Rosemary

Hobart, Tasmania, AUSTRALIA


Joined July 30th 2007

Number of Posts:
130

Number of Comments:
495

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7



About Me
I have a small hobby farm south of Hobart, in Tasmania. My little farm is home to 20 or so alpacas, which are wonderfully entertaining and great fun to have around.

My blog is simply the day to day ramblings of life on an alpaca farm.

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Recent Posts

Fleeced!

December 29th 2009 23:12
Now Christmas is out of the way, I have a shed full of alpaca fleece to deal with.

I sell some fleeces from the farm gate, but most goes on the website and I sell it via Paypal. This has worked out pretty well, but it's a bit cumbersome and time-consuming to set up, specially at this time, when the pacas have just been shorn, so there's a ton of fleece to sort out and list.

Alpaca Fleece


I'll get to it though. We have different coloured alpacas here, so it's a bit more complicated than if we only had white alpacas, or all blacks (which is quite a trendy thing to do at the moment). Each alpaca fleece has a different feel too. The commercial ideal is every alpaca identical as that makes more sense from a business point of view, but my alpacas are just very cool lawn mowers, so I'm happy that they're all different. If I had a 1000 of the critters it would be a very different story I'm sure.

It's not such a chore, diving into that big pile of lovely soft alpaca fibre
(or fiber if you're in America . I wouldn't mind finding a better shopping cart program to use for selling the fleece though. Paypal is good and it works fine, but something that isn't so clunky and tedious to set up would be better. I've tried Zencart and Oscommerce but they're really overkill for what I need. Something in-between the two would be perfect. If you know of one (preferably free, as that's a good price), let me know.

Likewise, if you'd like any lovely alpaca fleece to spin up for your winter woollies, or even to make a quilt for the bed (I have one, very nice!), we have fleeces for sale from very cheap seconds to exquisitely soft cria fleece.
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Alpaca Christmas Ornaments

December 1st 2009 23:43
I've been designing some cool Chrissy ornaments with photos of my alpacas. I've done some round ones and also oval-shaped ones. They're working out really well too as I have lots of close-up shots and they look great on the ornaments.

Alpaca Christmas Ornament


Some of my alpacas won't stand still at a distance for a photo, but come up and stick their faces right into the lens.

If you're quick you can get some really nice close-ups. Of course,if you miss the moment, you have to step back really quick, or you just end up with a blurry pic of an alpaca nostril. You might also get a snotty smear on your lens too if they decide to check out your camera physically - which some of them will do - not so good for the lens.

Anyway, the ornaments are coming along nicely and they've proven very popular in my store too. They're something a bit different and inexpensive too, so you can slip them into Christmas stockings.

I've got a bunch of different ones now, so check them out at my store.
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We have a small problem. Actually, I'm not sure that it is a problem, just something I haven't come across before and I guess the alpacas will sort it out themselves.

Ol' Bob nursing two weanlings
Ol' Bob nursing two weanlings


Ol' Bob is a wether. That's a male who has been castrated. Also known as a gelding in the horse world, or a capona to some alpaca people. Ol' Bob's approximately 20 years old. We don't know exactly how old he is. We got him nearly 13 years ago and the guy we bought him from said he was "about 8".

Anyway, Ol' Bob's always been a bit of an "auntie" around the crias and young alpacas, fussing about them like an old woman. These days, he usually hangs around in the boys paddock so doesn't have a whole lot to do with the babies.

We weaned this year's male crias off their mums a few months back and put the two of them in with Ol' Bob and the other boys. Since then, the little guys have been hanging around with Bob. He appeared not to mind having two extra shadows everywhere he went and as he's quite a laid back, placid kind of guy, we were hoping these traits would rub off onto the youngsters.

One day I noticed that one of the boys was trying to nurse from Ol' Bob and he was under there for quite a while. Normally, an older alpaca would kick the youngster away if they did that, but while Ol' Bob looked a bit surprised and uncomfortable about it, he didn't kick the boy away or spit at him, he just stood there, just as a mother would when nursing her cria.

I didn't think much of it at the time as I figured he'd sort it out, but then I started noticing both the young boys nursing from Ol' Bob and Ol' Bob looking quite pleased about it.

Now I'm not sure whether I should take the youngsters away from Ol' Bob or simply let them get on with it. Apart from this weird activity, all three alpacas seem healthy and well adjusted. I don't want to go anthropomorphizing, but it just doesn't seem right for an aged, castrated male to be letting two very young boys do that.

