Llamas and sheep and turkeys, oh my!!!

Photo courtesy of Kevin, our renter.

It seems that my last few posts have continually been of me sort of apologizing for not being here for one reason or another...I realize that is because my life has really been in an upheaval of sorts lately.  My sons moved on to college, my youngest started middle school, and I found out that my back "issue" is a permanent disability all at once; which led me to start making huge changes here at the ranch.

Well, this last week has really been a whopper if I do say so myself.  It started last Saturday when we place three llamas; and I must say that those boys really moved up in the world!  They now reside on 160 acres in a spectacular valley about an hour drive away; so I will be able to visit them often.  The transfer of the boys went flawlessly thanks to my fellow llama wrangler and partner in life and all things crazy, my hubby.

The very next day we headed off to the sister in law's house; as she works at a livestock auction.  I was going to take Paco, my ram, whom I was so positive would go as a fantastic breeding animal.  We loaded him and Esther, my ewe up (just for company for Paco) and headed out for eastern Colorado.  Monday was the big livestock auction, and when I say big, you must take that with a grain of salt because this really is a small town auction, but that is what I wanted for Paco and us since this was our first experience ever.

When we backed the trailer in there was commotion about our beautiful sheep and so I put Esther in the auction too; with a minimum.  They both sold at a premium price for what sheep are going for these days; I got what I purchased them for two years ago!  So, anyway, Annie (SIL), didn't have any help that day, so Tom and I pitched in and helped "load out".  Meaning that we got to load out all of the animals that were purchased at auction that day.  Some of them just a day old.  It was quite a learning experience for Tom, Isabella, Nathan and myself; but it was really cool because I was able to tell some of the new owners "hey, this one has a cough" or "this goat needs to be milked right away" or whatever.  I am hoping that maybe some of the new owners got instructions that they might not have gotten otherwise.

Esther had been one of the first to go.  I was sad to see her go, and I am pretty sure that she went to a great home.  And I say pretty sure because as the day wore on and I got more tired I saw some pretty crazy stuff.  Like a guy stuffing 16 goats and a giant pig in a trailer on top of a load of lumber that he had purchased; but we got them in!!!  All day I waited and wondered when Paco's new owner would come....and then a semi pulled up to the loading dock and my stomach sank.  That's right Rebels; my beautiful ram was headed to PA to a packing plant.

And that is also why they don't let crazy chicks like me carry guns; because when I went to say goodbye to him I literally thought that if I had had a gun I might just shoot him dead right there to avoid him having to travel half way across the country to get the old hammer head.  But I am a big girl, and I had made a big girl decision and I had to abide by it...  Think what you want of me but that is truly the way I felt.

Tom didn't think I looked to good after that little shock and working so hard all day so he took us all to Carl's Jr. after the auction; and that is when he calmly reminded me that he needed to take Tia with him the next day; she was to have knee surgery.  A dear friend was paying for her surgery and was going to care for her during her rehab so we were supposed to lose her for at least a couple of months; while she recuperated (I didn't think I was capable with my back).  I lost it!  I started choking on my all time favorite guacamole burger and was literally making a scene.  I had forgotten that the days were so close together and just didn't want to talk about one more loss at the time.

So Tuesday dawns and I have to say goodbye to Tia.  I get through that and take my son to the orthodontist and finally get his braces on.  Now this is a really big deal.  This kid has been waiting 18 years for these braces; he has a cleft pallet that has never been properly fixed and the clock was really ticking on this thing; if we didn't start now, there was no fixing it at all.  Big emotions there (this is my adopted son).  And then he's gone...back to college.  Another goodbye.

I'm not ashamed to say, Tuesday when I was driving home, I have never been so tired in my life.  I had said goodbye to my kids multiple times by now.  My back was killing me from working the auction the day before, I couldn't get the fact that my spectacular ram was on that semi headed east towards a hammer that I don't even believe in and now I was contributing too out of my head.... And my beloved Tia was gone for months!  At least, maybe more.  I got the kids off the bus and went to bed.

Well, it's amazing what a nap will accomplish; because when I woke up there was a message.  There had been a mix-up and Tia had to come home for a night....which led us to find out she really didn't need any lifting....she could still walk on three legs just like she did before the surgery!  And  do you know the most amazing thing Rebels????  My dear friend (actually Tia's breeder) still paid for her surgery!  And sent us all sorts of meds for the dear patient, like stuff for her arthritis which she is sure to get, and pain meds that oh thank the Lord that she has had because this has been one very painful surgery for the girl.

Tia and I have had a very busy week, what with all the pain and biting at her knee; we didn't even realize it was getting so close to Saturday....Turkey Day!  You know, I wasn't sure how to feel about Turkey Day, I was dreading it and looking forward to it all at once.  You Rebels know how much I loved those turkeys.  They were my pride and joy; they followed me all over the ranch, even to get the mail and when I laughed they gobbled.  But due to human intervention, if we had not harvested these turkeys, they would have gone down on their legs (their breasts are too large, the legs can't support them), or they would have died of a heart attack.

