Alpacas

I have to figure out how I can get some of these guys over to my house to eat my grass next Summer!

A New Addition to the Farm

The herd was all excited when they saw my parents pull up with their green trailer. They know that means something exciting is happening!  Bootiful got a front row spot to the show.

It's a new girl! Brady and Tiny were there as part of the welcoming committee.

 My parents spent the weekend in Virginia at the Breeder's Edge Alpaca Auction. Remember back a few years ago when I went with them and won Blue? If you missed it you can read about it here "Once in a Blue Moon".  This year they didn't win Bingo, but did win an alpaca by bidding on her. 

She is GORGEOUS! She is a fourteen month old medium rose gray female. Her official name is FDA Bisturi's Royal Rose Blush. She is from Flying Dutchman Alpacas in Oregon. She was owned by Amanda VandenBosch and if you know anything about the alpaca industry you will know that Amanda is a very well know alpaca judge.  

She is hanging out in quarantine with L.E. and Jatoba. Two of the worlds sweetest alpacas.

She is going to need a farm name. We usually pass around a few names until one sticks. I am calling her "Polyanna" until they decide on her real name. My sisters and I watched that movie a million times as kids and I've wanted an alpaca named Polyanna so I could yell "Polllllyyyyyaaaaannnnnaaaaa!" Just like they do in the movie. I am sure they won't call her that, but until they find a name that sticks I'm calling her that.

Jatoba is in charge of passing on her sweetness onto the new girl. L.E. just does what ever Jatoba does :) 

 The little boys think she is just beautiful. They are strutting their stuff and she is loving the attention.  Do you see Mr. Bates on the left? They will get to go to the shows together this Fall and Spring. Maybe somewhere down the road they'll have a romantic date.

Well that is enough for Polyanna right now. Don't you like that name :) 

The babies are getting so big! The three little ones will soon have even littler ones to play with soon. The Fall crias due dates are quickly approaching! I can't wait to see what else Smoke Ring has cooked up.

Maybe another Bootiful?

And just in case you snuck a peek in the picture before Tiny is sporting his new sweater I knitted and designed for him. I'll have more on that for the yarn along. But Blue said he wanted to be in this post too :) 

Tiny is still miserable from his tonsil surgery! Getting anything done is just about impossible for me, but I'm glad I got this post together!!! Hopefully I'll be back on a more regular schedule soon.

Off to the Show

If you are going to be in the Springfield, Massachusetts area this weekend and you want to see some alpacas oh and me! I'll be at the North American Alpaca Show.  If you are interested in finding out more about alpacas this is a great place to go. An alpaca show is like a dog show. All the best of the best show up to compete against each other. If you are thinking about purchasing alpacas this is a great place to come to for information. 

My father and I will be there with three alpacas.

 

Lamborghini's Engine "Ellie". Yes this cutie pie finally has a nickname! She is 6 months old and this will be her first show. She is co-owned by my parents and my 2 sisters. We are so excited to see how she does in the ring!

 

 

Jatoba is a pro in the ring!

 

Mr. Bates is going too! He is much fluffier now.  This picture was from the Summer. This will be his first show too. I hope he gets a blue ribbon!

 

 

After I sign off I'm sending my computer in for a tune up. So I'll see you again on Monday!

Morning Farm Chores

 

Yes I am pretty sure Blue is the coolest alpaca in the world.  I was helping my parents out this morning with some farm chores. My dad was adding stone dust in front of the boys shed and we moved some floor matts around.

 

Smoke Ring made sure my father was doing everything right.

 

 

"Hey guys come check this out."

 

 

Awan, Blue and Kigo came over for further inspection.

 

Blue is very pleased with his upgraded digs. No more dirt and nice level stone dust. What more can an alpaca wish for?!

 

I also swung by the girls to see how they were doing. Miss Jatoba had a clover in her mouth and it just made her look even cuter than normal. She is so sweet. She came over and gave me a kiss and didn't drop the clover. She is so fancy.

 

Mr. Bates, Aponi, Jatoba, Francesa and Swag were kind enough to all stop and look at the camera for me.  I am loving that their fleeces are coming back in.  It looks like the weather is going to be cooling off soon! We are ready to get rid of this humidity.

 

 

I saw this pretty purple flower growing in the field and I couldn't resist taking a picture. 

Happy September!

Sprinkler Hog

 

Mr Bates is a very funny alpaca. Today he kept laying on the sprinkler. Of course he didn't want to do it when I had my camera. As soon as I put my camera back in the shed he was laying on the sprinkler again.  Silly alpaca.  I guess he just wanted me to get back to work and clean up the field.

