Fall Weekend at Sallie's Fen
Busy weekend on the farm. Sat morning we gave monthly worming (ivomectin) shots to all 32 alpacas. Jack dislikes needles, so he steadies each animal and I stick. We prepare the shots in advance in the warm house according to each animal's weight (which we monitor weekly) and label each syringe with a sharpie. This is a bit time consuming, but is fast once we are outside with the animals. It was all going quite smoothly as usual, when I managed to stab the needle into one of my own fingers. It was sore for a while, but I think I'll live :) Guess for once I really can say that the shots hurt me almost as much as they did them!
Then I spent the rest of the weekend with a heavy rented leaf blower on my back humming the theme to Ghostbusters under my breath.
When we cleared our woods to make "pasture" (it's still very bony with rocks - they don't call NH the Granite State for nothing - more on that in a later post) we left a lot of trees. The alpacas really appreciate the shade they provide in the summer, but it means that we have 3 acres worth of thick leaf debris to clean up come late fall, or else we have no new grass growing in spring...
Usually we hire the local UNH row team to come help us rake, but this year their "rent a rower" weekend coincided with the VT Green Mountain Alpaca show. Next option?! I had never tried one before, but Lennie (Elf-Pacas) recommended we try one of the leaf blowers that they use in their landscaping business.
Well, it was kinda heavy (I'm only 5'2"), so my shoulders got sore (which made me forget about my finger), but boy that thing is powerful - wet leaves, pine needles, pine cones, acorns, loose clumps of sod (oops!)... all blasted away into the woods... I just hope they stay there...
Nicola
Sallie's Fen Alpacas
http://www.sfalpacas.com
two comments:
Update – I just found out that these blowers are also great for blasting away fluffy snow! ....So I have one order for an early christmas present :)
Nicola () - 17 11 08 - 18:26
Nicola the leaf blower should be arriving via Santa and his Sleigh this weekend. You must have been a good girl this year to get this present early!!
Sue
Sue - 20 11 08 - 20:58
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