The final push!

A panoramic shot of rain clouds on the way. Noooooooooo!

The field is cut but what are the strange shaped
clouds?

I've said it before, but haymaking time is nerve wracking. We have EU subsidies to cut hay on some of our fields and the cut off date is August 15th for regular payments. The weather has been so unpredictable this summer that there has been times when the forecasts said no rain and we had rain, then there have been times when they said it would rain and it didn't. This does not make an already unpredictable but vital part of our calendar a nightmare to plan. Haymaking can occur any time between the end of June till mid-August and of course depends on the weather. If it is very hot, it can be done in a few days, or like this year it has dragged on and on and on. We have three main areas to cut, these are the main part of our land in the areas not eaten by our alpacas, our meadow - or what used to be a ski hill and a neighbour's land. We managed to get the neighbour's land cut, the main section of our land cut, albeit we lost maybe a quarter of the hay when the weather turned but the ski hill was left till last. 

Amanda does look tired. Hopefully she is pregnant, she certainly
does not like to see the males going past now.

Ian's boots were falling apart. He forgot to take them to the cobbler
in the big town, so he decided to fix them himself

They are very robust boots, so he drilled some holes and fixed 
them with wire

Surprisingly, they don't look that bad.

Potato beds

Finally the weather stabilised and the forecast was for no rain for a good long period of time. It was also forecast to be fairly hot and sunny, so perfect weather to get going. Ian started the process as soon as the grass has dried out after the overnight dew. The following day he turned the hay in one section and then the next day he started on the steep section, meanwhile I was in the garden cutting the tops off the potatoes to reduce the risk of blight getting to the tubers that will carry on maturing in the ground until we get around to digging them up (they are still a bit new to get the out just yet). I was surprised to see Ian but no tractor. The tractor had died. It just stopped working in the middle of the field. 

My companion when I was cutting off the potato 
tops. I don't think he/she was happy about me removing
his cover and certainly wasn't happy about me 
relocating him or her to somewhere safer. It peed on me

Another companion and an unwelcome one at that. 
Colorado beetle larvae, a significant potato pest. I was
only telling someone the week before that we hadn't 
seen any in a while and most potato crops are too far away.
Anyway it and its companions have now been dispatched.

The visitor attraction has now been cut. The flowers had gone
over anyway and it has to be done before August 15th

Josefs got a telling off from me tonight as I had to put them
away, since Ian was baling, and he bumped into me.

We managed to get some neighbours to turn the last bit of hay before we had a couple of showers of rain - not great for hay but with continued fine weather, not the end of the world. Thank goodness for good neighbours. Ian then spent Sunday working on the tractor to try and find the fault before the rain stopped him as the tractor was still stuck in the middle of the field. He thought it might be a faulty ignition switch, but after taking it out, that turned out not to be the problem. He finally traced the fault to a wire between the ignition switch and the fuse box. Apparently the wire must have rubbed on the fuse box bracket over the years, until it rubbed through the insulation and shorted out. He has never been so relieved to find a singed piece of metal that confirmed his suspicions. So the bracket has been altered so it doesn't rub on the cable and the cable re-insulated. The tractor is now working and Ian is in the middle of baling as I write this blog. Hopefully he will be finished soon and we can eat. Tomorrow will be a hay shifting day to get it all undercover before Thursday's predicted rain.

How many bales? 269 off the ski hill you say? Good job, I'm 
eating for two (at least we hope so!)

A knot grass moth

Freddie with his bandage on.

I've worked hard this week. Most of the blackcurrants have been picked and processed. I also started the process of preserving the tomatoes for tomato sauce for over winter. As I mentioned above I've been cutting off the potato tops and weeded the plots while I was at it, which took me a bit longer than I would have liked. I've also been spending quite a bit of time fixing alpacas. The hot weather has meant an increase in flies and all the alpacas with vulnerable skin have been struggling with attacks from the flies. Each one seems to have a different reaction. Herkules has another growth on his leg, similar to a reaction he had a couple of years ago. I thought we were getting on top of that, but now the bandages keep working loose. Freddie seemed to have developed more of an ulcer, but some cream from the vet's and the bandages seem to be working on him. Veronica was developing a few red spots on her back legs but that has been sorted with my cream mixed with clay, the same with Aggie. Well until tonight when the flies have now got to her leg. Another one to bandage up in the morning.

