Saturday, October 27, 2012

Some Alpaca Terms

Please excuse the formatting as some of this information was cut and pasted from here.
Hoof - Hard, horny foot.
Fleece - The hair
Tail - Can be found in equivalent spot as the tail in other animals such as dogs and llamas.
Kush - The cute way camelids lie down. 
Ear - Furry moveable  apendage, usually two of them,  on the head used for hearing and sometimes listening. 
Spit - a verb and a noun.
Blanket - The highest quality fleece which begins at the shoulder, runs the full length of the back and down each side until it meets the more medullated fiber on the belly. Excludes neck, leg, chest, belly, and britch. The term originated from the image of a horse's saddle blanket.
Neck - The lower quality fleece but probably softer than any fleece you produce.
Leg - See above
Belly - See leg and neck
Bertch - Unknown
CH'UMPI: Quechua word for the color sorrel.
CRIA: A camelid less than one year old.
CRIMP: The regular undulation along the length of an individual fiber or lock of fiber. A higher number of crimps per inch can indicate a finer fiber.
BERSERK MALE: A male who was afforded too much affection by humans as a cria and shows no fear of them as an adult.
FINENESS: A measure, in microns, of the diameter of individual fibers. Most often expressed as an average for a representative sample of fiber.
FLEECE WEIGHT: The weight of an entire fleece measured at the same time each season.
EPISTASIS: An interaction among genes at different loci such that the expression of genes at one locus depends on the alleles present at one or more other loci.
GUARD HAIR: Also kemp. Coarse medulated fiber. A second coat of fiber found in llamas, vicuna, guanacos, and, to a lesser degree, alpacas.
MEDULLATION: The degree to which a fleece contains medullated hair.
PACO VICUNA: A crossbred or hybrid vicuna and alpaca.
QIEILU: Quechua word for the color yellow.
QUECHUA: A group of Indian peoples of Central Peru. Original founders of the Incan civilization. Today, the Quechuan people are the primary shepherds of alpaca in the Altiplano.
YARA: Quechua word for the color black.

WOOLEN: Yarn made from fibers that are one to three inches in length and that have been carded only. Fabrics of woolen yarn are characterized as being fuzzy, thick, and bulky.
WORSTED: Yarn spun from fibers three inches in length or longer that have been carded, combed, and drawn. Combing machines straighten alpaca slivers, making the individual fibers lie parallel.
YURAQ: Quechua word for the color white.

Friday, October 26, 2012

Snow and Birds of Prey

First snow of the season yesterday. I missed it while buying energy bars and beers at the Winco. Only a couple miles away, but it was sunny and beautiful whilst at the farm a squall hit complete with high winds and snow. It was the first snow for the four horses (except maybe Willow who was born in the Netherlands). Definitely the first snow for Siggy the two month old Alpaca. 

In other news, last week was one of my birthdays and Jenny's parents were here. We went to the World Center for Birds of Prey and watched this falconry show:


Aplomado Falcon


Unrelated to the subject, Black Widow


Eurasian Eagle owl


Eurasian Eagle owl


Swainson's Hawk

Wednesday, October 17, 2012

Privacy

There were two stalls in the bathroom. Feet were visible under the first stall. The other was a larger handicapped stall. No feet were visible. I opened the door and started to walk in but was stopped in my tracks when I saw that this stall was occupied. A gentleman of about 55 was sitting on the toilet, pants up and fastened - the way they might be if he where sitting on anything else in the world. He was reading a book and drinking coffee. He did not so much as glance at me as I stood there. Instead he kept reading and sipping his coffee. I quietly backed up, shut the door and high-tailed it to another bathroom where everything went as planned.