Nobella Alpacas

New Yarn for Spring

2011-03-24T11:35:00Z

We just got back the last of our 2010 yarn! It is absolutely gorgeous. We a vibrant true black that is just stunning and a super soft gray yarn that is made from 4 cria fleeces. We also have a very limited amount of fawn yarn, however, I believe it is already spoken for. I am waiting to hear back from one of our customers that expressed an interest in it earlier.

We are very proud of the quality of our yarn and a great deal of care goes into our fleeces before sending it to the mill. Our mill is Autumn Mist and they do a fantastic job. Because they do such a good job, however, there is a wait up to 12 months depending when you submit your fleeces. So this batch is probably the only batch we will have for the rest of 2011. We are having an open house March 26, 2010 if you would like to touch and see the newest yarns.

Reflecting on 2010

2010-12-31T16:35:00Z

As 2010 closes, I feel a need to reflect on the things that went well and things I wish to modify or change. In January we were a few months into our new business, www.criacoats.com Because this was our maiden year in this business, I worried that there would not be enough business to justify the expenses we had invested or that we would be overwhelmed and unable to keep up with the demand. In reality things turned out just right. The busy season was October through April, however, we had orders every month (even June, July and August). When we had down time, we tried to build up an inventory of some ready made coats to offer on http://www.etsy.com/shop/nobellaalpacas We also have tried to make a commitment to turn every order over within 7 to 10 days. So far we have been able to keep that commitment.

In September, we lost our dear friend and fellow alpaca breeder, Ben Clark to brain cancer. I miss him a great deal, however, I can't help but smile when I think of him. He was always laughing and joking and his enthusiasm was contagious. September also brought about our season of crias. We have loved and enjoyed these crias a great deal, but have decided a late Spring/early Summer birthing season works best for us. We have 4 girls bred for May/June cria. We will utrasound in May and then begin breeding our Fall delivery girls for a Spring/Summer 2012 season.

November was the initial year of the Maryland Alpaca and Fleece sale hosted by Maryland Alpaca Breeders Association, MABA. Our maiden year of that was a tremendous success thanks to so many Maryland breeders pitching in to showcase their alpacas, fiber, and products. Great educational opportunities were provided for the participants at this event.

December was a busy time at Nobella Alpacas. We opened for Christmas shopping for the 3 Saturdays before Christmas and had a great turn out. Because our Christmas open houses were so widely attended, we are going to open two weekends in January and see how that works. Previously we attended an outside market in Annapolis January through March. This year we are going to try and promote the farm locally. To our customers and friends, thanks for your love and support. We look forward to a prosperous and happy new year.

Snow Days At Nobella Farm

2010-02-07T21:13:00Z

Our winter this year has had an unprecidented amount of snow. Before Christmas we got about 12 inches and during the last two weeks we have had snow with 10 or more inches. This snow was the biggest yet with 24 inches. Here are some pictures of the farm.

The alpacas stayed in their shelters until the storm ended. By mid day Sunday the were out soaking up some sun.

It looks like Redford is dreaming of warmer, sunnier days.

New Yarns At Nobella Alpacas!

2010-01-23T19:40:00Z

Our 2009 yarns have arrived! Currently we have white, light fawn, medium fawn, and dark brown. The yarn is a 3-ply, heavy sport/worsted weight. It turned out lovely.

Camelidynamics Seminiar

2009-05-26T23:38:00Z

This weekend our farm hosted a Camelidynamics Seminar with Dorothy Hunt. We learned how to lead alpacas, complete herd health with less stress, set up fields and barns, and how to develop a relationship with our alpacas. We learned Ttouch as a way to relieve stress and create a relationship with our alpacas.

Here are some pictures of our weekend.

Here is the gang all raring to go.

CJ and Elvis. Dorothy coaches Ruthie when she tries the Ttouch technique.

Ruthie takes Leonardo over a jump. Jill takes Gaston through the maze.

Phil takes Slingshot through the maze.

Dorothy encourages the participants. Dorys is walking Redford over the tarp. Patty is walking Wildfire in the trailer. Gina and Merit wait their turn.

Leonardo practices his jumping skills. Jill walks Gaston through the maze while Phil leads Slingshot to the next station.

Vickie takes Elvis over the tarp. Sara and Leonardo are next.

Dorys lead Ophlia while Mary and Wildfire, Gina and Slingshot, and Sara and Elvis walk the maze.

We had a great weekend! Dorothy provided us with many new tricks to try out. The group was great about encouraging one another and switching animals so everyone got to work with different alpacas.

