It was an exciting week here at Kave Rock Farm. Allie Crowley from ABC Channel 6 called and asked if she could do a piece – YOUR TOWN, YOUR LIFE, here at the farm.
We consulted with our fluffy, 4-legged residents and they were ….well – unimpressed to say the least – SIGH…. Dave and I decided to invite Allie anyway.
Allie was super nice and did the filming and interview by herself. (She also does the editing herself too!)
Our alpaca ‘girls’ were well behaved and friendly. They did everything on cue – eating leaves, drinking from the reservoir, looking cute . . .
Mason, our mini schnauzer, was sure to get in the action also, although we had one frightening moment when Mason spotted a family of geese. Those of you who know us well know that Voo pays Mason in ‘treats’ to rid his yard of geese (who leave droppings EVERYWHERE). As Allie and I pulled up to the water’s edge in the golf cart, Mason flew off the seat and chased the geese into the water. One frightened baby gosling was left behind and Mason pounced! Those of you who know Mason know he never harms the birds. The gosling played ‘dead’ until I retrieved it and placed it on the water’s edge where it joined it’s family. Allie and I breathed a sigh of relief. Luckily that incident was CUT during editing.
Dave and I enjoyed our 3 minutes of fame and got to meet Allie Crowley a beautiful and talented Floridian – but we can’t fault her for not being a New England gal! : )

The exterior beams are set. We’re thankful we had a few extra farm hands available – Thank You – Tommy & Trevor Perry.
We’ve ordered some more boards and siding from the local saw mill so they should be coming in the next few days.
Once the steel beam is in place we can get working on the roof!
In addition to the barn, the back field we seeded is green and the boys now have access to a wooded area.
It seems that they find every briar bush possible and can be seen trailing long vines behind them.
Watch for more updates on our barn building project!

The 12 sono-tubes have been set and back filled and the first cedar post went up today. There’s still much to do yet I have to say, looking up at this 10 foot piece of lumber
sure made me a smile! I’ll be posting more of our barn raising as progress continues!

You may remember about a month ago we took in an old male alpaca that somehow found his way into a slaughter house with some goats and sheep.  Being older, slower and a reddish/brown color, we named him RUSTY.  The first few day he was here he was rather lethargic.  When introduced to our other two (rather rambunctious)  males, he seemed to adjust.  Franklin, our resident BRAT, still tries to intimidate him but he holds his own.  Now that the weather is getting warmer , although as I write this, I see a dusting of snow/sleet on the grass, Rusty ventures out of the barn more often.   We do not own a chip reader but will borrow one at sheering time to see if old Rusty is chipped and perhaps we can get some information on him.  He’s sweet and halter trained (unlike the BRAT) so someone has worked with him.  A little ‘Rust’ adds character to our farm.

Mira and Elise stopped by this morning to walk Rusty and feed the boys.  I enjoyed having them and giving them a tour of our farm.

Visitors are welcome by appointment.   (401) 465 – 7589

Two of our ‘girls’ went to Southeastern Regional Vocational Technical High School yesterday as part of Green Week.  Students were able to feed the alpaca and card some fiber.  Some nervous students giggled or squealed when the girls gently scooped grain from their open palms.  There were many questions asked about the care of alpacas and the products made from their fiber.  There were a few times that the CeCe and Mariah felt a bit stressed by the ‘pack’ of teenagers surrounding them. but they retreated to the safety of the trailer.  We hope that we were able to help educate the students about these creatures and how they give back to us with their unique fiber, their rich bean fertilizer and of course, their cuteness!