Latest scarf - can be worn with pattern showing or on reverse side just showing the effect of felting the wool onto the silk. See detail below.
16 acres on "the Edge"
Sunday, 13 November 2011
BLOSSOMS TO FRUIT, but will they stay on the trees?
Finally the last couple of months' work in the olive grove has been completed - pruning, weeding, fertilizing, mulching, spraying, slashing and initial netting. Rain this year has been in abundance, so it is only now that the irrigation will become important. It has been a most unusual November with some rain, and very strangely the temperature has remained around 11 to 25 degrees. As a result all the different trees in the olive grove are looking a picture of good health..... ie until our annyoying native birds called 'twenty-eights' start their destructive practices. In its second year, the almond tree has produced 2 almonds, now firmly netted from our feathery enemies.
Images are of a young kalamata olive, a macadamia, a fig tree, baby grapefruit, a cab sav vine, a small avocado tree and baby avocados. Other olive trees are seen in the background of most images.
Images are of a young kalamata olive, a macadamia, a fig tree, baby grapefruit, a cab sav vine, a small avocado tree and baby avocados. Other olive trees are seen in the background of most images.
Sunday, 6 November 2011
IT'S APPLES
The strange weather has really fooled our apple trees. Usually they would drop their leaves in winter and have flowers in September.
This year we had a mild winter, not one frost and have also had the most extrordinary amount of rain. (Not that I am complaining - our tank is overflowing and there is still green in the paddocks where usually in November there should be brown.) My apple trees still had leaves in September and not one blossom in sight. A friend suggested taking all the leaves off, which I did. This week when I went up to the olive grove, there were my two little trees with lots of new leaves and IN FLOWER - about 6 weeks late!
So it looks like it's apples again - Gala on the left and Grannysmith on the right. (See post on 25 January this year for pics of our wonderful first crop.)
This year we had a mild winter, not one frost and have also had the most extrordinary amount of rain. (Not that I am complaining - our tank is overflowing and there is still green in the paddocks where usually in November there should be brown.) My apple trees still had leaves in September and not one blossom in sight. A friend suggested taking all the leaves off, which I did. This week when I went up to the olive grove, there were my two little trees with lots of new leaves and IN FLOWER - about 6 weeks late!
So it looks like it's apples again - Gala on the left and Grannysmith on the right. (See post on 25 January this year for pics of our wonderful first crop.)
ALPHONSO ALPACA
So much for owning alpacas - 'just put them out in the paddock and throw them a bit of hay'. That was the type of message received when looking into which animal to be our lawn mowers, or rather paddock mowers. In actual fact, there always seems to be a new challenge in looking after our rather curious boys.
This time it is Alphonso - our fawn boy. About this time last year Alphonso showed signs of mites, so we drenched all the camelids. One obvious sign was hair falling out on this nose and thinning of hair on his ears. Last year he was not shorn, so I thought perhaps the long fleece had made him more attractive to mites. This year the same thing happened and my new vet said all the boys had to have a series of 3 injections over a 4 week period. This involved getting the vet out to do the first lot of injections, then letting the shearer do the second lot (when the boys were tied down) and finally getting the vet back to do the third round. The solution is rather thick, so you have to have a large needle on the syringe. Of course, the large needle hurts more than a thinner one, so the boys were not all that enthused. (Our fiesty little TopDeck struggled so much the third round, the vet had to have 4 goes to get the job done.)
Anyway now all the injections have been completed and Alphonso looks much the same as before the 33 injections which have been performed on the 11 boys! But all of this is just the prelude to the current tale.
Twenty-four hours ago when it was time for the boys to come in for the night, Alphonso was up near the shed on his own and the other boys were still in the dam paddock. Poor Alphonso presented himself with a huge right top lip. It was extremely swollen and hard. He let me have a good feel around - I was looking for any sign of a bite or perhaps a grass seed. Unfortunately Alphonso has dark skin inside his mouth, so it is impossible to see any redness. I checked his tongue and it wasn't swollen, so at least he could breathe and swallow. I watched him try to eat, but he obviously couldn't use his lip (so essential as they don't have top teeth). He looked like he had been to the dentist and come out with one side of his mouth numb. Fortunately alpacas suck in water rather than use their lips or tongue, so I believed he could at least drink water.
I came inside and called a couple of friends who are alpaca breeders. One said it could be a grass seed, which would in a couple of days fester and then I may be able to extract it. The other suggested a bee sting. Both recommended not calling a vet, but rather use a 'wait and see' approach. Neither had actually had this happen to any of their combined current 170 alpacas or any in the previous 10 years of breeding! Another option would have been a snake bite, but if that was the case, Alphonso would have been dead. If he had been a cat or dog, I would have had him in the house to watch him, but unfortunately my only option was to let him stay overnight with the herd.
How happy was I to wake up and go down to the boys the next morning and find Alphonso with a much reduced lip. He was really happy (yes you can tell when they are happy) and gobbled up breakfast along with the other hungry mob.
