What Do You Do With A Llama?

Since people know I own llamas, I am often asked what I do with them. Bob Wolfe, PLAAs Webmaster, answers that question. Enjoy the video.

Remembering LAMAS ON PARADE: GALA Conference 2013

To say that the 2013 conference was wonderful is serious understatement. It was truly fantastic. Unfortunately, I could not attend the conference since I was recently released from UPENN after a successful stem cell transplant. And yes, I made it, an official cancer survivor.

Because I could not attend, Bob Wolfe graciously sent me photos, then Chip Wood sent photos, and finally Bev Vienckowski sent Bob Wolfe's photos with captions that appeared in our November Lama Letter newsletter edited by Bev. I hope you enjoy these videos.

This video showcases photographs taken by Bob Wolfe. He is a consummate photographer as his carefully edited images are a delight to view.



This second video houses images taken by Chip Wood. They heavily feature Teri Conroy and her llama Tank. Teri was the chairperson of the Fiber Room and organized a fabulous experience for those who attended. Finally, and perhaps a favorite reprises some of Bob Wolfe's photographs captioned by Bev Vienckowski for the November issue of The Lama Letter edited by Bev. Featured are the PLAA members who attended the conference. You might enjoy perusing PLAA's website.

Southeast Llama Rescue: A Second Chance

Chris Stull, SELR

Formed in September, 2001, SELR was an informal NC group of people who wanted to rescue animals in need and educate people with llamas. Part animal control and public service with "a bunch of volunteers," they applied for non-profit status and became a BOD organization with 27 state-adoption coordinators. From FL to MA, west to Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan as most active states, SELR is a well-orchestrated group. Because the group grew so large so quickly, the group branched into SELR and SWLR. Since their inception, they have taken in 854 animal as of today's date, not including the Montana rescue (Camelid Coalition). Chris Stull is PLAA's Keynote Speaker and we are very pleased to have her with us today.

SELR

39 animals currently available for adoption on SELR website

Regular maintenance is not reimbursed to volunteers, but non-routine maintenance for animals is covered. SELR is an educational organization that seeks to help people learn about their animals, especially if they are the smaller farm without access to benefits of organizational membership. SELR does not wish to compete with breeders but rather help in a complementary way animals who have been abandoned but deserve a second chance. Potential adopters are screened to be certain people have the necessary housing/fencing for the animal they are rescuing. Llamas and alpacas are delivered to the adopters' door, and the new owners and taught the basics of camelid care.

Outreach is a large part of SELR; llamas are shown in parades, taken to hospitals, and put in public places at events to encourage adoption. Their motto is helping animals. This year, 224 animals came into SELR. Of those 224, 173 were adopted. SELR has permanent fosters too; 22 to be exact because of unusual medical needs or age. The need for animal control officers is rising, and SELR is called more frequently to testify, a sad trend. More recently, animals die because rescue intervention did not happen soon enough, not a fault of rescue but rather of the owners. Most llamas die of starvation because of owner neglect. The ravages of starvation take its toll, from fat to muscle to organ damage. Horrible conditions even with feeding simply causes some rescued llamas to die. You never know the damage done to the rescued animal.

A wonderful website, worth visiting again and again!!

Happy stories happen. A young llama caught in a barbed-wire fence, not noticed nor attended to, had her leg grow around the wire, but happily, surgery removed the wire without damaging the leg bone. SELR has no presence in NJ: there are llamas there but it's a dead zone without coordinators or rescuers. When asked how SELR is funded, the answer was two-fold: donations (often generous) plus the rescue fee.

Life changes. As it does, llamas are impacted. But Chris noted that we are not seeing behaviorally-challenged animals coming into rescue, and that is a benefit. Working for her PowerPoint, Chris retold the tale of the Montana Rescue, noting that SELR cannot take full credit for the rescue; they were just helpers. Animeals, a cat rescue, began the rescue. PLAA was blessed with SELR's story, told by Chris Stull, of their incredible rescue work.

