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January
| Corgi in the snow |
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| Smokin' Gun Stevie playing in the cold January snow |
January was the month of ruthless snow storms &
on going shoveling snow out of the walk ways, drive ways & off of the cars. I prayed a lot, that month, for God to stop
the snow & bring us warm weather. I spent much time gazing out my window at my beloved llamas, watching them, as they
lay & the cold snow piled upon their backs. January was the month for knitting....& worring as the needles clicked
away the stitches & time. At times, their were questions in my mind, "would spring ever come?"....Yes, January was the
month for snow..........
Febuary
Feburary was the month of, more snow & a light
at the end of the tunnel. Much time was spent feeding & wrangeling animals, after dark. The snow was still treterious,
but it was getting easier, by the end of the month the snow stabilized & actually began to move toward a melt. The fridgid
temps were still there, but the promise of spring was evident in the small flowers that poked their heads out through the
crusty snow as it slowly receded....
March
| More Snow |
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| White can be a very cold color..... |
Yes, more snow! March was the month of, pulling
out of the snow rut. The weather tried it's hardest to stop the snowing & by the end of the month it had suceeded with a
nice progression in melting. March was the month of the returning sun, the month the llamas became restless for the warmth
of summer. Vernaccia & Stetson would fight, day & night. Their strange screetches & screams could be heard ringing
out through the night & often times I would rise from sleep to inspect the strange noises coming from their pasture. March
was the month of everything being sopping wet & muddy, soggy & spungy. Alas, though, the sun had returned & life
was getting easier & ebing toward summer.
April
April was the month to exhale. The white snow had
been replaced with lush green blades of tender grass. The smell of spring was in the air, the trees shot out their shoots
& the flowers began to bloom. The days were longer & warmer & now, the evenings were pleasent & hinting
at the wonderful evenings in Summer. The llamas, still would fight in the day, but they'd grown used to the good weather &
were now being worked with often. The cold of winter had not yet loosened it's grip completely & I waited & waited
for warmer weather to shear the llamas, but I would not see warm enough weather for shearing, in April. Life, for my dear
camelids, was now, very nice & the going was pretty easy. This picture shows the welcome of spring for both my llamas
& I.
May
God Bless the New Borns! May was the month that
life began anew. New flowers bloomed & baby lambs were being born. These particular lambs needed no assistance coming,
but 2 of the other ewes needed my assistance. Without the lambs, spring wouldn't be spring. The weather was now beautiful
almost every day, now it was warm enough to shear my furry llamas. I purchased my blades & Vernaccia was my first project,
then Mr. Pudge (who was shorn with scisors), then T-bolt & then Stetson. The weather in May was, no doubt, gorgeouse but
spring seemed to hold it's self from us, momentarily with a nasty streak of weather in the middle of May. By the end of the
month, every llama I owned, was either completely or, in Pudge's case, partially bald. Ahh...yes summer was coming!!
June
Would Summer be Summer without a car show? Of course
we had to go to the local car show & yes, their were some pretty awesome rides there! June was the month of false weather
that lulled us to sleep. My llamas were shorn, down to the numbs & had no shelter. The nights & days were warm &
I felt very sure they would be fine being shorn, but on June 10th (T-bolt's Birthday), it snowed! We'd planted a garden &
been going on with summer bussiness, but the garden was snowed on! The llamas were rushed into the barn for, without their
hair, they were shivering in the driving winds, snow & rains. In the middle of the storm we had to make a make shift
pen for them in the barn & lead each llama, one by one, down to the barn. I thanked God Mr. Pudge hadn't needed shelter.
After June 10th, the weather seemed to decid rain would be a more apropriate choice of precipitation, and rain
it did for about 2 weeks streight. June was the month that killed many crops, including a large amount of my apple harvest.
July
July was the month of "all of the sudden".
All of the sudden, I was marching in 2 parades & doing a fair at the end of the month. July's weather was a full on heat
assult that was very welcome by every resident on Pudgey Paw Acres. T-bolt was washed at least twice & he & I got
to walk in 2 parades. The people loved my Bolt & I just loved dressing up for the parades. The Picture above, is T-bolt
& I in the local 4th of July parade. The 4th of July proved to be a cool day, but oh-so pleasent for walking in a parade.
