EMBER THE LLAMA...AND HIS AMAZING WILL TO LIVE.....

We purchased Ember when he was one year old...he was the most playful llama we had ever had. One day he became overly interested in our females and so we needed to separate him from our herd of females and our gelded guard llama. He was annoying the females and starting to fight with the older male guard llama named Fitz. We built a semi wall between Ember and the rest so that he couldn't get at them but could reach through and take part in the herd. He also got his own field which I think he enjoyed...separated by a wire fence from the rest of the herd. When a female llama is in the mood, she will walk over to the male and start flagging (waving her tail) and he will start making guttural noises when breeding is to take place. When I heard and saw this, I opened the fence between the herd and Ember and,our female Abbie ran in and they bred. When she is ready she cushes and he mounts. The act is actually kind of lovely...he rubs her neck with his during the act. Abbie got pregnant...llamas are auto ovulators....the female determines after the act of breeding when she becomes pregnant...very cool....probably for protection of the young in the wild...weather, water availability, etc. Annabelle was born to Ember and Abbie and is such a sweet baby. She stayed with her mom, played with the herd and then will eventually separate from mom and becomes her own llama.

 Months later, when I was out in the barn, I didn't see Ember, so I went looking for him. I would suppose that every mom (of children and animals) has the same instinct that I have. When I walk into the barn, I just know when something is not right, I can feel it without even having seen anything. He was lying down in the field in kind of an awkward position. Long and short of it....he couldn't stand. After determining that he didn't have a broken leg, I erected a makeshift tent to protect him from the sun and brought him food and water. When my husband came home, we rolled him onto a tarp and dragged him into the barn. Over the next month, we rigged up a hoist with a horse girth strap and stood him up each day to change his bedding, etc. We cleaned him, hand fed him and encouraged him to stand again. I would go out in the evening and syringe apple juice and vitamins into his mouth and tell him how big and strong he was and that he was going to live and run his fields again. During this time frame, we had to inject him with quite a bit of wormer. A parasite had invaded his body...a Meningeal Worm from white tail deer that travel through our fields. When the llamas graze they pick it up and very quickly the parasite goes straight to the brain and spinal cord. Ember became paralyzed in one leg. We would hoist him everyday, turn and clean him, feed him and love him. One day when I was pulling into our farm I saw his face looking out above the barn 1/2 wall. I couldn't believe it, he was standing. I ran out and he was cushing by the time I got out there. We continued to lift him each day and do our daily routine. One morning he was standing out in his field and has not stopped running and playing since then. We love him...he has not fathered any crias since then, but we are so glad just to have him healthy and alive. He loves to cush in 'his' swimming pool. We fill it with cold hose water in the summer and he stands in it and can't wait for us to finish so that he can lower himself and cool his underside. He's a sweetheart and we are very lucky to have been involved in his recovery.

A WINTER DAY ON THE FARM,

Winter is definitely a beautiful inconvenience....I have found it (being from Chicago and now living in the country) especially hard on a farm....But, the good part is that you have to go out into it....no choice...all your animals are waiting for food, water and a pat on the head. I can't go to bed at night until I've made sure that everyone's tummy is full, they've had a drink and they are able to lie down out of the wind and snow in some clean hay....so, you get dressed really warm and go out into the cold night.  Once you're out there...you're really glad that you ventured out....the animals are all so happy to see you. I wonder if they recognize me sometimes with just my eyes showing, but apparently they do...or they just love anyone that is going to give them corn and oats and fluff up their hay. Anyway, I find myself spending more time out there than I had originally planned, and I always feel so good when I turn out the lights and say goodnight...sleep tight... to them all. We check very often at this time of year because sometimes lambs are born early and we don't want them to freeze so we either move mom and baby into a special stall with heat lights or we actually bring the babies in if mom is not wanting to feed - our moms are all great, but we do go and get babies from another farm that don't pay as much attention as we do...so, I bottle feed the lambs and they live in my bathroom and then in a whelping pen in our indoor kennel for our dogs. Some days it's really tough...equipment breakdowns, frozen water, etc. but, most of the time my husband gets it all to work and we go out and work in the barn together and laugh a lot.....and then we come into the house frozen and tired and snuggle up in front of a fire and fall asleep having more sweet stories to tell about our life on the farm....

