Katy set up a tour of the alpaca farm over in Hampton Cove (there were 8 llamas as well) for Thursday.
There were around 100 alpacas, which was quite the sight to see. I was amazed at how different all their faces looked, though I still don't think I would be able to keep up with 100 different names.
We walked around looking at them a while, then went into the yard area near her house and she showed the clipping process for shearing one. All of the animals are fiber animals and she uses the hair to make yarn and other items. She teaches fiber classes and sells a small variety of items in her gift shop. All I could think was how much never ending work it must be to care for that many 6 foot tall creatures-never mind the whole shearing, spinning, dyeing, weaving, teaching, selling aspect. The kids set out their feed buckets before we left and we got to see them all close up again.
Wednesday night, the neighbors decided (after nearly 2 solid weeks of no rain) to burn down a few outbuildings and piles of trash. They set 3 HUGE fires and then appear to have gone off for dinner or something, leaving a single kid in charge. Glad there is a paved road between us.
Speaking of neighbors, there is a family in Judy's house now. Not sure if they are renting or bought it, we get told nothing. They do scream at one another out in the yard, smoke non-stop, have several dogs (and no fence), like to spin out and make the gravel fly and go back and forth past our house instead of using their end of the road. Also, they have company around the clock when they are home and 2 a.m. is just as good a time to scream in the yard and drive by really fast as any other time of day. So, yay for neighbors.
Murphy Jones is healing up. The theory is that he will eventually get some hair and we will know what he looks like. Right now, he looks like a 20 pound scabby dust mop. I can not believe people can neglect a dog to the point that he's an open sore from ears to toes. He had over 100 ticks on his tiny body. :(
On to the farm:
 After the tour, nearly everyone headed to Katy's to hang out. I sent Jake and Chan home with her and Ben and I, Kurt and Emma and Melanie and her Ben all loaded up to head out for an overnight backpacking trip. |
