Dueling alpacas

I happened to have my camera one day when the 'boys' were at it. It's been hot. Everyone's a little testy, and getting in each other's space. This really only leads to face freeze and drool.
Kinda glad I'm not an alpaca.


Note the laid back ears, narrowed eyes, and frozen jaw

The advesary: similar stance, but more drool

Even after the fireworks have passed, there is a stand-off. 

Best not to be in the line of fire, they're usually still trying to spit on each other!

Alpaca breeding

One of the male alpacas has gone away for a month to another farm, for breeding. It's like a mini vacation from the normal routine, but with the lady alpacas.

I have deemed this a 'conjugal sabbatical'.

Day 57 of alpaca adventure

Well here's something I never thought I'd hear myself say: "We moved cattle fencing today, and it was about 90 degrees outside". Tasks need to be done, regardless of the weather.

I am, oddly, not completely wiped out. It wasn't as humid as it was yesterday, which I think has a lot to do with it. Yesterday I was a mess. I had a huge knot in my shoulder yesterday, which led to a headache. That, combined with the 80 degree temps and all the humidity made me really not happy. I basically came back to the room and sat in front of the fan until the sun set and I deemed it acceptable to go to bed. I tried to talk to a friend on the phone, but really had no coherent thoughts.

Today, we hauled fencing all over AFTER the morning chores, and I'm still fairly lucid. Who knows? Maybe I'm getting used to this lifestyle. Only took me 2 months!

When the boy parts meet the hose

Alpacas aren't from this climate, and they can get overheated, with all this heat and humidity. Since the breeding males need to keep cool to stay fertile, it's extra important to hose down those boy parts. When it's HOT like it has been, and will be all this week, all the alpacas get some water time, also known as 'tummy baths'. Sometimes they just get a sprinkler to stand in (or sit on, as they often do), but sometimes it's easier to hose them down directly.

Gotta keep those boy parts cool and functioning. An infertile male can't be sent out for breeding....

When we check the pastures after lunch, if it's hot outside, the alpacas know it's 'tummy bath time' and usually come running. They fight like little kids to get to the hose first, and it's quite a display of dominance (both males and females). They spit and huff at each other, and are very vocal. It's quite amusing. Oh, and ALL genders of alpacas get 'tummy baths', it's just the males that get their parts hosed down. The females we just turn on the sprinklers and let them argue about who goes first.

Typically 'tummy baths' are done by the full time staff, but one day I got to do the hose down.

Thankfully, another volunteer had a camera, so I can share with you!

Everyone comes running from the pasture to get their 'cool down' time.

They all stand with their butts to the hose, tails lifted in anticipation.

There's some snippiness when one alpaca feels another is invading his space....

But in the end, all the boy parts get a cool down. 

Why did they not eat the vegetables???

As a reminder why I do not like shared kitchens in group situations: someone ate my pint of ice cream. It was there the other day, it is not there now. I am very sad, because it is very hot. Just another reminder to never have anything somebody else wants. And if you do, do not put it in the shared area, even if your name is on it.  They did NOT eat the frozen vegetables. Huh. I wonder why.....?? They are cold. What's the deal?

Well, I guess I don't need any ice cream anyhow. I'm still trying to get my pants to fall on the ground (due to weight loss, people....weight loss).  And I certainly won't buy any more while I'm here. Bummer, because there's only about 6 people on this floor. ::sigh::  It's the same everywhere.

23 days left. 88 degrees at 8:00 p.m., and just as hot in my room. Alpaca poo at 8:00 a.m.

Not alpaca related, but freaking me out...my article's download stats..

The article I had published in Indiana Libraries has been downloaded 967 times!!!
And I think it's been cited. F-R-E-A-K-Y because there's no way I downloaded it that many times.

It's really more of a resource guide and comparison of World of Warcraft with Information Literacy standards. I did not set out to get published, but there ya go.

https://scholarworks.iupui.edu/handle/1805/1502

Hound of the Baskervilles?

Ever since I moved in here, there has been a nightly noise that I cannot identify. It is very eerie, and sounds like it's coming from outside the building as well as inside. It sounds like a dog barking, but very hollow, like a ghost dog, or the Hound of the Baskervilles. Of course, I've watched enough horror movies that it can ONLY be the Hound. The Hound, hanging out in the Woods, waiting to pounce.

Then the other morning, in the bathroom, something white slammed against the window screen. A-HA!!! (I thought) Instead of the Hound of the Baskervilles, it is MUCH more likely that sound is a dove. If they are in the inner courtyard, that would account for the eerie hollow echoing sound. Much more logical, but a lot less dramatic. I'll let you all know if it turns out I was wrong....

