After I finished work last night, Lisa asked me to do a little bit of a tidyup of a few edges around the garden. I got the ride-on out and went around where I needed to, then dragged out the weed whacker and got in close around the borders.
I was cleaning up the pathway around the back of the house when I heard, over the sound of the weed whacker motor, a dull thwack. I instantly knew a stone had hit a window. It was exactly the same sound the old safety glass car windcreens made when they broke.
Sure enough, the 2 meter high sliding door window on the back of the house was in a thousand pieces. Dang.
It’s still in the frame – just. One small push and it will be all over the pathway. I ducked down to the SES unit and got a 4 foot wide strip of the black plastic we use for storm damage repairs and taped that over the inside of the window, so even if the glass came tumbling down overnight it wouldn’t come into the house.
I called the glazier last night and he’s coming over today.
Because it’s National Alpaca Week (which is being celebrated as part of the United Nation’s International Year of Natural Fibres), Alpaca farms across Australia have been running a series of open days. We took the opportunity to visit the MillDuck Alpaca Stud. It’s a 35 acre property in Harcourt run by Ada Milley and Prue Walduck. I’ve spoken to Prue before but this was our first visit.
They’ve got somewhere around 40 animals; some are for sale, while others are kept for their own breeding.
The kids adored them. Big Kid had a fabulous time wandering around the paddocks and found that if she sat down the Alpacas would just wander over to her and she could easily pat them. Prue told us that not all Alpacas are friendly (and that females are well known for spitting to reject the unwanted advances of males) but the ones they sell as pets are all halter trained and easy to work with.
We’ve been interested in getting a couple for the paddock here (they get along well with horses) so the visit gave us the opportunity to ask a bunch of questions. They’re a remarkably hardy animal, primarily because they originated in a pretty harsh environment. They need a minimal amount of work: clip their nails every few months if you’re on soft ground, shear them a couple of times a year, and basic parasite control.
There’s a shearer somewhere in the local district who will visit and shear a small number of animals. You can either sell the wool into a co-op (which is what Prue and Ada do) or have someone clean and spin the wool for you. We thought that sounded like a good idea. The end result will obviously cost more than a commercial ball of wool from a haberdashery, but in these times of mass production and disposable goods you couldn’t put a price on a nice warm jumper made from your own animal’s wool.
This is just too odd to describe.
Today was a lovely Autumn day in Melbourne. Clear blue sky and a gentle cool breeze. I went for a walk along the bike track behind the office after lunch. Very nice way to clear your mind.
The Kid had her 7th birthday party yesterday. Her birthday was actually a week ago, but yesterday was the kids party. We had about a dozen kids turn up to the party room at a local party supply shop. They had fun, but oh boy, was it noisy.
There’s a gallery up on SmugMug; check your links.
Use this quick test to see whether you’re carrying the Pig flu.
Bonus link.
After I finished work last night, Lisa asked me to do a little bit of a tidyup of a few edges around the garden. I got the ride-on out and went around where I needed to, then dragged out the weed whacker and got in close around the borders.
Who said what?