Photo courtesy of Teri, our friend/neighbor/customer!

Of course I had done a ton of research and was all ready for the big turkey harvesting and we turned it into a big party.  Check out some of the pictures on the facebook page if you want, still don't have a camera, thinking about putting on a donation button for that!  The pics were taken by a friend/neighbor/customer.  We were blessed that morning by our first visit by a big bull moose so I knew things were going to go well that day.  (I may do a post on turkey harvesting for my own records and for those that are agriculture readers, so  those that aren't beware!)

I can't believe all the changes we have made around here.  Three llamas, two sheep, two turkeys...  And we are not done yet.  But I think that is enough for right now.  My heart and head are still reeling from the loss of all the critters and kids.  And I would like to say another thing, I always say that things happen for a reason and I firmly believe that.  Like one of my turkeys getting killed by a neighbors dog and us not having one of that type to harvest for our family this year; well maybe our family is meant to have a heritage turkey (meaning not human intervened) for our first bird; who knows?  And we were invited over for the turkey dinner at our friend's house...there sure is plenty to go around!  Things always turn out the way they are supposed to...now wait to hear what I have up my sleeve!  Please, stay tuned in!!!  I have a music clue cued up for tomorrow as to what The Royal Ranch may be up to next....

Farmageddon; a great movie supporting local agriculture!

As you all know, I am very dedicated to supporting my local farmers as much as possible.  But for me, living in the mountains and not really having local farmers that is a little harder to do.  It is a learning process (one that I am very much still in the process of), Colorado may not be the biggest agricultural state, but by golly it is an agricultural state by some standards; mine included.

I am very proud to be a part of the agricultural business, I say it is in my blood.  It must have skipped a generation (my Mom is not really into the whole animal/growing thing-ha!).  See, my Grandparents were farmers in Iowa; they moved here to leave the farm life behind, I do believe.  But somehow it is just inside some of us, and I can't help myself...when I collect the eggs I am fascinated with the smooth little jewels of various colors.  And oh, my wonderful sheep that bleat for me if I am late to feed them...

And as for my packing llama string...I recently saw some pictures on Pinecam (our local gossip emag-ha!) of our ranch with Charlie Royal doing pack strings with horses...Well aren't we just going full circle?  I wish I still had that much land Charlie...But anyway, the joy that they bring me and our visitors is unparalleled; we get to teach our guests about our area, our way of life, but even better yet, how to be good stewards of the environment!

So to me, being a farmer these days is a lot more than just throwing stuff in the ground or raising organic animals.  It is about defending our rights to do so.  And teaching people about why we are doing it that way.  And why it is so important for us to raise heirloom varieties and heirloom chickens and sheep so that we don't have only one kind of corn or tomato or potato (and that there are still some nutrients in them).  No matter which way you say it; tomato or tomahto, potato or potahto, if there is no variety it would still suck.

Needless to say I was really excited to hear about this documentary:


Farmageddon - Movie Trailer from Kristin Canty on Vimeo.

Made by a Mom.  Check it out, there are screenings in towns all over the USA, or you can buy the DVD.  I have to wait for the movie....bummer!

Jakoti has got it going on!

I can not begin to tell you how much I LOVE these new shears.  As a matter of fact, what got me to thinking about writing this post was the shears laying next to my computer.  That's right Rebels, these shears have become my right hand tool.

I purchased them as llama shears.  You know, to remove the wool from those fidgety creatures that inhabit my ranch...Well, let me tell you a little about shearing a llama at The Royal Ranch.  I don't think it's like shearing at typical wool producers.  We have to cut through hay and pine needles and whatever else is hidden inside that wondrous coat.  So over the years, I have learned A LOT about shears; and that is that they are truly lacking.


A good pair of Fiskars, which is our next choice since we hand shear will run us around $13-$15 with a coupon, etc.  If I sharpen it I may be able to get that one pair through one season of shearing, but sometimes they only last one llama!  If you get cheaper scissors, they will wear out your hands (not spring loaded), and big electric shears usually scare the you know what out of rescues so that is out for us.

I do want to give you a bit of background here, just so you know that I am sticking to my Rebel roots.  When I first heard of these shears, I was told that you could only get them in one place in the US; and that place is by a llama trainer that I don't particularly like.  This woman had rubbed my "animal sense" the wrong way over the years, but when it came down to saving hundreds of dying llamas in MT and all she did was offer reduced price behavior clinics for new owners while the rest of us small farms struggled with the starving...