I am presuming the problem was either a bee sting or an ant bite. We have huge ants 2-3 cm long and both could be a possibility when you spend most of the day putting your head down into long grass.
Now we just have to try to get the hair to grow back and the latest suggestion is zinc cream. So it is off to the chemist tomorrow.
Thank goodness I have spent each morning with my boys haltering them and touching their heads (they are not supposed to like this) as now they are so good when it comes to me helping them - eyes, mouth, ears - where can I possibly have to go next?
This time it is Alphonso - our fawn boy. About this time last year Alphonso showed signs of mites, so we drenched all the camelids. One obvious sign was hair falling out on this nose and thinning of hair on his ears. Last year he was not shorn, so I thought perhaps the long fleece had made him more attractive to mites. This year the same thing happened and my new vet said all the boys had to have a series of 3 injections over a 4 week period. This involved getting the vet out to do the first lot of injections, then letting the shearer do the second lot (when the boys were tied down) and finally getting the vet back to do the third round. The solution is rather thick, so you have to have a large needle on the syringe. Of course, the large needle hurts more than a thinner one, so the boys were not all that enthused. (Our fiesty little TopDeck struggled so much the third round, the vet had to have 4 goes to get the job done.)
Anyway now all the injections have been completed and Alphonso looks much the same as before the 33 injections which have been performed on the 11 boys! But all of this is just the prelude to the current tale.
Twenty-four hours ago when it was time for the boys to come in for the night, Alphonso was up near the shed on his own and the other boys were still in the dam paddock. Poor Alphonso presented himself with a huge right top lip. It was extremely swollen and hard. He let me have a good feel around - I was looking for any sign of a bite or perhaps a grass seed. Unfortunately Alphonso has dark skin inside his mouth, so it is impossible to see any redness. I checked his tongue and it wasn't swollen, so at least he could breathe and swallow. I watched him try to eat, but he obviously couldn't use his lip (so essential as they don't have top teeth). He looked like he had been to the dentist and come out with one side of his mouth numb. Fortunately alpacas suck in water rather than use their lips or tongue, so I believed he could at least drink water.
I came inside and called a couple of friends who are alpaca breeders. One said it could be a grass seed, which would in a couple of days fester and then I may be able to extract it. The other suggested a bee sting. Both recommended not calling a vet, but rather use a 'wait and see' approach. Neither had actually had this happen to any of their combined current 170 alpacas or any in the previous 10 years of breeding! Another option would have been a snake bite, but if that was the case, Alphonso would have been dead. If he had been a cat or dog, I would have had him in the house to watch him, but unfortunately my only option was to let him stay overnight with the herd.
How happy was I to wake up and go down to the boys the next morning and find Alphonso with a much reduced lip. He was really happy (yes you can tell when they are happy) and gobbled up breakfast along with the other hungry mob.
Now we just have to try to get the hair to grow back and the latest suggestion is zinc cream. So it is off to the chemist tomorrow.
Thank goodness I have spent each morning with my boys haltering them and touching their heads (they are not supposed to like this) as now they are so good when it comes to me helping them - eyes, mouth, ears - where can I possibly have to go next?
Monday, 31 October 2011
The llamas support CanTeen
Nurses in a Perth hospital were giving their time to sell CanTeen bandannas to assist with raising money for childhood cancer sufferers. I was in a hurry and asked them for directions and they responded with the answer on condition I helped them out. I told them I would come back after my appointment - which I did - and purchased 2 for my llamas. They asked if they could have a picture to use in their campaign next year and I sent them the following.
GARLIC CROP FOR THIS YEAR
Well time is almost up to get new vegetables into the gardens before the summer heat arrives. The garlic showed early signs of needing to be pulled out (probably due to all the rain), so out they came and made way for an eggplant.
After washing the knobs of garlic, they were pegged by the roots to dry and then I plaited them to hang out on the verandah ready for use in 2012.
After washing the knobs of garlic, they were pegged by the roots to dry and then I plaited them to hang out on the verandah ready for use in 2012.
There is also a ready supply of broadbeans and strawberries.
Tuesday, 25 October 2011
OH ENRIQUE
As if I hadn't had enough dramas with my alpacas this week, this is how Enrique appeared one morning. My first re-action was that my stomach felt sick. Enrique is the one who climbs trees and puts his feet up on top of fences. He's the one who won't walk on a lead, but does give me a cuddle every morning when I hold my arms out to him. What had he done now?
I did a quick about face and went up to the house to get a bucket of water, cloths and eucalyptus oil.
The next step was to corner my boy and have a good look at his face. Fortunately it was as I had hoped. He had been up a marree tree and the bloody coloured sap had fallen over his face. (I believe the aboriginals used this as an antiseptic.)
Soapy water starts the removal process and this is followed by eucalyptus oil which around these big nostrils causes some decent chest coughs.
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