The Gift of Time

This weekend my sister-n-law Stefanie and her boyfriend Rusty came for a visit and offered their help around the farm. This is the first time they have been here with the alpacas. Our alpacas as you can see felt right at home spending time with them.

Stef & Rusty might appear to you like real laid back nice people but let me tell you the truth they are a couple of power houses some real slave drivers. Just in one day we have accomplished so much. The work we completed while they were here would have taken Chris and me a month of weekends.


We were able to re-hang several gates. Rusty is on the left, Chris is in the middle and Stef is on the right. Most of the gates put in by our hired help last year were all hung incorrectly. Some would not open all the way or were hung on the wrong side. With their help we now have working gates. What a concept. I can not tell you how happy I am to have functional gates.



We also dumped several loads of dirt into the third shelter leveling the ground and making it acceptable height for the alpacas to feed on hay. Then topped it off with some gravel they seem to like to roll and lay on. Also in the photo you can see the finished feeders Chris and I had finished earlier.



We have no experience working with cement so Rusty and Stef were a big help in framing out and making a base for the waterer that goes with the third shelter. Just waiting for the cement to dry, then we can place the livestock waterer on top. This last step will complete this pasture we plan to move the boys into.

We started are work around 7 am and it took us until late afternoon to complete all I have mentioned and both Chris and I were ready to call it a day. They were not ready to quit for the day and suggested we start to work on the pasture on the other side of our property. Personally I think they might not be human, they insisted we keep going and get some more things checked off of our farm to do list.



So we began to dismantle this barbed wire fence. The fence had 5 barbed wires stretching across the length of the fence. We started at the top and took them down one wire at a time rolling it up as we went along. The unwiring was the most difficult part & barbed wire is no treat to handle. We managed to get through it with a little humor.


After the wire was down we began to knock and pull up the fence posts with the tractor.


Here is an after shot with the fence down.


Ancient Artifacts


Here are some items found out in the pasture. You can find all kinds of things while searching the ground out in the pasture. I spotted these two decorative glass rocks. Chris found the ceramic squirrels. He snatched them up and said he just found some Native American artifacts. We got a good laugh when he showed us what he had. Both the rocks and the squirrels I can only guess had at one time been in a previous owners potted plants. We did manage to find a real arrow head undamaged from time.


What a precious gift of their time Stef & Rusty have given us. It meant the world to us and we are so thankful for their generosity. It was a lot of hard work but I can say having them here with us was so enjoyable. You would think they would be scarred off and not want to come back for awhile, but guess what. They are both planning on coming back next weekend when we shear the alpacas. The month of May sure is a busy one around here. Now I plan to take what’s left of my Sunday and work on my knitting while I nurse my sore muscles.