Fleece and skirting: it's not WOOL

First thing to remember: it's not WOOL. 

Alpaca fiber people get really annoyed when you call it 'wool'. I am sure I annoyed a few people my first week here, as I kept slipping up.

They refer to it as 'alpaca fiber' (or fleece). THIS however, caused much confusion when I was explaining things to a lady at the booth at the Green Festival. She seemed very very confused and kept asking odd questions. Turns out she was a dietician, and fiber for HER is something entirely different. I can only imagine what was going on in her head as she tried to figure out what fiber had to do with yarn. 

Here is a 'blanket' spread out on the skirting table. The table has rods covered in plastic pipe so the dirt can fall out to the floor. They have a table top they put on when it needs to be used as an actual table.

Another blanket. You can see the scale used for weighing to the right, and one of the looms behind the table.

Yep, it's another blanket. The spray bottle is water for your hands, in case there's too much static. You spray your hands, but they can't be too wet or the fiber sticks together.














Some of the fleeces are marked as 'show fleece'. The animals are examined before shearing time, and they decide who has potential for show fleece. The fleece has to stay intact, so it takes longer to clean. With the regular fleeces you take chunks of the fleece, pick through it for grass, straw, and icky coarse 'guard hairs'.

Day ??: Skirting a fleece (my Americorps 'Reflection)

Part of being an Americorps Member is that I have to write a 'Reflection' every two weeks. I'm sharing it here. It's not as fun as my other posts, but I've been too tired to write lately. 

Americorps Reflection #1

My main reasons for choosing to spend three months learning about alpacas and sustainable farming was to be a part of something positive, do some physical labor, and have a PURPOSE for getting up every day.  Part of my goal was to NOT think too deeply, so I have found writing this ‘reflection’ difficult. I feel like I am supposed to have some great insight, but I really don’t want to think and analyze anymore. Instead, I’ll share what I’ve learned about ‘skirting’ and how I helped streamline the ‘skirting’ room.

Shearing time was just at the beginning of May. It seems like the shearing is the biggest task, but after the alpacas are sheared the fiber must be sorted, cleaned, and sent off to processing. Each animal sheared has two bags of fiber: a ‘firsts’ bag and a ‘seconds’ bag. While the animal is being sheared, the fleece gatherer puts the best fiber (the ‘firsts’) into one bag, and the ‘seconds’ (shorter/coarser) into another. They are all in clear trash bags with papers that have the animal’s name and whether it’s ‘firsts’ or ‘seconds’.  Before the blanket is ‘skirted’ (sorted through and cleaned), it must be weighed, and the ‘seconds’ bag must be found in order to add fiber from the blanket that does not qualify as a ‘first’.

There were about 60 animals sheared, so that meant there were 120 bags. All the blankets must be weighted before and after skirting, to get an idea of how much prime fiber they really get off an animal.  I took it upon myself to weigh them as they came in, so they didn’t get overlooked.

The main room had been set up to separate the ‘skirted’ and ‘not skirted’ blankets, but all of the ‘seconds’ bags were tossed into a side room. As a librarian, and super-organize-y person this did not seem efficient to me. One rainy day my boss said he had no more chores for me and I could do ‘whatever my little heart desired’. Well, my little heart desired to organize the ‘seconds’ room.

I moved all of the  ‘seconds’ whose blankets have already been skirted to one side, and labeled them. This way, you don’t need to search through 60 clear trash bags of fiber to find the one you need. All the ‘seconds’ whose blankets had NOT been skirted, I put on the other side of the room, labeled, and organized by color. Since the blankets are organized by color, this makes it easier to find its partner ‘seconds’ bag when you start a new blanket.

Everyone seemed very pleased with this setup, and said it made it easier to locate the bags. I think it’s funny that even on a farm, my organizing skills are useful. After two years of unemployment it’s good to be in a place where I feel my skills contribute to the overall operation, and help them meet their goals.

It seems my patience and detail oriented nature is a BIG positive in skirting. I have spent almost every afternoon in the skirting room, and the full timers are VERY happy with that. My work will help get the fiber out to the processor sooner, which means they will get spun yarn back sooner. They sell the yarn to help finance the center. Also, with just a few hours of solitary skirting under my belt, I got to train the new volunteer, Julia, on how to skirt a fleece. Since having to teach someone reinforces your own learning, I found this quite useful. I still fetch the ‘fiber’ lady when I have questions on sorting, but she usually reinforces what I would have decided.