Green Festival: Project Onward (artists)

The only thing I purchased at the Green Festival were some notecards. One, I will send to my mother. The other two are mine for keeping. 

I was very impressed by this artist: Blake Lenoir. He is with Project Onward, which "supports the creative growth of visual artists with mental and developmental disabilities. Project Onward provides studio space, art supplies, and professional guidance to emerging artists in a communal workshop environment."

His beautiful flower picture was on the cover of the program. I wish I could cut/paste it here, but will have to be satisfied with the link. I like this group, they make me happy. What a bunch of good people.

http://projectonward.org/blakelenoir/

Alpaca hay dive

We all know the best hay is at the BOTTOM 

 It's very disconcerting to come up from a hay dive to find someone with a camera....

And someone who is trying to eat your hair decor

She obviously was not interested in this photoshoot!

Day ??: Friday's activities

Every morning we follow the same routine: clean the barns and pastures, feed the alpacas and check water.  There are other things that need to be done, though, like cleaning the old hay off the barn floor. We did this when I first got here, because it was the winter hay. PB says the hay makes it hotter on the ground so she cleans it up whenever it's needed during the summer months. I say we need to train those alpacas to not spill their hay all over the floor!! Silly creatures.

Friday we cleaned two pens of 'old hay' on the ground. There were many trips to the compost pile.

We also have a group of 'little girls' that graze in grassy areas outside of their pen. We have to move the moveable fences every few days so they don't overgraze an area. On the days they graze in the 'fenced' areas we have to harness them all and lead them out to the fenced area. Then after lunch we harness them and lead them back in.

Also, when it's really hot outside the alpacas get hose time, or 'tummy baths'. We usually do this after lunch, to help keep them cool.

So Friday was:
normal chores, clean old hay from two pens, many compost runs, hose time for all 5 groups.
It was in the mid-80's, but then we got a sudden intense storm around 2 to end the day on a wet note. I spent another hour inside, working on the card catalog. :)

Day 40ish: spit

Well, no, I have not been spit on. However, I have started spitting. EEEEWWWW!!!!!

Yes, indeedy, there have been a few times where I've actually cleared my throat and spit on the ground. This is usually to get the bits of hay out of my throat after we've been raking or moving the hay.

I am frightening myself with this. I do not like the act of spitting, I think it's gross.

::sigh:: I am no longer a delicate flower.

Alpacas: Pere Michel, skirting

I thought it overdue to give you some cuteness, so here you go:

This is Pere Michel before shearing. He is the youngest of the alpacas, and very soft and fuzzy. This, of course, means he has NO interest whatsoever in being touched. Nonono.  Not gonna have it.
Please note all of the grassy bits on his back. Alpacas love to roll in the dirt/grass/whatever, and the young ones especially love that activity.

THIS is Pere Michel AFTER his first shearing.

C'est tres fantastique, n'est pas? He looks a little dazed because those creatures who usually just feed him have swept him up on a table, cut his toenails and taken all his fleece. What's a boy to do? You can see his equally confused friend looking in. ( I believe that's Jubilee)

Here is his close up. Check out that weird little tilde mark on his neck. That was a surprise, if I recall correctly. It was all grey on the outside.

Now. Remember all that grassy stuff? Before he was sheared, people tried to pick out a lot of it. He tolerated that for about 2 minutes. (well, maybe a little longer, but not much)

Yesterday and today we got to skirt his fleece, to prep it for the fiber processor. OH MAN, what a mess.  His coat is very very fine. It was pretty much infused with little grassy bits, dirt, poo, seeds....whatever was on the ground. I find this a challenge, but only for a limited amount of time.

Day 37-40: honey, strawberries and sour cherries

Did I mention they have a bee hive here? They just got a new queen. It seems that made the bees very happy and productive.

This past week, our garden lady came in with a bowl full of warm honeycomb she had just pulled from the beehive! Oh MAN, that was the best ever. I love honeycomb, but I've never had it that fresh. It was really warm, and so flavorful. Yum.

Also this week I got to help pick strawberries on Friday, for them to sell at the Farmer's Market. I really do miss having a garden. It's been so wet here, many berries were getting moldy. The col part is that the berries that weren't quite good enough to sell, we got to take home! I came home with two little green baskets, which I cleaned, sliced and ate for dinner. It's been so hot here, it was absolutely refreshing to have chilled berries for dinner! 