Well, it made me decide to look a bit further for those shears.  And lo and behold I found them on the World Wide Web, funny thing about that...it covers the whole world.  Better yet, I got two pairs, direct from the UK (yeah, I know, I'm normally a buy US only, but they just don't have this sort of shear...sigh), for a little more than I would have spent on one pair plus shipping on Ms. Behavior Clinic.com.  Man, I hate it when people are buttheads.

But, anyway, these shears came and we have just been shearing our butts off.  Well, our butts are fine, and it is Tom doing most of the shearing anyway.  But dang do the llamas look nice.  And when I got on the link to send it to a friend, because believe you me, I'm telling everyone I can not to shop at so and so's-ha!, I read that they are great in the garden.

So, I took them outside and can you imagine the cutting power of these babies on grass?  Geez, if they can cut through that crap in the wool, grass and dandelions along the fence line is like butta, baby, butta!  And the best part about it was that I wasn't polluting the air with a weed whacker either.  I did go a little crazy and now the grass along the dog yard looks like it got a bad hair cut from Mom back in the sixties....

Well, I guess you get the point, if you're looking for either garden or llama, sheep or goat shears these are the ones.  Spring action, self sharpening, yes you read that right engineers, I don't really get it, but it says it does it...They are the best.  Oh, I do have one critique...they could use a "petite" size.

All is well on the shirtfront, er I mean the homefront.

My biopsy results are back and they are negative!  Whew! What a relief.  Although I have been added to some sort of high risk group and will be welcomed back with open arms in 6 months for another mammogram (believe me, I will be getting more details on why later) I will just take the good news and run with it for now.  But I do think it is a tad bit of karma for bucking the system (and my Dad) in this post that I have to have more frequent mammograms.

As a matter of fact, it got me to thinking....thinking about a show I used to watch as a kid.  So, I did what any red-blooded American would do and I searched You Tube for it; I found it right away of course, but I decided that the show would have been much better off with three girls anyway (the make-up of my family) ha!  But another video did catch my eye....(and of course the Guanacos had nothing to do with it-ha!), so I thought I'd share:



So, folks, I don't think I need to tell you what the lesson of the day is...

Royal Ranch Royalty

Well, what a wonderful way to welcome us all back from my little break....A new lamb!!!  It is a female and it has been quite an adventure for this little girl and her mommy; and their Shepherd now that I think about it.  Tom says that I am a real rancher now that I have had my hands inside of an animal, but that is beside the point.  I was unable to save her twin...but I did save Mama and as far as I'm concerned that is almost all I could ask for.

This little girl was born Friday afternoon, after a very long morning of laboring for my ewe, Esther.  Although I knew that Esther typically has multiple births, we watched and waited; and waited and watched until I was frozen in position.  No more babies and no more signs of labor.  I checked with the vet and they said that not always do they have multiples and they couldn't obviously diagnose her over the phone, but that things sounded okay.

That was until I got up early to check on them yesterday morning and found her straining and pushing!  A whole day later...which is not a good thing.  We ran back to the house only to find that the vet had a morning already filled with patients...it was do or die time.  My handy dandy vet kit, a bucket of clean water and the daughter, husband and I were off!

Husband held Esther, daughter held baby right where Mama could see her and I went in!  Baby #2 was lodged in a breach position and was stuck in her pelvis, I had a heck of a time getting him out, but I did it!  I cried and mourned when I got back home, like any good Shepherd would, but I am still very grateful I have so far been able to save my Esther Girl, and we were all thankful that this guy was not in position #1.

Now, I have learned a few things from this experience.  First and foremost...call your trusted friends and neighbors in times like these.  I called a neighbor about getting the new baby some raw milk in case we need to supplement her and she had a great pointer for me.  When a female still has a baby in her belly, their tummies are still hard and when they are done with birthing, it goes soft; I sure wish I had this bit of info the day before.  There is a simple way to test for this, by wrapping your arms around the female and sort of hugging her in a downward motion as you straddle her.  This is something not even the vet had mentioned.

The other is to always trust your instincts when it comes to your critters, or anything for that matter (more on that and why I have been absent in future posts...), but especially when working with animals.  They have no way of telling you when they are in distress, and believe me, I spent hours on Friday looking for signs of labor or distress and saw none.  They are absolute masters at disguising any weakness.  My gut told me that I should have gone in sooner, but who wants to stick their arm in a sheep unnecessarily?  Not me.

Not only because of the obvious reasons, but for Esther's sake mostly.  I didn't want to infect her unless I absolutely had to.  I am also a newbie (second year) at Shepherding, even though it was my maiden name, and so I don't know if all sheep who usually have multiple births always have multiple births, you know?  I wasn't sure I would even know what I was feeling for.

Lastly I would like to say that the internet was no help at all (about things like how far apart lambs should be born, etc.).  Either people that have sheep spend a ton of money and really depend on their vets (they must not be hands on or in in my case-ha!), or just don't get online much.  But, after talking with my neighbor, I did find a very informative website about goats that will help me with these endeavors in the future.  Goats and sheep are very similar and so I will be able to take what I need and adjust and apply it where I see fit.

