November
27, 2005It has been a fulfilling fall and there have been some changes around here, as we get ready for winter. The end of September, we made a beautiful trip around the area. We took our pretty grey girl and her new cria, Xandor, (see him on the pictures page), to be bred to a wonderful black male at River Bed Ranch in Heber City. We continued to Mapleton, where we left Arielle, her cria Melody, and Chantilly Lace to be bred to the famous Goliath. We traveled through the mountains to Manti, where we left our Josie and Ambrosia at Cherokee Rose Ranch. We brought home our new stud, Twinstar's Boomerang. He will be ready to begin breeding in the spring and we are very excited about his possibilities. The grandson of both Felix and Hemingway, he has an amazing amount of both crimp and fiber.
We also received news that Arielle's Triton, who now lives in Shreveport, LA, won first place at the Deep South Alpaca Show on November 12th. We have his full sister, Melody, who was just weaned.
I sheared the angora rabbits in October and there was a good harvest of wonderful fiber to mix with the alpaca for our new product line. They are delightful to hold and it's a good thing, because it takes about an hour to shear them with scissors. Handling them is better, by far, than any tranquilizer. By the time I finish, I'm more relaxed than they are!
The construction about a half a mile away from us and the fields, which surround us, sent a few mice into our house. I was surprised it took over three years for this to happen, as other housing construction has resulted in this nuisance before. We have managed to catch them, and we decided to get a kitten, to ensure that we don't get any more. Some of the earliest pictures of me were taken on my grandma's farm with a cat in each arm, as long as I was tall. I have had cats most of my life, but haven't had one for the last few years. Stormy (see picture page) is a great addition and hunts constantly, at only 6 months old.
Another change for us was taking all our alpaca yarn and roving to the new spinning, weaving, knitting shop run by our friend, Kristine Bullock. It is a great addition to the valley, hosting "Gatherings", where fiber artists sit and share on Friday evenings and anytime Saturday.
The last addition to the farm is Helga, a German angora. She is a full German, and we look forward to her first shearing to see how much fiber she will produce. She is settling in fine with Heidi (Fluffy Butt), George, and Taz, who all moved into the barn last month. Clark had a good time developing a heated water delivery system for them and it has been quite successful. The old engineering instincts are still there.
We celebrated our 43rd anniversary this month and remembered when Clark was in Australia last year and missed it.
There is a big snow coming down today, so I will go put on the soup for spinners to visit tomorrow. Two ladies have birthdays this week, so I have a huge brownie "birthday cake" to share. Chocolate, soup, and a fire to spin by should make a great respite before we start the holiday season.
Sit by the fire, Spin, and Watch the 'Pacas,
Janet
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