Zatarra's Big Adventure - and other General Madness - at the Apothecary Inn!
Yesterday morning was one of those days where you wake up and immediately wish to go back to sleep. Normally, our alarm goes off promptly at 5 am, and Ryan repeatedly hits the snooze button until 5:30 am rolls around. This morning was one of the few mornings we were actually going to be able to "sleep in" (i.e. get up at 6:30 or 7 am!...Rather pitiful, isn't it?), and I was planning on enjoying every minute of it. Ryan finally pulled himself out of bed at around 7 am, and crept upstairs to make me my morning coffee. He had plans to bring it to me in bed (my idea of romantic). Unfortunately, those plans were shot down when he looked out of the window as he was pouring water into the coffee pot and saw a small dark streak racing around the 4th barn pasture. For a moment, he was terrified it was some sort of predator about to attack Cappuchino, but then he realized it was a very much escapee baby donkey!! He shouted an expletive that I will not repeat here, which promptly woke me up and had me racing upstairs to see what was going on. We put our shoes on and ran outside. Zatarra is still a bit skittish around people, so she wasn't easy to catch. We ended up opening the gate to the pasture and shoo-ing her back inside. Her mother (Cappuchino) had a look on her face that said "You are in SO much trouble, Young Lady!!!" I honestly don't know whether Cappuchino was more upset about her baby escaping, or if she was mad because Zatarra got to play in the big pasture full of tasty grass without her! Either way, Zatarra got a little bit of a donkey-style lecture. Ryan and I figured out that the last time we had gone into the pasture, we hadn't latched the gate tightly enough. Zatarra had managed to squeeze herself through the gate and fence and race outside, but was unable (or, more likely, unwilling) to squeeze back inside.
In other news, we were finally able to find a good home for Michele and Pearl. It's so heartbreaking to have to say goodbye, but I really like the family who is adopting them, and I am very happy about the fact that we were able to adopt them out together. We originally tried to sell them, but with the economy so slow, no one was in the market for show-quality llamas. Finally, we decided to adopt them to an approved home. I feel confident that we have made the right decision. I never expected to have to sell/adopt out any of our original animals - the thought of selling some of our babies born every year was difficult enough for me! - but we have been going through about 2 tons of hay per month, and with the rising cost of hay (and our other bills), we just couldn't afford to keep all of our animals. We have ten llamas at the moment, and those llamas eat as much hay per day as all of the other farm animals on the property combined. It's a bit ridiculous! Anywho, we are still looking for a "Forever Home" for Comet the Wonder Llama. I thought I had found it, but the lady backed out. So, back to the drawing board...in the meantime, I get to enjoy being with my four-legged friends a little bit longer...
Yesterday morning was one of those days where you wake up and immediately wish to go back to sleep. Normally, our alarm goes off promptly at 5 am, and Ryan repeatedly hits the snooze button until 5:30 am rolls around. This morning was one of the few mornings we were actually going to be able to "sleep in" (i.e. get up at 6:30 or 7 am!...Rather pitiful, isn't it?), and I was planning on enjoying every minute of it. Ryan finally pulled himself out of bed at around 7 am, and crept upstairs to make me my morning coffee. He had plans to bring it to me in bed (my idea of romantic). Unfortunately, those plans were shot down when he looked out of the window as he was pouring water into the coffee pot and saw a small dark streak racing around the 4th barn pasture. For a moment, he was terrified it was some sort of predator about to attack Cappuchino, but then he realized it was a very much escapee baby donkey!! He shouted an expletive that I will not repeat here, which promptly woke me up and had me racing upstairs to see what was going on. We put our shoes on and ran outside. Zatarra is still a bit skittish around people, so she wasn't easy to catch. We ended up opening the gate to the pasture and shoo-ing her back inside. Her mother (Cappuchino) had a look on her face that said "You are in SO much trouble, Young Lady!!!" I honestly don't know whether Cappuchino was more upset about her baby escaping, or if she was mad because Zatarra got to play in the big pasture full of tasty grass without her! Either way, Zatarra got a little bit of a donkey-style lecture. Ryan and I figured out that the last time we had gone into the pasture, we hadn't latched the gate tightly enough. Zatarra had managed to squeeze herself through the gate and fence and race outside, but was unable (or, more likely, unwilling) to squeeze back inside.
In other news, we were finally able to find a good home for Michele and Pearl. It's so heartbreaking to have to say goodbye, but I really like the family who is adopting them, and I am very happy about the fact that we were able to adopt them out together. We originally tried to sell them, but with the economy so slow, no one was in the market for show-quality llamas. Finally, we decided to adopt them to an approved home. I feel confident that we have made the right decision. I never expected to have to sell/adopt out any of our original animals - the thought of selling some of our babies born every year was difficult enough for me! - but we have been going through about 2 tons of hay per month, and with the rising cost of hay (and our other bills), we just couldn't afford to keep all of our animals. We have ten llamas at the moment, and those llamas eat as much hay per day as all of the other farm animals on the property combined. It's a bit ridiculous! Anywho, we are still looking for a "Forever Home" for Comet the Wonder Llama. I thought I had found it, but the lady backed out. So, back to the drawing board...in the meantime, I get to enjoy being with my four-legged friends a little bit longer...
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