I did go swimming that day, only because our pool had warmed the water, very nicely! The picture below is of T-bolt &
I walking in the local Stampede Parade. That day was probably one of the hottest days of the summer at a sweltering 96 degrees!
That parade has got to be the longest in my area! It had to have been about a mile walk...I wore pumps & let me tell you,
I was so happy to free my feet from them when I was done! I thought, many times, I might have to pull T-bolt out of that parade,
but he was a trooper & pulled through in valiant style! July was the month to scramble & barely make deadlines, I
switched fairs at the very last minute possible & prepairing my new ranch colors & new fair things was almost nearing
impossible. I was working on things for my stall, literally, up until the night before we went to fair. July's weather was
absolutely what Summer should be & it was probably one of my favorite months of the year!
August
August was the month of winding down from a busy
summer. The picture above is of T-bolt in his stall, at the county fair before the fair started. Stetson joined T-bolt at
the fair, in this picture he was out being groomed. My stall looked beautiful in the lime green & hot pink of Pudgey Paw
Acres. One of the best parts of the fair was singing the National Anthem at the talent show! Then their were so many people
that loved my llamas & I was able to make a few new friends. The picture below is of T-bolt & Stetson eating their
breakfast at 6:30 in the morning, opening day of the fair. I didn't sleep a minute that night, worring about my poor llamas
down at the fair grounds for the first time in 2 years. Come 5 in the morning I was finally decided to get up, made myself
some coffee, got dressed & mounted up on my bike, at 6 in the morning. I arrived at the fairgrounds, after an amazingly
beautiful ride, around 6:10. I fed the animals & then took this picture. August was the month of "I hope this weather
lasts forever". Many days were very hot, but the evenings were amazing. The crisp evenings hinted at the aweful cold of winter
& the falling leaves of fall.....
September
September was the month of the sinking sun. Every
day it seemed fall stole a little more of our daylight. The leaves were begining to turn by the end of the month, but I must
say, September was probably the best month of weather. Every day was very pleasent. In September, Stetson began pack training.
He was doing quite well & I'm sure, had I put the pack on him he would have excepted it readily. The llamas enjoyed the pleasent
weather by spending much time roaming freely on the 4 acres. Most of the vegitation had been picked clean but the llamas,
with their long necks, managed to get the choice pickings from the top of the tall bushes. The picture above is of the neighbors
llamas, from my yard. They looked so peaceful in their pasture, it just seemed to say "September". The picture below is of
my dad's 76' Chevy, in the evening light. That truck would see yet another winter & watched the leaves turn & fall,
yet again. Semptember was also the month of catching up on summer chorse that didn't get done....
October
October was the month of impending doom. The weather
stayed abosolutely stunning the whole month, but every living thing on Pudgey Paw Acres knew the snow & bitter nights
were coming soon. The llamas spent much time enjoying the last part of fall out on the acreage. They were now on hay to suplement
their diet of leaves & the scant amount of grass on the place. The above picture shows T-bolt enjoying the gorgeouse October
days. Yes, life was easy in October.....
November
November saw the coming of the bitter cold. Though
no snow was on the ground, it was often very cold at the end of the month. The picture above is of us on our way down to my
brother & sister-in-law's for Thanksgiving. It was a long trip but well worth it. The llamas were let out for the duration
of our absence & something tells me they were not put out by it! November was a beautiful month for weather, but it was
much colder than October & the nights hinted at the bitter, biting cold that was to come in less then a month. The sun
shown many times but didn't have the same warmth as in earlier months. The llamas were growing out their coats & looked
to be putting on hair for the winter months....November was the month of anticipation of the end of the year, the snow &
winter, & the knowledge of spring's coming.
December
December was the month of "Wammmo!". The snow came
all at once in the middle of the month. Weather was nice up until about the 10th, when in about 2 days about 1 1/2 feet of
snow dropped on us. The llamas were glad to have the llama shack to lay in, at night & many times they would only come
out twice a day to be fed & get water. The nights were beyond fridgid often reaching below zero for a week streight. The
day temperatures were not above 20 for at least a week. I noticed, at the end of the month, my llamas had grown a lot of hair!
December was definitaly the month of "brrrr!" at the end of December, we were thankful for a move toward melting & a warm
up in weather. Now we look to 2009 hoping for a short winter & a LONG spring & summer! So that was my year, what'd
your's look like?
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