When we arrived in the USA three and a half years ago we brought with us Phoebe a Golden retriever.....well part Golden Retriever and part Rug...she is not one for high adventure or long walks and much prefers to be curled up in front of the fire.

Gifford our Australian Shepherd has a natural ability with the alpacas and of course tries his best to herd them along. Alpacas being alpacas they simply humour him....

Tonks our latest arrival is a Chesapeake Bay Retriever loves the water but is just a simple soul and gets excited at the least thing.

The alpacas have become quite used to having Gifford around and catching the occasional glimpse of Phoebe . But somehow the galloping unpredictable nature of Tonks sets off a cacophony of alarm calls from two or three of the alpacas. Hopefully they will get used to him one day but the last 5 months show no sign of change.....



This evening when I went to feed the barn cats there was the most awful mewing from one of the kittens. I was later than usual so it was getting quite dark in the hay barn. All I could see was a kitten with a disfigured head on top of the hay bales...... a closer inspection revealed that the kitten had somehow found an empty tin of cat food and pushed his head inside....the tin was now firmly stuck and I would imagine it had been there for some while. The young kitten was very pleased to once again see the light of day and scampered off to find his mother. A very lucky escape........