Where is everybody?

[Bruce Atchison - author]

Hello folks;

Where has everybody gone? This used to be a lively group. I enjoyed
reading the adventures and misadventures of llama care. I hope this is just
temporary and everybody will be back to share more of their experiences.

Sincerely,

Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).

http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=132

http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=102

[Susan Gawarecki]

My life has been overly hectic with a lot of travel and work demands. I
lost the last of my house cats, Luna, to the diseases of old age a
couple of weeks ago. She was 20, and I do miss her so much. There is
an emptiness to the house without a cat presence. The barn kitty is
making a strong case for a promotion, however, so it may not be long
before I'm looking for another mouser.

As far as llamas go, I've got two nice light wool geldings that I need
to place for a friend who can no longer keep them. These are both
halter trained and have some packing experience, although they need
conditioning from being barn potatoes. I thought I had a home for them,
until the resident pit bull dog decided she had to have a taste of
llama, so they came back before things got serious. Personally, I'd
have gotten rid of the dog....

Also, having 8 huge pines fall on the property, wiping out some fence
(but missing the house) put a dent in getting a head start on spring
pasture and garden chores, then the rains came, so now it's too mucky.
But at least I don't have Randy's problems. He's likely out right now
with a chainsaw.

So that's my news in brief. Any one else?

Susan G

Post by Bruce Atchison - author
Hello folks;
Where has everybody gone? This used to be a lively group. I enjoyed
reading the adventures and misadventures of llama care. I hope this is just
temporary and everybody will be back to share more of their experiences.
Sincerely,
Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=132
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=102

[Jenn]

Lots going on in our lives -- new baby (human baby!) coming in June
when and our 1st will turn 2, moving, etc. Unfortunately we will be
without our llamas for a while. We've decided to send them to my
parents house in the northeast until we eventually move up there
(maybe later this year). The house we're temporarily moving into here
has no yard, so it's impossible to keep them with us.
We had to geld our boys because of increasing aggression (mainly 1 was
to blame), so now we have the 2 geldings, 2 ladies, 1 yearling, and a
4-month old cria. We will miss them!

Post by Bruce Atchison - author
Hello folks;
Where has everybody gone?  This used to be a lively group.  I enjoyed
reading the adventures and misadventures of llama care.  I hope this is just
temporary and everybody will be back to share more of their experiences.
Sincerely,
Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...

[George Knierim]

I am mostly a lurker. I live outside of Jacksboro, Texas and have three
males, five females and one female cria. I used to lose a lot of my free
range chickens and guineas to coyotes but not now.

George

[r***@yahoo.com]

I'm still around and check the group fairly frequently.
Not sure where everyone has run off to.

Randy aka FuzzButt.

[Rick B]

Post by r***@yahoo.com
I'm still around and check the group fairly frequently.
Not sure where everyone has run off to.
Randy aka FuzzButt.

I'm here and lurking. We just sold a suri male (gelding) to a
wonderful farm in southern michigan. We have 14 llamas and 30
Icelandic sheep. We've stopped our llama breeding program because
there seems to be little interest from the kids in the area anymore
regarding llama shows and training.

Any up for barn cleaning this weekend? We have a group from a local
church coming over to help and the sheep shearer will be here this
weekend. It's going to be a blast!

Regards,

Rick Boesen
Olivet, MI
www.FiberArtFest.com
www.QuesoCabezaFarm.com

[r***@yahoo.com]

I'm here and lurking.  We just sold a suri male (gelding) to a
wonderful farm in southern michigan.  We have 14 llamas and 30
Icelandic sheep.  We've stopped our llama breeding program because
there seems to be little interest from the kids in the area anymore
regarding llama shows and training.
Any up for barn cleaning this weekend?  We have a group from a local
church coming over to help and the sheep shearer will be here this
weekend.  It's going to be a blast!
Regards,
Rick Boesen
Olivet, MIwww.FiberArtFest.comwww.QuesoCabezaFarm.com

We've also pretty much halted any llama breeding due to lack of
market.
Thought about selling some as guard animals but I've noticed quite a
few
for sale this past month.
We've switched over to raising boer goats instead.

Now to that barn cleaning. Sure come on over and we will not only
clean
the barn but cut up all the downed trees and limbs from the ice storm
a
few months ago.

