I swear that “the forces that be” knew that this was the week that I get my bonus.. This is one of the first times in my life that I qualify for a hefty bonus and expensive issues happen at our house.
First, the septic decided to make us miserable. Yeah, it was Monday when I got that bonus. Tuesday, the septic spills over into our entry bathroom. Wednesday, the septic shit sucker truck comes and hauls away a load. I scrub and seal floors that were pooed on. Thursday, the septic shit sucker truck returns with plans to replace our pump.   He opens the septic tanks and finds them full again, he rethinks and pulls out the plans from the county for our septic and guesses that our water run off (which is immense this year) is causing issues in our laterals. I ask him how much and he guesses that after they fix the pump, if they can get to it with the rising water table, and all of the shit sucking trips maybe 1200  bucks or more. Thursday, I find out that the total bill for my shoulder surgery is in the thousands (why do I pay for health ins again??). Friday, I wait for the septic truck to come and haul away more.. I need a shower. I need to wash clothes.. I am afraid to flush the toilets.. And the male llama has decided that he wants to crawl under our post and rail fences.. I spent a couple hours trying rope around the bottom parameter of the corral fencing to keep the sucker in. I’m waiting for the husband to go to the lumberyard and get wood so we can add a 4th row of rail for the llamas. We will have to add it tonight, cause I can not catch the llama to put him in with the goats.
We have a family vacation planned for this next week. Should we leave when we have this run off and the septic problem, hoping that the huge drift that remains above the laterals does not cause more issues?? and a rogue llama?? What if we come back and find the basement flooded with poo and Cheese missing? Grrrroan.

I am going to call this. It’s Country Living 7, Jinx 0. I am getting my arse kicked.

I bought this video, online, that has Bobra Goldsmith that helps with training llamas. Link Here. I had a little fear of llamas because I just did not know what to expect. I would walk way around the llamas when hanging with them, as if they were a wild mustang tied to the post. Ha ha. Of course the kids saw my first attempt at playing with them and this imprinted in their little minds. They feel some fear of llamas, now.  This video was enlightening. I watched in awe as this 70+ yr old woman wrangled these unhandled llamas and taught them various forms of manners with ease. I was stunned. I was inspired.

It turns out that the next day I needed to catch our pony, who had not had a halter on for the entire winter and was hard catch period. I used a method I saw on the Bobra video and had the pony captured, haltered and ready to go in no time. My confidence was up. I caught and haltered the llamas not long after this..

I tried brushing the burrs out of the llamas. The were losing much needed hair (it is pretty cold this winter) and they were just not enjoying this at all. So I gave up and hugged their long necks and let them back out to the corral. I have caught Mac a few times since this first attempt to brush. She is the older and more handled llama. She will let me catch her, halter her, walk her and hug her long  llama neck. Cheese, on the other hand, will not take feed from your hand yet. He leads, but he is just not as trusting. This summer we will need to work on him some. I am assuming he is a little more hard to handle because he is a male starting to hit puberty.

I was chatting with a friend at work about the burrs. I told her I figure we will leave them in their coats and in the summer when we attempt our first shearing/shaving of them, the burrs will go then. Oh, this will be a spectacle in itself- for sure!  I mentioned that I fear their fiber will be a loss because of this. She asked me if I had ever heard of Grooma combs. I had not. She raved on and on about how miraculous these combs are and brought me one the next day.  As soon as I got home, I caught Mac (could not catch Cheese) and tried the comb out. If does work, but I think I need a detangler to go along with it to really make a solid dent on the burrs in these guys.. She was not into being away from her horse and llama pals, so I did not work on her coat too long.

I am sure I will read this post a year or two from now and laugh at my fledgling attempts at llama handling.

Yes.
Windranch has taken on a new direction. After not much consideration and lots of impulsive behavior, Jinx did not fight the impulse to buy a pair of Llamas from someone on Craigslist.com. ( Croy just read the start of this blog and said, “That just about narrows it down, doesn’t it?”. )
On Thursday I responded to an ad on Craigslist.com that offered up a single registered llama for $150. I inquired and the folks were honest enough to say you can not get a single herd animal and offered a 2nd llama for really cheap to pair up. I understood this, because when we bought our first goat, the people did not tell us about the herd instinct and the poor baby goat cried and cried for a companion. These llama folks were honest. I planned on mulling it over more.. But these people were really pressing to see if we were ready to buy. After some emailing, they admitted that they needed money for a bill and really would like to sell by the weekend. They lowered the price and offered to deliver. I bit. On Friday, I left work early and prepared for the new arrivals. Around 2 PM a pickup truck with 2 llamas rolled up the driveway and 2 nice guys took the llamas out of the back of their truck and helped me lead the llamas to the front pasture.
Did the fact that they had llamas in the back of a pick up give you a visual? It was amazing to see. And here is the real kicker… They drove up from Missouri with these guys in the pick up. Imagine the looks they got with the 2 funny looking animals laying down in their truck on the interstate!

The 2 are now out there, with the horses (who are keeping their distance). I think we will call the Male Cheese and the female Madonna. Still not in love with Madonna yet.. I do like Cheese, however.