Silver Thunder Alpacas: Recent Photos

House Construction mostly finished

Work on the house is complete, with the exception of the interior upstairs and the basement which we hope to finish during the coming winter. The stone facing on the lower level was the last step in completing the exterior this past May, 2005.

Since June, when the alpacas were gone for two months (sent off for breeding at Mary Bell's beautiful farm in North Carolina), we've been concentrating on the pastures, barns and fencing. Here's photos of the work in progress (taken May through November '05).

May, '05: House is done. Now trying to get grass to grow.

Smoothing and leveling the pastures. Dragged two cross-ties (railroad ties in non-Tennessee parlance) behind grader blade, with section of chain-link fence between them, in order to fill in low spots.

Posts start going up for the shelters.

Finally some green. Trees and grass planted for the "traffic circle" in front of the house. Trees include Red Bud, Blue Spruce, Dogwood, River Birch, and (out of the frame) White Mulberry.

Bush-Hogging the pasture. Photo taken at our friend's, the Durham's, "old" property just prior to our alpacas leaving for North Carolina in June. Mike and Lara Durham (of Appalachian Alpacas) had let us board our animals there for nine months (for no charge!) while they waited for the property to sell. This is how perfect the timing was: On THE VERY DAY that our animals were loaded up for their trip to North Carolina, the property sale went through.

When the animals came home in August of 2005, it was to our own property at the new house on Jennings Lane. At long last, the animals were HOME! Took us one whole year from the time we arrived in Tennessee to finally get them onto our own property.

 

Rented this huge monster to get grass seed into the ground for the fall planting of Orchard Grass in late October, 2005 (and a second time in early October, 2006.) Machine works great, but is a beast to turn. Spent more time turning than pulling. Had to rent the Ford Tractor because our Kubota doesn't have the necessary rear hydraulic connections, as machine's discs must be lifted at the end of each row before any turn can be made.

Nancy

Chuck

Glorious Sunset from our front porch.


The alpacas of Silver Thunder finally have a home. Fences, gates and shelters nearing completion. Photo taken late October '05, after many months of NO RAIN.(Our pastures look like desert.)

Alpaca News
We had a hardworking shearing day in late May of 05. We used Glen Burns out of Blue Ridge, GA and were very happy with the results. We've signed up with him again for next year.

May of 2005 also brought a new addition to the herd that is very exciting: A darling little white cria named Sarah. Her full name: Merlin's Celestial Serenade.

Sarah with her mommy, Celeste, just two days before shearing. May, 05.

Sarah in October, 2005 at five months of age. She's looking very good!

Sarah nearly one year old in May 06 a few weeks before shearing. Lots of fine fleece, but EVERYTHING sticks to that never-before-shorn baby fleece. We are looking forward to shearing in late May.

Can we have a snack please?

The Puppies!
Arriving early in December, 2005 were our LGD's: Livestock Guardian Dogs. Remington and Kinsey are a mix of Great Pyrenees and Anatolian Shepherd. So Cu-U-U-U-ute as puppies, they are now growing fast in both size and experience. Eventually they'll weigh 150 pounds and will patrol our perimeters to protect against predators such as coyotes, fox and especially other dogs.

Named for things that protect you: Kinsey on left (whose namesake is Kinsey Milhone, famed fictional detective in Sue Grafton's Alphabet Mysteries), Remington on the right. While Remy is larger, Kinsey is smarter.

Remington at fifteen weeks old. Aww, ain't he cute?

Remy smiles after shoulder surgery in May of 06.

Kinsey on patrol from the mound, with Arrow (in full fleece). May 06.

Then came Buddy.
Also arriving in December, 2005 was a new purchase: A cute little male with beautiful soft fleece. We've taken to calling him Buddy Black. He brings our current herd size to a grand total of six alpacas.

Buddy meets Remington for the first time.

Racing alpacas: Buddy and Sarah in the "oats pasture". Remember that No-Till Drill? Well now it's Spring '06, and the field that was planted with Orchard Grass last fall is now rich and green. Oats were planted in addition to the Orchard Grass to act as a cover crop. (Trick learned from Ross, my tobacco-farming neighbor.) This helps the Orchard Grass survive the winter. Soon the Orchard Grass will take over while the one-time-only annual Oats will fade away with each bush-hogging (cutting).

Celeste, Buddy, Sarah, Arrow in Late Winter 06

Newest baby arrival: Say hello to Quest.

Coming from royal parentage of the highest esteem (his dam is Snowmass Lady Guinevere and his sire is Snowmass Noble Night), seeking knightly adventures almost from the moment of his birth, and all the while carrying himself with lordly bearing and a pure heart, he has thus been dubbed with the full name of . . . ta,daaaa . . .

"Quest of the Noble Night"


Quest was born on Tuesday, May 29, 2006. This is him running off to the far corner of the birthing pasture at the ripe old age of 45 minutes, followed by an anxiously humming mommy, Lady Guinevere.

Here is Quest after he dried off a little. (Two and a half hours old). Superb conformation, with the straightest legs we've ever seen on a little one, and a nice flat back-line, he stands tall and proud from the get-go. Great fleece, luscious soft, with a full blanket of true black (great for one-color shearing) and a striking mix of white, grey, and black exploding over all the rest of him. We think he's special. Proud to have him in the herd.

Other photos taken here and there around the ranch.
Nancy greets the 'pacas from the front porch in Autumn, 05. "Good morning, girls!, Good morning Arrow! Is all ya'all hungry this morning?"

Storm blowin' up the valley from Knoxville (about 80 miles to our west.)

The farm in winter. Late February storm in 2006.

Foggy Spring Sunrise. ("Oats" pasture in foreground.)

Sunset after a quick afternoon storm. Barns and shelters as of May 06.

Wireless barn cam now sends pictures to the house, even in the dark.

Alpacas in the mist.

My Smoky Blue Horizon. Photo taken six miles from our house (off of Viking Mountain Road.) The far distant ridge is the Great Smoky Mountains, the tallest range in all of Tennessee, about 75 miles away.

Thanks again for visiting our website,
Chuck and Nancy

Silver Thunder Alpacas
Making great alpacas in Greeneville, Tennessee
Pure Bred and Hand Fed!

 

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Proud to be an American.

This page last updated 5/28/06