Lest we forget...

It's the shearer who has the full on job. 

Our job is  support and service. We have to keep the alpacas coming too the shearer dry, relatively unstressed and without pause throughout the day so he/she can maintain a rythmn and get on with the job without drowning in fleece. 

Then we must get the shorn alpacas out away back to their paddocks where they can relax and adjust to the new temperature of their existence. 

Our second job which is also primary to TOFT is to get the fleece off the table and get it skirted, sorted and graded and into the appropriate bags in the six minutes before the next one arrives. 

 We find great bacon sandwiches for 2nd breakfast around 9 am, a great lunch at 1.30pm and cake and tea around four keeps the table humming until 7.30pm weather permitting.

The weather held good this year everyone performed professionally and with good humour, job was done and we all carry the experience as a memory until next year when we shall do the same again. All that is left now is the tidying up. The sorted and graded batches go off to the mill next week to be turned into TOFT luxury yarn. The rejected fleece will be picked up by the stuffing man, sheds swept and cleaned, hurdles returned to the paddocks and all will seem like it had never happened- except of course we have 200 pink panthers wandering around our paddocks until October when the re growth start to soften the look again.

'Twas ever thus...

All done and dusted - jobs done for 2015

That's it a huge thanks to everyone who helped and of course not forgetting B D Wheeler and his helper Benny, my son Grant for catering, and Whoopy Daisy for ferrying, sorting childminding and being a friend of all the world and my talented daughter Kerry Lord who now has the job of turning the best of what we have to offer into magnificent luxury yarn for the TOFT Alpaca Studio. Give it the old TOFT magic young lady. Thanks everyone for a very enjoyable shearing from a TOFT Alpacas. 

I am now off to see my mate Jules for a skinny Latte in the TOFT tea room.

TOFT Alpaca Studio team the stars of the show

Shearing has now been declared officially over for 2015. The weather held off Linda and Freya did a fantastic job of herding, walking and ferrying the TOFT herd, all 200 of them to the shearing shed and back again without any major incident. The stars of the shearing shed were the young ladies for the TOFT Alpaca Studio led by Emily( seen here in red all scrubbed and clean) Petra, Caroline and Liz. All new to the shearing they have been on a steep learning curve over the past three days. Undaunted they rolled their sleeves up and got stuck in learning the flick, sorting the fleece, packing, picking, brushing wiping and sweeping with good humour and commitment throughout.

 Thankyou ladies one and all from all at TOFT Alpacas- you will dine out on this experience for years to come!

Caroline working on her flick...

The reputation of a good roustabout is his or her ability to take the fleece from the table or floor and flick it onto the sorting table. Caroline joined us yesterday in the shearing shed to practice her flick and by the end of the day she looked born to the job. Day 3 today- 158 down 42 to go..

Archie gets the stand up treatment...

Exhibition stuff from Mr B D Wheeler yesterday as he took his portable shearing pack to TOFT's resident Llama Archie and sheared him standing up. He made it look easy and was given a round of applause by all the watchers on completion.

Shedded up in the dry...

Tomorrow mornings workload all,shedded in the dry ready for shearing in the morn to give us a good start whilst the rest of the herd dries. 80 down 120 to go. 

Perfecting the shower dance as we shuffle them in and out between the showers

Suns out, rains in, rains out, suns in... in between the alpacas perfect the shower dance as we try to keep them dry for shearing by trotting g the in and out of the sheds between showers. Hey ho. We now have 8o alpacas shedded up ready for the morn and roughly 120 out in the fields to dry for Thursday.