Herk's bandage is slipping down. We've tried the t-shirt but he
knows how to take that off. For goodness sake Herk! It would
be much better if you kept the bandage on. The growth will 
go away much quicker.

I extended a flower bed for the irises that a
friend gave me. I also added some lavender
that she has grown from seed.

Who me? Would I do a thing like that? 

Now Chanel!!!!! Oh my goodness! She is a sensitive and spitty soul at the best of times, more so when she is pregnant and she seems to be now. The plan was to get some oil on her back legs overnight and then to wash it off in the morning. No chance! Ian could not keep her still long enough for me to get her scaly skin covered in oil. We had to abandon that idea. Normally she improves over summer, as she gets out in the sun and onto the fresh grass, but this year she didn't. So we are now trying Vitamin D (with a few other vitamins because they are in the bottle), some metabolites and Vitamin B complex to try and boost her immune system. She does seem to spend a lot of time indoors and she is a dark alpaca, so she may not be getting the full benefit from the sun this year, plus it has been overcast. It is weird, but giving her injections isn't as much of a problem. She didn't seem to bother as much about that, but she was not going to let us in to look at her legs. We'll just have to see how she responds to that as the stress could just exacerbate any other type of treatment. Sigh!

Sunbathing again!

Yup! And this group are all at it!

Such a hard life.

Angelica

Other than that! We've picked mushrooms from the forest and dried them. We also been backwards and forwards to the village for bandages etc. for the alpacas, diesel for the tractor, to do washing, get plastic to cover the hay bales, fuses for the tractor, the bakery, shopping - it's a good job it isn't far. Normally we don't do that much running backwards and forwards to save diesel and wear and tear on the car. We try to keep it to once a week. Ian also had a trip to the big town to get baler twine. Annoying now there is not a tractor supply place in the village now. 

These mushrooms are easy to find, they grow in 
our greenhouse. Very tasty too.

We think Aggie's pregnant, not only is she spitting off the males,
she's very grumpy and here she is getting ready to spit at Ian if 
he gets any closer. 

Miss laid-back Mari. It's hard to tell if she's pregnant as she isn't
the spitty sort at all. We thought she was, then maybe not and
now Ian's not sure at all. Let's see what she does next time
Mr. Tellus pays a visit.

Mr. Tellus sure has a spring in his step. Not bad for an old chap
and the girls do like him, when they aren't pregnant.

Mr. P. has finished on mating duties for this year. 

Finally! We had visitors, or rather we didn't have visitors. Ian had an email for a visit from 25 children and four adults, he responded and then the night before but no confirmation, then the night before there was a flurry of communication and they were coming, but later than originally planned. We tidied up the greenhouse a bit, so that there would be more washing stations and then Ian got a message to say they weren't coming. The greenhouse needed tidying but we both have other jobs to do than prepare for visitors who then change their minds. It is amazing how many people ask to visit and then change their minds or turn up late - as if we have nothing better to do than wait around for visitors. It is a good job that the vast majority of people are not like this, otherwise we would seriously question whether we open for visitors or not. Rural areas are supposed to benefit from tourists, but I sometimes wonder. So many of our friends are seriously cheesed off with visitors who do not behave or do not do as they are told or do not obey notices. It is not as if the hosts are being awkward, we just have other things to do, we have our animals to keep safe and we have visitors to keep safe. Maybe people should go on courses before they are allowed to visit farms.

Looking for shade

Daisies are pretty

Fortunately not as many hornets (pictured here) or wasps this
year. Mind you, hornets are not quite as aggressive as wasps

Turbjørn is doing okay. Not as good as we would like, but he seems to be better in himself

Bee balm

There is a vegetable garden in there somewhere.

Marshmallow flower

So happy with my waterlilly. It's still blooming away.

Blueberries are ripening

He looks like such an in charge chap! Apart from he isn't, he's
a coward really. This week when I was doing something in the 
greenhouse when I heard a commotion from the chicken arks.
There was something about the noise that made me think that
the pine marten might be back, so I ran down and next thing
I see is an eagle flying off. I went to check on the chickens and
I think it had been pulling at the netting to get to them. No wonder
they were freaked out. 