I think I am making steady progress towards both my learning objectives and hours. I’m out in the barns every morning at 8:00, feeding animals and cleaning pastures. The afternoons I spend either skirting fleece or auditing/fixing their library card catalog. I feel I am making a positive contribution to the running of the farm and the Center.

Day 25, alpacas: now where did THAT bruise come from??

Today I accidentally got slammed backwards into a shelf. Oops. I was holding the head of an adult female while someone clipped toenails (missed during shearing). All was fine until the alpaca decided to do a jump/twist move that shoved me backwards into the ONLY piece of shelving in the room. Seriously. Only me, huh?

I wasn't really hurt, but it knocked the wind out of me, and I am quite certain I will be feeling that in the morning. The thing is, when I checked my back in the mirror, expecting to see a red mark, or the beginnings of a bruise line, instead I found a BIG nasty bruise on my right shoulder blade. What the....??? Now where did THAT come from?? Maybe I ran into something? Sheesh, I don't know. I am such a graceful ballerina I could not possibly have run INTO something!

Maybe it's a follow up companion bruise from the ones I found on my left arm a few days ago, on either side of the wrist. At least that one can be explained by possibly getting myself caught between fencing when moving them. Really, though, it's anyone's guess.

Perhaps we should start a pool on where I will find the next nasty bruise? All winnings should be funneled my way, though, to pay for ice packs.

Day 24 (Monday): spit aimed at me, unsuccessful in reaching target

Well, it has happened. This morning the assertive/nosy/bossy/alpha female Brittany decided my presence while checking hay troughs OUTSIDE was annoying her from inside the barn. She stood in the doorway, locked eyes with me and hurled a little spit my way.

Luckily, it was just what she was chewing (not digesting), and I was over an arm's length away so she failed to reach her target. HaHAAA you tawny haired alpha female!!

Oh wait.....that sounds like me.  Well, takes one to know one, I gues.

It's just a matter of time before I get a face full of bile. Ah, the inevitability of life.

Day 22, alpacas: clean 3 pastures and almost run over in alpaca brawl

Friday there were just two of us working, and there was a school field trip. Ideally there are four people working; two head to the girls' pens and two head to the boys' pens. With just two of us, we had to hurry to get the girls' pens cleaned before the field trip arrived, so PB could give the alpaca talks. This left me alone to start on the boys' pens. I was fine with this, because I feel like I go slower than everyone else and am always trying to keep up. Plus it was a good test to make sure I've got the routine down.

It took about 45 minutes for me to take care of the first group: poop clean up inside barn and in pasture, lime and pellets in barn (kills smell and absorbs moisture), grain in bins, straw in containers, check water buckets.  Hard work, but I was pleased with myself. By the time I finished the second group I was wondering how people had managed to do this on the weekends alone. I guess you get used to it, but I'm still weak and soft. :(

When I got to the third pasture I was pretty tired, and just ready to get it finished. I had done the barn chores and was raking poo in the pasture when I heard this angry angry SCREAMING from inside the barn. Screaming and 'chuffing'(which can only mean spit). Oh dear.

Three alpacas were in the pasture with me, all gazing nervously at the barn. As we all watched, out came a screeching, writhing mass of two angry alpacas, necks intertwined, trying to wrestle each other to the ground. Now, I'd read about this in the 'behavior' section of the alpaca book, and it's perfectly normal for males to fight for dominance (just like people...). But reading it in a book and being in the pasture when two screeching, biting ANGRY alpacas come exploding out of the barn at full throttle is an entirely different thing.

I figured I would just step back and let them do their thing, since I certainly don't have the tools or skills to jump in and break up an alpaca fight. Seriously. Not on the resume. That seemed like a FINE decision. It was what the other alpacas were doing--stepping back and staying out of the way.

But then...(oh, yes, there is a BUT THEN), the younger alpaca (and most certainly the instigator of this argument) broke free and charged out into the pasture. I thought he would run to the back, but at the last minute he veered and headed almost STRAIGHT for me. Holy crap!!!

So there I was, standing in the muddy pasture with a rake and shovel full of poo, with two angry alpacas headed straight my way. THAT certainly got my heart rate up! I think I raised my arms up, like we're supposed to do to herd them, to get them to go around me. It happened so quickly I don't exactly recall. As they were headed my way, though, at the last second, the first one veered away from me. Thank goodness!! Needless to say I hightailed it to the other side of the fence to get the heck out of their way.

