Mini Llamas in Minnesota

The Road I Run

2009-09-14T19:01:00.000-07:00

The wine grapes in the vineyard
The hay fields

At the end of the run I come home

The beans are nearly ready

The hay is cut and put away

the yellowing soybeans

The final stretch home

The Blue Heron Knittery

2009-03-24T05:09:00.000-07:00

I went to the Blue Heron Knittery in scenic Decorah, Iowa on Saturday. If you're a fiber junkie you won't want to miss this stop. About 25 minutes from the Halfway House. I mean if you're coming to see the llamas you must make the time for this! Books, patterns, yarns, rovings, spinning wheels and nice people.

Making Mittens!

2009-02-16T17:28:00.001-08:00

MITTENS and more mittens. I am making mittens from our llama felt and knitting cuffs out of either our buffalo yarn or the llama yarn and adding a decorative button after I line each mitten with warm, soft polar fleece. They're really warm and people love these! The bottom picture is the updated Halfway House now getting wired for electricity.

It's in the 20's here and feels warmer and the days are getting longer.

Julie

HAVING FUN MINNESOTA STYLE!

2008-12-07T18:45:00.000-08:00

Maggie says, "and they think this is fun?!"
The half baked "halfway" house is taking shape.

Fun...Minnesota style

Blake and Jim having a good time!

This is Minnesota's version of what to do on a snowy day.

Did I mention it's 7 degrees out today?????

Hunting Deer in a Major Snowstorm

2008-12-03T19:49:00.000-08:00

The great snow hunt

The top photo shows the snow covered trees, ground and pretty much everything less than 72 hours ago while I was on my last day of our deer season. This was taken with my cell phone (yes I hunt with a cell phone so I can text friends while waiting and waiting and waiting), the second one is ME covered with snow and getting more of it by the second and the last is my shotgun. It was a pleasant day and I enjoyed the quiet of it all. You could hear each snowflake falling and landing and actually it was quite noisy. There were zero tracks and it was very pristine. Mine were covered within 20 minutes. Oh, if anyone is interested I never got a shot off. I only spotted two the entire season and neither one presented a shot for myself. Oh well it was a great time in the woods and nature. I had a squirrel less than 10" from my face and a chickadee landed on me! I heard osprey over head and saw a bald eagle. Hunting is good for my soul.

The Halfway House

2008-10-26T18:44:00.000-07:00

Argentine LaLado left, Little Tyme middle and Argentine Saltador yesterday morning.

The girls enjoying their new pasture and green grass. I can see them outside of every window from the farm house now. I just love it! They are so far out that they aren't coming in for me, for grain, for anything. Good for them. This is as close to paradise that they've been in. 60 acres of roaming, ponds, forests and green grass. I'll probably never see them again.

Milkweed catches my eye whenever I'm outside this time of year. It is a really cool plant.

The guest house..."The Halfway House" we're naming this for reasons obvious and maybe not so obvious! Let's just go this far; it is going to be placed halfway between right and wrong!

What a week! Here is the guest house now dubbed, "The Halfway House" for obvious reasons and not so obvious! Let's just say this much, it is going to be placed "halfway between right and wrong!" The girls were released into their new pasture. What a beautiful site. I can see them out of every window of our house. I just love it. The milkweed is interesting and catches my eye everytime I go out in the pastures. Enjoy your week.

MEA weekend in Minnesota

2008-10-19T18:39:00.000-07:00

Here is Blake with his new "fro" for Halloween!
Poor Chilly tore her knee tendons during a breed check! I feel SO badly for her. She is getting grain, special hay and fresh water INSIDE our big barn for the next week.
As my farm manager, I don't think Blake planned on this being part of the package....at least he hoped the female looked better to Saltador than he did!
Jim and I went out in the woods looking for arrowheads and found these weird things growing on the trees.
We went to a craft fair, picked out our pumpkins, did more breedings and breed checks and rode horses. Grandma and Grandpa came to visit and we had a lot of good fun and laughs. Dave is working on a very cool deer stand in a double secret woods location. His cell phone works so I know he can't be all that far away!

It's Fall (and what we're doing about it!)