DISLIKE WINTER? ME TOO....sort of...

I've never really liked winter (maybe when I was a child I enjoyed it) but, not in recent years. I decided I needed to do something to help me manage winters better, to enjoy every season. I bought a camera and started shooting. A strong cold wind might keep me in the house, but, otherwise, I go out everyday with my camera over my shoulder. I placed a basket of seed on the deck right outside the window where I sit at my computer and was amazed at how beautiful the ever changing scenery was at that seed basket. I've always been a bird watcher but never really had a feeder near enough to me to really see the birds up close. When the Blue Jays fly in everyone else disappears...except one day, a female Cardinal, that basically gave him the "I'm not leaving" look and after starring at each other for awhile, he went on to eat seed together. At about 4:00 each day it becomes Cardinal hour...so many of them fly in and feed on the sunflower seeds....so beautiful. You really don't notice them as much in the summer, but with their brilliant red and softened tones (of the female)against the white snow....they just brighten the whole landscape. You don't see the variety that you see in the summer months when the vacationing birds come back, but you get to know the ones that come each day. The squirrel pictured is a Fox Squirrel and he has a boo boo above his eye....I watched the boo boo heal each day as he would come for his daily treat....winter....it's not so bad...in the summer I would be outside seeing some of this but not from my warm comfy chair with a front row view....I've started taking my camera with me on my drives to and from work and have gotten an amazing variety of beautiful pictures of winter in all of it's finery....find a way to enjoy this beautiful season.

THE FACE OF COUNTRY...

The faces of country living come in many different shapes, sizes, colors and ages. Of course, every spring, we all fall in love with all of the newborn babies. And, at our farm, we also make special accomodations for our aging animals. We make sure that they have comfortable, quieter areas to live out the rest of their lives. They've added so much to our lives in their dedication to working and training hard for us. They've produced beautiful babies for us, provided us with many hours of fun and funny situations. They've earned this place of honor and respect. One example of this is one of my female llamas, Abbie. I purchased Abbie when she was pregnant. She was not very tame and would not allow me to come very close to her. But, everyday I would stand at the gate and talk to her about how beautiful she was and how beautiful her baby was going to be. I would put a container of food on the ground near me and then call her and stand very still. I wouldn't reach out and touch her even when she would finally come over and eat the food. Day after day I would move the food closer to me and eventually put my hand in the food, so that she would have to eat out of my hand. One day I was finally able to rub her as she ate. Fast forward to birth of new baby Annabelle. Annabelle was born during the day while I was at work. Abbie was waiting at the gate with her new baby for me to see when I got home from work one day. Annabelle was a spunky new baby and really did not want anything to do with me, only her mom (which is really what you want when a baby is born, so that she will be accepted and bond with her herd). Abby trusts me so much that she allows me to trim her by hand, with scissors each spring when llamas need to be sheared to keep them from overheating from the summer heat and humidity. No chute, no halter, she just stands there and patiently allows me to trim her. One really hot day, I was trimming Abbie and as yet had not even touched Annabelle. When I was finished with Abbie, she pushed her baby Annabelle over to me and must have told her that she needed to stay still and let me trim her. Because, she did. I couldn't believe it. I had been concerned about her overheating and was thinking that I was going to have to halter her to trim her. I felt that I had earned Abbie's trust so much so, that she trusted me with her most precious gift, her child. All of my llamas are very tame and they give me such joy everyday! I love to be in the barn with them. Especially when there are new babies. The mama llamas hum to their crias (babies) - it's lovely. They are the most intelligent, gentlest animals that I have ever raised, and, I've raised about every kind of animal there is. Honest gentle acts of kindness go a long way with all living things..........