Considering it was almost noon, and I had not had any coffee yet, I think I did a good job at coherent decision making. :)

They fought for a little longer and then calmed down. It probably really only lasted a few minutes, but it sure felt longer! The funny thing is, when I told PB about it she just sighed and shook her head.  The 'instigator' is gelded (castrated), so THEORETICALLY, should not be concerned with alpha male issues. It's just his personality to harass others. Perhaps he should not harass the alpha male so much. And he's done it before, so he knows where it's going. He's like Dennis the Menace of the alpacas.

I likened the whole thing to witnessing an alpaca bar fight, the way the younger one goaded the older one on until the older one let him HAVE it, and took it to the 'street' when they exploded out of the barn.  When you look at it that way, it's pretty funny.

That moment of having angry alpacas charging your way was a little scary. I was a little shaken, but I didn't have a locked jaw with green grassy drool coming out. Thank goodness, because I wouldn't have been able to drink my 'morning' coffee.

Day 20: Holding down the rear legs!! And still no spit...

This day (someday this past week, it's all blurred together now), PB asked if I wanted to go help someone shear their alpacas. Since I didn't get to really do much at 'our' shearing, I figured this would give me some hands on experience. (What for, I'm not certain....I'm sure something will come to me)

So I GOT TO HOLD THE REAR LEGS for three animals!!!

Who ever would have thought I would be that excited about that, huh? Oh wait, you guys mostly know me....I'm always excited about new things.

Some general things:

1. This was hard work, even though I didn't think it would be. You have to stand and keep medium pressure on the legs, even though they are tethered to the board. If the alpaca feels you loosen up it tries to make a break for it.  Standing in one position for three hours holding legs with various pressure from me really gave my arms a work out. I can't imagine how I could have handled 20 animals a day. Turns out I AM a delicate flower.

2. Still not a lot of spit. I sort of got some on my shoulder, but it wasn't really the nasty spit, it was sort of snorted out hay.

3. The first animal struggled a lot and I lost control of her hind legs when we tilted the board down to stand her up. I was nervous, she was wriggly. Nobody got hurt, but I felt bad. They said it was fine for my fist time. :)

4. The second alpaca was a baby (less than a year) and cried through the whole thing. He was not being hurt, but boy did he sound pitiful and worried. Not a lot of thrashing.

5. The third animal was also a baby, but really calm, and had been handled a lot by his owner. Still, he did NOT want his neck sheared. That was a task for the poor shearer.

6. All people holding the animal have to pay CLOSE attention to the shearer and the animal, to anticipate sudden thrashing, or the direction the shearer is headed. No looking away to observe other animals, or kittens, birds, butterflies, etc. This was very hard for me (oh, look a chipmunk...!!!), but I did it.

7. Try not to be downwind of the shears when a breeze is blowing. If you are, be sure to close your mouth. Luckily I kept my mouth closed, but was covered in tiny white tufts of fleece in the end. There was much sneezing.

I am happy I got to participate. At least I know I can do it. (sort of)

Again, not sure what I will DO with this skill and knowledge, but at least I felt useful.

No pictures, because my hands were busy for 3 hours. Not much different from the ones I already posted.

Day 17: Alpacas on the prowl (alpacas are like construction workers...)

This was the last day of shearing. The female alpacas were all sheared, and blissfully grazing in the pasture.

The male alpacas were walked down in groups (by age/pen), and held inside the barn before and after their shearing. Naturally, the ladies were curious...and looking all fine with their new hairdos and freshly clipped toenails.

These ladies were checking out the boys...just stopping by to say hello.

Some seemed to strut more than others...

Catching their attention

Just like a bunch of construction workers... "How YOU doin'?"

Arvada West connection to Saint Mary of the Woods

For all of you Colorado people:

I met one of the IT guys here, when he set me up on the computer. When he found out I was from Colorado, he informed me that he was in the first graduating class from Arvada West.  He grew up in that area, and we had a fun talk about how much it's changed. Since I got to live with Doug in Wheatridge for almost a year, I actually knew the streets this guy was mentioning.

Imagine that. Weird.

Alpacas are like people: ostracizing those who are 'different'

When one of them gets sheared, all the other alpacas freak out a little because they don't recognize the shorn alpaca. Seriously. They run up to the shorn alpaca and sniff and sniff, OR they skirt around the shorn one, trying to figure out who the heck it is.

