March 1, 2006

It's been a long time since I wrote a journal entry and Christmas has come and gone. We had a seminar at our place in January, with Deb and Scott Miller, from Crescent Moon Alpacas, speaking to us about weaning. The program covered so many other things! They had good information about halter training, establishing trust with crias and adult alpacas, nutrition, and disease control, among other subjects. There was an hour devoted to questions, so we managed to address many issues. It was great to see everyone get caught up with the membership. Belonging to a local affiliate provides a lot of much-needed support.

After the meeting, the family had a birthday party for Clark. Now he's older than I am until May! I plan to make the most of that, for sure!

The next big party was for our son, Tracy's 40th birthday. A good time was had by all and we remembered those who could not be with us. Our grandson in MO, Jansen, was 21 on Feb 1st, and his mom's birthday was Valentine's Day.

We used one of the new methods we learned at the seminar to wean our cria, Coco. I call her Coco Chanel, but she's just plain Coco according to Clark. She was 5.5 months, so we brought her to our place with her mom and let them hang out for a week, taking her from her mom in the daytime, along with two little boys her age. It worked very well, and we took mom home the next week.

The rabbits are doing well. I managed to get them all sheared in January and they are so delightful. They seem to enjoy sitting on my lap for the hour or so it takes. I put them in an empty pen to play (one at a time) while I sweep the barn on weekends. Taz, our explorer, was restless on Monday, so I put him on the floor in the main aisle. He really wanted to get to know the chickens, but when he ran to them, they scattered in all directions, including up, and he never did get close!

Stormy is quite an addition to our family. She can find yarn anywhere and makes a "Jacob's Ladder" all through the house. She loves to unroll the toilet paper, which takes me back to the days of having toddlers in the house. I found claw marks on a big roll of paper towels, though, and I think it was too big for her to handle. Yesterday, at the tea party with Keatin and Hannah, we filled the extra cup with water. Stormy daintily sipped from hers, but when she began "fishing", she was sent from the table in disgrace.

Our herd was tested for BVD, a big concern for alpaca owners, and we just heard that there is none in our herd, so that was great news. The more you learn, the more there is to learn. I learned a lot at the breed standards conference and met wonderful people there. BVD was just one of many issues of current discussion. We will hear about that at the March 18th IMpaca meeting.

GREAT BASIN FIBER ARTS FAIR!!!!!!!!!!!!! Mark your calendars to attend this fair over Labor Day weekend. It will be held at Wheeler Farm, here in Salt Lake, and is free to the public. If you would like to get close to sheep, goats, rabbits, llamas, and alpacas, this is the place to go. And it's free. Clark has a new job as the co-chair of the committee and the preparations are well under way. I have finished the logo and the animal forms, so have a little breather. We hope to have many breeds of sheep and some sheep dogs to demonstrate. Spinners, knitters, weavers, and other artisans will be there.

Clark taught a class last Saturday, teaching people to knit on his wooden sock looms. It went very well, and now he has been asked to teach weaving on his triangle looms (see product page). The classes are fun and it's rewarding to share with new fiber artists. I will be presenting to those interested in alpacas and their fiber at the Snake River Fiber Fair in May to be held in Idaho Falls.

I'll try to do better with the journals. The next one is now due on April Fool's Day. Lets see if I make it.

Sit, Spin, and Watch the 'Pacas

Janet

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Janet and Clark Otterness
Alta Mist Alpacas
2531 North Mountain Glen Road
Pine Canyon, Utah 84074
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phone: 435-882-0790
cell: 801-557-4162
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