GOAL!!!

It's been about five weeks since the incident with and gelding of one of our alpacas.
My goals have been simple and progressive with a specific endstate in mind.

• First to enter the corral.
• Then to help my husband with the chores.
• Feed the big boys by myself with my husband standing by in the corral.
• Enter the corral alone, with my husband standing by outside the corral.
• Do the chores by myself with my husband outside of the corral.
• Finally, do the chores entirely by myself.

Yesterday, we accomplished major goal #1 and repeated it today.  I did all of the chores entirely by myself while my husband watched from the house.

This is significant.  Since the marathon season is starting soon, my husband will be travelling more frequently.  Which means I needed to reach the point where I felt comfortable doing the chores by myself, un-escorted.

I am very proud of myself and of our alpaca.

Our next major goal is to reach the point where I can halter and handle the alpaca prior to shearing toward the end of April.

A Little Halter Training

The weather was beautiful this weekend.  Most of the snow has melted (finally) and there is rain in the forecast.  There is still snow, but there IS rain in the forecast.

We decided to take advantage of the beautiful day and work with a few of our alpacas on a halter. 

These are pictures of Blue Mesa Yoda, one of our Junior Herdsires. 

Yoda is a Legacy grandson and Shockwave son.

He was quite interested in our girls.  Which is good since, we plan to breed him with Kocoa Moon in he fall.

Yoda is very easy to handle and stood quietly when I asked him too.

Saying Hello

Our Maiden, Daisy, is very curious about the alpaca dog.  She likes to chase him and is always curious about what he is doing.

A few days ago, I was able to capture some of the infatuation.

Daisy (the darker one) can usually get Kocoa to play with her.  But notice Keyla (the white one) is eating behind the shed.

The girls spent quite a lot of time following the dog around.

Daisy looks like she wants to goose the dog.

They seem to be plotting a strategy.

Hubba decided to give the girls a little help.

Ooops, I've been spotted.  But Keyla never stopped eating.

Meeting the Neighbors

The neighbors behind us have a few horses.  Yesterday, the alpacas and horses realized each other was there.

Spring?

Look what I found this afternoon in my garden...

Daffodiles

Tulips

Fiber Arts Friday - #TwitKAL

I've been working on the Twitter Knit Along for some time now and still have a ways to go.

We officially started on January 27th (yes this year, I haven't been working on it that long). I actually started one day early since I was confused by the pattern and was given advice on how to get started.

I ended up starting this shawl 5 times and finally changed to a less slippery yarn which helped alot.

We were supposed to finish on 2/17.  However, with all of the new to me stitches and the fact that this is a shawl and not a hat, I thought four weeks was agressive.  I figured it would be a good challenge and with so many other people working on the same pattern, there would be some resources available when I got stuck.

I think most people finished on time, but a few of us decided the new deadline was April 30th.  Since that is still almost 2 months away, I think I might make it.

I have really enjoyed seeing other people's progress and feel like my knitting skills have grown. 

I'm not thrilled with how my shawl is turning out but will finish it and wear it with pride.  Mostly though, I am happy to have added a few stitches to my knitting repertoire and really enjoyed the virtual knitting circle of the #TwitKAL.

See more fibery goodness over at Wisdom Begins in Wonder today.

The Shining

Yesterday I was talking with a hotel clerk about Colorado and how beautiful it is. He & some friends want to visit, but have never been.  So I pulled out my trusty iPhone to show some pictures of Estes Park and the Big Thompson canyon. Both are close to my home and in my opinion the most beautiful part of Colorado.

As he looked at the pictures, he said they reminded him of The Shining. I thought that was interesting since the Shining is said to have been written at the Stanley Hotel in Estes Park.

I've never read/seen it because I have been way too chicken. But since this is the second time it's come up recently and it's part of the local history, I feel must give it a shot.

I'm going to update my Netflix queue now.