Current Updates

Wednesday, January 31, 2007 6:38 AM
We had some real rain finally last night, about 1/4 inch. The sun is coming out now, it looks like it's going to be a nice day. Maddy is making new poop pies, and Pati has predicted that she'll deliver on Super Bowl Sunday. I guess I'd better find out who's playing so that I can come up with a cutesy name for HER.

Tuesday, January 30, 2007 7:32 AM
We got about .000000001" of rain last night, which brings our season total up to almost a teaspoon. I sure hope we don't wash away. No excitement here yesterday, just another day at the ranch. It has been very calm here for a couple of weeks, they aren't scheming are they?

Monday, January 29, 2007 7:13 AM
I had a good time in Nashville, but it's great to be home. Air travel these days is no fun at all. No babies were born while I was gone, I guess they wanted to wait for me.
Over the next week or so, the website and email may be down for a few minutes at a time, as we'll be migrating to a new server.

Thursday, January 25, 2007 8:55 PM
Yep, late day update. It was absolutely perfect today, in the upper 70's. I'll expect about 50 for a high tomorrow. Not here, I'll be in Nashville for an AOBA meeting. It'll be fun, and I'll update when I get back.

Thursday, January 25, 2007 7:11 AM
Mo is here, and he's settled in nicely. We were more impressed in person (alpaca?) than with his pictures. It's going to be a nice warm day here, a perfect day for a new cria, but everyone in the contest seems to think it'll be a while. I sure don't know why some people think boy though, we already had one of those this year.

Wednesday, January 24, 2007 7:43 AM
So far, just the only thing most agree in in the contest is that it'll be a girl. I didn't mention all of the rules, you can enter as often as you like, no purchase is necessary, offer valid in the contiguous solar system (not on Pluto) and you must be this tall¬ to play.

Tuesday, January 23, 2007 7:28 AM
The wind died down, and it's going to be a nice day. Maddy is now at day 324, and my guess is she'll go another couple of weeks. Of course, trying to predict a delivery date is like trying to predict the weather. I decided I'd get a little help, and you get to choose the date, sex, color, and weight of the cria. The winner will receive, well, you won't really win anything except the respect of, aww, forger it, just put your best guess HERE

Monday, January 22, 2007 6:37 AM
Priscilla was remaining joined at the hip to Cantana, and is absolutely huge. Yesterday was the normally unpleasant task of weaning her. Surprisingly, she never looked back, and has been having a great time with the other kids.
The wind was howling yesterday afternoon, dust was flying, and the alpacas didn't seem to care, I think they've become used to it.

Sunday, January 21, 2007 6:55 AM
I went up to Morongo Valley yesterday, and even up there it was nice and warm. I got to say hi to Moonie, she didn't seem to miss me at all. I half expected Maddy to change my plans, but she was nice and held out. I'd imagine we'll see it in a couple of days though.

Saturday, January 20, 2007 7:35 AM
It's looking like some really nice weather is heading our way, up to the 70's for the middle of the week. That's a perfect time for Maddy's cria to join the world. Luther is now at the fun age, he's the one that gets the playing started.

Friday, January 19, 2007 8:13 AM
It took a while, but finally Susan in Colorado Springs correctly answered that "Attaboy Luther" is from The Ghost and Mr Chicken. Too bad she didn't make it a true daily double.
Maddy Smith is starting to act uncomfortable, and she's bagging up a bit, so it shouldn't be too long until she delivers her little girl. We haven't had a girl born here all year, it's about time we changed that.

Thursday, January 18, 2007 8:01 AM
It's warming up nicely here, and today is the start of "official" baby watch for Maddy Smith, I wonder if she'll do the 320 day thing like Emma? Luther is doing great, and we won't make him wear the coat at night anymore. It is a handy way for the bigger crias to snag him, they just bite the back end, and he's an immediate captive.

Wednesday, January 17, 2007 7:06 AM
I was surprised that no one even tried to name the movie with "Attaboy Luther!" He's doing great, and Emma is quite protective of him. It's funny, I can do anything I want with him, she just doesn't want other alpacas near him. Because of the cold nights, he's been wearing a cria coat, so of course all of the other crias have been curious. They're not used to seeing a purple alpaca.

