Getting ready for Shearing

Hi All, we are in full swing here, getting ready for shearing at both farms, and anticipating the Estes Park Wool Market. The list of "to-do's" gets longer every day, and is so daunting at times that I just want to go pull some weeds in the garden and forget about everything else for a bit!  Speaking of gardens, we have had nearly all of our compost picked up by Botanical Gardens and master gardeners as well as Perma-Culture experts.  This pleases us tremendously, as we like to be as green as possible, and to watch the manure piles dwindle down to nothing.  The alpaca manure compost is perfect, breaks down quickly, is never to hot to apply safely to gardens, and is low ammonia/low nitrogen.  I have a real fan club here that comes back every year.  The Salida Farm is only allowed to sell a limited amount of compost as we want plenty for our own pastures and fields.  Now on to shearing- major organizational efforts there, labels, accurate record  keeping, vaccinations, fleece grading and sorting, and determining uses per each fleece then combining  as many like fleeces as possible for the mill.... lots of jobs, never enough time, and then there is the garden calling me!  Our crias are running a bit late so far this spring.  But after having more than 200 deliveries here, I have learned not to worry.  It all happens when it is supposed to and tends to happen more easily and with better outcomes the less we interfere!  We are also in irrigation season, so that adds another layer to every day.  Del has really fine tuned the system in Salida, and with great efforts on his part.  So, we will end this week with a nice party thanking all of our friends and fellow medical folks for their great volunteer work replacing hips and knees in patients in Panama City, Panama this past April.  As usual, I will take a deep breath and resolve to enjoy each day and to notice all the little miracles and beautiful things that happen all around us.  I hope you will take the time to do the same!  Take care, Jane