I was sad when Simone got shorn my first week here, at the Earth Day demonstration. Sine she was the ONLY one with a new hairdo, all the other lady alpacas shunned her. There were a few mornings where we found Simone sitting in a pen at one end of the enclosure, all alone, while all the other alpacas were up at the other end. This is VERY unusual, since they have such a strong herd bond. It really was quite pathetic, and we were all happy when the other ladies in the group finally accepted her back.

She was just a trendsetter, that's all. Now they all have their summer look, so nobody is ostracized.
The whole thing just reminded me that we (people) are mammals, and social/herd creatures. So much behavior in common....

Simone, sporting the new summer look

Day 19, alpacas: still no spit, and I get to go to Chicago!!!

The White Violet Center has a booth at the Green Festival in Chicago, May 22 & 23. They needed an extra person, so of course my hand was in the air right away. You mean I get to go to a convention and TALK to people for two days?? Sign me up, baby. I will spend my evenings reading the materials, making certain I know enough to not sound like an idiot.

If you're in the area, you should come check it out!!

http://www.greenfestivals.org/

Alpacas and compost: poop is good

Every morning, one of the first things we do is clean out the barns. That means much raking of poo. This is all fine when it's dry outside, but it's a bit more difficult in the rain. There's nothing like a shovel full of wet muddy alpaca poo to help me build my arm strength!

Here is some of the morning 'help'. These ladies  seem to be in charge of the Kubota, yes?

(I think two are ladies, one is a younger one, could be a male, I can't keep them all straight yet)

They look very official, as good supervisors should.

The funny thing is, we do this EVERY morning. And EVERY morning they have to come check out the Kubota, and the back, in case there's something new in there. Or food. Maybe there will be food....

Sometimes they eat the old hay we've put down to line the bed for poo procurement. They get annoyed when you shoo them away from the Kubota, unless they are already bored and wander away on their own.

They are very helpful, like a room full 3 year olds.

After much raking and carrying of full shovels, we have a full load!!

This is taken to the Compost Pile. It is very big. And smelly. It's compost.

When the compost is ready, it will be used on the fields, to grow the food, which we eat. 

I like food, so Yeah compost!!  Oh, and YEAH WORMS!! (I like worms, too)

Here is someplace to learn more about alpaca compost. It does not 'burn' like other animals' manure, but it's so dense it has to be mixed with other things (like all that hay). There is a lovely picture of alpaca poo, in case you're interested. This means I don't have to take close up pictures of the alpaca poo for you all, right? 

http://www.o2compost.com/content/Alpaca_Facts.htm

Day 17 alpacaland: 3rd day of shearing, I am too delicate a flower for alpaca spit

I just found this draft post, and cannot recall what I was going to share, with that fascinating title!

Perhaps it was just that I did NOT get to actively participate in the shearing of an alpaca, but spent much time in the skirting room, and much time helping with cleaning/watering/feeding/ walking back to the pastures.

Of course, I AM a delicate flower. Perhaps that will prevent the inevitable spit. I will let those alpacas know right away.

Americorps for me means peer pressure for you!

No, seriously.

You too can experience the farm, the compost pile, the alpacas, the skirting, the card catalog......

As a member of Americorps, I have to recruit 5 people to volunteer their time here. So if anyone feels like visiting me, please let me know! I think they only require that someone spend an hour doing something they're not paid to do here. I start working weekends this weekend (rotating), and will be here through at least July 14.

I can get you a 'guest' room in my building. I'm pretty certain there's no charge. I have some Bloomington people who might come up and help me meet my quota. Anyone else?

Anyone? Anyone?

Days 15-17: shearing pictures

Howdy All! Sorry I vanished for a bit, there. I'm not used to working outside 12-13 hours a day, and shearing took more out of me than I imagined. And I wasn't even a part of the actual shearing! I can't imagine how tired everyone else was.

Here are some images I took from the hayloft on Day 1. This was the first animal sheared, and all the new people got to go up and watch. 

1. As you can see, the alpaca is on a table. This is a special table that tilts vertically. The alpaca is led to the table, and it takes 4-6 people to line it up, hold rear legs, hold front legs, hold head/neck, wrap a tummy harness (like when they lift horses) around it, and then TILT it into horizontal position. Lots of coordination required there.

