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Quick trip to SAMs to buy some clear trash bags for the Alpaca shearing. As usual we did not get home for another 3 hours and 600$ lighter. It’s a good job we don’t go there too often.

Rob then needed to work till nearly 10pm hanging all the gates ahead of the shearing. We moved the Alpacas inside the bottom barns in the morning with electric heating and fans so that they could dry out and keep dry.

Saturday was really busy day, Rob went to get the rest of our farm gates and the other hay manger. I was busy trying to sew a tea towel as part of the hostess gift for the party we were going to. As usual we were rushing at the end and I was cutting off the threads and the stabilizer as Rob drove to the party.

 

As you can see from the towel we were on our way to a crawfish party. We had such a great time and got to meet and talk to some really interesting people. There was, of course, plenty of food and wine.

 

We were eating Cajun style food off newspaper and then leaving heads and shells on the table so we could just roll up the newspaper to get rid of them. Very sensible.

As always at the Jaeger's we were given some great wine and very palatable port. The desserts were fab as well.

 

Wednesday we decided not to ski, although it was snowing it was too warm so it was turning to water as soon as it hit the ground or any ski gear. But by the time we got up on Thursday morning we were greeted to 6 inches of powder, blue skies and crisp temperatures. We had a brilliant day skiing almost 28 miles of downhill runs.

I managed some pretty challenging runs and we also saw some really cool statues at the top of one of the ski lifts.

 

By the time we finished for the day we were both exhausted but happy and ready to fly home on Friday to go see all our animals.

Tuesday we were back at Park City and decided to try the free mountain guide service. It’s a great feature of the resort. A volunteer guide will show you ski routes around the resort and it also includes a brief history of the area which is fascinating. The city was originally built from the mining industry, predominately silver mines.

 

A lot of the buildings and shafts have been left in place. The guide was really nice and we not only found out a lot about the past but also some great ski runs.

We stopped for lunch up at the top of one of the mountains and were treated to a glorious view.

There was also a photographer and they were sponsored by Fidelity and so they pictures were free. Yeay.

 

We managed to complete 20 runs again and then went into town to look around the museum, followed by a really great pizza. Here is a picture from the main street it’s really pretty there.

 

 

Up bright and early, more because of the time difference than anything else. We decided to go and try Deer Valley today. It was colder than yesterday but a lot less wind and only a few specs of snow. Deer Valley is a wapping 3 miles away from the hotel so we were on the slopes early again.

Deer Valley tries to be a bit more upmarket than Park City. They have gone the extra mile with the facilities and the food available on the mountain. Although some of the lifts could do with updating as they were sooo slow. We managed to ski on all 4 of the mountains and the snow was pretty good until the afternoon at the lower levels where it was a bit slushy. We quit skiing at about 3pm and saw a number of little spills on the last run down. in fact rob saw one poor guy ski right of the edge, luckily there were some small trees that stopped him going too far down the side.

Todays stats – 20 runs 23.5 miles of downhill and top speed on 30.8 ( higher for Rob but phone only tracks me)

Up to the Main Street for dinner at the local brew pub, where we also sampled some of their beer. Followed by a walk to the Java Cow for a homemade ice cream.I had a wowie cowie and Rob had pralines and cream. Great end to a good day

So the good news was that there was snow during the night the not so good news was it was still snowing when we got up. Not enough to stop us skiing though.

We were on the first lift as soon as they started. There was a lot of high winds when we go to the top of the lifts but apart from that the conditions were pretty good – We skied until noon and then had a quick pit stop to have some chilli before hitting the slopes again.

We really only had one bad run – the bottom of the town trail was very slushy. We finished the day after 18 runs – 23 miles of skiing and top speeds of over 30 mph ( iPhone app) Then back to the hotel. We decided to go to Fuego again and this time we both had pasta.

Saturday we were up early and off to the airport. Flying Delta to Salt Lake City, very uneventful trip until we were within view of Salt Lake ….. Wow what a vista. It was a first visit to the area for both of us so a very pleasant surprise. Also we were greeted by blue skies and 58degrees.

Picked up the rental car and drove out to Park City, very easy trip and less than a 30 minute drive. Arrived at the hotel too early to check in so went up into the town on the free bus service. Stopped at the ski resort on the way so we could get Sundays lift tickets then walked on into the main Town.

The town is lovely – lots of old buildings and some great photo galleries. The best of which was Michael Fateli, his landscape photos were incredible. Although well out of our price bracket.

Back to the hotel to check in then out for dinner – very nice Italian restaurant called Fuego was just around the corner. The chicken salad I had was really great and the Pizza that Rob had was delicious. Can’t wait to get out on the slopes tomorrow

Rob says its just me that spoils them, here they are eating the cooked Oatmeal (porridge) that I made for them this morning.

But wait who is this hand feeding one of the girls – oh yes it is, its Mr Rob !

 

On Saturday we were up bright and early as we had to tend to our animals and then be over in Bremen by 8am. WakeRobin Farm had invited us to a vine planting. Being the warm popular people that they are, there was nearly a 100 people there. The day started with muffins, bagels and really great coffee (more about that later). We were then presented with a short history of vine growing in the region.

Before we were sent out into the fields to work we had a ancient Hebrew blessing of the vine – then out into the fields to be shown the correct way to plant them. Trillium (the name the vineyards will be called) had already got over 2 acres of pre drilled holes ready for us to plant into. The extension agent (Mr Rob will discuss who that is) then showed us the correct method of planting. Bruce and Karen planted the first vine and then we went off to plant our allotted area. People were working so hard the full 2 acres was done by 11.30.

 

 

I went over to introduce myself to their Alpacas and one of them, Turk, is just a doll. He was more than happy to come over to the fence and have his neck rubbed. Karen and Bruce also have St Bernard guardian dogs in with the pacas and they were quick to come over to the fence just to make sure that Turk was not in any danger.

I got talking to a really fun couple from NE Georgia, they trade as Walnut Knoll Farm. They have 88 pacas !! and they also have a coffee roasting business call the Alpaca Bean company. You can buy the beans on line and they are so good that even Mr Rob, the infamous tea drinker, liked it.

We had a fab catered lunch and then there were door prizes – so many that nearly everyone got something, I picked this neat gadget for aerating, poring and storing wine and when Rob won he picked this lovely Alpaca scarf.

 

The riding ring (oval) will make a great veg garden. It’s enclosed and, most importantly, it’s about the only flat piece of land on the property. As we don’t plan to have a horse. It makes sense to utilise the space for something useful. It could always be returned to it’s former use if required.

Right in the centre is an open sided shelter with a good roof. I plan to use one half as a chicken coop and the other half as a garden shed/store/potting area. Raised beds will provide the growing space.

I took the first steps today. We now have two raised beds built and I’m in the process of filling them from the alpaca poop compost heap. It looks really good. Just to be sure, I’ll take a sample down to the agricultural extension office to have it analysed.