And there is a sour cherry tree on my walk home that is filled with fruit!!  JOY!!

We had a sour cherry tree in our yard when I was a kid, and I spent many hours picking and pitting cherries.  Somewhere along the way I developed a taste for those sour cherries, and I have been very very happy to stop at this here tree to and from work every day. Since I'm in a group kitchen I don't have the means to freeze a whole lot of cherries. I did, however, fill up my travel much on the walk back today. I guess I should rinse them off, I don't think sour cherries with a coffee coating will taste good. 

Day 38 of alpaca: the reality of living in a 100+ year old building

Alternately Titled: Grumpy, overheated Lynn

I apologize in advance for the lack of funny story here. :) Perhaps someone will spit on me tomorrow....

Well folks, the reality of this grand adventure is that it is hot out here now. It's been in the high 80's during the day, with some ridiculous amount of humidity. I have had a number of days where sweat is just pouring off me at 10:00 a.m. One day it was pouring off me at 8:10. That was a hard day.

Reality: there is no air conditioning on floors 3 & 4 of Guerin Hall.

Some of the rooms seem to have window a/c units, but mine does not. There was some vague discussion of possibly being able to get a/c units for the interns, but that is not to be. According to the person in charge of these rooms at the college "students don't get those window units". Huh.

Well I'm not a student, but I guess I'm not faculty, so I don't count. (neither does the other intern here).

She then told me something about the window units overloading the electric system and how she would send a maintenance man to investigate if this room could even handle it.

That was three days ago (or four) and I have not heard anything. I will not hear anything, I figure.

I find this all very fascinating, and yet really annoying.  And hot. (and not the sexy kind of 'hot')

Am contemplating sleeping in the lounge area, where there IS a window unit. Or maybe testing all the doors to find one that is open, with a window unit. I do not think I'm ready to sleep in the alpaca barn yet, although it is much cooler there than here. Each barn has at least two fans.

However,  it is WAY WAY stinkier. A lot stinkier.

I truly hope I am not permanently smelling of alpaca poo. This is why I cannot sleep in the barn.

I have 40 days left. I have technically been here more than 40 days. I have only put numbers on the days I've worked.

So. I am trying to view this as 'advanced' camping, or prep for international living. I have become so spoiled by air conditioning. We are a spoiled nation; weak and soft.

One could also view this as prep for when the power grids fail and/or that giant oil slick in the Gulf lights on fire. I seriously hope that never happens. If the grids go, I won't even have the electric fans the housekeepers gave me! Egads!

Why can't I have prep time for when I am rich, and a nice sexy man is bringing me dinner on the patio?

Oh well. Gonna go find some more ice. Poo patrol at 8:00 a.m.

Day 37 alpacas and poo: Left Hand Triumph (sort of)

haHAAA!!!! Today I realized, moments after I did it, that I had actually carried the poo shovel with my left hand, LIFTED it to the Kubota and TURNED it to dump out shovel contents. YEAH!!!!

I cannot do a FULL shovel of WET poo, only a 1/2 full shovel. But I am still happy.

Maybe I am getting stronger....

There is only one fork

In the shared kitchen at Guerin Hall, when I moved in, there was only ONE fork in the fork section. My guess is that people have taken the other forks to their rooms, forgotten about them and moved them away. Over time this had led to having only one lonely solitary fork.

LUCKILY, I brought some very un-environmental plastic ware with me. For the first month I used that, and the one fork available. I would immediately wash it and put it back in the drawer, in case someone else needed it.

When I heard a new intern was arriving I decided to get crazy, and 'borrowed' a metal fork from the White Violet Center (of course informing all the proper authorities!!). They had a whole bunch of forks!! We had only one. I was worried that with two interns here, there would be some kind of fork war, or territory battle. Best to avoid that from the beginning!

Now I have my 'borrowed' metal fork, which I carry to the kitchen, use, wash, and carry back. This freed up that one fork for the new intern. I warned him of the 'one fork' scenario, but I don't think he understood the full meaning of this situation.

One night, I went into the kitchen for some dinner. There was my new friend, trying to eat his spaghetti with a spoon. He asked if I had seen the fork, because he could not find it. I told him I had not, and reminded him to get one from White Violet. Then I loaned him my plastic fork, since he looked so unhappy trying to eat spaghetti with a spoon. (in a fit of selfish survivalist hoarding I made him wash it and give it back.....I should have donated it to him, I should do that tonight)

So my question: if he does not have the fork, and I do not have the fork.....who has the FORK???!!!!
I know I should have put a tracking device on that thing.