I say it time and again folks, trust your instincts, make a list of mentors and friends to help guide you through the emergency times, and then most importantly remember to use it!  Oh, and don't forget to let everyone in on the fun, even Avalanche the rooster had to be a part of lambing season at The Royal Ranch!

And the Winner is....

Bandit!!!!

And Rebel Jose!!!

And in rebellion of all the crap these guys went through, here is what I did:

 So, I am happy to report a win win win situation!!!!

After I saw this:

It changed how I look at "animal rescue" forever.

So as I was cutting off the hair off this magnificent creature;

kneeling in the snow and ice,

with my comrades of love and mercy,

I secretly hatched a plan...

He was not going to be the only fella losing his locks!

For informational purposes only:  I have chosen Pantene Beautiful Lengths to donate my ponytail to this time.  I have blogged about donating hair before, and thought I'd try something new.  I chose them because I thought they might have a bit of a disadvantage since it is for women only and not for kids.

Royal Ranch Royalty

 Photo courtesy of Rocky Mt. Llamas & Bobra Goldsmith

Today I will not even try to stop the flow of tears, I really deserve this cry.  I have lost my friend and mentor Bobra Goldsmith.  Three weeks ago she was diagnosed with Leukemia and Friday morning she passed away.  That's that.

Long time readers will recognize the name, because Bobra gave me Thunderboy.  And I have never been so proud of a gift in my whole life, especially now.  Let me give you a little background on my relationship with this amazing woman.  Many years ago, when I first decided to get into llamas I chose to take one of Bobra's training classes.  Now, keep in mind that all of the people in the class were there to train their llamas, and I went to train myself.  Which I think is what really impressed Bobra; she knew that I was taking this seriously and wanted as much information and knowledge about these majestic animals as I could get before I brought one (or ten...) home.

She was then the person who put me in touch with the organic farm that I rescued Marcel and Jasper from; as a matter of fact, back then I didn't even have a trailer yet, so she delivered those boys herself; in a van I might add.  I'll never forget the compliment she gave me that day.  Marcel (my lead llama and also the llama on the cover of my book) was not used to being handled, and had been very difficult for her to catch.  She told me that she never, ever has left a halter on a llama, but was worried that we might not be able to catch him again if she didn't leave it on him for a few days.  She said to me "Judy, I have the utmost faith in you, and I would never do this with anyone else, but you will have this wild boy in shape in no time flat.  Work with him daily to get him calmed down, and get that halter off as soon as possible."  And that is exactly what I did.

Bobra Goldsmith was one of the first people to bring llamas into the state of Colorado.  She worked tirelessly with the Forest Service and her train of pack llamas to keep the forests around Boulder clean and trails maintained.  She even developed her own line of llama equipment and pack gear that is absolutely unrivaled in its usefulness.  And this is all after she was an accomplished professor at CU!  But one of the main things that I really loved about Bobra was her sense of family.  She had suffered the loss of her husband and mother, and cared for her ill step-father until she herself could no longer do so.

I told Tom last night that she was one of those people that you just assumed would never die.  She was old when I met her, and although she had aged, she just was "Bobra".  Even the boys knew how sad I would be...I had gotten the message via a text, and my sweet little daughter quietly made sure her brothers knew that Mommy was sad.  It seems the whole llama community is probably really sad today, we lost a pioneer, a teacher, a volunteer, but most of all a dear friend.  My hat is off to you, Bobra, you were one of a kind!

Royal Ranch Royalty

You Rebels might have guessed by now that I'm not a huge Hillary Clinton fan, but the whole "it takes a village" thing really has some merit.  My men are hunting this weekend, and the group that they are with are men that I am happy to say are men that are having impacts on my boys' lives in such a positive and influential manner.  Let alone the quality girl time that Bella and I are having.

So let's back up a minute here.  Some folks would argue that they don't believe in hunting, or that we are somehow being sexist in the acts that we have chosen to do with our kids, and that is fine.  Choose your own things to do with your kids, just do it, and involve other people that you respect.  Break your kids down into smaller groups, or even better yet, one on one, and have them interact with you and another group of adults, like a hunting party, just for example.  The point is for the child to see how all types of adults deal with all types of situations, while still in the protective environment of family.

Back to my men...last year my 14 year old came home talking about how he and Greg had gone out in the field at 4am and he had driven Greg's car at 40mph across the fields!  Now how many parents do you know would let their kid do that?  We wouldn't.  We would all be too wrapped up in insurance, and what not.  And as for my neighbor Dan, well, he is the hardest working man I have ever met besides my husband and father...I can't think of a better example to set for my teenage sons right now.  Another guy that they went with is a Chef (and also camp cook), something that I think Nathan may be interested in doing, that is if the cop thing doesn't pan out.  I could go on and on with the list of life experiences my boys get in just a few short days.