Jill, Phil, Vickie, Dorys, CJ, Sara, Mary, Ruthie, and Gina you were awesome and I had a great time with you!

Shearing is Complete - Well Almost!

2009-05-04T14:23:00Z

We have finished shearing our alpacas and had our open house. Both were a lot of fun and provided opportunities to meet new people. My friend, Ben Clark and I have traditionally sheared together as a team while my husband, Marty did blade sharpening and changing. Unfortunately, Ben was sick and unable to help me this year. Fortunately, Brian and Nicole Tait along with Nicole's stepdad, John from Pilgrim's Reward were interested in learning how to shear. So the Taits came to our rescue and rolled up their sleaves to help. I am not sure they realized just how much they would be doing, but they never complained and just jumped right in. By the end of the day I turned the 3 of them loose to shear an alpaca all by themselves and they did a great job. I think they are ready to do their own shearing.

My daughter, Gina, and my friend's son, Andrew, were a great deal of help. They had the advantage of youth (both are teenagers) and good physical fitness so they were a big help with the alpacas. The day after shearing we set up the farm for an open house to sell the yarn from 2008, freshly shorn raw fiber, and alpaca products.

The day was unseasonablly warm for April and the alpacas were feeling good about their new haircuts. This weekend, we sorted through our fleeces to decide what to process ourselves, what to turn into yarn, and what to send to the AFCNA. I also attended the Maryland Sheep and Wool festival and stocked up on some new dyes, silk, and felting needles.

We will help 3 small farms do their alpacas and one llama over the next week or two (if it ever stops raining), but the big all day shear jobs are done!

Crock Pot Yarn Dying

2009-01-05T00:50:00Z

Well, I have been wanting to dye our yarn or fiber for awhile. I even bought 3 colors of dye at the 2007 Maryland Sheep and Wool, but I haven't taken the plunge and tried to dye- until today! Over Christmas break Charlene, Rose, and I went to Rosemary Bailey's to see how she does some of her felting fiber arts. Rosemary is an artist who displays her work at the Heron Gallery. She works primarily with merino sheep fiber. We wanted to see her work and said we would share some of our alpaca fiber with her. While we were visiting she showed us her crock pot dying. It looked easy enough so I got my spinning wheel cranking and made some white alpaca yarn for dying. Once I got my yarn spun and plied, I put it on a warping board so I could make an 8 foot long skein.

I made it 8 foot long because I want to use two colors. I want to use purple and pink. I will use mostly pink and just a bit of purple. I am using Gaywool dyes. I put 2 teaspoons of pink and 1/4 teaspoon of purple. I have mixed this in the crockpot my friend Charlene gave me. Thanks Charlene. Here is how it started.

After an hour I added more water and a splash of vinger. The purple is really spreading.

It now cooks for about 8 hours. In the morning the purple had spread throughout the dye bath and the yarn looks primarily purple, but it does have a bit of magenta/pink highlights. I am not sure it was really necessary to create a long skein on the warping board.

Alpaca Feeder

2008-12-16T00:19:00Z

There was a thread on the Alpacanation website about alpaca feeders. People were talking about feeders that did not rub the fur off of noses and kept the hay out of the fiber and off the ground. My husband, Marty, built me a hay feeder that has met these requirements for our alpacas. We did put a horse trough under it because initially the alpacas would lay under it and bump their backs and heads on the feeder. They probably would have got used to it and worked it out, but I just wanted to insure their safety and an upside down horse trough was an easy solution. It is mounted on a fence and the hay is loaded from the back. The roof has a hinge and it lifts up for easy hay loading access. He built it about 3 years ago and it has held up nicely. We should probably varnish the outside roof and sides to keep it longer. The green rods are the plastic rods that gardeners tie their plants to.

Open House and Investing

2008-10-05T13:42:00Z

Well our open house turned out very nice in spite of the wet and muddy conditions. We had a great day with very inquisitive visitors. Many people often ask, "Why alpacas and are they profitable?" We love the alpacas and enjoy them immensely, however, it is also an investment and we do sell our alpacas. My advice is it does require daily work and should not be entered into unless you love the animals. However, we are entering into our 5th year and are seeing the fruits of our labors. Last year we sold 6 alpacas and had 3 births with 2 more scheduled in the next 60 days. Our herd growth is study and stable and the sales are coming in. Interestingly, The Wall Street Journal had an article about investing in alpacas this week. Below is an excerpt from the article.

"Sales of exotic livestock are up. The U.S. Mint has seen a gold-coin rush.

