First annual spring alpaca day at Prairie School Farms

Don't miss the first spring alpaca day at Prairie School Farms!

Sunday, April 5
2-5 p.m.
The Lehning's, 12015 Flush Road

To RSVP on the evite, go to:
http://www.evite.com/app/publicUrl/YDSYBVCXIDUWINJPAGBN/alpaca

We look forward to having our friends join us for an afternoon of just spending time with the animals. We will have yarn and rugs on hand for you to see the finished product. The alpacas will have their shearing on April 14, so this is the best time to see them in full-fiber mode.

Hobby Farm Home - my new favorite magazine

This Hobby Farm Home magazine is amazing! Not only does the current issue have a feature on honey and bees, but it also profiles Susan Gibbs and her fiber cooperative - Martha's Vineyard Fiber Farm.

Susan left the media industry (producer for CBS) and Angora goats and Cormo sheep. The article tells her story and highlights her beautiful yarns.

There are also six fiction books on knitting that are listed with the article. I have one of the six checked off. For my knitting friends...

• The Friday Night Knitting Club (Berkley, 2008), by Kate Jacobs
• Knit Two (Putnam, 2008), by Kate Jacobs
• The Shop on Blossom Street (Mira, 2005), by Debbie Macomber
• A Good Yarn (Mira, 2006), by Debbie Macomber
• Cast On, Bet's Off (24/7 Publishing Group, 2007), by Jack Olesker
• Yarn Harlot: The Secret Life of a Knitter (Andrews McMeel Publishing, 2005), by Stephanie Pearl-McPhee

Happy reading and happy knitting!

The Great Sunflower Project

Hobby Farm Home magazine, www.hobbyfarmhome.com, has an article in the May/June 2009 issue about the Great Sunflower Project. Gardners can sign up to plant a sunflower and survey the number of bees it attracts twice a month. The goal is to spend 30 minutes or less and to spot five bees.

The star variety for this year's effort is Lemon Queen. The Project will send you a packet of seeds to plant and provide growing tips. Go to www.greatsunflower.org to sign up and to learn more.

With the decline in bees, this is a great cause and assistance in the research of natural pollinators.

Farm visitors

We were so pleased to have some farm visitors this Sunday. Danny and Glenna Titus from Wadena, MN came by the house. They have an alpaca farm, Tis The Season Alpacas, http://www.tistheseasonalpacas.com/. Their daughter is a student at K-State and would drive by our house for work deliveries. She called home to say that she had an alpaca farm on her route.

Danny and Glenna were down to visit and they took a drive out to our house to meet the boys. What a great family! We continue to be impressed by the alpaca community and their kindness.

Scout is home.

Scout was able to come back to the farm last week. We are so thankful for the great care at the Vet Med hospital and for all of the well wishes from our family and friends.

Scout is handling his daily medicine as best as can be expected. It is a two person job with one to hold and one to adminster. He is sporting a very interesting patchwork coat. He has the area on his side bare from the surgery and spots on his neck, leg and ear that were also sheared. He is behaving like his spirited self, so we are feeling better about things.

Shearing is tentatively April 14. We will have a motley crew with Wes and Magellan and Scout all looking non-traditional with crazy fiber. Magellan and Wes have been sheared like llamas; Scout has his recent health related issue...I guess we will just be good for a laugh.

The stress!

We have had a very busy weekend with a lot of stress. On Friday night, Scout was not his usual self. Jeremy and I put all the animals in the barn and monitored him every 30 minutes until we went to bed. He seemed to be ok.

The following morning, he was laying down, but flat on his side. He did not take food. After calling some alpaca friends, we decided to call K-State. The vet on-call recommended we bring him in to be evaluated.

After some chaos in finding a trailer to borrow and driving half-way to pick up the trailer to remember that we had taken off the ball hitch from the back of the truck, we got on our way to K-State.

The Vet Med Teaching Hospital did an evaluation and thought it might be a hair ball or a mass in his digestive tract. The ultrasound did not show anything conclusive, so we agreed to an exploratory surgery. We had to put a down payment of $1,500 for them to begin the procedure. And, we were told to expect a call in about two hours.

Four and a half hours later, we called them. Scout made it through surgery, but what they found was not operable. He had an impacted colon - gross, I know. They thought the best way to proceed was to treat it medically through IV fluids and exercise.

We got to see him today. He looks ok, but we are still waiting anxiously to see if he'll make it.