Us girls have been holding our own too, don't worry.  We got to go out to dinner on Friday night...to the Angry Llama, no less!  For those of you that are local, that is a kinda new diner in Conifer, and you really should try it if you haven't.  Good food at great prices, with an even cuter name, can't be beat!  Yesterday I took the girls roller skating, and I realized that I got to play the role of the "village".  

When Isabellas friends Mom dropped her off, she was so grateful because she had a paper to write, a house to clean, a wedding to plan for her oldest daughter, etc.  And with me taking this daughter, I emptied her house!  On top of the fun skating, we had the hour drive down the hill (and back) to contemplate life and it's problems.  Like the bully girl on the bus, and how they will both deal with her this year in a loving and tolerant manner, and how it is better to keep your "enemies" as friends and so on.  We also talked about why people bully, something that is really hitting home with me lately and you will probably be reading more of in coming days, just a heads up.

So today's Royalty is all of the people who put effort into helping raise my fantastic children.  You know who you are.  You are their educators, neighbors, friends and family.  We all have a little piece of these wondrous kids, some of you have given them small jobs to help teach them responsibility, and some of you have actually taught them from a textbook, but know that the gratitude comes from the very depths of my heart!

Animal advice from an, er, expert

Speaking of Rams!

I always have to laugh a little bit at some of these funny titles these days, many of them not requiring degrees or years of knowledge.  Animal behaviorist, animal psychologist, animal...you name it, there is an expert out there for it.  Now, don't get me wrong,  I am by no means dissing them, the title comes from me doubting myself, just a little.

I have been living with and loving animals most of my life.  Although Mom was raised on a farm in Iowa and was not fond of taking care of critters we did always have outdoor cats and dogs as kids.  Then within about a week of Tom and I cohabitating we realized that life with just two people was very boring after living in a house with all of his buddies; so we got our first orange tabby; Razz.  As you know, the story has grown and multiplied over the last twenty years...dramatically.

Even before I met Tom, I was an active volunteer with various rescue groups.  If I remember correctly, the first being the Inter-mountain Humane Society, or was it the Evergreen Animal Protective League?  I don't know which came first and it doesn't really matter, the point is, is that I have been doing this a long time, and I still doubt myself as an expert in the field of animals; crazy!

That is why you always have a good team to back you up.  Mentors are my first line of defense.  And I have different mentors for each group of animal; sometimes it is the person I got the animals from (like the sheep breeder or a llama breeder).  But most of the time, you need to search out your own mentors, maybe this can be your vet, or even someone you meet online; but make sure you have that person to call (or e-mail) for advice at a moments notice.  It goes without saying, that a person with animals needs a good, trustworthy vet.  Not a vet that you are intimidated by, or don't share beliefs with, but one that you know will come out for any reason what-so-ever!

But the most important thing a pet owner can have is common sense, no really.  Common sense enough to trust your own instinct when it comes to your critters.  Watching them and knowing them is the very best preventative medicine you can do for them.  Almost every training method (100% success rate) that I have come up with has come from simply watching the behavior of my animals and adjusting the routine.

Take for instance our dog Rosie.  She was depressed and getting aggressive.  How do you tell a dog is depressed?  Well, she attacked a cat, she was not hanging out with the family, when she did she had her head down, etc, she just seemed depressed.  She was also very aggressively going after Gigi, my little dog that we had recently inherited from my Grandma; so it didn't take a genius to figure out what was causing her depression.  She had been my Baby and now Gigi was going everywhere with me.  So, I started taking Rosie with me everywhere; she no longer had to be in the fence with the rest of the dogs she got treated exactly like I treated Gigi (the only reason Gigi wasn't in the fence was because she could squeeze out of the wire!)

Now, as for the aggressive behavior towards the cat and Gigi, I was not taking any chances there (not with kids and small animals in the house), and I got aggressive myself.  I attacked her back just like another dog would.  It scared the crap out of my kids, I must tell you, but it got the point across to Rosie as well.  I yelled, and growled and rolled her over in a submissive position and held her there until she knew who was boss.  Between doing these two very easy and minor things Rosie is a very happy and normal companion now.

Let's move on to my problematic Rooster while we are talking about dominance here, because this is a new battle for me.  As I mentioned dominance is something that I believe you should always show in your herd, so to speak.  But, this is just a chicken, a bird for goodness sake!  Really, what harm is he going to cause me, and why do I have to win that battle?  It really took some re-thinking on my part.  I realized that every time the roo would see me get worked up, so would he, and if I would just hold still...he would fluff his feathers and move on.