Randy

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by Bruce Atchison - author
Hello folks;
Where has everybody gone?  This used to be a lively group.  I enjoyed
reading the adventures and misadventures of llama care.  I hope this is just
temporary and everybody will be back to share more of their experiences.
Sincerely,
Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...

I've been in a truck since September and was without internet service
until recently. Until I get a perimeter fence up, my boys are with
friends. Jack is with Dr.Sterling, at least for now. He has a knack
for getting into trouble. Last escapade was getting everyone out for
an early morning run. Jack and the two young females were having a
fine time up and down the road. Some neighbors helped round up the
trio and get them back into the fence. The others are at the
Pearson's place. Count has been mad with me about the move but
forgave me on the last visit. I brought treats and he did share a few
with one of the studs thete. Erte' and GB are in with other hellions
and are having a fine time. There are more boys to spar with and
geese to chase. Two of my dogs are at home with the cats. I have a
house sitter there to take care of them and to get in the mail, cut
grass or water plants.
I did get to go to a llama show the last visit home. I promised to
help out and showed several llamas for Tracy. We had sunshine on
Friday, tornados on Saurday and snow on Sunday. This was about two
hours south of Atlanta. They never get snow. So we stayed until
lunch time on Monday and got home that afternoon.
Susan R

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by s***@gmail.com
I've been in a truck since September and was without internet service
until recently.  Until I get a perimeter fence up, my boys are with
friends.  Jack is with Dr.Sterling, at least for now.  He has a knack
for getting into trouble.  Last escapade was getting everyone out for
an early morning  run.  Jack and the two young females were having a
fine time up and down the road. Some neighbors helped round up the
trio and get them back into the fence.  The others are at the
Pearson's place.  Count has been mad with me about the move but
forgave me on the last visit.  I brought treats and he did share a few
with one of the studs thete.  Erte' and GB are in with other hellions
and are having a fine time.  There are more boys to spar with and
geese to chase. Two of my dogs are at home with the cats.  I have a
house sitter there to take care of them and to get in the mail, cut
grass or water plants.
I did get to go to a llama show the last visit home.  I promised to
help out and showed several llamas for Tracy.  We had sunshine on
Friday, tornados on Saurday and snow on Sunday.  This was about two
hours south of Atlanta.  They never get snow.  So we stayed until
lunch time on Monday and got home that afternoon.
Susan R

Watcha doing in a truck ?
Sounds like you have a ton to catch us up on.

Randy

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by s***@gmail.com
I've been in a truck since September and was without internet service
until recently.  Until I get a perimeter fence up, my boys are with
friends.  Jack is with Dr.Sterling, at least for now.  He has a knack
for getting into trouble.  Last escapade was getting everyone out for
an early morning  run.  Jack and the two young females were having a
fine time up and down the road. Some neighbors helped round up the
trio and get them back into the fence.  The others are at the
Pearson's place.  Count has been mad with me about the move but
forgave me on the last visit.  I brought treats and he did share a few
with one of the studs thete.  Erte' and GB are in with other hellions
and are having a fine time.  There are more boys to spar with and
geese to chase. Two of my dogs are at home with the cats.  I have a
house sitter there to take care of them and to get in the mail, cut
grass or water plants.
I did get to go to a llama show the last visit home.  I promised to
help out and showed several llamas for Tracy.  We had sunshine on
Friday, tornados on Saurday and snow on Sunday.  This was about two
hours south of Atlanta.  They never get snow.  So we stayed until
lunch time on Monday and got home that afternoon.
Susan R

Watcha doing in a truck ?
Sounds like you have a ton to catch us up on.
Randy- Hide quoted text -
- Show quoted text -

After looking for a job for a year, DH talked me into driving a semi
for a living. When he first brought it up, I said no way. When I
couldn't find a job, I decided to give it a try. One of the dogs is
with us and I have a housesitter for the others. So far I have been to
all but 4 states, officially hate winter/snow and miss my llamas. We
started driving for US Express, based not too far from the house.
Right now we are in OH and will be headed back to GA tomorrow. After
that, who knows. Freight is slow, but we are getting some miles. We
are in a 2009 International ProStar. We just came through Iowa, and
stayed at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop - room for 700
trucks.
Susan R

[r***@yahoo.com]

Post by s***@gmail.com
After looking for a job for a year, DH talked me into driving a semi
for a living.  When he first brought it up, I said no way.  When I
couldn't find a job, I decided to give it a try.  One of the dogs is
with us and I have a housesitter for the others. So far I have been to
all but 4 states, officially hate winter/snow and miss my llamas.  We
started driving for US Express, based not too far from the house.
Right now we are in OH and will be headed back to GA tomorrow.  After
that, who knows.  Freight is slow, but we are getting some miles.  We
are in a 2009 International ProStar.  We just came through Iowa, and
stayed at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop - room for 700
trucks.
Susan R

Other then the winter weather and ice, how is life on the road ?

