Embracing our new lifestyle..............

We are fortunate enough to benefit from a plethora of wild life here at Easter-Wood. Following a decision to be a little frugal with our food bill, we discovered a considerable number of mushrooms growing in the paddocks and as I cannot ignore such a gift, I harvested them and subsequently enjoyed a delicious meal enhanced by fresh field mushrooms!! Can't get better than that or can it?...... I had already noticed that there were many pigeons gathering in the fields each late afternoon and so had considered that therin lies another tasty meal! My chance came when Sheila, whilst topping the bottom paddock, called me to say that a pigeon had been attacked by a sparrow hawk and was somewhat worse for wear. She suggested that I despatch the poor creature and put it out of it's misery to which I duly obeyed. Guess what? I had pigeon breasts for tea that night. No reason not to live off the land!

I also have an eye on the rabbit population right now as a food source. Not only are they becoming a real nuisance in creating huge holes in the paddocks, they are also undermining our fences. So later this summer, I will be culling a few of these for the freezer!

That's enough of our "Return to Nature" stories so back to the Alpacas................I sent off some sample fleeces from our Elite whites to Yocom McColl in early July and subsequently receive the results back a couple of days ago. They are very detailed and I was impressed with the reports. The only problem I had though was that they do not accept Credit Card payment and as they wanted the invoice paid in US dollars (not surprisingly), I was faced with a bank charge which represented nearly an additional 50% of the original value of their invoice!! Anyway, it is good to get an accurate measurement of their fleeces. I guess that it will be of more value for our "boys" once they are mature enough to be put to service.

Our Miss Moneypenny continues to improve her strength and is now literally full of energy and "bounce". We spotted her doing her regular late afternoon "run-around" yesterday and was delighted to see her "pronking" along the fence line with the others in the adjacent paddock. Wonderful sight!!!