So I tried this new thinking with my teenage son yesterday when I made him go gather eggs for my friend Janet.  I told him exactly what to do, even though he insisted the rooster would not attack him.  Well, he said that bird followed him around trying to get him into battle.  He did exactly what I told him to do.  "No, chicken", and hold still.  The funniest thing was his response.  He said that it went against his grain.  He said "you know Mom, I'm a teenager, and I really wanted to teach that chicken who was boss, it felt like I was letting him win!"  It's very hard to turn the other cheek sometimes.

Speaking of battles you can't win, remember that it is time for the rut, people.  Elk are bugling, the deer have that wild look in their eye, and my ram Paco, well, he looks like he's gonna knock me flat on my ass.. So as soon as I can catch him, he will be locked up with his girlfriend Esther.  And let me tell you, I won't be catching him with my hands, that sheep has one crazed look about him, I will wait until he is in the right pen, and then I will simply close him into it.  Yeah right, and then watch him ram the hell out of the gate, but that is why they call them rams I guess!

While we are talking about advice, I thought I'd mention a trick I have been using lately on the dogs various leg injuries.  It is total and complete immobilization.  Iowa has hurt her leg twice since we have brought her home, and now Gigi has a hurt leg.  When a dog is limping there can be many causes; check the foot first looking for any burs or cuts on the pad.  If there are none, you may need to try this trick, and it has saved me big bucks, because all of the times I thought I was headed to the vet.  Although it seems a bit drastic, put the dog in her crate for a minimum of two days, only walking her on a leash for potty breaks.  The problem is that dogs don't know not to run on an injured leg, and will still run to the front door to bark or whatever.  This really is the only way to completely immobilize an animal, lock them up.  I always feel terrible doing it, but when the leg is better, I know I have done the right thing.

So how about you, do you have any great pet advice to share?  How about pet stories or pics?  I'd love to see them and share them here and on my Facebook page.

Royal Ranch Royalty

I almost laughed myself out of my seat when I had to write Royal Ranch Royalty and Elway in the same sentence, but I suppose that's what he is.  Elway, born the day that John Elway retired, was one of the first llamas that arrived here at The Royal Ranch, which in itself deserves the title of Royalty, but that is pretty much where his "dynasty" ends.
When I was doing research into llamas and preparing to buy my first packing llamas (remember back then there was not a need for rescuing llamas, at least that I was aware of) and as usual I was considering doing things a little differently and packing with a string of females because I had fallen in love with a female llama at another farm.  But, as I have mentioned you can't house males and females together, so once I made that decision, I knew I had to stick with it.  The ranch that Elway lived at was the last that I was going to visit before I made my decision, and they won me over with Elway, partially because they threw a pack into the deal, but because Elway was so easy to handle.  The decision was made, and Elway and Hunter (who came from a different ranch) were delivered the following weekend.  We didn't even have a trailer back then, my how times have changed.
Anyway, although we purchased him as a packing llama, and the picture shows him packing (he is the brown llama with the white neck) Elway is far from a useful pack llama.  He is the last one we pick to take with us on any adventure as he is the laziest llama we own.  He is also very bad at stream crossings and I am the only person (knock on wood) that he has not knocked down, so far.  He has a terrible habit of just laying down when he gets tired, which is quite often, and will not get back up; he just lays there and looks at us like we are trying to kill him or something.
One time when I was feeding them, I had a green coat on and had the flake of hay tucked underneath my arm and that darn llama bit my arm so hard it left a huge bruise; and remember, llamas don't have any upper teeth so that was just from the force!  I got to talking with my mentor Lynley and we think he might have a vision problem, but we did have him tested and he checked out fine.  He just seems to not see well at dusk, which of course is when he bit me, and below his legs, which could be the problem with stream crossings.  I could just be making excuses for a dumb animal, but I think he may deserve them, the excuses I mean.
Although it sounds like I am picking on Elway, and actually I guess I am, we do enjoy watching him in the pasture.  He is one of the funniest llamas we have ever owned.  When people take things up to the fence, like grass or a Christmas tree Elway comes running down as fast as he can, rolling his neck and kicking up his back feet; I can always see our guests back up a couple of feet until they are certain he is going to stop at the fence!  He is also good at letting us pick up his feet which most llamas do not like, so he can be a good teaching tool to show people about the padded foot of the llama that is so easy on the environment!
Our llama herd has changed dramatically since then, and I have found that our rescue llamas tend to be harder workers and have been fantastic workers for our businesses.  I don't know if that is because they are more appreciative or if it is because they seem to trust me absolutely, which is kind of funny, really, considering what many of them have been through.  I just know that I will never look back on the decision I made to house males which I ultimately have Elway to thank for, because almost all rescue llamas are males, so in that sense I have a lot to thank him for, don't I?  I guess we better quit calling him The Nutcase, darn.
 

Thank you, thank you, thank you!!!

