Look What Errands Will Net You!

Today Jeff and I went to Menards in Big Rapids to pick up a weed wacker and paint for the exterior doors.  Look what we brought home!

Meet Zoey!

This lovely girl was languishing at the Osceola Animal Shelter.  She is around 10 months old and is sweet, friendly, even tempered and courageous!  On the ride home she never made a peep.  She will be a good fit for our household of the rambunctious hell cat ( that would be Linus) and the two cranky old men (that would be Jinx and Moses).  She doesn't seem intimidated by her new surroundings or the boys.  She'll do just fine.

Square Foot Garden success!  Slicing tomatoes, red peppers, and cabbage are looking good along with all my little sprouts.

 My garden appears to be growing.  I've got beets, peas, beans, arugula, kale and leeks poking their little noggins out of the ground.  I always find the miracle of life from seeds so rewarding!

Broccoli, brussel sprouts, pole beans, and cherry tomatoes grow here along with a spot for my cucumbers which I keep forgetting to buy seeds for.

The lavender and strawberry bed.

 I decided to plant my strawberries along the retaining wall.  I figured they would do well if I gave them sufficient nutrient rich soil amongst the pea gravel.  The thought of having to remove all that pea gravel was just too daunting.  At the far end is one plant of lavender I have high hopes for.

Parting shot.

I'm looking forward to having another female in this house of males.  Zoey seems like just the kitty to keep me company.

Progress

"The Maiden Girls"     All photos courtesy of Benchmark Alpacas

We have some babies on the way!  Miss Felicity, our "senior" experienced female (at age 15) is now pregnant.  Twizzler, who we thought was pregnant, changed her mind and has just been rebred.  The three girls you see above, are keeping it a secret.  Their true status can only be accurately determined by an ultrasound.  They, being all unproven females but all beyond the age of 4, may require some shots of estrogen to get them to "cycle" and not think they are pregnant.  The only problem with the shot, is if they are given the shot and they are truly pregnant then they will abort the baby they may have.  Hence the need for the ultrasound before the injection of estrogen.  Hope that makes sense.

Sweet Caroline

Andraya, in the foreground.

Birdie

Sweet Caroline

In other exciting news, in the name of progress, we have contracted with a builder to construct our pole barn.  He is scheduled to start in the beginning of July.  He estimates it will take about 1 1/2 weeks to complete.  In the meantime I had to procure a electrician, and an excavator to level the site and to install the water inside the barn.  After a somewhat frustrating search, I found two likely candidates.  The skilled trades are in short supply in our area and busy, so finding someone who would be willing to do the job and in the time frame needed I had to do some searching.

I have uploaded a rough sketch of the barn that I designed.  It will be simple and measure 50' wide x 32' long.  There will be a 10' wide main aisle, two stall/pens for the alpacas and a chicken coop.  The aisle and coop will have concrete floors.  The rest will be dirt floors.  The roof and siding will be steel.  The roof will be a rustic red and the siding grey.  Both colors coordinate with the house colors, of course.  The two 10 foot lean-tos on the sides will have a roof but no siding.  This will give the aplacas a place for shade in the summer.  The females will be on the right side of the barn and the males on the left.  To the right of the chicken coop will be a 10' x 30' chicken run.

"The Barn"

I am still searching for someone to erect our fencing.  That, too, is proving to be a challenge.
I have two fencing contractors I've been in touch with.  Since I'm not familar with farm fencing I have had to educate myself.  I'm hoping I can utilize a 2" x 4" woven wire fence that will be five feet tall.  The cost may prevent that.  If not I will have to come up with a plan B.  It's all about being flexible, right! 
The 2 x 4 fence will be a small enough opening that the alpacas won't be able to put their cute little heads through the fence holes and get stuck and to prevent predators access to the pasture.  Since the openings are smaller than normal this fencing costs more, of course.  The fencing behind Daisy in the picture below is a 4" x 4".

Daisy Mae

Stay tuned!