For now I think I'll give Ol' Bob the benefit of the doubt and assume he's just being the doting auntie and taking good care of his charges. If it keeps up for too long, I'll put the boys back in with their mums, they'll sort them out quick smart, with a massive spit to the back of the head.

Ol' Auntie Bob
Ol' Auntie Bob
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Alpaca Calendar

November 11th 2009 21:58
OK, this is just a shameless plug for my new alpaca calendar.

Alpaca Portaits - Calendar
Alpaca Portaits - Calendar

[ Click here to read more ]
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What Noises Do Alpacas Make?

November 11th 2009 21:24
So many people ask me about the weird noises that alpacas make that I thought it justifies another post on the subject.

People are taught animal sounds when they're growing up; cows moo, ducks quack and horses neigh etc. but until fairly recently, outside of South America, most people had never heard of alpacas, let alone heard the sounds they make


[ Click here to read more ]
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Rain, Glorious Rain - Mud, Mud, Mud

August 9th 2009 07:04
It's wet! By Jove it - is - wet! Now, we're in a pretty lush area, there's no question about that, with plenty of all-year streams, dams and springs that never ever dry up. But this winter has been unbelievable.

The first rains were wonderful. They sprinkled water down which ran across the dry paddocks and down the creeks. They even started to fill the tanks


[ Click here to read more ]
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Alpaca Update

June 6th 2009 01:28
Been away for a while, but I noticed that Alpaca Notes hasn't disappeared off the radar, so I thought I'd drop in with an update.

We lost our lovely Daizi. Not sure what happened, just went out one morning and found her lying dead in the paddock. Very sad, as she was an alpaca I really liked, I could cuddle her and she'd come up and cluck at me like she clucked at her crias


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There’s not much that’s bad about having alpacas. OK, picking up alpaca poo is a bit of a chore, but that can all go on the garden and it grows lovely plants and veggies for you.

Shearing day is pretty arduous and can leave you feeling stiff and sore from man person handling pacas and sorting all that fleece (particularly if you’re a bit of a sloth who doesn’t do much exercise


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Skinny Girls

June 30th 2008 03:40
I’ve decided to wean Emily off Alice. Emily’s six months old now and she’s a big girl, so well and truly able to survive without her mum now.

Emily
Emily

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Paddock Portraits 2

June 16th 2008 23:54
Here’s Magic. He’s now 4 months old but is already as big (or bigger) than a couple of the 6 month olds. Magic is from my beautiful girl Maralyn who is a lovely calm natured alpaca. Magic is a friendly little guy and he’s soooooo soft! He may well be stud potential, he’s already looking fantastic (and he knows it).
Alpaca - Magic
Alpaca - Magic


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Recent Comments

Comment by Rosemary
on The Green Dream . . . .

August 5th 2008 03:04
So sorry for your loss MNG.

It's the hardest decision ever and the day we dread.

She's up there in the stars. Take care and give yourself lots of time. R.

Comment by Rosemary
on Spot the difference - aka - compare the pair

July 6th 2008 11:09
A bit late in the evening for my neural connections I'm afraid. Nice colours though

Comment by Rosemary
on Nude and Rude

June 30th 2008 05:06
Some very good photos in there. I like the colour in no's 20 & 21.

Comment by Rosemary
on Skinny Girls

June 30th 2008 05:06
Hi katyzzz.

Frankly, watching the news lately, you gotta wonder why some people bother having children at all.

Alpacas, much easier

Comment by Rosemary
on Paddock Portraits 2

June 17th 2008 06:58
Hi Lara. Thanks for dropping by. I would've got more of Maddy but she wouldn't stay far enough away. She's another paca who likes being in the picture.

Comment by Rosemary
on the tall tree attracts the wind

June 17th 2008 05:12
Cheap consumer goods
or
Clean environment?

Try going a day without buying something made in China.



Comment by Rosemary
on Bush shoots Hoops

June 17th 2008 05:11
Wonder if he had the Catholic kids at war with the Protestants before the game was over.

Comment by Rosemary
on Paddock Portraits 2

June 17th 2008 04:44
Hi Louie & katyzzz.

Yes, he is magic and he loves to pose for the camera. He's a very handsome alpaca.

Comment by Rosemary
on More digital photo basics with Erin Manning

June 13th 2008 02:39
Good tips there. Will see if they work for alpacas as well as people.

Comment by Rosemary
on I guess you've got to love horses

June 6th 2008 10:08
Good photos. I like horses. There are a lot around here. They used to spook when they saw the alpacas but they're used to them now. Cheers.