A`week of contrasts

Well what a week of contrasts! We'd been enjoying such lovely weather on the run up to Easter, as you can see from the sky behind the tree, and then, in the space of one very wild night,we were blocked in by snow. Two sheep went missing and we found them after prodding around with a stick in the 4' drifts by the crags. Luckily they'd made a little igloo each and bounced out when we dug them out. The llamas, as usual, took it all in their stride but were a little miffed when they realised they couldn't get to the feed bowls. A new bale of hay in the shelter soon made them happy again though. Thankfully the thaw has now set in as we're off to Chatsworth again soon - keep your eye out for us!

Happy 60th, Ken!

Karen was determined that Ken's 60th birthday treat wasn't going to be put off by the weather, and here's the proof (can you see Ken's '60 today' badge?)! The weather report was very grim and the longer picnic trek was abandoned in favour of the shorter Chatsworth 'A' one but in true Peak Llamas fashion, the rain stopped and the wind died down. That is, until the second half, when we got very wet! Django and Jelly Roll performed really well even in the face of this but were glad to get to back to the traler and hay. We were equally determined not to disappoint Karen & Ken but we're looking forward to the summer when we'll do a proper picnic trek with them - maybe even the Ladybower one. Ken had a knee replacement recently and has exactly the right attitude - use it or lose it!

Update on Lena

Well Lena did all the right things after Django was introduced to her for the third time in early August. Poor old Django went into her field with high hopes fuelled by his two previous experiences with her, but she was having nothing of it this time and refused his advances in no uncertain way. She's now spending lots of time sitting in her shelter and eating good quality hay with a feeding supplemment every now and then. We're not absolutely certain she's pregnant but we're sufficiently confident to be thinking of changing our annual holiday (only one week away a year for us!) to make sure we're around should the happy occasion materialise. Here she is hiding behind Satchmo, her half-brother. We'll keep you posted!

Godfrey & Jean in the sun!

It seems like a distant memory now but we actually had some nice weather quite late in the year, as you can see from Godfrey & Jean's trek in October. We meant to update the blog sooner but we've been so busy with Beastly Science, the llamas and everything else we do that we never got round to it. Now we're working off the Christmas excesses (including hosting the village and musicians' party) we thought it about time we did. This was yet another great trek, with Django enjoying being led by Jean, who was very kindly letting him munch away on the superior-quality Chatsworth grass more often than he usually does! Jelly Roll, as usual, was very happy to bring up the rear. If ever there was a hippy reincarnated as a llama, then it's definitely Jelly Roll. Thanks too, Godfrey, for the offer of help on the book - it's all done and due out in May!

The young ones!

Another great day out in Chatsworth last week, with Mark, Rebecca, Harry and Grace. We usually take extra leads along when there are children on the trek so they can help lead a llama, but Harry and Grace showed great style as they forged ahead with Django and Jelly Roll. Here they are, demonstrating the perfect way to hold the lead and leaving the llamas in no doubt who's the boss!

Django performs!

This was the moment we'd been waiting patiently for, when we introduced Django, our stud male, to Lena, our potential mum. They'd not been in the same field since before winter and had both been unsure what to do before then, so we didn't know what to expect. They both behaved impeccably though, a textbook mating, with Lena playing hard to get for a few minutes before giving in to Django's charms. Llamas mate with the female sitting down, as you can see here, and the gestation period is just under a year, hence waiting until now to get them together. If we'd done it earlier there was a chance the baby would have been born in winter but, carefully managed, our first baby (cria) will be born in milder weather. Keep reading the blog for updates!

Grooming time

The llamas are looking really good now, after their shearing experience last year. It's important for us to keep them well-groomed, otherwise the fibre can get matted and full of hay and other debris. They do generally enjoy being brushed as we do it very calmly and it's another chance for them to be around humans, which they equally enjoy. Here's Bix, smiling for the camera as he's being brushed!