Associated Press

Peggy Parks invested in alpacas, which she believes have a better outlook than most mutual funds.

Investors have long turned to hard assets in market downturns, the idea being that if you invest in something real, it won't disappear, even if its value declines. But analysts say this downturn is different in that real estate, the most traditional safe haven, is also sinking. Between July 2006 and July this year, home prices dropped 19.5%, according to the S&P/Case-Shiller 20-city composite home price index.

Peggy Parks, a 49-year-old auditor in Johnstown, Pa., turned to an unusual farm animal. "I've lost a fortune in stocks, and my 401(k) is falling through the floor. I feel comfortable in alpacas," she says. She invested $56,000 in a small herd that she believes has a better outlook than most mutual funds because of the animals' breeding potential.

The national Alpaca Registry Inc., in Lincoln, Neb., says registrations are on pace to rise 7% this year and currently stand at 140,297. Ms. Parks says a female of "medium quality" can fetch $10,000 and that prices have been rising, supporting her hopes that she'll see a profit on her alpaca portfolio in five years."

September 27 & 28 Alpaca Open House

2008-08-23T11:14:00Z

We are gearing up for another open house! Since our last open house we have added more pasture space and another small barn. Well actually the barn is a roofed shelter at this point, but it will provided shelter for the new paddocks we hope to get in this Fall. We cleared and seeded the pastures last October so the pastures have had all Summer to get established. We hope to get the post put in before the end of September and possibly some additional fencing completed.

At the open house visitors will be able to see our alpacas. Our herd has now grown to 15 with the three summer babies growing up fast, but still looking "Oh so cute!" We also have two pregnant females- Madison and Shawnie that will be due in November. I will be doing spinning demonstrations, whare I will show how alpaca fiber is made into yarn. We will have alpaca socks, gloves, blankets, and yarn for sale. We are even doing a drawing where the winner can pick a pair of alpaca socks or a special all in one hand tool. We also have chickens and rabbits too!

Summer Crias

2008-07-20T18:47:00Z

This summer we were expecting three crias and now that they have arrived we are just relaxing and enjoying them. Elvis came first during the Memorial Day weekend. His mom, Lacey, one morning just looked a bit uncomfortable and gave me that look that "today is the day." He was actually 2 weeks early so I hadn't even begun to get impatient or worried yet, but we were still well prepared.  It was a gorgeous day, but Lacey decided that the late afternoon would be best. So shortly after 6:00 in the evening she delivered a gorgeous jet black male. He could not wait to get on his feet and in spite of wobbling back and forth he was determined to get up. My husband jokingly said, "Look he shakes his hips like Elvis!" And the name stuck- Elvis.

Then we began looking for our other two girls to deliver the first week of June. Marty, my husband even took off to be on cria watch while I completed the last week of school (I am a teacher). The girls, Carina and Maria, decided to take it easy on Marty and wait a while. The second week of June I began my summer break and told the girls, "Okay now let's get this show on the road." However, they had other ideas. They liked that I was hanging out a lot and reading books in the barn while I waited so they decided the second week of June was not the week for them. About this time, my daughter, Gina decided to give them pep talks. She especially concentrated on Maria, because after all she had been bred first. We began the 3rd week of June without any new babies. Gina gave lots of pep talks to Maria and finally late Wednesday afternoon, Maria decided to have her cria. Maria hung out inside the barn stall that had a fan, but not the one with the porta cool air conditioner. It was cool and comfortable in there so she delivered a 17 pound dark fawn baby girl. This was Maria's second cria. Her first cria was named Music so we decided to keep with the theme and named this baby girl Melody.

The rest of the week we waited for Carina's baby to arrived, but Carina had other ideas. I was signed up for a 2.5 day course Tuesday through Thursday of the last week of June because I was certain all of our babies would be born by then - silly me for thinking the alpacas would deliver all on time. Monday I told Carina that this "should be the day" so I could be home- she disagreed. Then I thought Tuesday afternoon would be good because my class would be done by noon and both the other babies happened after noon, but Carina had other ideas. Wednesday was the first all day class and I kept my phone close while my son and daughter watched Carina, but she hung in there. So then I said okay only one more day of class, hopefully she will wait until Friday. Thursday morning I went out to check on everyone and took one look at Carina and decided she probably would not wait. My husband and daughter had to go to a morning dentist appointment so that left my teenage son, Brandon, home alone on cria watch - poor guy. About 9:10 he calls and says I think it is getting soon, but don't come home yet- luckily my class was about 7 minutes from home. At 10:00 he calls and does not sound quite so calm as he shouts "It coming! Its coming!" So I rush home and Brandon and Carina are out in the field, but the baby hasn't came yet. So I quickly change my clothes and rush out to the field. About 8 minutes later Carina's baby is born. He is a light fawn boy, who we name Leonardo.  Aftern we get him toweled off and in a stall with mom and some of her friends, I rush back to class while my husband and daughter return to watch and make sure he is nursing and doing okay.   I came home later that afternoon and he is completely dry, standing, and nursing. I breath a sigh of relief and admire how handsome he is.

