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Recent retiree--35 year's experience teaching reading, English, adult basic education and volunteer leadership skills. Started this blog to exchange ideas and commentary with friends and others having an interest in joining the discussions. Greatest life accomplishments include: 1.organized my 3rd grade class to check out library books for me to get around librarian's weekly limit--Amazon.com, the Mullins Elementary 3rd Grade Class of 1956 is still waiting for "thank you" notes; 2. volunteered in the Peace Corps, island of St. Kitts, West Indies; 3.taught adults to read, earn their GEDs., and speak English as a second language; 4. bought a border collie puppy for $6, got evicted rather than give him up, and began a life-long love affair with all things "Dog"; 5. joined a physical fitness boot camp in my mid-50s--don't mess with someone who's been doing regulation pushups in wet grass at 5:30 a.m.; 6. walked across Northern England with best friend Sally--over 80 miles from the Irish to North Seas; and 7. travelled to many foreign countries for pleasure and work.

Thursday, May 17, 2012

Friday Fences - New England Stone Walls and Critters

In Monday's Barn Charm meme I shared a barn and garden near Sturbridge, Massachusetts with a promise of more to come for Friday Fences. Well, here's the rest of the story. This hand-stacked stone wall was on the edges of the garden. I'm sure that these walls were made entirely from stones dug out of the fields so farmers could plant. I believe that the ground cover in the foreground of this photo was lily of the valley--just not blooming when we were there. Here's a long view of the stone wall with a couple of little outbuildings that were scattered through the garden in addition to the imposing barn (see previous post):


And then here's the surprise. When I looked over the wall, these guys were hanging out in their own fenced in shed. Now these critters are quite common here in Kentucky, but in the 90s I had not seen much of them. FYI, they're llamas, not alpacas. You can tell by their banana shaped ears and larger tails.

This llama "king" is taking a common pose up on this rock on alert. I believe that some farmers use them to guard livestock because they can be quite fierce and territorial:

And now for more Friday Fence stories and photos--and perhaps the odd critter--be sure to check out Janis' link at Life According to Jan and Jer .

23 comments:

TexWisGirl said...

love the stone walls! wish we had them here, but not enough good terrain/material!

Betsy Banks Adams said...

Reminds me of the stone wall fences we see in the Smoky Mtns.... Gorgeous!!!!
Hugs,
Betsy

Millie said...

Great shots! I love the rock fences. That llama on the left looks a lot like mine. My fence is here. http://edenhills.wordpress.com/2012/05/17/fencing/

Magical Mystical Teacher said...

I love stone walls. There is something soulfully soothing about them.

Fence, Sky, Clouds

Linda said...

Stone walls are wonderful - and I loved the llamas! What great shots!

A Colorful World said...

Wonderful stone walls! I love them! And the llamas were a darling discover!

Grandma Barb's This and That said...

I love those stone walls that they have in New England!

Carletta said...

Those stone walls are so much more natural looking than anything else.
I loved seeing them when we visited New England years ago. On rare occasions I see one here and there.
I do know Llama's are kept here on some farms for guards.
Wonderful shots Faye!!

Kim, USA said...

Yay Alpaca's!! Great find of stone fence thanks for sharing.

Friday Fence

Brian King said...

Love the stone fences! I'm glad we have them here in KY as well. I can't imagine the hours it took to build just one.

Tanya Breese said...

i love those stone walls. i should make the kids work on one when they are being punished lol

EG CameraGirl said...

I very much like the stone walls of New England. Llamas are now seen here too. Apparently they dislike intensely all canines, which includes coyotes.

Tracy said...

Thanks for clearing up the difference between Llamas and Alpacas. Nice pictures and I love your barn pictures, too. I've been so busy, I haven't had much time to participate in these fun memes. Maybe during the summer I'll have more time for blogging.

Jan n Jer said...

Very nice Faye...love the stone, they really do tell a story! The Llamas are such goofy looking animals..don't you think???

Pamela said...

My dad had rock piles, which were fun places to play ... but I don't think we ever harvested enough to build a rock wall. There is a llama where I sometimes walk. There used to be emus in the same fields.

I should probably try and get going on some kind of meme to get me interested in blogging again.

Dianne said...

I love stone fences
they feel so sturdy yet look so quaint
I love the king on his rock :)

Revrunner said...

Ditto on stone fences. I'm always in awe at the amount of work they represent.

Living Life said...

So neat! I was not sure how to tell the difference between the llamas and alpacas. Now I know! We see a few of them here in PA, but they are not common. I love the stone wall/fence. It reminds me a little of the stone walls in Gettysburg, PA.

Deborah Carr (Debs) said...

Those stone walls are lovely and look like they've been polished!

Anonymous said...

Love those stone walls... Sorry I been so quiet these last couple weeks, I’ve been really ill (now finally diagnosed with Whooping Cough even though I was immunized) and have had another very rough week.

Judy said...

I love the photo of the king of the (very little) hill!
You asked about the hike to Lake on the Mountain - yes - all the way across the parking lot and a bit of grass. The photo of the ferry was taken from the parking lot, but there is no way you can get both lakes into one shot, unless you are in a plane...

ari_1965 said...

I classify llamas in the category of animals known as "The Ones Who Spit". Camels are the best known animal in this group. I have met two people who claim that llamas don't spit. These people challenged me to name the date and time I was spat upon by a llama, and the address of the YouTube video of the event. I refused to provide said information, as I do not respond to demands which include repeated shouts of "Ya can't prove it, can ya, huh, can ya? Yeah, ya big boob."

jhon said...

. The worst things are wire fences, maybe it's the molecular structure of the alloy or just the amount of give in a fence, I don't know, but I've torn my jacket and lost my hat in a lot of fences. above ground pool fence