2008-10-12T18:44:00.001-07:00

It's fall and we've done an incredible amount of work and changes at our farm. Today I picked Macintosh apples...a bushel of them. I piled all my barnboard birdhouses under the deck and soon into storage until next spring. My stud llamas are all up at the house. Why is this a big deal? Because at Ground Zero there is not an adequate shelter and there is not an automatic waterer. Now they have TWO shelters, a 20 acre pasture and an automatic waterer. Life is getting better.

Finally our buffalo are gone. Yup, that's right. Gone. As in not at our farm. Not ours any longer. You know relocated, gone. Buffalo Steve from Caledonia with our herd now has a staggering 300 head to boast about.

Minnesota Minis is building a guest house for all our friends coming to visit our llamas. The guest house will be available for free to our llama friends. Others may enjoy our area for their antiquing, hiking, biking and trout fishing treks and stay at a cost of $75 a night. So those are the major changes to our lives.

It is fall and we are starting the hunkering down process.

And winter goes on and on and on

2008-02-29T20:49:00.001-08:00

Winter is still here. Everyone is surviving but it's getting to be a bit much! I noticed the birds are singing differently...you know their spring song. How exciting. Today the sun felt warmer than usual and the kids came home without their coats on. It's Minnesota, it's 31 out and it feels like a warm day to us.

Maggie's first snow

2007-12-03T18:22:00.001-08:00

Maggie FREAKED when she went outside this morning. It was her first snow. She growled at the snow, bit the snow and ended up licking as much of it as she could. After the initial I'm afraid she has been asking to go outside nearly all day. She has worn a path from running around in the snow. She sticks her whole head into the snow and barks at it. It is hysterical!

Maggie and Max Today

2007-11-25T19:02:00.001-08:00

Here are Maggie and Max today. They love each other and are best pals. They get into all kinds of fun together and you guessed it trouble together. Max is a gorgeous and well trained chocolate lab and Maggie is an independent and free spirit black Airedale. Below is the beautiful Chilean Silky.
Here is our new male Little Tex with Carly Simon in the front.
Our newest arrival is Chocolate Express a little male cria out of Bavarian Chocolate.
Maggie at the end of her day.

WINE TIME

2007-09-09T18:28:00.001-07:00

We are harvesting in the Bluff Country. Hundreds of pounds of our wine grapes are ready to be made into all the wines that we are getting known for. The three 7 gallon buckets in this picture will make 5 gallons of a white wine that if you play your cards right you may be lucky enough to enjoy with me next year. We destem, crush and press the wine grapes and put it into a primary fermentor and the process of making wine begins. Aren't they just beautiful?

A STAR is born!

2007-09-06T06:19:00.000-07:00

Carly Simon DOB 09/03/07 a small female cria out of our favorites Bolivian Showtyme Xpress x Bolivian Simonetta. This full Bolivian female is snuggling with Simonetta minutes after she birthed. What a beautiful sight!

Does this count?!

2007-08-27T19:07:00.000-07:00

Hello, it's me Maggie. Does this count as NOT being allowed on the bed? I don't think it should count but thought I'd ask everyone else. I mean my head isn't really on the pillow and my eyes are open so it's not like I'm sleeping or anything. No one else in this bed seems to think I'm on the bed so what's the big deal?

Did I mention I have some FIBER?!

2007-08-21T05:12:00.000-07:00

Saturday was a wonderful day! Jim and I traveled over to Carothers Country Mill, through Winona, through Goodview and over to Minnesota City. If you haven't made time to visit the mill try to do so...it is so worth it! Lynda suggested I make my blending options so I began laying out the washed bags of fiber; llama, shetland, mohair groupings that I've raised! I have way more than I'm showing here something like 150 #'s!!!!! OMG everyone. I hope you all need fiber for spinning and knitting. The fiber is gorgeous and we have over 8#'s of an unbelievably soft to the touch llama roving from a red/white shearing. I can't stand it it is all so beautiful and soft to the feel. Lynda has two employees that I managed to picture and put on this blog posting. Phoebe is 3#'s and prefers to be held and then there is the 5 month watch kitten of the mill. Both are hysterical and so much fun to play with and watch. We finished our rainy day by visiting the Lark Toy Factory which was AMAZING! It is in Kellogg, MN. I could have spent all day there. We drove back to Blackhammer, MN without incident and as the day progressed learned of all the tragedy to strike the very towns and highways we had just traveled across. Lynda is safe and so are we.

