SURPRISE!

We have a new cria! Baby was born about 3 weeks early, but looks healthy. She's standing up, walking around, nursing, and even weighs 1.2 pounds more than her sister from last year, who was full term.

My Ziggy

This is Zigmund. We call him Ziggy. He's a foster dog who has been here since the end of May, and is a wonderful dog.

Ziggy had terrible mange when we first got him, but is looking really good now. Ziggy's personality can best be described as a grumpy old man - he knows what he wants, he's a bit gassy, and can be gruff. But, if you're his "person", he's a total sweetheart.

I Gotta Pick the Raspberries....

Remember that old Dunkin Donuts commercial, with the guy who kept saying "It's time to make the doughnuts". Well, it's raspberry season. Every day, I find myself saying, "It's time to pick the raspberries".

This is our own personal patch, so it's a bit uneven, and you have to climb around some obstacles too. But, if any of you are in the mood for raspberries, come on out. You can pick and keep whatever you pick. It would be nice to have a day off...

Don't worry - our new patch is in a nice, flat, open field. That is one of the lessons we learned.

Bam Bam, Striking a Pose

Check out our website - www.offbeatacres.com. Notice any resemblance between the narrator and this guy?

How can it be July already?

This has been a really good summer for us, so far. Most of our new trees are growing really well, and about half of the raspberries. We've had a decent amount of rain and nice temps too. The new pasture is beautiful, and the alpacas love it. Looking back, I can't believe the ugly patch of dirt they were on last year. Oh well - live and learn.

We're on Facebook now too, so feel free to friend us. Search under Erin Egan. There's some different pictures up there.

Raspberries are in, and we've also got a bumper crop of tart cherries. This is still our personal patch. Next year, though, the raspberries growing next to the alpaca pasture should be ready for public picking! That's pretty cool.

I am keeping up on the garden better, and flower beds too. We now have 4 acres of grass to mow (our lawn plus the new pasture). We've also got 6 foster puppies right now. It's all a lot of work, but it's also a lot of fun.

More pics will be posted one of these days. Last weekend, 4 fighter jets from the base in Madison flew right over too. That was awesome.