There are two pictures of each animal.  They have all three recently been on our property.  I think one is a genetic anomaly and the other two I think are mix breeds.  What do you think?

June 11 – click here.  I think they all might be the same thing.  Strange but true…

I have done some research and I think this one is a Fallow Deer.

Isn’t she just the cutest little thing?  I love horses…this post is for my friend, Tessa Klaassen.

In 2007, I went with a couple of friends over to Camp Waldemar in Hunt, TX for a Christmas bazaar.  It was so festive and I met lots of very nice people.  One person in particular is Meg Clark the director of the Camp.  She organized the Christmas bazaar and all and it just so happened that that night her golden retriever, Honey, was giving birth to 13 goldendoodle puppies.  It was so exciting throughout the evening to hear news of all the pups being born.  Meg and her husband, Clayton, have started a new camp in Vanderpool, TX called Camp Lonehollow.  They celebrate each New Year with camp families and friends and invited us to come over with a few of our alpacas to show and for picture opportunities with the children.

We had a lovely time, the weather was perfect and the children who got to meet the alpacas were very kind.  Lots of pictures were taken of the children with their favorite alpaca.  We took Paschal, Jack and Calhoun.  All three of these boys are very friendly and used to people.

And this is a picture of the beautiful sunset that we were blessed to enjoy!

Some of you may already know this, but I am not a big University of Texas Longhorn fan.  It’s ok, we all have our favorite teams and our not so favorite.  I came by my dislike of the Longhorns from my husband who grew up in Austin, TX and had to endure ‘Longhorn this’ and ‘Longhorn that’ most of his life.

Anyway, though I am not a UT Longhorn fan, I do love longhorns and wanted to share with you this most adorable little guy that was recently born at a ranch near ours.  In honor of the way the UT Longhorns are playing football this year and in honor of their quarterback who seems to be a little more humble than some of their previous quarterbacks, I have named him Colt McCoy.

Isn’t he sooooo cute………..

(Polly all these posts are for you…..)

After a very busy day on Saturday with our Open Ranch, this is what greeted us in the evening.  I am thankful for the beauty of the Creator in the skies.

Open Ranch at Hill Country Alpacas

Celebrating National Alpaca Farm Days 

Please join us! 

Saturday, September 27, 2008

10am – 4pm

858 Moffett Road

Medina, TX

See the alpacas, watch spinning & fiber  

demonstrations, yarn and retail alpaca products 

 available  

830-589-7750

After feeding, raking poop and checking on all the alpacas this morning, we headed to town to get our mail.

Usually it is just a quiet ride down a winding county road by the goats and cows, across the bridge over the Medina River, past the Baptist Church and on to Texas Scenic Hwy 16 in to town.  But this morning’s drive proved to be a bit different that other days. 

First we drove by the goats – all was well with them.  Then we passed by the cows and calves all lying under the pecan trees keeping cool, but we did notice something a bit off.  The tank that supplies the cows with their water had a bit of a problem.  The hose that connects water to the tank was just blasting away, flooding the ground in about a 100′ circle.  We called the owner who lives a county away and asked if we could do something to stop the water flow until they could get over here and fix the problem.  We did and the flood was temporarily stopped.

Then as we drove around the curve in the road heading towards Moffett Park adjacent to the Medina River we saw two beautiful mares standing in the circle drive.  Well, that’s not something we’ve ever seen before and we knew that they didn’t belong there.  Off to rescue horses I went……………

I love horses – always have, ever since my first nursery school that had a horse that we got to ride.  These two girls were just casually grazing and as I approached them they came right to me.  They smelled so good – I love the smell of horses!  It was evident that they are calm around people and had I had a lead the one with the halter would have let me take her home.  But, we really needed to find out where they came from and return them….

We called our County Constable, Don Walters, and he told us to call the Sheriff’s Dept.  I also asked a couple of our neighors if they knew these girls, but no one did.  One neighbor said she knew that they had been at the park since early this morning -about 6:30am.

The Sheriff’s Deputy just now stopped by our place and said that they have the horses in a pasture with the cows and I guess it’s now their job to find the owners. 

So after the flood was fixed and after the horse rescue was in progress, we headed home to start packing for our vacation.  I love living in the country.  Some days are common and then there are days like today – a little excitement added in.

Today I joined in the Medina TX Farmers Market for the first time.  The group of local ‘farmers’ has been selling their goods since the first Saturday in May.  Last week I stopped by to see what was being sold and decided that I might have a few things to add to the mix and make it a little more diverse. 

Linda is there with her homemade breads, cupcakes, jams and jellies along with fresh vegetables.  I think that she sold out entirely today!  Patience is there with her lavender, homemade oatmeal sourdough and pita breads, local lavender infused honey, soaps and all the great stuff that she has at her lavender farm retail store near Vanderpool called Imagine Lavender.  I met Perry for the first time today and she had farm fresh eggs, and all kinds of squash.  She has some of the cutest ones called roly poly squash.  They are a zucchini type but grow in a round shape!  I believe she sold out, too. 

I took along some made from scratch brownies that were my grandmothers recipe, oatmeal chocolate chip cookies and some yellow crookneck squash that I grow in my vegetable garden.  Next week I hope to have some of the first of our tomatoes from our six tomato plants.  Everyone is asking where the homegrown tomatoes are!  I don’t blame them, there’s nothing better…..   I am growing some romaine type lettuce and carrots too.  They should be ready in a few weeks.  I also brought a lot of alpaca products – yarns, rugs, teddy bears, scarves, and some of the hand made knit beanie hats that I make.   One of the best things about this market is visiting with the neighbors in Medina and the surrounding area.  I met some new friends today and I plan on learning a lot from them.   Everyone has a ’story’.

Next week I’ll have a picture for you to see….should’ve done it this time – forgot, sorry!