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Innovative Ways to Give (and Get): Harvesting Social Media

If you are active in harvesting social media, chances are you have already stumbled upon a charming B&B, replete with llamas and a unique marketing concept, all connected to the Southeast Llama Rescue organization. A complete package, and it just doesn't get any better, from a client and a marketing perspective. Located in Grantville, OH at 4058 Columbus Road SW, Orchard House, from my views of it on Facebook, looks like a must visit place to stay. With 971 Likes, 47 People Talking About It, and 46 People Were Here stats, I'm guessing this is a place I would like to visit and stay a while.

But what really convinced me (2 things, actually) was their connection to SLR and their mission statement:

We are not only stewards for the llamas at Orchard House, but have a responsibility to help those in need of a safe home, free from hunger and fear. We are happy to offer some help, while also educating the public about SELR and the llamas they protect.

A gotcha moment. They have me. More importantly, they have my future business as a destination trip. For all my friends in our camelid community, there's a rock solid marketing message here. I love that Orchard House commits to a stewardship at several levels:

1. providing a safe haven for man and llamas on site;
2. engaging in llama education (huge and we just do not do this enough--always exceptions to the rule, but let's face it, most of us fall short on outreach);
3. collaborating with a rescue organization close to their facility.

In my way of looking at the farm world in which I share my life with my husband, 3 house cats, a barn cat, and 6 on-site llamas, I would NOT hesitate to visit Orchard House. It's on my bucket list and in my Pinterest account. If you are looking for creative ways to give, Orchard House is an interesting model, fascinating, really, because they implicitly understand that to get (traffic flow) they give. That ancient concept, give to get. Love it. Love Orchard House. Wish people who are looking for new marketing avenues would take a look at this engaging opportunity for creating collaboration in the camelid community at several levels. BRAVO! (and I love the way your images appear on your website--nice use of technology).

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The Faces at PLAA 2011

PLAA President John Mosovsky

A briskly cool central Pennsylvania morning with a view of Endless Mountains, bucolic scenery, in a place where people "bleed blue," we are at the Annual Meeting of the Pennsylvania Llama and Alpaca Association at the Toftrees Resort complex at State College. Thirty people registered and 28 arrived for an exciting informative day. An amazing silent auction occurs throughout the day and it is a camelid fanciers bidding paradise.

Six-Legged Walks, Ecotips, and Beating Back Cancer: Life Choices to Beat Back Cancer

Cross posted on Beating Back Cancer.

Allie loves winter, water, but not ice...

Weathering winter can challenge the best in us, and despite a harsher noreaster season than usual, signs of spring revitalize. A thick sheet of ice blanketed the farm most of the winter months, thick enough to ice skate, really. All of which made walking a brand new ADHD Black Labrador Retriever puppy a challenge because she always has energy to burn, even after an hour plus walk. The snow stayed forever but still we took our six-legged walks. Not nearly as long but definitely more often, so it all balanced. And here's the cancer connection: in spite of being outdoors at least 3 hours a day in all conditions, I never spent a healthier winter, and I owe this feat to how I choose to live. Walking Allie keeps me fit and lets me sleep through the night without Allie wanting "out."

Hours old Golden with Rev and Aunt Tess

Clearly, having 7 llamas, one of which is a growing cria, 185 acres, a husband, a city home, and a teaching career, plus 5 blogs (farmlife, cancer, school, DEN, and tech), I am always busy. And that works for me. No matter how I feel, physically or emotionally, knowing my llamas depend on me gets me up every day at 4:30 AM to begin an hour-and-a-half routine of caring for my house and barn animals. After school, another hour plus (never minus). With a house, barn, and farm to keep clean, vehicles charged, cleaned, and all the seasonal work that comes with a farm plus grading students' work keep me very busy. Seeing a cancer connection pattern here, right... My cancer specialist Dr. Sunita Nasta at the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine, part of Penn Medicine at the Abramson Cancer Center repeatedly tells me that exercise if the best medicine, but warns me not to get exhausted. Working on the farm is whole body exercise, with the added body and soul or mind-body connection. Despite occasional fatigue, I would not change my life an iota.