Randy

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by r***@yahoo.com

Post by s***@gmail.com
After looking for a job for a year, DH talked me into driving a semi
for a living.  When he first brought it up, I said no way.  When I
couldn't find a job, I decided to give it a try.  One of the dogs is
with us and I have a housesitter for the others. So far I have been to
all but 4 states, officially hate winter/snow and miss my llamas.  We
started driving for US Express, based not too far from the house.
Right now we are in OH and will be headed back to GA tomorrow.  After
that, who knows.  Freight is slow, but we are getting some miles.  We
are in a 2009 International ProStar.  We just came through Iowa, and
stayed at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop - room for 700
trucks.
Susan R

Other then the winter weather and ice, how is life on the road ?
Randy

Life on the road is ok. Some loads are rushed, and you are either
sleeping or driving. We have done some 2000+ trips and they are ok.
You get there pretty fast, the truck pretty much keeps moving. I
spent more time from Wisconsin east this winter than I like. I like
S. CA/TX in the winter.
Susan R

[George]

Post by s***@gmail.com
After looking for a job for a year, DH talked me into driving a semi
for a living. When he first brought it up, I said no way. When I
couldn't find a job, I decided to give it a try. One of the dogs is
with us and I have a housesitter for the others. So far I have been to
all but 4 states, officially hate winter/snow and miss my llamas. We
started driving for US Express, based not too far from the house.
Right now we are in OH and will be headed back to GA tomorrow. After
that, who knows. Freight is slow, but we are getting some miles. We
are in a 2009 International ProStar. We just came through Iowa, and
stayed at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop - room for 700
trucks.
Susan R

Susan, do you share the driving? I did local work for many years and
really enjoyed it. The couple years of OTR that I did was probably the
most miserable time of my life. Restaurant food doesn't appeal to me
and truckstop food is well below that. Different strokes for different
folks. I always preferred driving the 8 axle rigs, not so much
fingerprint loads.
George

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by s***@gmail.com
After looking for a job for a year, DH talked me into driving a semi
for a living.  When he first brought it up, I said no way.  When I
couldn't find a job, I decided to give it a try.  One of the dogs is
with us and I have a housesitter for the others. So far I have been to
all but 4 states, officially hate winter/snow and miss my llamas.  We
started driving for US Express, based not too far from the house.
Right now we are in OH and will be headed back to GA tomorrow.  After
that, who knows.  Freight is slow, but we are getting some miles.  We
are in a 2009 International ProStar.  We just came through Iowa, and
stayed at Iowa 80, the world's largest truck stop - room for 700
trucks.
Susan R

Susan, do you share the driving?  I did local work for many years and
really enjoyed it.  The couple years of OTR that I did was probably the
most miserable time of my life.  Restaurant food doesn't appeal to me
and truckstop food is well below that.  Different strokes for different
folks.  I always preferred driving the 8 axle rigs, not so much
fingerprint loads.
George

We both drive and are OTR. We have some meals here in the truck (I
agree with you about the food). I don't mind the routes and see a lot
of places I wouldn't see otherwise. BTW, what is a fingerprint load?
Most of ours are drop and hook, a few live loads/unloads. We don't do
any loading/unloading, just drive. I could see how a solo driver might
not like being out for a long time. I do miss friends and activities
and my house, but we are going to get on a schedule from now on, no
more being out for 3 months at a time. That's too long!
Susan R

[George]

Post by s***@gmail.com
BTW, what is a fingerprint load?

