal feed and more gates but at least it was a change.  I was only allowed out for a couple of hours but come October I can go out whenever I want.