Each evening the 3 cria begin to run and chase one another. They are so entertaining. We have rebred the mom's as well as 3 more females so next summer may prove to be even more eventful! We are very thankful that this year all three babies were healthy, vigorous, and gorgeous. The moms- Lacey, Maria, and Carina have been wonderful and each take good care of the babies.   We will sell one of the two boys. Both are currently on the sales list, because I just can't decide, but the other will be taken off the sales list as soon as one sells.

April is the Time for Shearing!

2008-03-30T14:55:00Z

It is the end of March and April is fast approaching. One of my New Years' goals was to lose weight and get fit. I have lost weight, but not as much as I would like. I will work on getting another 5 pounds off over the next 3 weeks. Below is my tracker.

We had ultrasounds done on the girls and both of our girls (Carina and Lacey) who were due this Summer held their pregnancies. They are due the beginning of June. Both girls are bred to our herdsire, Gaston. I am looking forward to these babies, although I must admit all babies are exciting. We also have two females (Shawnie and Madison) due in November.

April 27 we will host an after shearing open house from 10 am to 2 pm.

Here's to 2008!

2008-01-26T15:09:00Z

Well we are well into 2008 and have begun thinking about the upcoming shearing season. I have set our shearing day for April 26 and plan on having an open house the day after on April 27 to showcase our fleeces, alpacas, and alpaca products. I have decided since we will be shearing even more alpacas this year, I need to drop some pounds and get fit. With that in mind I joined Nutrisystems. In the first week I lost 4 pounds, but I am sure things will probably slow down. I set a goal to lose an additional 10 pounds before Valentine's Day. I will see how it goes.

Madison's Cria Has Arrived

2007-07-14T15:18:00Z

Yesterday, was Friday the 13th. We have waited for weeks for Madison to have her cria. It seemed like she was never going to have this baby. Last year she had her baby at day 345, which would have been July 3rd. We waited around the the 3rd and the weekend as well, but she still hadn't had her baby. Then on day 350 I was sure she would have, her baby.  She had gotten huge and the baby always seemed to be moving to the point I thought her sides would bust.

This past week we had 4 days in a row over 90 degrees and the humidity was oppressive, but Madison just hung in there hanging out by the water buckets and the fan. Then Thurday the heat cycle broke and I thought well maybe today will be the day. However, Madison must have been listening to the radio in the barn and decided that Friday would be an even better day for a baby and indeed it was. Is she smart or what?

So Friday morning, which was day 355, Madison decided to come out of the barn and lay around the field. She was looking bigger than ever and the baby was moving up a storm.  I kept an eye out on her, but was wondering if she was going to keeping me waiting another day or more. At 11:17 Madison decided to get the show on the road and have this baby. By 11:35 her cria was born. The cria is a ...... BOY! And what a handsome sweet boy he is. Initially, he looked very white, but as he has dried it looks like he maybe a very light beige color.  He has lots of pigment around his eyes and lips. In fact, the way his lips are outlined in dark pigment, it looks like he is always smiling. We will be calling him Simon.

Madison is a great mom. She is very protective of her baby, but has allowed us to handle him.   When he was first trying to get on his feet, I helped him get up a few times. Madison would kiss me as if to say "thank you for helping my special boy." He has gained a full pound in less than 24 hours so she has a good milk supply.

A Great Farm Visit!

2007-06-22T19:05:00Z

Today we had 17 farm visitors! A mom's group had contacted me earlier this Spring to set up a tour. The children ranged in age from infants to school age. I was a little concerned at first that I maybe biting off more than I could chew. We had never had a group this large at the farm, although, I had taken the animals to a career day at an Elementary School and a Daycare center.

Well, everything went off without a hitch and I could not have asked for a better group. The children and parents were so engaged and gentle with the animals. These children were so well behaved. I told them they have spoiled me with their awesome behavior. The children were very smart and inquisitive as well. I just hope any future farm visits I have go half this well. We were also blessed with a sunny, but cool morning so the alpacas did not mind hanging outside of their barn areas.

