Who rang the dinner bell?
It's been a while since I last posted, but we've been busy! The last three weeks have been spent at Southwest Llama Rescue in Harper, TX. Our generous host, Baxter, has been giving us an electrical hookup, a fenced yard for the animals, and all the food we could hope to eat in exchange for a few hours of work per day. The whole setup is courtesy of Helpx.net, a website that matches volunteers with hosts who need work done to facilitate affordable travel around the country and even the rest of the world.
There were ten llamas here when we got set up, and another two arrived last week. The llamas here are all rescues waiting to be adopted, and so a lot of them are seniors and very shy of being petted or approached. One of the two new llamas had an injured neck and she held it down on the ground all the time. She has been slowly healing with daily massage therapy and painkillers!
Dan paints a house!
Dan summons demons from the Underworld
Throughout our time here Dan learned a lot about farm work, and he even got to use a lawn mower for the first time! I made sure to take pictures. We put up and took down fences, cared for the animals, did some painting, burned a few brush piles, and various other farm chores. One of Baxter's friends also hired us to paint, caulk, and clean her house, so we made money for a few tanks of gas.
Kerrville Folk Festival
Stonehenge II and the Easter Island head
For leisure we went to the Kerrville Annual Folk Festival and heard some original folk music, wandered around the campground, and perused handmade crafts. It was the calmest music festival ever, mainly composed of old hippies and young families, and it was a very relaxing time. Last week we took Piper, Juno, and Frankenstein to the dam of the Guadalupe River in Ingram. Piper fetched massive sticks in the water, Dan and I went swimming, Frankenstein chilled in the shade, and Juno exhausted herself racing up and down the concrete side of the dam. All the sun and heat here in Texas has turned our skin brown, and Dan looks like a whole different person. On our way back from the dam we passed by Stonehenge II, a 2/3 size replica of what stonehenge might have originally looked like, along with a couple of Easter Island head replicas.
"What the heck is that yellow blur?" Rosie got a wild hare.
Rosie claims her throne
At the farm Rosie, Juno, and Piper had full run of a chain link fenced yard. They all stayed in there together during the day while we worked, and at night Rosie slept in her crate and the dogs came inside the camper. Rosie bonded with the dogs and we enjoyed watching them all chase each other around the yard. She loved to sit on top of the patio table so much that we had to remove it from the yard and replace it with a few stumps to prevent a berry-covered table.
Oscar trying to look thin for the camera
The cats have decided that they want to dart out the door at every opportunity, so we have to work on a way to deter that behavior. The door swinging open problem was fixed with a simple locking hook latch on each side, although now it's far too easy for us to accidentally lock each other inside at inopportune times.
In other news, our car's overheating problem continued happening and we took it to a mechanic for a diagnosis. I paid close to forty bucks for the diagnosis, and the estimate for a repair of the radiator cooling fan was about $450. I politely refused service, bought the part online from Advance Auto Parts for $66, and fixed it myself. Dan assisted in rotating the tires, we changed the oil, and got new spark plugs. Our wallets were very happy that we did it ourselves! The internet is a wonderful resource.
The clouds were the best part of Texas
With the car maintained and everyone packing up to go it's time to say goodbye to everyone here at the llama farm, and we're on our way to beautiful Colorado just in time to see the Northern Lights this Friday!
Aunt Maura from NY says hello have a great time enjoy every minute
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