Not a plant I wanted to find. I think it's ragwort
which is poisonous to alpacas and many other
animals. I pulled it up.

Grape season is on us. Plenty of little ripe ones to snack on.

More strange clouds and you can see more of the field where
Ian has cut the hay

With love - tomato style

I think the tree must be sick, but with what.
The insects are going mad over it. There are 
flies, lots of musk beetles, hornets and butterflies

They seem to be feeding off something but what?
The grass is also dying around it.

Back to normality

The grapes are starting to change colour already. One day they
were green and next they nearly all started turning

Well I hope you weren't fooled by the title. Normality! What's that? It could be said, with a degree of certainty, that our life cannot be described as normal. However we did have about as normal a week as you can get around here, which means we didn't go far this week. I do of course exclude the flurry of activity one night in response to an urgent message.

Sofie asleep on the table. It's a hard life catching moles, mice
and birds

The swallows have hatched. I forgot to mention they had
returned and taken up residence in the nest that Ian rescued
from the beams that he replaced when he put up the new
roof on the alpaca house.

The evening began with the rather annoying bedtime routine of hunt the mosquito. Before anyone gets any ideas that means hunting those darned insects that invariably start buzzing around the minute the light goes out and start again just when you think you have conquered them all and close your eyes to finally fall asleep. This game had gone on rather late this particular night and finally we were able to relax and sleep when my son posted a message saying "urgent". So of course I had to message back to find out what was wrong.

Two of the chicken arks seen from the boys' paddock. The
light green patch in the background is the buckwheat growing
well and suppressing the weeds

He had mentioned earlier on in the day on Facebook that someone needed somewhere to stay in Oregon after crashing on a bike tour and I had messaged him to say I might know someone who was able to help. Typical that he is that busy he only got the message late on. So instead of going to sleep, I was on the computer to a friend and putting my son in contact - I left them to it and made sure my phone was on "do not disturb" so I wouldn't hear any of the replies. I was really pleased in the morning to find out that my friends were more than ready to help out, although as it turned out the guy was able to stay on after all where he was and didn't need the accommodation. It is nice to have friends ready to open their house and hearts to a stranger though.

Tellus doing a little alpaca yoga

Meanwhile while all this was going on Ian decided to check his emails. He shouldn't have done that, as there was a rather intriguing email from the breeder who sold us our first two groups of alpacas. He is finally, finally retiring. He has been winding down his herd for a couple of years now and still has a small herd left and he had emailed to ask if we would be interested in any of them at a good price. We did manage to get too sleep eventually, but the next day we were deep in conversation about the possibilities. We looked at the list that were left and looked at the challenges and changes we would have to make.

Veronica one of our original girls and the only one still around
not looking her usual elegant self, but still not bad for being
15 years old.

We have considered all sorts of schemes too. From offering space at our place for people who would love to own an alpaca but do not have space or time to do that, to taking the herd and working to sell on the animals or their offspring for the breeder, to taking just a couple of them ourselves and offering to take older ones as part of the deal. For the moment we have sent an email outlining our interest in two or three of the animals and offering to help re-home any should it be needed. At the very least it means that three sheep will be either going to new homes or our freezer as three sheep eat about the same amount of hay as 5 1/2 alpacas.

Brencis must have been rubbing against the salt block this
morning and the flies thought it made an excellent feast

As I have already mentioned in earlier blogs we sold an apartment this year and amalgamated our stuff into one smaller apartment. I have been doing this bit by bit, but it has been a bit of a challenge to say the least. Our felting tutor who stayed there in the smaller apartment had to cope with boxes of books and files in the living room. This week Ian got some shelves up so that we could make use of the only spare bit of wall in one very stuffed small room. This managed to take the majority of books and folders so that now there is only a couple of boxes to fit in and then that stage of the move will be complete. The files and books could still do with a sort out, but that can be a winter project and I'm happy that finally I can find my design files from an Embroidery course I did so I can refer to them again. It also means that the group who will be staying there later on this month have enough room to sleep in as the living room and bedroom will be accessible again.

