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February 18, 2006
Rumours of Spring?
A half-dozen kids are gamboling around the woods already, and Jonathan received two orphaned minature lambs – dove grey with charcoal spots – which after 10 days of bottle feeding are gaily racing each other around the yard and getting underfoot. The thick laces on my Sorel boots are a favourite chew toy for the lambs and kids. The kid I am holding in one of the following photos (Sparkles, I think it is) managed to twist herself around and get a mouthful of Allyson's hair when it was her turn for a cuddle. |
Although the gorgeous sunshine had some of us convinced Spring was around the corner this week, the temperature is dropping to –15 overnight and I hope I haven't doomed my just-pruned rose bushes to an untimely death. The bucket of lily bulbs I took out so optimistically is back in the garage again until there are no ice crystals showing in the soil. Brrrr. But babies have their own sense of timing, and on Poplar Road we have had new arrivals for several weeks now.But what drew us out in the icy wind on the 15th was the news that Cama Llama finally had her baby. This little girl has her mother's colouring and her father Supper's friendly nature. Thanks to Jonathan's careful handling during the birth and Cama's familiarity with all of us, this little one is happy to get close enough for a pat and investigate whomever she pleases while her proud mama looks on. Jonathan will keep this baby for a pet because she's the last offspring of Supper who died last summer, so he's encouraging human attachments in a way he doesn't normally. I think he's feeling more sentimental because 10-month-old Buckaroo (a.k.a. Billy the Kid), the only truly friendly – rather than greedy – goat in the herd, favourite of his grandchildren, died two weeks ago due to collapsed lungs in an accident in the hay feeder. The hobby farm is income for Jonathan, a business to hear him talk, but he loves all his animals and he's lost a few favourites to unfortunate events this year. I guess that's life on a farm. Having Cama's new baby arrive now makes all the difference. I'm going to visit a lot next week so the little one gets used to me. Jonathan even said I could name her. Naming is tough, though – suggestions, anyone? The photos inside the barn are when she's only an hour old, and the sunny ones are the next afternoon. She's fuzzier, but baby llamas don't put on the weight quickly the way kids and lambs do, so she'll be a gangly thing for quite a while. I'm sure she'll be the star of many a blog post this spring. Thanks to Allyson for the photos. |
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Posted by anita at February 18, 2006 1:00 AM
Comments
When I passed Jonathan on the street this afternoon, he asked me again for a name for Cama's baby. Since my niece said she's as pretty as a flower, and should have a flower name, I've named her Flora. It seems to fit. She and Cama came to the yard for a visit today, and Cam wouldn't leave until she'd sampled every scrap of green in the entire yard. I had to give up watching them from nearby when my nose threatened to freeze and fall off. It snowed very lightly while they were out there, with a chill breeze, but they weren't bothered at all. I had to bribe Cama with one alfalfa cube every few strides to get her to follow me out the gate when it was getting dark. Flora came up to me curiously a few times but didn't stay for much of a pet - too interested in the next thing to catch her eye. It's going to be hard to keep her out of the spring growth in a month or two and then we'll have to cordon off the back third of the yard for them if we want them to visit at all. We'll probably do that - we've gotten used to having llamas around.
Posted by: Anita | 23:58 20 February 2006