Gishpheol A Nalgene plastic~think before you drink

Then there's the issue of consumption. What we choose not to consume is as critical as what we opt to select. I've moved away from most canned goods, plastic as much as possible (yes, I read for numbers). The newest and best packaging of food has moved away from BPA (Bisphenol A) because it is a suspected endocrine disrupter, a chemical that can interfere with the body's gland and hormone functions. The FDA is "working on" deciding what safe levels are. I just avoid the claptrap by choosing glass, carefully prepared frozen foods, and choosing organic. I eat a balanced abundance of grains, vegetables, and fruit, some of which comes from our farm or our neighbors' farms. Meat is usually not on my menu. This summer I am beginning an organic garden, using carefully harvested heirloom seeds that are NOT irradiated. Can you tell I am moving closer to the "R" word (retirement). Watching what you eat and drink and how your purchased food is packaged can be a lifesaver.

Great online resource for living better

Affordable symposia @ $25

Another daily practice is to read and research about cancer, and I choose mainstream, nontraditional, and alternative research therapies in hard and digital formats. I read, read, read. I look for venues that provide me with possibilities for better living in harmony with the earth. I found a free magazine (supported by practitioner and business advertisements) called Natural Awakenings. It has an online presence, but exists nationally, and if your locale does not have a current NA magazine, you can become a publisher. Inside each monthly issue is a world of lifestyle changes from which you can choose those that suit. One of my best finds from this periodical (I still love hard copy although I live a digital life) is Twin Ponds Integrative Center, a place that aggregates healthful programs, integrative practices, holistic therapies, and vibrant options for moving forward with a happy lifestyle that supports beating back cancer.

Fourth and final daily approach: prayer. Although a cliche in a post-postmodern world, I believe in the strength and healing power of prayer.  Whether I'm cleaning pastures or doing yoga, I tune into God, have conversations of the silent sort, thanking and counting blessings. I pray for others, because what goes around comes around and back to you. Better to receive prayers from others than to ask God yourself. And I've learned to listen. Silence speaks, and in the early morning hours with my llamas, or in romping six-legged walks, or in late-night visits to check on the girls, I carry God's presence in my life with me.

The end result: a healthier happier me. But then, I have said this so often, I've been really lucky. Blessed.

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The Magic of Llamas: GALA 2010 (Thursday)

From the beginning to the very end, the magic was everywhere. Education, enchantment, learning with llamas. Everything seemed so perfect, so, well, magical. Enjoy the enchantment.

1000+ Miles: Marcello Aba, DVM, Ph.D. at GALA 2010

Marcelo Aba & Anita Collins

Dr. Aba hails from 400 kilometers southwest of Buenos Aires, Argentina, and he traveled over 1000 miles to be a featured presenter at The Magic of Llamas GALA 2010 Conference. An international expert in llama studies, Dr. Aba is Dean of Faculty, Veterinary School of the University of Guenos Aires, Tandil, Argentina. His specialty is reproductive physiology, and he is working as a member of an agriculture extension team with indigenous peoples of the Andes to improve llama and alpaca reproduction and management.
I had the pleasure of dining with Dr. Aba and GALA Co-Chair Anita Collina, Ph.D. It was a magical evening, sharing cultures and recipes, discussing llama research. What an education and a truly amazing experience.
Dr. Aba graciously shared his presentation resources.

Best Friends

Image via Wikipedia

Jen Brinson's summers are as busy as her academic year. Only difference is I do not get to see her almost at all during vacation unless I travel abroad with her, or go to the OBX. On a rare return visit to the valley, she spent time at the farm. The videos speak to the gentle natures of both best friends.


Best Friends from RJ Stangherlin on Vimeo.


More Best Friends from RJ Stangherlin on Vimeo.

I know I am biased, but I think both are very special.

Vacation, Right?

A special thank you to all my incredible friends and family for helping me through a difficult day. I truly appreciate you so very much.

After last week, my husband and I are convinced we need a vacation from the vacation. It's been a wicked busy few days, and Friday pushed the definition of a hectic day into overdrive. Up at 5, my first appointment was 7 AM with our pole building guy. Mickey is extending the barn roof to give the girls more protection. Makes sense, because when we install the new dual-head automatic waterer (that will be a monster of a job), digging the hole with a smaller backhoe won't be such a problem inside the paddock. But drilling through the very solid stone farmhouse foundation -- that's another issue entirely.