Little Cutie!

2007-07-18T19:00:00.000-07:00

Meet Black Silk, a full Bolivian tiny reverse appy female. She is out of my prized Acobamba x Andina. I call her a black silky, then took it a step further and named her BLACK SILK

My Family Vacation

2007-07-18T18:32:00.000-07:00

Our family vacation was last week. Dave, Jim and I spent a wonderful week at our farm! Working, playing and vacationing. We discovered Maggie particularly loved fishing. As with all great vacations and time together the ending was bitter sweet. We had to go back to work!

Names for so many!!!

2007-06-28T21:09:00.001-07:00

Meet Zarita a full Argentine female cria. Then it's gorgeous red and gray Sundot a male full South American boy, with white legged and silky black Starrtyme a small female. Meet Blake with Jim overlooking the valley on our farm finished with Maggie...exhausted after playing with her new cousin a chocolate lab puppy named Max. Maggie says, "I thought this was supposed to be about me. Not those new llama cria!"

I Can't be on the Bed!

2007-06-12T23:52:00.000-07:00

I really think this doesn't count as a NO, off the bed because I am so helpful. I can tell I am helping. It looks and feels like I'm helping. I am important and besides I am ON THE BED.

More of Maggie in a day.

2007-05-06T17:25:00.000-07:00

Maggie and her horses. Maggie the amazing digger. Maggie and her cousin Riley. Maggie feeding her birds. Maggie and her boy.

A Day with Maggie

2007-05-06T17:07:00.000-07:00

Maggie with her shoes. Maggie kissing llamas. Maggie building a goat/sheep pen. Maggie and her bean bag.

Falling in LOVE!

2007-04-17T19:37:00.000-07:00

We are excited to announce MAGGIE our rare black Airedale terrier pup. Arriving today all the way from New Mexico on her first jet ride. What a beautiful pup. We are all so happy to have her join our family.

Our world today

2007-03-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

Have I mentioned we have had a couple of snowfalls? We're still skiing, snowboarding and snowmobiling. Hard to believe for all my pals that are starting to have their babies arrive BUT we will have babies just not until the real spring gets here.

Siberian Blast arrives

2007-02-02T17:51:00.000-08:00

Today is cold. No way around it. Cold, cold, cold. Llamas don't seem to mind. Dave does though. He defrosted two waterers today. The one for our buffalo and the one for Jim's Shetland sheep and Angora goats. Are we having fun yet? I think so. Tomorrow the high will reach the minus'. Like the Superbowl we can take bets on which minus. I will say -12. That's a good bet. This is Jim with one of the studs. Jim is about 58-59" tall or 4'11 to give you an idea. Nice straight back and lots of wool on this guy. Not Jim but Tennessee Tuxedo.

We're Back!

2007-01-21T06:23:00.000-08:00

Another wonderful vacation. Hard to come back, well not to see family and the farm but to think of working. Oh well. Big news. Jim is now a PADI certified junior open water diver! He dedicated three days of our week to diving, lessons and studying passing his tests with 83%. While intense it is a wonderful accomplishment and he's only 10. I may take my certification next year to join in on the underwater fun. He was allowed to touch a sea turtles shell that was over 4' in diameter and if on the ground would have been higher that 2 1/2 feet. Amazing!

Beginnings

2007-01-07T04:37:00.000-08:00

Hello,

This is my attempt to have current and fun postings of life with mini llamas at our southeastern farm in beautiful bluff country Minnesota. You will learn of the personalities and the beauty of these small docile creatures. You may even come to love them as much as I do! Their many uses will amaze you and the striking difference from each one is fun to see as well. Since it is MY blog I will say and do whatever I want but you're always welcome to comment. here goes......Shakin'it Up is a very small male that is now 21 months old. I can hardly believe he will be breeding this spring. Isn't he cool? Isn't he SMALL???? Jim is 9 years old in this picture to give you an idea.