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.

Inspiration

My friend Susan found out that we had alpacas and was interested in taking a look at our yarn. She bought some of the most beautiful colors that we have and just sent this picture as an idea for a project.

I am first in awe of anyone who can knit mittens! Second, I love the pattern name - Deep in the Forrest. These should be really beautiful with alpaca fiber and Susan is so talented.

Susan introduced us to ravelry.com. It is a networking site for fiber artists and it will be a great source of pattern ideas (ok, that is an aspirational goal) and a way to store information about fiber, project details, and future project ideas. A very cool resource. Still looking forward to learning spinning and knitting...

Thankful for warmer weather!

With Jeremy's surgery, chore duty is squarely on my shoulders for the next few weeks. This morning was surprisingly warm...I even peeled layers while moving hay and executing our waste management plan.

We had a farm visit from a very talented knitter from Riley, Kansas. She had purchased some of our first yarn and needed more of Scout's fiber to finish her project. The scarf is a beautiful work in progress! It was fun to show off our newly updated farm scrapbook and to have her shop our yarn. We also spent some time with the animals.

Two new alpacas

We are so excited to have two new alpacas join us today! Westminster and Magellan were given to us by the grandparents of one of Jer's cross country athletes. They are around five years old and are adjusting to their new home fairly well.

Last spring they were shorn, but just their blankets were taken. They seem to be extra large next to our boys because of they have two years (or more) of fiber growth. We anticipate some beautiful yarn, roving and blankets from these boys.

Roving - A Project in Waiting

When our shipment of yarn arrived, so did our first roving. We have been waiting to have access to roving because I have this crazy desire to learn to spin fiber into yarn. Our good friend Karen loaned us her spinning wheel last fall and it has set idle while we wait for one, time, and two, roving. The second arrived and then we had to wait for a break.

Settler's Farm in Wamego offers classes which means a qualifed instructor is available. Now, we are back to the question of time. And, the philsophical debate of should I learn to spin or knit first. If I learn to spin first, then, what to do with the yarn. If I learn to knit first, then we have yarn already spun by The Shepherd's Mill. I'll work all of this out over winter break.

New arrival - handwoven rugs!

We are really excited to have our first shipment of handwoven rugs from our alpaca fiber. Ingrid's Handwoven Rugs in Paint Rock, Texas created these beautiful 2x4' and 3x5' rugs. We selected one for in front of our desk in the living room - it is so soft and warm!

The rugs are woven from the "seconds" or fiber from the neck and legs of the alpacas. This fiber is less desirable because it is typically shorter when compared to the fiber on the body of the animal that makes up the blanket.