Good Morning!  I can't tell you how much I appreciate my readers.  Boy were my blogging mentors right, a giveaway is the best way to get followers!  Thanks to my Mom, who has provided me with the great Stampin Up! prizes, I have gotten 140% more followers.  Now, I know that when you start out with only ten, it's not too hard to expand, but 140%!!!
So, this is a reminder post of the giveaway.  You only have until  11:59 MST tomorrow to sign up for the giveaway by becoming a follower of this blog.  Extra entries can be earned by leaving a comment on what you like about this blog or you can also blog about it yourself and leave me the link.  That's a chance for three entries for two prizes, and since this is a growing blog, you don't have all that many competitors!
I will let the winners know as soon as I draw the names, if I have not heard from them to claim their prize within 48 hours (noon Saturday) then I will draw another name.  I'm sure that will not be the case, as everyone loves a good prize, let alone some great stamping stuff.
BTW, I got a comment from an anonymous person at 8:07pm last night and I can't add your name into the sweepstakes without knowing who you are- I don't want to miss anyone.  Also, if you are already a follower and would like to be included in this sweepstakes, just leave me a comment here or the original post about this great giveaway!
Wow! I think this might be the shortest post I have ever done!  But, again, I want to tell you how much my followers mean to me.  Not only is it great to hear the feedback, but you are all helping me get my writing career off the ground!  It has really been wonderful to hear from so many nice people that have similar interests to mine, especially since I am learning about how Eco-aware so many people are!  Keep up the good work people!!!
PS: The picture is one I got from my Mom's website, it does not represent the prizes.  Sorry, my camera is not working, maybe Santa will bring me a new one!
PPS:  I will use a random number generator to determine the winners!
Make a miracle today!

Stampin' Up Sweepstakes!!!

Good Morning! Okay people, I have asked nicely quite a few times, and now I'm sick of playing nice. I'm getting down and dirty; that is dirty with Stampin' Up stuff, I mean. You see, I put a counter on my blog a few weeks ago, and I am getting a minimum of 40 hits per day on this blog. The problem is I only have ten followers signed up. The more followers a blog gets, the higher it goes in the search engines. For a person who is trying to really get my name out there and known, this is a game I must play.

First things first, I will never share your information with anyone! I may use it for special offers for Royal Ranch products, but you would want that anyway as Spring time will see lots of changes here at The Royal Ranch. I will be expanding my manure collection, I am getting ready to take Naked Johnny (our logo for Naked~Nure) retail, and we will also be selling one of a kind, hand picked, and very hardy wildflower seeds. Not to mention that my book is almost done and I am getting ready to market it hard. Marcel and I will be going to schools, nursing homes, and anywhere else we are allowed to read our book and get our story out there!

My followers and dedicated readers are always the first to know when we have something new and different going on here, and rightfully so. I plan on doing special discounts for my followers, and hopefully this is just one of many giveaways that will be available on this blog. While I would really like to not play the games of "the big man", it seems in my own beneift to do so in this case. I can't see a better way of getting my writing out there in the world wide web.

So, I asked my blogging mentors how they got so many followers. Every single one of them came back with one word "Giveaways!" Everyone likes to win something, and I have some great sweepstakes and contest ideas...just you wait, this is only the beginning of my bribery-ha! My Mom (who has been a Stampin' Up! representative for many years now) was so very generous to donate today's prizes; as a matter of fact she gave me so much nice stuff that I am splitting the prize into two; this makes it more fun for me, as I will get to notify two happy winners instead of just one. So, here are the details on the prizes:

Prize #1:
1 pkg. Purely Pomegranate card stock (24 sheets total)

1 Purely Pomegranate stamp pad

1 Blue Bayou stamp pad

1 River Rock stamp pad

1 set Alpha Shadows stamps

1 set So Many Scallops stamps

Prize #2:
1 pkg. Groovy Guava card stock (24 sheets total)

1 Groovy Guava stamp pad

1 River Rock stamp pad

1 Around & About stamp set

1 Around the Block stamp set

1 Big Blossom stamp (large approx 4" diameter)

To Enter:

1. Become a "Follower" of this blog. To do so, just click on the Follow link at the bottom of the left hand column, it will take you through a few quick steps to sign up for great daily humor and stories about our life on the ranch!  To receive this blog in your in box, you can also sign up for it to come to you via e-mail about a day after I post.

For extra entries:

1. Blog about this sweepstakes and my blog (don't forget to leave me a link in the comment section).
2. Leave a comment about what you like about my blog.

 It is very easy to get two entries, if not three, and the chances of winning are even higher with two prizes available; so tell your friends. I will randomly draw two winners at noon on Thursday December 10, 2009.  I was trying to get pics of the prizes, but my camera is on the blink; all the more reason to check out Mom's website!