Tuesday, January 16, 2007 7:16 AM
Yesterday was the first "official" day on baby watch, and Emma didn't keep us waiting. For now, anyway, we're calling him Luther. My guess is he felt sorry for us after the mess up last month, expecting his arrival. "Attaboy Luther!" (Name that movie)

Monday, January 15, 2007 6:11 AM
We had a great time in Las Vegas as usual. We ended up leaving late Thursday rather than early Friday, because we heard that the Cajon Pass might get snow. We got there about 11:30pm. On Friday, we put our hands on a lot of alpacas, and at the happy hour by the pool, we stood around fires while the snow fell.
We didn't end up buying any alpacas, but I did make $87 on the slot machines. The alpacas were happy to see us when we got home, and of course they all wanted to know if they'd be getting a new herdmate. I guess they'll just have to settle with Mo.

Thursday, January 11, 2007 7:40 AM
Oops, I forgot to finish my update yesterday. Oh well, I didn't really have a lot to say. I'm getting all the stuff ready for the Las Vegas weekend, I'm planning on winning a zillion dollars while I'm there. Of course, I'm willing to risk about twenty bucks to do it. And of course, I'll still talk to the "little people" when I'm filthy rich.

Wednesday, January 10, 2007 9:03 AM
It's cooled back down here, and we may even have a bit of rain on the way.

Tuesday, January 9, 2007 6:30 AM
It was a perfect day yesterday, I got to wear shorts all day. We were even able to eat dinner on the patio. Today is supposed to be about the same, then cooling off through the weekend. All of the alpacas are doing great, and I need to start rearranging boy's town for when Mo gets here.

Monday, January 8, 2007 7:40 AM
We're tired of the wind here, it picked back up yesterday, not as bad as Friday, but annoying nonetheless. The alpacas seem to be used to it now, and the crias are just running around annoying the adults as usual.

Sunday, January 7, 2007 7:29 AM
The winds died down and it's back to nice weather here. We're supposed to have nice weather until Wednesday, then maybe a touch of rain. With all of the wind we had, I was surprised that no one had the watery eyes, I guess they all had their backs to the wind.

Saturday, January 6, 2007 6:06 AM
It was really windy yesterday, and the alpacas stayed pretty well hunkered down all day. They didn't even get treats yesterday, as they would have blown away. The winds laid down a couple of the small trees, but we got them tied back up as soon as they went over. It doesn't look like we had any real damage, but we'll likely have some watery eyes today. It did die down overnight, I'm hoping it'll be a bit calmer today.

Friday, January 5, 2007 7:45 AM
Well, we figured out why the mixed signals from Emma. Because of what I'd been seeing, I went back and looked at the breeding records. It appears that I had a senior blonde moment with a bit of halfheimer's and Mad Cow disease thrown in. We'll be on official baby watch for her in a couple of weeks. Her official due date is Valentine's Day.

Thursday, January 4, 2007 6:57 AM
It's a nice day out there, but a windy storm is heading our way. Emma is looking poochy (that's a technical term) in the back side. I wish she'd just hurry on up and do her thing, but hopefully not in the lousy weather tomorrow.
Yesterday, I had a big laugh, Manda Smith was giving the warning call. Manda can spot a coyote a mile away, so I gave a look, saw nothing, and went back to what I was doing. A minute or so later, a couple others joined in, so now I took it seriously. Sure enough, I spied the "predator." There was a red balloon rolling down Avenida Mañana. Risky as it sounds, I hopped in the golf cart and went over and caught that nasty thing. I'm now their hero.

Wednesday, January 3, 2007 6:08 AM
I sure am glad the updates page has the automatic date thingy because I was writing the wrong date all day yesterday. There's a beautiful sunrise this morning, and all of the alpacas came up to the nursery to watch it. Okay, they really came up for the fresh hay...

Tuesday, January 2, 2007 7:32 AM
The holidays are now over, time to take down the lights and decorations, and get back to a somewhat normal life. Yeah, I talk to alpacas all day, like that's considered normal?

Monday, January 1, 2007 7:26 AM
Here it is, welcome to 2006 2007. It's a foggy morning here, but I see on TV that it's sunny in Pasadena. Rose and Lillith are out there bragging that there are llamas in the Rose Bowl Parade, but no alpacas. The alpacas don't really care though, they're just happy eating and pronking.