Green Festival: presentations I attended

I got to see a few speakers at the Green Festival. Each one was inspirational and reminded me that there ARE people out in the world striving to change how we, as a country, consume goods and power.


The general feel of the conference was that we are on the edge of revolution which will change the focus of our economy to be more sustainable and less toxic for all.

Folks I saw:


Reverend Lennox Yearwood, Jr.
http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/reverend-lennox-yearwood-jr/
Opening speaker. He's a former Office in the Air Force reserves, peace activist, Katrina survivor. He is also the founder of the Hip Hop Caucus, which strives to get inner city kids involved in clean energy and greening their cities. Strong speaker, and pretty darn inspirational.  An excellent way to start the day!


I wonder if I'm too old and pale to join the Hip Hop Caucus? Hmmm. I suspect I am simply not hip enough.


DJ Spooky
http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/chicago-2010/2140-spooky/view-details/


You may think he's just a good DJ with some excellent mixing, but he's also concerned with the environment. (WHAT, you mean you don't know of him? oh dear! Luckily I have a link below! Check him out.)


He travelled to Antarctica with a mobile studio to "capture the acoustic qualities of Antarctic ice forms, reflect a changing and even vanishing environment under duress."  He wrote a multi-media symphony. (yes, folks a SYMPHONY) Pretty deep stuff, combining politics, policy and art. Cool.
http://www.djspooky.com/art/terra_nova.php


My favorite part of his talk was at the end, when Sister Maureen (Moe) came in for the next presentation and sat down next to me. DJ Spooky was still talking, and when he finished Moe said to me "Oh, well he's not what I expected at all! I wish I'd seen the rest of that". 
You GO DJ Spooky, bust down those stereotypes! 

Dr. Kevin Danaher

http://www.greenfestivals.org/speaker-directory/dr.-kevin-danaher/

Author, educator, and one of the founders of the Green Festivals. This talk was focused on finding employment in the new Green Economy. It was more inspirational and useful than I thought it would be. 


My favorite quotes:
"To save the ECO-system we need to transcend the EGO-system"
" Life values need to rule over money values"

Day ??: June 2. Ow.

I thought I would toughen up after a month and half of almost daily labor. Really, am I THAT out of shape?  Yes, it seems I am.

At the end of every day I have to stretch and massage my left hand to prevent it from freezing in the shape of 'holding a shovel'. Same with my right hand, to prevent the 'holding a rake' look.

And when we sit down for lunch, I get frozen in the sitting position. Hmmm. Well, I have a month and a half left, let's hope I toughen up soon!! Gosh, I'm such a wimp.

Days 28-30: Green Festival in Chicago (no alpaca spit there....)

Last weekend I got to go with 3 other people to staff the White Violet Center booth at the Green Festival in Chicago. I was fairly excited, because I've not been to Chicago in a number of years. Even though I had no money, just being in a big city excites me.  I love the energy of a city; all those people doing all those different things!

The drive up to Chicago is about 4-5 hours, but we lost an hour (sort of) since we switched time zones from Eastern to Central.  The most exciting thing about the drive up was passing through a wind farm in one of the towns. Which town? I have no idea. Crawfordsville? Danville? Not sure, but it was really cool, especially since we were headed to the GREEN FESTIVAL, with all those alternative energy people trying to save the world from ourselves.

We all stayed at Jenny's fiance's condo, which made a huge difference in the bill, and was very lovely. Since the Center covered my meals while I was there, I spent less than $20. Luckily, I've really killed the 'shopping bug' in me the past several years. I feel no real need to acquire more junk. It's just more stuff I would be responsible for housing and keeping clean. I already have stuff scattered across the country.....no need for more. :)

The festival was Saturday and Sunday, and we worked in two hour shifts so nobody got worn out and we all got to see some speakers or presentations or films.

Against my better judgement, I share with you here the first time I wore a PURPLE shirt, and a fanny pack. For real. Firsts on both. My sister will be so happy about the purple. It's the White Violet Center shirt. I look official, or something.

 

I look at this and can only see how much weight I need to lose....but there ya go. Purple & fanny pack. The world's coming to an end, this is a sure sign of the apocalypse.

These are two of my companions, Jenny and Cheryl. Jenny (sweater) is in the Provident Volunteer Ministry, and Cheryl is the Marketing guru. I did not get a picture of the Director, Sister Maureen. Oops. I am a bad photojournalist.