Autumn rain

It has rained, off and on, since late last night. I love this kind of day, if I don't have to be out in it all the time. Unfortunately, some of the animals around here don't have much choice at the moment. The yearling ewes, Buddy (who is a wether now), the alpaca boys and Strawberry are in a field with no shed. All they have are the trees to provide some protection. If the weather was cold, I would bring them in so they could at least have the shelter of the sheds on the sides of the barn, but it is 65 degrees today and they are not suffering. Of course, looking at the alpaca boys, you'd think they were being tortured (and might I point out, they have chosen to hunker down in the middle of the field). Strawberry, on the other hand, is getting on with what she likes to do best....eating. (She's a girl after my own heart.)

As you can see, Strawberry has quite the baby belly now. I'm not exactly sure when she is due, because I can't remember when she started spitting off the male who was here to breed her. (A female llama does not ovulate until she is bred and once she is pregnant, she will spit at the male llama, if he tries to approach her.) I believe that she is due sometime around Christmas or early January. Once again, this is a case where the faintest record would be better than my fondest memory! I don't know why I didn't write down when I first observed her not being receptive. Good thing Strawberry is an experienced mother. I'm hoping for another appaloosa female cria. Wouldn't that make Pippi happy to have a sister who looks just like her? Pippi is quite the young lady now. She is still in with this year's ewe lambs and I'm loving the way she interacts with them.

Tomorrow is the big day......barn clean-out day!! (It's also my birthday, and sad as it might seem to some of you, getting the barn cleaned out is just the way I want to spend the day.) I'm so happy we are getting this done before cold weather. My friend, Teresa, made some wonderful minestrone soup that we will have for lunch tomorrow and a birthday cake with very unusual ingredients (another post). My friend, Mary, made a fabulous oatmeal cake (complete with one candle!) that we enjoyed at Wednesday knitting. What more could any woman ask for than to have a clean barn and such good friends (who are great cooks!)?

Hope you all have a productive and happy weekend. I know I'm going to.