2009 Farm Show

Danny played hookey from school today (well, actually we pre-arranged it with his teacher) and joined me (Nancy) at the Vermont Farm Show to work at the Vermont Llama & Alpaca Association booth. We had a great time! Since it was our first experience there, we decided not to bring our llamas. We had fun with some friendly alpacas though. We did set up a display advertising the farm and even sold a few felted products. We met lots of great people (hopefully some of you are here checking out our blogspot!) and look forward to having them visit the farm this spring and summer.

Tuesday evening Nancy attended the VLAA meeting and potluck. It was a great opportunity to meet lots of llama and alpaca folks! We found out about some upcoming events...a llama parade in Montpelier in June, the Vermont Sheep & Wool Festival in October. Lots of exciting adventures ahead!

This week's llama adventures

It's been a busy--and cold--week, but we've managed to have a few adventures nonetheless. Yesterday Whoopie Pie made a practice run to the site for his first Birthday Party gig. He spent more than 20 minutes in the house and was a perfect (and inquisitive) gentleman! He also visited VT Copy & Ship on Main Street and Brochu's garage! The chief of police even took his picture. Unfortunately we hadn't brought our camera or we could have had an awesome shot of Officer Fields showing Whoopie his set of handcuffs!

Today Sam and I took Willie and George for a nice long walk. We went up the road and then through the snowmobile trail to come back. It was cold, but a great walk. Both guys did really well and seemed to enjoy the change of scenery. We met two sets of snowmobilers on the trail who were definitely more surprised by the llamas than the llamas were by them. We passed each other without any trouble and came back home again.

This coming week is the VT Farm Show. We'll be displaying some info about the farm and having some fiber crafts for sale. We decided not to bring any of our llamas this year as it is all so new to us and we'd rather not be that far from home the first time we do something like that.

Stay warm everybody!

Enjoying a Vacation Day

Everyone enjoyed having a day off today! The boys had friends over and we used the opportunity to practice some PR work with the llamas. Whoopie Pie continued his birthday party preparation by coming in the house and hanging out for awhile. He's getting more and more comfortable inside and really took a liking to looking out the picture window!

We also visited out in the barn. Danny's friend Rylan is a particularly patient and gentle guy and stood perfectly still while the llamas investigated him. They found him most fascinating!

Yesterday we did a little more clicker training--just beginning steps--with Macey, Kitty, Anakin, Ande, and Lolly. It's been nice to have it be just a little warmer. Not much was accomplished when it was 35 below zero! We've moved Kitty and Macey into the warmer part of the barn as we await the birth of Kitty's cria. We THINK she is due anyday, but we'll have to wait and see.

Clicker Training

Guess what--more snow today. Church was canceled, so we had a surprise day off. We all watched the video on clicker training that we borrowed from the GALA library. Then Ed, Nancy and Danny headed to the barn to try it out. We managed to have 15 minute sessions with 5 llamas before our fingers got too frozen. Ed worked with Macey, Nancy with George and Whoopie and Danny with Anakin and Willie. All the llamas caught on to the idea that the click preceded a reward. Interestingly, the younger llamas progressed more quickly and started working on targeting. It's a fascinating method and we are excited about trying new things with them once we get the hang of this.

Thanks for the clickers, Julie. Did you ever try them out with anyone?

Another Snow Day

The kids were home with yet another snow day yesterday. All this free time on their hands allows for creativity to grow and produce fruit. Here's the resulting picture of the week:


There hasn't been too much other llama activity with all the yucky weather. Willie, Ande & Anakin all had a turn in the grooming chute on Tuesday--just practice at lifting feet and standing nicely. Most of our energy these days is going into developing the programs for Spring and setting up the website. We should see lots of new additions to that by the end of the month. Also, look for an article about Agape Hill Farm in the next Vermont Llama Association newsletter!

Whoopie Pie Visits the Barn

It was cold today (again!) so we stayed pretty close to the barn. George Lucas got his toenails trimmed. Sunny practiced standing in the grooming chute and relaxing while having her legs touched and lifted. Whoopie had his toenails trimmed and then went with Nancy for a walk around the yard. We finished by visiting the horses in the barn. Whoopie and BamBam find each other very interesting--until the other one starts paying attention!

Eddie has been home from college and working on the Ford 8n he inherited from his grandfather. He has graciously decided to allow Mom to use the tractor for the interactive farm. He started cleaning it up and got it running nicely. Now it's back in the barn until spring. Good job, Eddie.

A visitor to Agape Hill Farm

Our friend, Colby, and his mom stopped by for a visit this week. Colby did an excellent job teaching some of the llamas about kids. Whoopie Pie and Mexia learned how to walk around a bucket in the barn aisle and how to stand still while being hugged and petted. Great job, Colby! Come visit again soon!