A welcome respite!

This morning, the second day of 2010, we woke to another clear, bright and sunny day.....see picture below! It's only the second time for many weeks that we have experienced the warmth of the sun even though the air temperature is hovering around zero. Today, after a second night in the barn, we brought out the alpacas again first thing this morning and they appeared to be absolutely delighted to feel the warmth of the sun again, even though the ground was rock hard. According to the weather forecast, we could be enjoying several days of dry, bright days....hurray!

The year ahead for us is full of promise and as we get closer to the day when our log cabin is to be built, which is only 5 weeks away, we are very enthusiastic about what the future holds for us. Despite the issues of bTB affecting our original plans to exhibit this year, we will most certainly be attending some local country and alpaca shows with the intention of simply raising our profile. Like a number of our colleagues, we are very optimistic about the future of alpaca breeding and since I have personally become much more involved in the day to day running of our business here at Easter-Wood since my IT recruitment company went bust early in 2009, I cannot help but believe in a successful outcome.

We have now received the list of venues for the Gina Bromage talks about bTB in Camelids and so we have booked our place for later this month. Dealt with in a sensible and responsible manner, I am convinced that most alpaca breeders will overcome what will be a somewhat testing time for all. Not only have we stopped any animal movement but we now have hand sanitizer dispensers located strategically around the farm. It may be a small thing but we feel it is an essential approach to improving bio security.

Finally, I have to report that we have not lost any more chickens this past week so perhaps our improved vigilance is paying off!

Signing off now but to those of you who read our blog, may we wish you a very Happy New Year.