Spudge and I ended up at a prime rib and lobster dinner that was a fund-raiser for the local agricultural society. The dinner was pretty expensive to attend but what the hell, it was for a good cause.
Dad and Cindy, you would remember the place. Now dubbed 'Hebson Arena', it used to be Garstad's place. There's now another arena built on the property and a feed and tack store built close to the highway, but I digress.
The fund-raiser was to build new bleachers in the arena. Included with the ticket was the privelege of bidding on some stuff from local artists, clothing, etc. You know, stuff that you just have to have. Well, the silent auction turned in to a live auction and there was stuff in there that just wasn't included in the silent stuff.
One of the listings was llama that was donated by some friends of ours named Speck. I had had a beer (ok, maybe two) and the bidding started on Speck. One thing led to another and the next thing we knew, we were the proud owners of a half-brushed llama (Al couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get him fully groomed), delivery included. Al said after that for the price we paid, he'd have sold us two! Ah well, now what? We made arrangements with Al to deliver Speck the next weekend and thought that all was well.
Whoa, hold the phone. Al showed up the next weekend as promised and jumped Speck out of the trailer (he was halter broke) and asked us where we wanted him. Of course out in the pasture with the horses, and started toward the gate. Well the Budha (she's a story we'll get to soon) started after Speck as soon as Al turned him loose and had him going oh-nine-oh around the pasture and I really can't run that fast any more and was ready to kill her.
Of course he's running as if his life depended on it, and I really couldn't blame him. He finally stopped and stood and faced up to the Bood, and I was able to capture her and take her back to the house and tie her up. Guess what? While I was gone, the horses had cornered him and were laying the boots to him. Nice welcome to the neighborhood. We finally got everything sorted out, had a beer and Al and Dorothy were on their way home.
Dad and Cindy, you would remember the place. Now dubbed 'Hebson Arena', it used to be Garstad's place. There's now another arena built on the property and a feed and tack store built close to the highway, but I digress.
The fund-raiser was to build new bleachers in the arena. Included with the ticket was the privelege of bidding on some stuff from local artists, clothing, etc. You know, stuff that you just have to have. Well, the silent auction turned in to a live auction and there was stuff in there that just wasn't included in the silent stuff.
One of the listings was llama that was donated by some friends of ours named Speck. I had had a beer (ok, maybe two) and the bidding started on Speck. One thing led to another and the next thing we knew, we were the proud owners of a half-brushed llama (Al couldn't get him to stand still long enough to get him fully groomed), delivery included. Al said after that for the price we paid, he'd have sold us two! Ah well, now what? We made arrangements with Al to deliver Speck the next weekend and thought that all was well.
Whoa, hold the phone. Al showed up the next weekend as promised and jumped Speck out of the trailer (he was halter broke) and asked us where we wanted him. Of course out in the pasture with the horses, and started toward the gate. Well the Budha (she's a story we'll get to soon) started after Speck as soon as Al turned him loose and had him going oh-nine-oh around the pasture and I really can't run that fast any more and was ready to kill her.
Of course he's running as if his life depended on it, and I really couldn't blame him. He finally stopped and stood and faced up to the Bood, and I was able to capture her and take her back to the house and tie her up. Guess what? While I was gone, the horses had cornered him and were laying the boots to him. Nice welcome to the neighborhood. We finally got everything sorted out, had a beer and Al and Dorothy were on their way home.
The Budha? After her welcoming performance she lost her pasture priveleges and was permanently banned from going anywhere near the horses or llamas. I didn't realise how strong the herding instinct is in rotties until then, but we'll get to the Bood later.
Murphy had to have been about 23 then, and here in Alberta winters can get pretty cold, so when a cold snap was predicted I'd put a blanket on her to help her out a little bit as she never was what we'd call an 'easy keeper'. We got Speck and George in September or so and when November or December of that year rolled around the Arctic Express pulled in and parked over us for a week or two. Deciding to help keep the old girl warm, I went out and pulled her blanket (it was jade green) out of the tack shed and proceeded to put it on her.
George had never seen anything like that and when he saw the finished product, he flipped a lid. He looked at her, snaked his head around a few times and ran around her, bucking and kicking. It was almost like he was saying to her 'Whoa dude, you're green!' By the time he finished hi sliitle performance, I was laughing so hard tears were running down my face and both my face and belly hurt. Speck and George now live with cousin Peggy and her significant other, Clay, and other assorted critters and I'm assured they're doing great. As to how they ended up there, we'll get to that. See? I told you it was Murphy and other stories and there's a whole lot more where that came from so keep coming back and checking for more.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Please feel free to comment, but also remember that as bad as I can be, my niece may be reading this so behave!