Off The Shelf (With LoobyLou Yarns): A new home for the Alpacas...

So my Alpacas came to live with me last August, in my own little field at the back of the house which was just amazing to be able to go down the path and be there with them. I really was living my dream!

Unfortunately, the water board dug up the road in front of us and this seems to have changed the water drainage from the mountain and now my little piece of heaven is a flooded muddy brown slippery mess that is not capable of sustaining any sort of livestock on it.

I had to move the Alpacas pretty quickly as I was concerned about them slipping and hurting themselves and so managed to get a field just down the lane - sadly the farmer put her rental prices up so high that I had to look again and luckily the lovely farmers from the neighbouring pig farm offered to over winter them in one of their fields. So that's where they have been since last November, with the knowledge that this was just a temporary home for them. A bit of a trek down to the field twice a day but over the winter it has been really lovely to get up and get the fresh morning air on my face and start the day with a walk (I've even enjoyed walking down there in the rain, wind and snow!)

Now though, Liz and Andy need their field back and so I have been looking for somewhere else for my fluffy little ones to live. As luck would have it, another really lovely person who has been looking after a smallholding nearby has let me have use of the fields, stables and yard that she has been caring for....stables and a yard - total luxury! No more climbing over a barbed wire fence to get water from the stream, and a place to lock the silly Alpacas in if there's frost or snow (they sleep out in all weathers and you can tell - they are all so so very dirty!)

Look at the state of him!!

There's a couple of downsides - the farm is even further away than the current field, not really a problem as I walk past it every day with the dogs, but it does mean I can't just 'pop' to see the Alpacas, and the fields have been a little neglected and the drainage is very bad so they are quite wet. However, there's lots of grass and I can move them off if its too wet into the stable yard, where they will be safe and dry.

The upsides are plenty: Dry areas, a stable, running water, storage for food and hay (I have to carry it with me at the moment), plenty of grazing, and a pretty badger faced sheep called Maggie who already lives there! I can't wait to get them up there, get them dry and see how much they like it. AND (and this is the best news!) I can have MORE ALPACAS there if I want to!!!!! (and oh yes, I really want to!) So watch this space - if it turns out to be suitable for Alpacas, I might just get two more............I'm excited even thinking about the possibility!!