2. This is after the first side is done, and the animal is FLIPPED (literally) to do side 2. You can see the leg ropes. One tie goes around each leg, and is secured to the table. There is still a person at each set of legs, in the middle, and at the head. 

3. Vacuum the Alpaca!! Yes indeedy, that thar alpaca gets shop-vacced. (new verb)

This gets out a lot of dust/grass/random bits of stuff. A lot, but not ALL. Very dusty process.

4. Closer shot of ShopVac! 

5. Actual shearing. This is certainly a skill. This shearer did 20 animals a day. You should see her forearms! She has a full time 'real' job, and has to work out her arms all year to stay strong. I was impressed. That was some hard work. 

Each animal takes about 20-30 minutes to shear. There is a designated 'fleece gatherer' who removes the 'blanket' fleece and keeps the table/animal clean so the shearer can work. You can see how the blanket is folded back as the shearer makes each row cut.

6. AHHHH!!! Poor naked alpaca! The legs are trimmed down mostly to keep flies from biting the animal. They do not use the fiber, it's usually too coarse and dirty, and too short. 

You can see how everyone still has hands on the animal. They are not really gripping tightly, but if you let up, the animal tries to get free. If there is a really wriggly animal, everyone sort of stretches across it until it calms down. Kinda like wrestling, but with a wriggling, sometimes screaming, sometimes spitting alpaca. Doesn't happen that much, though.

7. This is the only time in the calendar year the animal is restrained, so whatever else needs to be done gets done. They all got their toenails trimmed, they all got weighed. At least one that I saw got his teeth flossed. THAT was a procedure, requiring quite a few people, and he was NOT at all happy. 

8. A spitter, this one. Most animals don't actually spit, though. Some were quite calm. But they all have personalities, and this one was expressing herself, and her displeasure at being harnessed, tied to a table and sheared. I'd probably spit too. They use towels to protect all the workers from her ire. 

All towels are THROWN out. There's just no cleaning that nastiness. And it does stink. 

Day 16 of alpacas: more shearing and skirting, still not spit on

Really, Wednesday was a repeat of Tuesday, except it was 7:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m.

Thank goodness that person did not decide to laundry at 5:15 a.m.  Sadly, though, that is the time my brain chose to wake me up. ::sigh::

Day two of alpaca shearing time:
Lots of walking alpacas back and forth from the pastures to the barn. Lots of worried, 'humming' alpacas. Lots of dirt, hay and flying alpaca fiber. Lots of standing around waiting for alpacas to be ready to attach to lead and move. Very tired.

In case you ever need to know: alpacas are VERY group oriented. They get very distressed when they are separated from the herd, and freak out. Lots of anguished humming, and crying, and frantic looking about. Always try to move them in groups to avoid alpaca freak outs.

I did sit for a while with one of the Sisters up in the hay loft and explain to her what they were doing. I've learned enough to explain it and answer basic question. I seriously have no clue what I will do with this new skill but it still beats surfing job boards and temping, in terms of my happiness/depression level.

Explaining alpaca husbandry to onlookers: yet another step in my global domination plan is complete!!
Best to finish here first, though.

Day 15 with alpacas: a bit of spit, a lot of skirting

May 4th, 2010 The 1st day of SHEARING:
I will have to add photos later, batteries in camera are dead.

5:15 a.m. : someone on the floor decided to roll a cart of laundry down the hall and do laundry. The laundry room is conveniently located two doors from mine. Really??? 5:15 a.m.??? So instead of 5:45 with the alarm, I was awake at 5:15 with some fool doing laundry.

7:00 a.m. : report to the office for pre-shearing poop raking/food/water of all critters. Then on to the main barn. It DID rain a bit last night, but the 'big girls' were in the barn mostly. Still, the smell of wet alpaca combined with unventilated excrement.....pungent.

Coffee! Square donuts! yum!

8:00 a.m.: all new people (like me) climb to the hayloft to view the first shearing. (will add pictures)

The first one: SO much spit they cover the head with a towel, which is THROWN OUT. She is not at ALL happy about being strapped to a table, having her coat sheared and toenails cut. Not happy at ALL, and very expressive.

There are about two animals sheared in an hour.

