Storm 1
Storm 2
After many years of drought–even exceptional drought–we experienced two major storms to end 2018 and begin 2019. The first storm on Christmas night was a blizzard that dumped significant snow. The accompanying winds created 3-4 foot drifts all over the property, making it difficult to shelter and feed the alpacas and impossible to muck the stalls. The second storm on New Year’s eve, while not called a blizzard, dumped more snow and the high winds created even more drifts. Needless to say, we were overwhelmed with all of the snow. Cleaning the stalls was all but impossible, so we just piled on more straw every night to keep the alpacas clean and warm. When the storm finally broke, two wonderful young people who had been helping with mucking on the weekends showed up to help us remove (really just make bigger piles) the snow. They helped us get the tractor dug our and running, and along with our normal mucking person cleaned all the stalls inside the barn. It will still be some time before we can accommodate visitors as there is no place to park, but at least we can feed and clean the stalls.