PUTTING THE BARN TO BED

Kind of late getting out to the barn tonight. Have to close the door to the chicken coop and just generally look around and of course say "Goodnight" to everyone. Did not get out to feed today - so I also gave them a late night snack - have been busy bottle feeding a lamb that was born this morning and not being accepted by his mom (mom is young, she'll do better next time). The chickens were all roosted in their coop, the peacocks/hens and babies were all roosted up in the top of the barn. The sheep and llama's wanted a snack and a pat goodnight. Found one brown egg in the can of feed. One of the 'girls' lays one everyday - in the feed can. Sometimes if we come out too early, she's still in there and looks kind of crabby when we get too close. The donkey's were lying down in all of the hay they knocked down, they looked up and yawned when I turned on the light. Started talking about increasing the size of our flock - possibly bring in some exotics - they are always fun to raise - and also some Buff's which are good layers and pretty easy going - anyway, we're going to pick out a few different breeds and have a fun colorful bunch running around this summer. I think I talked my husband into lining the inside of the chicken coop with plywood so that I can paint it and hang better nest boxes - make it look really cute - stay tuned. Annie (English Golden Retriever that is on a diet - not by her own choice) has lost 1.5 lbs. so far - I think that I am beginning to see a waistline - well, at least she does not look as much like a large & lovely barrel as she did before.

RUDY LOVES ANNIE...HAPPY VALENTINE'S DAY

Rudy Loves Annie - Happy Valentines Day! Rudy and Annie are two of my dogs. Rudy is a black Standard Poodle and Annie is my large and lovely English Golden Retriever (who is currently on a diet and exercise program). They have had two litters of the most beautiful babies together, Goldendoodles of cream, black and brindle colors. If, and I think it is possible, animals could love one another - they do. They do everything together and are so considerate of each other. I see it everyday. Even though Annie is receiving less food to eat and will usually growl and knock any of our other four dogs out of the way to get their food, she will stand quietly by while Rudy eats. When he comes in with snow on his face or ears, she licks it off. They lie together all of the time and often use each other as pillows. They walk together outside and swim together in our pond in the warmer weather. I think that they love us, they definitely show us love, so I think that they love each other also. Whatever, I want to live in that world. When Annie was having their babies, Rudy would clean them and was in the welping pen with Annie the whole time. He would lick them everyday and as they got older, he would be goofey - which he always is - with them and play with them like he was their age (in many ways he is - you'd have to know him and his brother Obie which a friend of mine owns)..... Happy Valentines Day to Rudy and Annie - one of the sweetest, most thougtful couples I know. All relationships should be so loving. Here is a picture (or two or three) of them together.

RENNOVATION CAN BE FUN..WELL, REWARDING ANYWAY

Rennovation is my husband and my middle name. Everything I look at, I view as a potential story or a picture. Together, my husband, a contractor/carpenter, and I look at anything and picture what it could be. We've rennovated quite a few buildings, mostly historic buildings in S.W. Wisconsin. It is our labor of love and we can't seem to quit (even when we say - this is the last, or no more). We see buildings as living things that just need some love and they will return to their former functional, beautiful self. Here is the building that we own and are curently working on - weekends (we both work more than full time for others). This building is the Cyrus Woodman House and is located in Mineral Point, WI. It was a single dwelling at one point in the 1800's, early 1900's and it was originally two levels - walk out and 1st floor. We cannot pinpoint when the 2nd above ground level was added. It was 'remodeled - hacked apart' during the 40's - possibly earlier. It was made into 4 apartments. There have been several residents that have lived there for the greater part of their lives. When we purchased it, we made much needed structural improvements, and have been for several years now, finally we were able to get to the fun stuff - the cosmetic (my specialty). We still have landscaping to do this summer. Currently we are adding two more apartments to the building (dividing one large one and renovating the walk out). It is such a win-win situation, the neighborhood loves the improvements, the residents love it and I'm sure the building is smiling too. Enjoy.