Getting Ready for Alpaca and Nature Day-Camp

It is exciting to be thinking of summer and the next sessions of Alpaca & Nature Day Camp!  I have sent out a letter to the previous campers.  Now I am going to work on our new knitting unit.   I am making sample of patterns.  Last year the kids made their own knitting needles and I am thinking of doing that this year.  I will be making up a terms sheet for each area we are working with the campers.  The campers will be doing barn chores, halter training, alpaca anatomy, planting a garden, harvesting a garden, working with alpaca fiber, spinning on a spinning wheel, weaving on a loom, skipping rocks in the stream, other nature on the farm.

I am Back once Again

Winter has been really hard here at Sycamore Creek Farm. The snow is beautiful and welcomed as a blanket for our plants. However, the alpacas would like some area where the snow is not covering the ground so they can kush. The problem has not been the snow, rather the subzero temps. The alpacas, for the most part have enjoyed the cooler weather, but I have not. Despite three pairs of gloves, my fingertips freeze within a few minutes. It is hard to refill the heated water buckets and to clean up the more than frozen poop. As I find myself bitching about winter on the farm I know that my heart is in this farm and there is not another place I would rather reside.
I love my walks along the frozen creek. On those walks I get to know the other critters that reside on the farm. Their tracks show their playful side. I come across places where they have stopped to play in the snow. I see the tracks from the deer walking down the center of the frozen creek. Our critters are very active in this bitter winter weather.
We are having a mid-January thaw, so the temps will improve, but the mud will and wetness will be the new factors to deal with. Of course, that means there will be new adventures too.