Happy Thanksgiving ... happy fall!

While the Autumn leaves still dance around our pastures, there is a definite chill is in the air and tell-tale signs that the holidays are just around the corner. We have enjoyed an unusually long, mild fall this year. The alpacas enjoyed long naps in the sun and still manage to find something to nibble in the pasture. But weather predictions are for a brutally cold winter and our winter preparations are in place. Our barns have been buttoned down and bales of straw are ready to be stuffed in drafty corners and strewn on the hard ground floor. The chicken coop has been winterized with a warm lamp, plastic covering their windows and door and a heated waterer. Did I mention that we stuffed the coop walls with unusable alpaca fiber for warmth? How lucky are those chickens?!

I visited family in California over Thanksgiving; a nice diversion to life on the farm, not to mention it’s a completely different existence than we know in Indiana. A trip to a nearby shopping center with my parents put a smile on my face as we passed racks of heavy coats, hats and scarves! J The prices of the scarves were not much less (and in fact some were more!) than our natural Alpaca scarves. I can’t help myself, I stop to read the fabric content as we pass by – I saw quite a bit of acrylic, polyester, viscose and one scarf even contained 2% rubber on its label! That was the first time I’ve ever see “rubber” listed in clothing contents!

I enjoy perusing L.L. Bean, Talbot, J. Jill and other various winter catalogs to get ideas for this year’s fashion style, the latest in fabrics, and how they justify their pricing on so many variations of man-made fabrics. Time after time I come away feeling pleased about our product offering. Luxuriously soft, sumptuous fabrics in pure, natural colors in fashionable styles, unsurpassed warmth, and long-lasting quality.

Our local mini-mill decided to close to the public this year so we shopped around for another option. We chose a small mill in Kentucky and received our first 5 batches of yarn back last week. It’s very pretty and I’m excited to offer it for sale in our farm shop. We have a few batches still coming and quite a bit more that still needs to be processed. A shortage of time keeps us from catching up and undoubtedly we will have another year’s clip before we get through all we have on hand (not such a bad problem to have!). Take a peek at our Preferred Herd line of yarn. It’s the ultimate in comfort and warmth!

Speaking of processing, we will have a “micro-mini-mill” at the farm. Plans are in the works for a fiber processing room complete with washer, fiber tumbler, a skirting area, carder, spinning wheel and project work area. I’m so excited to finally have a place to dabble with various blends of fibers, textured yarns, and fun and artsy rovings. Watch for more details and photos this winter!

Wishing you all a Happy Thanksgiving.

Warmly, Liz

First cria of 2010

Again we start this year out with a little male cria. He's got pretty nice genetics behind him and was so vibrant and strong right from the start so we'll keep him around for awhile! We've named him Chavin which was a civilizatin of the northern Andean highlands from 900 BC to 200 BC. I basically just like the name. And here he is ... shown with mom, Maya.

The chicks have arrived!

The post office called at 7:00 AM this morning with a message "they're here!". I rushed right over there at 9:30 to pick them up. We ordered 15 pullets (confirmed females) so it was surprising how much chatter there was in our small post office coming from that small box. By the noise I heard as I opened the door, I thought there must more than one box! But my tiny box (~10x12") of chicks was, in fact, the source of the racket.

I rushed them home and popped them into the brooder box under the warm heat lamp, and there was instant silence. Ahhh!

This being my first chicken-raising experience, will be a day-to-day learning experince. I've been warned by several "don't give them names" but I can see that it will be hard not to. We've already come up with Egburt, Foghorn Leghorn (of course he's a rooster), Ethel, Spot and many others. I can't see myself eating something that I've spend time feeding, watering and caring for. Nope, that's not my thing!

Lee is still contemplating the chicken coop but I think he's decided to convert half of a rarely-used alpaca shed with a new door and chicken run out under our fruit trees. They'll have many fine hours of chicken-scratching and we'll be able to keep an eye on them from the backyard. The only downside to that location is the forest critters will be keeping an eye on them too.

That'll make for an interesting spring and summer I guess, which is "eggs-actly" what look forward to in Indiana!

Liz

Aliens at Beer Run!

A few days ago Jaxson and I made our way across the road to Beer Run to let the girls into the front pasture. When we arrived, the girls were already out in the back pasture. How did that happen?? There were no gates open - all were latched just as I had left them. There was no hole or tear in the fence. No way at all for them to get out, and yet there they were, all 11 of them in the wrong pasture. ???

After pondering it for a day, Lee decided that some cock-eyed aliens must've beamed them up for a probing and dropped them back on the wrong side of the fence! :D It hasn't happened again and the alpacas aren't talking ...

The moon will be full starting tonight. What might that bring?

Our first spring show!

We just returned from the Indiana Alpaca Invitational show in Ft. Wayne and had a smashing time! Typically we focus on raising the best fleeces to provide luxurious yarn and wearables for our shop. We don’t put too much into fancy topknots or fleece down to their toes! Showing is something we do for fun and it's a great way to network with other alpaca-holics. Sure, we take our best offspring with the intent of showing them off but love them all the same if they take the gate instead of a ribbon!

And having said all of that, HOLY COW! Our animals made us proud!! We took 6 animals and came home with 5 ribbons. Read about our wins below and watch for us at the National show!

Alaska’s Cicely – this was one of my favorites! We registered Cicely at the last minute submission and she blew our socks off! She was the youngest one in the class and she came home with 6th place in a class of 14 white juvenile females!! For those of you who aren’t familiar, white alpacas typically have the most elite fleeces and white classes are very competitive! Cicely is heading to the National show in May!

Leprecan’s Wee Bonnie Lass – I’ll admit, Bonnie is one of our favorites; she’s too cute for words and full of mischievous personality. Despite several weeks of halter training prior to the show, standing still was just not on her agenda in the show ring. And yet she managed to bring home a 2nd place ribbon and was also awarded the nickname “spunky” by the judge. Bonnie is heading to the National show!

Goldie Fawne – a daughter of our oldest dam, ChiChi who came to us just last year. Fawnie has outstanding fleece and still a soft handle with consistent crimp! We were ecstatic when she passed along those qualities to Fawne along with flawless conformation. Now Fawnie doesn’t sport a fancy topknot, her front legs don’t have much coverage, and her nose is on the longer side (not really what most would consider a “show animal”) but we thought her fleece and conformation were pretty nice so we decided to bring her along. I even joked with the gate-keeper asking which gate we should use upon our quick exit! AND GUESS WHAT?! She took 3rd in a class of 8!! It just goes to show you …. A fancy hair-do isn’t everything! While Fawnie will be staying home during Nationals, her fleece will be making the trip with us. Wish her luck!

Sheeza Looker – And she really is! Sheeza has absolutely beautiful soft fleece, but is on the smaller side for her age group. She was also less than thrilled to be a part of this fun-filled weekend and made her point repeatedly while in the ring. Well, the judge recognized me right off ... and luckily he’s a great guy! Sheeza took home 4th place because of that outstanding fleece. Watch for Sheeza at the National show!

Spirit of Don Quijote – Last but certainly not least is our boy Spirit. Nearly lost at birth and what a loss that would have been! Our first vet-assist in 18 birthing seasons, Spirit jumped to his feet and took a few steps just moments after the vet delivered him. He’s a handsome sizeable male with numerous qualities and was awarded 4th place of 8 against a tough class! Spirit gave me a few challenges during training but made me very proud with his ring presence. Spirit is on his way to becoming our first “home grown” junior herd sire (he’s already lined up a harem!). Watch for Spirit at Nationals!