By 8 AM, the girls are ready to be vetted. Someone has a tapeworm, so within one week, we are Dr. Justin Cunfer's first and second barn visit. A record for both of us. The worming went well enough, but we saved our difficult girl for last. Rev needed an ultrasound to confirm if she was pregnant. Our results were not conclusive, but Dr. Cunfer thinks she is. Problem child, Rev just does not want to be clipped (ask Tabbethia, she can tell you) or vetted. If you asked me, I would say I think she is pregnant by her behavior alone. Unlike her herd, she was simply not cooperative. So I guess I am on another pregnancy watch and only time will tell.

At 8 AM promptly, Perry Breiner and Tom Oswald arrived to finish the excavating. Some earth moving, but mostly finishing work. Spreading different grades of stones, then topsoil. Still, it took an entire day, and it was hot.

Breiner Excavating from RJ Stangherlin on Vimeo.

Fortunately, the girls took all the noise in stride. By now they were used to it. Only Rev seemed plussed by the early events of the day, and she chose to recline and dine. Between checking on the girls, hosing them, and running water to the men, by 3 PM I was totally unplugged.

Talk about fate. We took a quick run to the local hardware store and found they lived up to their motto: "If we don't have it, you don't need it." I found the plastic caps for the barn hooks and the FlexRake that I thought was no longer manufactured. Mickey found an industrial ladder in an odd size he needed. Best of all, we literally ran into the S in M & S, and we coordinated the excavations and plumbing for the auto-waterer. Round off the day with an excellent report from my cancer specialist re: blood work and tests. Life may be wicked hectic but it sure can be wicked good too. (Thanks, Morgan, for the language--wickedly love it).

Breiner Excavating
Perry Breiner
Excavating
Tom Oswald
Llamas
Farm Life

Highway Robbery?

It's an old saying, most often used to represent a significant overcharge, that notion of being taken. My friend (and colleague and almost daughter ~ if you read any of my blogs you know her already) Jennifer Brinson and I had a good laugh, and reinvented the definition.

Here's the background and my disclaimer. I have never been a breeder before; I'm not sure I am even now since the breeder of my llamas, Carol Reigh, provided the dating service. I have never been on a pregnancy watch--either personal or pet--making me on this cria countdown a first time mother. And the overdue clock is still running at minus 18 days overdue. Still, Carol tells me that her girls have already been a month+ overdue, so I suspect there is still hope.

Here's the scenario. Brinson comes to The Farm to help me use iMovie to render a retirement party for Beth Barber. I am that annoying-to-some shutterbug who snaps everything (with pre-approval, of course). Before we began the tech lesson, we walked to the barn to check on Miss Cierra. I told Jen how much pampering and special treatment she's been receiving, making her the No. 1 Spoiled Rotten Llama in the herd. On nights when a fan was definitely not needed, when the pastures had a cooling gentle summer breeze, when the orchard grass was trimmed and waiting--I let Cierra stay in the barn with a fan. And she has been the recipient of just a wee bit of a handful of grain--very little, Carol--just to keep our relationship growing.

Then, almost as if on command, Albert arrives. He is a breeder--of championship beagles--and we ask him if he thinks Cierra is pregnant. When it comes to rendering risky pronouncements, before he knows which way the wind is blowing, Albert is an icon of political correctness, aka hedging bets. Indirectly, he doesn't think so. Has something to do with the rear end and how they carry. Brinson and her family bred one litter of Golden Retrievers, so she thinks maybe/not? I'm clueless, but at this point, here it comes.

Here's the point of the title: I am reprising my role as drama queen, one some say I never left behind in childhood. I'm telling Brinson how Cierra is guilty of highway robbery, how much spoiling she has gotten, and we are just plain howling. At my inexperience, at being snookered by Cierra, how she has played me. Brinson is beating me at the llama drama, playing it from the point of view of Cierra. More howls.

I return to Albert's conclusion: I don't think so, but then you'll come home one day and find a cria. The way I see it, I've been hoodwinked in the past, but never by a llama. Monday will be the tell, because Carol is delivering my two new girls, and she will know.

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Llamas
The Farm
Breeding
Crias
Camelids
Jennifer Brinson