Getting more and more organised

Those weren't the only shelves to go up this week. Ian has been busy assembling shelves down the side of his barn to take his stuff and things that were in the cellar at the old apartment. It is all beginning to look almost orderly. At least we now can get to stuff rather than clambering over things that are in the way. The only problem we have now is remembering where it all is. It does still look like a bit of a hoarder's paradise, although one I am determined to do something about eventually anyway,

I don't even have to climb over everything to get to the fridge
now either.

Aggie and her big bulge.

Our two pregnant females are now at the imminent stage. Aggie is doing the "I hate pregnancy" slouch as she did last year although we were worried that maybe she was starting with another tooth infection at one point. Hard to know when she is also heavily pregnant. Mari though is just plodding on looking rounder and rounder. Chanel who did not get pregnant last year has been mated with Mr. P again and we think she maybe pregnant. She was rather willing at first but on the last visit she was adamant that he was not coming anywhere near by spitting and kicking, which in alpaca speak could mean she is pregnant. Ian will take up Mr. P. in about a week to check.

Mari looking a little grubby after the drizzle

How she manages this at near term pregnancy is beyond me

Mr. P.

It is odd but the first time Chanel was mated, she got pregnant almost straight away. Last year she didn't take at all, so we are hoping that this time is like her first year when she got pregnant with Freddie. It could be that since she was still feeding Freddie last year that it was too much for her and that explains why she didn't take. It is very odd though that her mother and sister who are still in Estonia also didn't get pregnant last year. Anyway at least Freddie is growing into a very pleasant and inquisitive little chap. Ian has even managed to take him for a long walk and he coped very well with it all. His best mate George, however, is a law unto himself. He frequently just walks through the un-electrified wire fence, which we can't electrify until we get a new battery or new charger. He also is not quite so friendly and inquisitive. He does have the advantage though of the softest of fleeces.

At least Chanel is tucking into the grass and still putting
weight on. Her fleece has continued to improve too.

Ian taking Freddie for a walk

Best of friends. Freddie and George. Inseparable except when
George decides to just nip through the fence

Herk out on the field

Some of the other animals have been causing a little consternation this week. They seem to be taking it in turns. Chanel has been off her food - morning sickness maybe? Or just her usual faddyness? Tellus has had a swollen eye again. I used a home-made antiseptic on it in the evening and then before turning in for the night went foraging for various herbs to make an eye wash for the morning. It seems to have sorted the problem. but we think it is the flies that are causing the repeating problem. Ian also noticed that there was something red on Herk's leg and so I used the wash to clean what appears to be a very unusual swelling or growth. Unfortunately that didn't seem to do the trick nor is the magic cream that I often use and so we are going to have to call the vet out tomorrow.

The rather worrying lump is at the top of his front right leg 

A welcome drizzle this morning

The weather is still causing us consternation too. At least the cool nights are watering most of the plants with dew, but some like the squashes quickly flop in any warm summer winds we have been having. We had a morning of drizzle today but that was the sum total for the week. Not good when it has been so dry the rest of the summer. The only good points are that it is fairly easy to keep on top of the weeding since they are either not germinating, growing slowly or they are some of the few things edible that are growing well. Neither is the grass getting mowed so often as it is not growing fast enough to warrant it and if it is cut it shrivels up in the heat, so best just to let it grow slowly - at least that way it stays green.

The new leaves look startlingly red 

We've had visitors again this week. We had a return visit from a long-term friend of ours who regularly translates for us and he brought back the young lass who helped us out on the farm last year and her older brother. This year it is the turn of the older brother to come and help us to improve his English. He certainly proved useful today in putting books on the shelves, as he didn't need the steps like I did. Let's just say he is somewhat taller than I am, which doesn't take much really. We also had a couple visit with their son and niece. They were looking for activities to keep the children entertained whilst the niece's parents were at the song and dance festival, as were much of Latvia. They promise to return with his mother at a later date.

The dehumidifier is in the car, but that hasn't really sorted the
smell unfortunately. I added a deodoriser the other day, Ian
added bicarb today and the next line of attach is a carpet
shampoo. Milk spills are not ideal in a car.

So apart from delivering cement mixers and moving kitchen furniture for a friend, spilling two litres of milk in our car (fortunately not the borrowed car that I have been using) and getting on with some academic work again for an end of the month deadline, nothing much else has been happening. So a relatively normal week really!