We decided to set it up so the animals were in a small enclosure, but could move away if they wanted to. The front of the barn seemed the perfect place for this. The children listened to an alpaca story, saw the animals, feed the animals alfalfa, and made their own alpaca pictures with alpaca fiber.

Snow for Easter or April Fools?

2007-04-07T17:58:00Z

As I woke up this morning and looked out the window, it appearred we were having a late April Fools joke. I could not believe my eyes. There was snow on the ground. My girl, Shawnie, from New York, was out and about first. You could almost see by her smug expression that she thinks the other girls are wimps. They were all cozied up in the barn while Shawnie was out seeing what's up.

Meanwhile Cloud Walker is not impressed with this cold snap since we sheared all his fiber off last week. He keeps looking at me in the most pathetic way. I swear 3 days ago people were wearing capris and shorts. Two weeks ago we made sure the fans were running and hosing the alpacas down to avoid them becoming overheated. I keep telling him he looks dashing in his orange coat.

Shearing Clinic

2007-04-02T00:21:00Z

On Saturday, March 31st we woke up bright and early to attend a shearing clinic at Fireweed Alpacas. I took two of the boys, Speed and Cloud Walker. In the morning we went over the equipment, resources for buying shearing equipment, and places to send fiber. We learned the difference between shears and clippers and how to put on blades, combs, and cutters. There were many makes and models of shears and clippers. Then we broke for lunch and visiting. After lunch we hit the barn. There were two set ups- one with a mat and floor tie down and another with a tilting shearing table. We veiwed both in action, but spent most of our time at the mat and floor set up because that is the set up we will be utilizing at our place. After some demonstration, Teri and her helpers let us try our hand at the shearing process. We worked a great deal with Linda and she was an awesome mentor and teacher. Below is a picture of Cloud Walker being shorn. He was very sweet, relaxed, and content.

Ben, Patty, Cloud Walker, Linda, and Veronica

We worked quite a bit with Ben, Linda, and Veronica through out the day. We worked well together. Linda is from King William Alpacas and Veronica is from Mada Vemi Alpacas.

Beautiful Alpaca Yarn!

2007-03-17T14:18:00Z

Well, after a long wait our 2006 yarn has come back. It was worth the wait! Last year I sent my fiber to a mill in New York. Once I checked on it's safe arrival, I learned the mill went bankrupt. I thought I would never see my fiber again, but it was finally returned after 3 months.

Then it went off to New Aim Fiber Mill in Maine. The owner, Nancy, was a good communicator and kept me up to date. I was a little leary of using a mill again, but I really wanted our fleeces prepared into yarn, because the previous year's yarn I had used for two projects and sold the remaining yarn quickly. Fortunately, I can say it was worth the trials and the wait! Nancy does fabulous work. Nancy did the browns and black pictured below and my friend, Kristen, and I hand spun the gray fiber.

Here is a photo of the black yarn. It shimmers and is oh so soft. It is Gaston's cria fleece. I will use it for a special project.

Next is our brown yarn, which is a huacaya/suri blend. I love it! It has a nice handle and is a good weight for various projects. I will offer this for sale to others. In fact, Lynda has bought up 14 skeins of it already.

Next is handspun yard that Kristen and I have been working on. This is Shawnee's fleece and it has come out beautifully. I have enjoyed working with it.

March Fun

2007-03-04T21:02:00Z

I know I did not post in February, which breaks one of my 2007 goals to post at least once a month, but I had a good reason. We are now fully moved into the farm, but we did not have internet access for 16 days. However, February was a busy month. I organized an alpaca get together with area farms. There are a few of us in the area and I thought it would be great to get to know each other. Rose Page and Ben Clark from Dameron joined us, Dana Russell and her neice Sue, from Clements, Jim and Elissa Moore from Bushwood, Ambia and Michael Peoples from Mechanicsville, and Angel Forbes Simmons from Aquasco. It was a great evening where we talked alpaca talk and just enjoyed good food and conversations. Below are a few pictures from our get together.

Angel Forbes Simmons and Ambia and Michael Peoples

Marty Mattingly, Rose Page, Ben Clark, and Jim Moore

Doris Shorback, my friend/alpaca sitter and Elissa Moore.

Completed one sweater

2007-01-22T04:29:00Z

Well the red alpaca cardigan is complete!! Yippee!! Now I only have 3 incomplete projects. I am itching to do a pullover sweater with a rose gray boucle , but I am trying to complete some of the unfinished projects before I begin another new project.