9:00 a.m.: the big boss calls the newbies out of the loft to take the two blankets (just sheared) to the skirting room. As we are walking away from the barn, there is a SCREAMING, like an animal is being killed or tortured. THAT, says the boss, is why the shearer wears earplugs, and why we were leaving just then. This particular animal always always responds that way to the shearing table and the shearing. Seems she screams like that the whole time. Wow. That's about 20 minutes of listening to that for the 6+ people in the barn. It was seriously freaky. Anyone just walking outside would have thought there was major torture going on. Really, there was not. Some alpacas don't make a sound the entire time. This one is vocalizing for the entire group.

9:00-noon: skirting. Damp alpaca fleece is similar to wet dog smell, but stronger. Except the alpacas have been rolling in hay, dirt, etc. Very ripe, some of it.

noon-1:00 p.m.: lunch!!  pulled pork, greens from the garden, homemade guacamole, homemade cupcakes! Yum.

1:00 - 4:30: It seems I am to be in the skirting room. Is it due to my Delicate Flower status??  Or is it that I do not mind sorting through all the fiber and picking out gunk? I am getting faster, and more confident in my decisions to throw out fleece. Still, I feel like I am shirking my 'intern' duties and should be out in the stinky barn holding down an animal and getting covered in spit. It was not destined to happen today.
(Lisa, I think you were the only one in that pool....)

4:30: head to barn, help with random chores while they finish an animal

5:00-6:00: dinner at the cafeteria with the crew (and all the Sisters)

6:00-7:30: barn. helped move fences to expand 'holding area'. Filled water buckets. Held leash on youngest one while we tried to pick out a ton of gunk from his fleece. Seems the young ones like to play in the dirt the most. Go figure. Tried, with a few people, to get shorn alpacas in from the field with lovely yummy green grass. They were NOT having that. Not at all interested in going in, thank you very much. That shearer is still in there, and the grass is not. They look at you like you are clearly insane for even asking.

Help take 'trash' fiber to compost, and nasty green spit rags to dumpster, help lock up Kubota and put in feed for a.m.

8:00 p.m. : Home. Shower.  Joint ache creme...

9:30 Sit in recliner. Attempt to get pictures off camera. Batteries dead. No replacements!! ARRRGH.

10:30 Bed

Please do not let the person decide to do laundry at 5:15 a.m.....must be on poo patrol at 7:00 tomorrow.

Day 15: sexy smell?

I smell of alpaca and menthol/camphor.  Very sexy. 

Is this not the proper perfume to attract the men? No? Will only attract alpacas with pain in their joints? 

Hmmm. I will have to rethink my approach.

Day 14 with alpacas: no spit, accepted into Americorp, Skirting a fleece

Yes indeedy, the day before shearing and I have not been spit upon. Tomorrow will come quickly, though. 7:00 a.m. start time. They are doing the 'big girls' first, which is about 30 'breeding age' females (and crias, the babies). I'm guessing when we enclose them in the barn and whip out that shearing table the spit will be flying.

Got an email that I've been accepted into Americorps. That is a good thing, but sadly it is only as the 300 hour volunteer, which means I keep track of my hours and at the end of the internship I get $1000 applied to whichever loan I choose. There is no stipend. (alas) I am glad to at least get the $1000 toward student loans, though. Perhaps being 'accepted' here and 'accepted' into Americorps is the start of a trend. Yes? Yes.

Learned how to 'skirt' a fleece last week, and got to practice today. Basically you take the main part of the fleece (the blanket), and separate it into 'firsts' and 'seconds'. Good fleece and not so good fleece. Then you pick out all the icky tough 'guard hairs' and shake out/pick out any grass seeds, twigs, etc. I am good at picking out small things and making it clean. :)  It's like sorting seed beads, very Zen! YEAH!!

I told them I want to learn how to shop-vac an alpaca tomorrow. That needs to be on my resume: shop-vac-ing an alpaca. I'm not sure what I will do with that skill, but it needs to be on there. Perhaps in a library storytime?

And yes, they literally take a shop-vac to the alpaca before shearing. It cleans off a lot of dirt/seeds/straw.

I do not think the alpacas will like this. Perhaps this will be the spitting point, the shop-vac.

Alpacas are like cats

They do not like to be caught, and want to approach you on THEIR terms. Most of them are not really interested in humans, except for when it is feeding time. There are a few exceptions. There is one female who actually LIKES people, and will come lean on you and let you pet her. She also does not want you to leave the pen, and will block the gate with her body.