Testing 1 2 3

I have been having an issue with my RAW files. But after a few YouTube videos I think I worked out the kinks. Here is a test post because I am finding my pictures look slightly different on my editing program than on my Blog. So I took a few random pictures tonight.  I think I'm back in action...  hopefully.

 

I asked Brady to look at the camera and smile for me. This is what I got. He laughed so hard after seeing the picture I thought he was going to pee his pants.

 

I had to stop by my parents house tonight to pick something up. Blue's fleece was laying out so I took a picture of it.

 

I wasn't sure if I was going to enter it into a completion or just process it into yarn.  For now I am just enjoying showing it off. I can't wait to breed him and hopefully get some more gray alpacas! 

Vauneesee's fleece was out too. It is going to the fiber mill tomorrow. Can you say cardigan :)

 



Mr. Bates is one of the newest additions to the farm. He was born a few months ago and I can't believe how big he is getting.

Remember little Swag who couldn't walk when he was born. Look at him now! You never would have known he had a problem.

 

Yes that cup was filled with water and Tiny tossed it right at me. Tiny.... ugg.

Okay I hope my test went well.  I wasn't too happy about not being able to upload my RAW pictures.   But hopefully now I'm back on track and you can expect more fun pictures in the near future.



 

SHEARING DAY!!!

 

Shearing Day at Arrow Acres Farm was a huge success!  It is a day that is much anticipated and brings with it a bundle of nerves, anxiety, excitement and exhaustion.  You never know what you might uncover under all that fleece.  But I have to say the herd looked great.

 

This is where we set up to shear. It is shed #1.  The girls were checking it out while we got set up.

 

I got up at 5:30 this morning so excited for today.  I tried to go back to bed, but I couldn't.  The boys woke up about ten minute after me so we stayed up. No snoozing today.  I got out of the house early and over to the farm to help clean and set up.  Thank you to my wonderful husband to taking care of the boys today so I could go do alpaca stuff.



 

Lily's fleece made the shear say WOW!  It is beautiful. I didn't have my camera handy at all times so I missed getting her sheared, but I'll be sure to snap a shot of it on the skirting table. It is fantastic.

Vauneese was so ready to have her hair cut.

Five day old Mr. Bates got his hair cut like a champ. He was so cooperative. I think my kids could take some lessons from him.



Some people who don't know the whole shearing process sometimes ask me: do they get hurt, why do you have to tie them down, they must suffer. No, No and No. If we don't shear them, they will get heat stroke and die. So it is in their best interest to shear.  We tie them down to make the process much faster. It only takes about 10 minutes per alpaca and they are so happy once their fleeces are off they will even come back into the room freely to check on who is getting sheared next.  Clearly they didn't suffer and are happy to watch.

Spicy's fleece!



 

Reno's neck. 

 

Reno is a show animal so he gets a fancy modified bobble.

 

Next up Blue!!! Oh I was so excited I can't even tell you. Here is a shot of his fleece from his side.

 

I have been dreaming about what I am going to use his fleece for.

The shearer was impressed with his fleece and recommended I show it. 

 I thought that was pretty awesome. Since our shearer knows what he is talking about I am going to put it in a fiber competition before I spin it. So rock on Blue!

 

Blue has gotten some blue ribbons before for his fleece.  He could be used for breeding. My parents have a high end breeding program and I am not sure if he is high end enough for the girls on the farm.  So either I have to buy a girl (Lily!) or he is just a fiber boy.  Maybe someday I'll have a little Blue running around. It is kind of hard to afford to get started in the alpaca business. But I'm going to figure something out for myself some day.

Look at Blue with his fancy new hair cut.

Look at how happy Kigo looks having his fleece off.

I can't tell you how excited I was to hear from the shearers that Blue's fleece looked great and that he didn't have any issues going on like skin stuff or lumps or bumps. Phew! It is like a good well visit at the docs office.  He deserves a lollipop.

 



 

Check out Bing before and after.

 

I was hoping to get more before and after shots, but that didn't work out. My parents had to go to help another alpaca farm shear their animals. I am so worn out I can't imagine how exhausted they are going to be. It is 8:35 pm and they are still shearing and we started at 8:30 this morning.  I can hardly walk.  I can't imagine how exhausted they are!

 

A huge thanks to Mariacher Shearing Services Jay Mariacher for the great shearing job today!

See you next year and best of luck for the rest of your shearing tour.