If you are not familiar with Stampin' Up!, there is a few things I would like to share with you about these products. First and foremost, the company has been a great one for my Mom to work with; she has been able to earn a cruise each year, for many years, with them. Also, the quality of product is higher than with any other stamp stuff I have worked with; I have stamp pads that are probably getting close to seven years old and they still work great. The very best part is that all of these high quality products are made right here in the good old USA! So, spread the word and become a follower of a blog that I hope you really enjoy and possibly win some great prizes in the process!

An addition as of 12-9-09:  I have found a great random number generator which I will use to determine the winners.  I'm not sure if pulling the names out of a hat is still acceptable, but I don't have a hat that big-ha!

Make a miracle today!

Royal Ranch Royalty

Flash

Once upon a time, in a far, far away place (Montrose, CO), some idiot decided that since he couldn't afford hay, he would just let his llamas loose in a far, far away canyon. Well, as llamas do, they bred and bred until my dear friend Lynley saved them. The original herd sire of the group had fought off all of the other males, who were blockaded into one end of the canyon, while he happily produced more llamas with the females at the other end of the canyon.

Lynley is the owner of Colorado Llama Rescue, and has been a great mentor to me, but even better, has become a lifelong friend. If you are from Colorado, you may recognize her as one of Channel 7's Everyday Hero's. And, the title really fits. Lynley has hundreds of llamas (and many other animals, too) that have come from all sorts of terrible backgrounds or that have crazy health issues. She even has a pig that used to be a skin grafting donor for one of the Denver area hospitals. So, to say the least a visit to her ranch is a real adventure.

Royal Llama Adventures was slowly growing, and Lynley needed a hand with all of the llamas that she had taken in from the Montrose Canyon, so we ended up with a few of them. Flash being the most impressive. He is built like a rock, huge front legs, nice large chest, and very good conformation; he is going to be a great pack llama for us. Flash is also considered an Appaloosa, so his wool is gorgeous, I'm dying to get my hands on it. That is if we can ever get the sucker trained!

I have a strong opinion (gee, really?) that animals that are born into the wild, stay pretty wild, and Flash and his buddy's that were born out in that remote mountainous terrain have been the hardest llamas we have ever worked with. Flash is extraordinarily smart and knows how to get away from us, so is difficult to get into a catch pen anyway. A catch pen is a 12 ft x 12 ft pen that you make to work with the llamas. Once we get him in there, the rodeo is on!

Llamas are very head shy, so for them to overcome that fear and allow us to put a halter on them can take quite some time, and with Flash that is proving to be years. This last Spring Tom finally got the halter on him, only to be drug around because of Flash's wild bucking and twisting and snorting. We were actually afraid he was going to injure himself. The thing with llamas is to end any training session on a good note, you know, positive reinforcement? Well, with his head laying on the ground and his butt up in the air, breathing like he was about to croak, we figured that was as good as time as any to let him loose. Actually, I don't think Tom could have held on much longer anyway. I have the easy part, just yelling instructions-ha!

So, we tried again in a couple of days, and this time it went a tiny bit easier, that was until he got out of the catch pen with Tom and the halter flying behind. One of our other llamas saw he was in distress and decided to attack him with Tom at the end of the lead. I immediately started fighting off Two Eagles by screaming like a banshee and throwing my arms in the air, all the while chasing him away from Flash. So, Tom finally got Flash to stand still for a minute while I kept Two Eagles at bay and got the halter off as quickly as possible.

That was one for the record books, too bad we didn't have video, it would've been worth the $100,000! So, needless to say, it has been awhile since we worked with Flash, I'm thinking next Spring will be here soon enough! I wonder what our neighbors think of us? LOL!

Have a miracle of a day!

Royal Ranch Royalty

You know when Sunday rolls around and you think it is still Friday, you're weeks are a little hectic! I really didn't mean to delay on my weekly introduction to one of the animals here at the Royal Ranch. This week Thunderboy has really earned the honor as he has worked very hard this hunting season without one complaint. He really enjoys his hikes, which makes our hikes all that much more enjoyable!

Thunderboy is not exactly a rescue, more of a precious gift is what I would consider him. My very dear friend and mentor, Bobra Goldsmith gave him to me. Bobra is the lead gal when it comes to llamas and I was fortunate enough to meet her years ago when I was first researching llamas. She gives classes, has a llama equipment line that she has produced herself, and back in the day, she used to breed Champions. I started out with taking her llama training course, which was really funny because everyone else at the class brought their own llamas to train and I was aiming to train myself. Bobra, of course, was kind enough to loan me a llama to "play" with for the day!

Anyway, we became friends and stayed in touch over the years, so when she was boarding a packing llama that had sort of been abandoned, she knew where to send it! That was the great news, he was in wonderful condition when we got him, because of her wise care, I didn't have to bring him back to health. He was ready to go to work, and happily so! I think he's in just about every picture that includes llamas in this blog, because he just keeps going and going and going and going....