The kids are back in school. I'm never really sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing. I do so enjoy sleeping in while they're on vacation, even if it's only until 6:30 or 7 am; on the other hand, I also enjoy the peace and quiet of time without sibling rivalry! Even with the kids in school this week, though, it promises to be a busy week. Today started with taking Annika to the vet for a health certificate; we're actually getting closer to trading her for our (hopeful) future herdsire, Feldspar! It seems like this has been in process forever, and I'll be glad to finally get the trade done. The rest of the week includes things like grocery shopping, a school meeting on Thursday, and (hopefully) travelling most of the day Friday to trade Annika for Feldspar.

Last Thursday was shearing day here. Boy, was that a lot of work! It was the shearer, me, and DD, who did a wonderful job assisting. All seven alpacas were sheared, and the fleeces are bagged and labeled - although I haven't yet weighed them, and the bags are still stacked in the barn aisle. I didn't get any pictures of the shearing being done, as we were kept very busy, but if you google "alpaca shearing" you'll find several sites with lots of pictures. I do have a few post-haircut pictures, though. In order, they are Nox, Shadow, and the babies, Annika and Angel. The biggest surprise was how small the alpacas look after shearing - positively delicate, rather ethereal. The babies in particular look a lot smaller. I'm sure there are some pre-shearing pictures not too far back, if you look through the archives. (Try March - there were some posted on March 31.)