It's Been a Long Time

Not much has changed here.  The lambs are getting bigger. Some of them are nearly as big as their mothers.  Most of them are bigger than Henrietta.

Filly is looking like a big girl.

Barack O'Llama and Snowball still are not friends.  Barack is making some efforts at being friendly: less clicking and snorting, not putting his ears back so much.

Llama showdown at sunrise (sort of).

The apple tree at the far end of the pasture has apples on it.  The sheep and llamas aren't supposed to eat them.  If the apple seeds are green, they are toxic.  We've been trying to keep the apples out of the pasture, just in case. 

"I'm just trying to help.  Really."

In the back pasture, the boys spend most of their time lounging.

Snowball: the least lazy of the boys in the back pasture.

The boys have a new water bowl.  Gunpowder has figured out that it's a water bowl;  Pecan and Almond aren't so sure.

They were less freaked out by a new llama.  Hmm.

Black Sheep

It's getting difficult to tell Henrietta and Macadamia apart from a distance.  I'm not sure a ram was involved at all in Macadamia's birth.  Perhaps Henrietta figured out a way to clone herself?

Sometimes they hang out under the coop.

Macadamia is slightly smaller than Henrietta, for now.

Henrietta, trying to look taller.

We'll likely have more black lambs next spring since their daddy will be Gunpowder. 

Gunpowder, resting up before breeding season.

Almond is not black....yet.  He's hoping that if he rolls in the dirt enough, he'll fit in with the other boy sheep.  (The good news is that dirt washes out.  Grass and hay not so much.) 

Almond wearing shelter camo.

"Being awesome is exhausting." Pecan

A white llama looks good with black sheep....

"You shall not pass" Snowball

...see?  (I'm just thrilled to see them sharing a shelter so soon after Snowball's arrival!)

Waiting for the rain to stop.

If you give a man a camera...

...he will take pictures of himself with his llama....

...and give Pecan a spiky fleece-do (and take about fifteen pictures of it).

Settling In

Snowball is settling into his new home.  He approves of his food.

His largest neighbor stopped by for a visit.

 Snowball is getting to know the family.

His charges are doing well.  This picture might not be terribly exciting to most, but it's terribly exciting to me.  The boys have spent nearly a week bunched up at the top of the pasture, so it's  great to see them a little farther afield.

Snowball has tried out the almost-finished shade shelter.  Not surprisingly, I've not seen him in the hoop house yet.  

He's figuring out what the loud things in the backyard are (and I don't mean the chickens).

But, although much less frequently, Barack O'Llama and Snowball are still humming, clicking, and snorting at one another.

...and introducing Snowball!

We have another addition to the farm family--Snowball the llama!

Snowball

Snowball has been guarding calves.  Somehow the cows seem to know it.   They're never interested in anything but hay bales, but as soon as Snowball was in the back field, they were there sniffing him.

The cows are impressed.

His new job is to guard the boys in the back pasture.  He's doing well so far.  He's not freaked out by the sheep, he does well on a halter, and he is only mildly argumentative with Barack O'Llama (more on that later).

I'm ignoring that other guy.

As you can see, he is much, much fluffier than Barack O'Llama.  And he is really soft, too.  (His fleece, although he's a little of the fat kind of soft and fluffy as well.)

Seriously!?!

 It is not buddy-love at first sight for Snowball and Barack O'Llama.  They are doing a lot of clicking and snorting from the corners of their respective pastures.

Barack O'Llama knows just what to do to cheer himself up.  Take a dust bath....

Nothing like a bath after a hoof trimming.

...and eat a tree.  Well, try to eat a tree.

A little help please?

Meet Gunpowder

Our ram is here!  His name is Gunpowder, and he was born in April of this year.  He's a little bit younger than Pecan and a little bit older than Almond.

Gunpowder is a handsome guy.  We fell in love with his markings when we saw his picture.  Not only are his markings amazing, but his horns are impressive.

He's moved into the back pasture with Almond and Pecan.  They are getting along well; in fact, the three of them stick together like glue.  Almond misses his momma quite a bit.  Sandy was concerned about him for about fifteen minutes and has been ignoring the ruckus the rest of the day.

Getting Ready for Our New Guys

We brought in some experienced post dole diggers...

..and some with slightly less experience.

A professional also was at hand, making sure those crucial measurements are correct.

Even with all the hard work, everyone is excited still.

When can you expect to see some pictures with the finished project?  Well, do you remember how long it took to build the mobile chicken coop?

Fluffies

(Most) everyone is getting very fluffy around here.

They say it's the peanuts and request more from optimum fleece production.

 

Filly scratches, just like her momma.  As Filly gets fluffier, she gets lighter.  

 

Barack has found a nice dust pit.  Unfortunately, it's rather close to the road, so we can probably expect more people telling us that there is something wrong with our llama because he is rolling about on the ground.

Elvira is working on her bangs, like any self-respecting sheep with a name from the '80's. 

Theresa looks like a completely different sheep now that she's all grown up.  But she's still pretty!

The fluffiest of them all?  Pecan.  A person can get her hand lost in all that fleece. 

Elsie is no longer in that awkward fleece-growing-out stage.  Whew.

Barack doesn't have nearly as much going on in the fluffy department, and that's completely okay with us.

Hazel and Filberta (aka Filly)

An Ode to His Llama

My eight year-old son was assigned an acrostic poem as part of last week's lessons.  He chose to write about Barack O'Llama (and the cat, too, but that poem is downright slanderous).

Beautiful llama
Appetite, he has a good one
Responsible for guarding sheep
Athletic, he likes to go on walks
Colorful: black, brown, and white
Kisses he gives to people he loves