There are some 'brown' ones (which I think of as redheads), who all come from the same mother and really get in my face. Literally. They want to sniff me, and sometimes try to take my hat. The male, in particular, will walk up to me while I'm raking, or filling water, and stick his face right in mine and sniff and snort. This freaked me out the first time, but I'm getting used to it.


This one in particular....

Really wants to know....

What is going on? 

No, seriously........what are you doing with that metal thing?

Day 13 with alpacas: no spit yet, rode on a tractor, my bosses

I convinced Sister Paul Bernadette (PB) and Chad to let me take their picture. Here they are! They are both very nice and patient with my slowness. This is in the 'alpaca office', where we start our days.

Friday was a fairly quiet day, and it was just myself, Chad and Jerry (volunteer) on the morning chores. PB and another person took some animals down to another owner for breeding. I think it was a 3 hour drive each way. Ack! 

Since we finished early, Moe (the director) asked Chad to move some hay wagons from a field to across 150 (state road). There's only one seat on the tractor, so I got to ride on the back part, balanced on the hitch bar, holding on to the side/upper bar. I am QUITE happy to report I did not fall off once! 

The first hay wagon didn't have anything on it, so I sat on the front edge as Chad drove across the property over to the 'biomass converters'. The second wagon was full of tree limbs. BIG tree limbs. Chad had me stand up at the back of the bed, holding on to the back slats. We only had one slight mishap, in the orchard, where the limbs on the bed of the wagon got caught in the limbs of an apply tree and I got caught in the thwacking. Nothing bad, though. I am unscathed. Mostly I felt not very useful, more like a little kid tagging along. But I completely enjoyed riding on the back of the tractor, AND on the hay wagon. It was like a private tour of the property. :)

No spit yet, but shearing is this week. There are 60 animals. There will be spit.

Housing situation during internship

I have had many questions from friends about the housing here. Here's where I am.

The floor layout is in a square, around a central courtyard on the main floor.

There seem to be 26 rooms total.
Rooms per side are:
8 rooms
7 rooms
9 rooms
13 rooms



This is the hallway where my room is.



There is one women's restroom, one unisex bathroom (with a tub), one men's restroom, one women's shower room (two showers), and one room with 2 bathtubs (currently out of order and used as bicycle storage.

Unisex Bathroom. Very pink.

One laundry room with pay washers/dryers and an ice machine.

One lounge area, with tv and AC window unit.

 One shared kitchen with the following: microwave, stove with crooked burners, rice cooker, crock pot, waffle iron, and a few sandwich presses.  No dishwasher, no coffee pot. :(

I guess I'd better start eating more grilled sandwiches.....

There is a housekeeper who works 7-3:30, and apparently will wash my towels and sheets if I leave them outside my door. Supposedly there is a floor manager in the same office. I have met neither, since I am not here during those hours.

The best that I can tell, this floor houses long term visitors and employees who need seasonal housing. I have met only one person, the softball coach. He is older, and has what looks to be an apartment suite in the corner. I have heard the door opening across the hall from me, but have not met that person. I exchanged 'head nods' with a guy from down the hall while he was doing his laundry last Friday.

It is rathe eerie, but not at all scary.

Day 11 with alpacas: No spit, and my pants are whistling at me

Day 11:
This morning about 9:00 a.m., I am alone at one end of a pasture, raking up alpaca poo, when I hear a man whistling and calling my name, like he's trying to get my attention.  There is nobody within sight, and the only male is my boss Chad. Chad is out working on fences, and I can see his truck WAY out there. There is no reason for Chad to be whistling and calling my name. So there I am, alone in the field, with my hand over my eyes, turning around and around in circles, trying to figure out who is calling me. After a few minutes I figure it's someone calling someone else, and it just sounds like my name. I go back to raking poo and ignore it.

Then a little later, when we're pulling into another pen, I hear the same whistling and calling. This time it really sounds like it's coming from my PANTS. I fumble in my pocket and pull out my cell phone, where my Dad is on speakerphone (and I am too confused to figure out how to get it off of speakerphone). It seems my phone called him twice, and he had been trying to get my attention. I was very confused as to how this could happen. It wasn't until after our break and some coffee I realized I had put my camera in the same pocket.  It must have hit one of those buttons on the side of the phone and called the last number dialed. Ahhhh...technology. Outsmarting me once again.

Yep, not spit on yet. Just a matter of time, though. I'm busy enough trying to figure out why my pants are whistling at me.