As usual Spring has delivered a real sting in the tail with severe weather warnings for most of the country, but I see Christchurch is forecast to have a high of 19C tomorrow so maybe this will be short lived as an improvement moves up the country and we can look forward to warm spring weather soon. I have lived in Manakau 25 years and this is the 1st time sweet peppers have survived the winter, some even have small fruit, crazy weather ! The grass is leaping out of the ground though so the pregnant ladies will be enjoying that.
Lynn Cole is gearing up for the major show event on the calendar which is the Canterbury Show on 12-14th November. Entries close on the 26th Sept so get onto that soon if you want to be a part of it. A message from Lynn is at the end of this report.
Rangiora is 24th Oct and a great practise run. Contact convenor Jacky Middleton for more information.
Be aware that the RAS requires a whole herd test certificate to show your llamas are free of TB, don’t do what I did last year which was send in the test record I got from the tester, then had to run around at the last minute getting the test certificate from Asure.
As NZLA is the Breed Society, all llamas entered for the show must be registered with us. It seemed unfair that members should subsidise non-members to show, and we do have the projected expense of getting the registry on-line this year so as mentioned before, at the AGM it was decided that non-members should pay $15 per animal for registration. Members continue to be able to register their llama free, and with subs at only $80 for an individual member and $60 for an associate this is a tiny expense compared to other breed societies.
I would also like to take this opportunity to remind you that the NZLA retains the right to approve applications for membership, but no-one has been refused yet! Application forms are on the website.
Lynn and Kevin did not have a big attendance at their llama walk at the end of August, but I hear that those that did attend had a great day and enjoyed having a play on the obstacle course.
Keith has invited all llama folk to a Llama Social Day at Cheviot on 12 October, starting at 10am. Contact him on 03 319 8522
I had the experience recently of having my offer to collect for the Cancer Society Daffodil Day declined because the local council was worried about the big scary llama. Monty was very disappointed. It got me thinking that in this day of rules and regulations it might help to have a RP certificate that people could show in such circumstances, something along the lines of the Pack certificate but with more emphasis of crowd safety. The concept will be put to the committee soon and I will send an update next month
Please remember that we have the For Sale feature on the website, any animals listed will also be mentioned on our FaceBook page, everyone seemed to think it was a great idea to have a For Sale and Stud page available, but there has not been much put up there. The more animals we have listed, the more effect it will have, so please take advantage of the facility
As always, please contact any members of the committee if you have a question or a point to raise