Hi Susan,
anything that you have to put your hands on is a fingerprint load. If
you can't drop-and-hook the next best thing is freight that is too large
to manhandle. Best of all is just about anything with a National Master
Freight Agreement (Teamster) hauler.
My first driving job was with an OTR company that claimed to operate in
seven western states, only. On my second trip out they sent me into the
middle of Chicago---I wasn't happy! There were two of us, driving
separate trucks, both wet behind the ears. We were given a phone number
to call authorities to get routing through the city. We told the
routers that we had 14' high doubles and they told us that they couldn't
offer a route. I made it through okay but the guy that I was traveling
with got wedged under an overpass. As soon as I got home from that trip
I went looking for another job. That was when I started driving the
bigger trucks which guaranteed that I wouldn't be driving anywhere too
far from home. The next couple years were still OTR (OTR lite?) but at
least it was only Oregon, Washington and, rarely, Idaho. I was home
nearly every night though often just for a few hours.
I finally got a job doing local P&D work for Consolidated Freightways
and really liked it. I quit driving when CF went out of business. I
sure did hate to lose that job!

George

[David V.]

I'm here, just busy. I have to get work done while it's warm
enough to work. I have 2 more big burn piles to get done and one
more downed tree... which will create another burn pile. I have
to get these burn piles gone. The burn season will be over soon
and I don't want big piles of brush and limbs sitting around
during the fire season.

I've also been pulling brush, not cutting but pulling. I take a
tow strap, wrap it around the base of the brush to be pulled, put
the other end of the tow strap on my trailer hitch, and take off.
The brush either comes out roots and all, or breaks off below
ground level. That sure beats cutting which leaves little stumps
all over the place.

I've also been on several hikes. The wildflowers are putting on a
fantastic display. We had several HUGE fires last summer and now
those burn areas are carpeted with wildflowers. Some of those
flowers have not been seen in the area for decades. They need a
fire in order to bloom.

[Bruce Atchison - author]

Hi folks;

Thanks for responging to my post. I'm glad to know that everybody was just
busy and not gone permanently.

Susan R's Llamas sound like my rabbits in that they get rather particular
about things. A friend bought me a bag of alfalfa pellets but they were the
large kind meant for bigger animals. When I had almost run out, that friend
bought me the kind of pellets meant for rabbits. My 4 characters loved it
when I let them try some. When I switched back to the old larger pellets on
Wednesday night, all 4 of my bunnies gave me looks that said, "I didn't
order this." They all figured I was holding out on them and went into their
supper dance routine again. Mark even jumped up as if he wanted to search
me for the new pellets. The 4 have now accepted the old pellets again but
grudgingly.

Llamas and rabbits seem to share a knack for mischief too. I caught
Deborah, the bunny who lives in my kitchen, chewing on a carpet runner. I
think she did this to protest the old pellets. She knows better than to
chew carpet but she did it apparently to get revenge on me. It just goes to
show that animals can behave like small children at times.

Sincerely,

Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).

http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=132

http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=Details&store_id=102

[s***@gmail.com]

Post by Bruce Atchison - author
Hi folks;
Thanks for responging to my post.  I'm glad to know that everybody was just
busy and not gone permanently.
Susan R's Llamas sound like my rabbits in that they get rather particular
about things.  A friend bought me a bag of alfalfa pellets but they were the
large kind meant for bigger animals.  When I had almost run out, that friend
bought me the kind of pellets meant for rabbits.  My 4 characters loved it
when I let them try some.  When I switched back to the old larger pellets on
Wednesday night, all 4 of my bunnies gave me looks that said, "I didn't
order this."  They all figured I was holding out on them and went into their
supper dance routine again.  Mark even jumped up as if he wanted to search
me for the new pellets.  The 4 have now accepted the old pellets again but
grudgingly.
Llamas and rabbits seem to share a knack for mischief too.  I caught
Deborah, the bunny who lives in my kitchen, chewing on a carpet runner.  I
think she did this to protest the old pellets.  She knows better than to
chew carpet but she did it apparently to get revenge on me.  It just goes to
show that animals can behave like small children at times.
Sincerely,
Bruce Atchison - author of Deliverance from Jericho (Six Years in a Blind
School) and When a Man Loves a Rabbit ((Learning and Living With Bunnies).
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...
http://www.bookstream.biz/cgi-bin/bookstream/bookstore.cgi?overlord=D...

As Susan G says, if your llama hasn't embarrased you in public yet,
you haven't show it.