News at Starlight Llam Solar Bed and Breakfast
Welcome to Starlight Llama’s news page! This addition will let us share with you some of the exciting things that have taken place – or are expected – on the farm, with the animals, and of course, seasonal changes.
January 17, 2012: For Daisy
Farm animals are wonderful and bring us much joy, but sadly they do not live forever. We bid a warm (ok, tearful) farewell to our goat, Daisy. She came to us bonded to children not quite sure what other goats were, but within days became best pal to Lucy, a rescue goat given to our son for his 6th birthday. Together they spent hours enjoying head butting, escaping the fences to see if the grass was really greener on the other side, or playing king-of-the-hill on/in any wheelbarrow, hill, woodpile, or large rock. Daisy, a grey and white Pygmy, had a serious pair of horns, and despite the fact that she was the smallest animal on the farm, she utterly ruled the roost. If she wanted the llamas to move, she learned early on that one backward jab with those horns would move a 400 pound llama away from grain, hay, water, or whatever she wanted. Daisy was John’s favorite farm mammal, and she will be missed.
January 1, 2012: Happy New Year!
2011 was an exciting year. John is busy planning his reproduction Thoreau cabin. He cleared a spot and while there is no Walden Pond, there is a stunning view of Mount Tom. Hemlock has been cut and is drying. This will be a perfect stop on a summer walk or in winter, to take a warm-up break from snow-shoeing and have a cup of hot chocolate. Never snow-shoe? We have two sets of snow-shoes that you can test drive. Of course you can bring your own cross country skis as well. John has been clearing the trails and as soon as the snow comes, they will be ready. As always, we are happy to recommend other trails, galleries or museums to visit, and restaurants to enjoy.
Baby llama Geneva is growing fast. She is smart and has learned how to position herself just behind her llama aunt Satori so she is out of reach of us at any given moment, making us work to go up to her. We had hoped that Satori would have had a crib of her own this year, but she is clearly enjoying Geneva and is very protective of her. Geneva sleeps nestled between Satori and her mom, and is lucky to have the care of two adults.
December 25, 2011: Santa delivers a Greenhouse
Actually, Santa brought Starlight Llama the hoops for a hoop house! Come back for more on the set-up and planning when the spring weather arrives. We look forward to learning more about extending the growing seasons, and enjoying weeding even when it is raining. We saw an article about how one farmer uses a section of his hoop house for his chickens, swearing that they keep the plants a bit warmer and benefit from the extra sunshine. We will look into this, and may give it a try. Dee had once read that peacocks were wonderful for weeding gardens, but ours have long ago decided that putting a single hole in each tomato is much more fun than weeding. In other words, we will have to see. Thanks John, uh, Santa!
December 14, 2011: The call of the Rooster
In early summer we needed more eggs. The recent surge in backyard chickens has made finding late-season chicks nearly impossible, so we answered an ad and took our chances on un-sexed chicks. A few months later it became apparent that some were rooster-like, and then in the morning we were woken to a few voice-cracking crows. We had at least two roosters. Then three. Then four. Of the original ten, we had 4 roosters.
So much for eggs! The squabbling males were stressing out the females and they were unable to lay. We were lucky, the woman we bought them from agreed from the start to take back any roosters. We boxed them up in mid-December and back they went. Fortunately, she is finding homes for them, and Dee’s favorite, whose feathers were orange-yellow with gray edges, has a lovely new home with four hens.
The yard was instantly more peaceful, the fighting ended, and we slept in for the first time in months. Three days later a crowing was heard. Then another. We have two more roosters!