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.

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.    

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. 

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.

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.  

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.
 

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.

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. 

On December 26, we had a fun with fiber day.  I think a good time was had by all.  I know I enjoyed visiting with everyone.  Kristin, an avid spinner and knitter, came with her Ashford traditional wheel.  I gave it a try and just loved it.  I can see one of these in my future.  Pat, my good friend and constant supporter, came with some delicious pumpkin cheese cake.  Geisla, Charlotte, and Helga, family friends who visit frequently and always like to know what is the latest with the herd came.  Charlotte even found a knitting machine under the Christmas tree with her name on it.  I am working on turning her into a fiber lover too.    Also Rose, from Dameron Alpacas, came along with a bag of fleece to experiment with.  My husband, Marty, and my two children, Gina and Brandon, popped in and out also.  We ran some fleece through the drum carder and made some felted bars of soap. I also had my new Rigid Heddle loom out for people to try.  Here is a picture of some of our felted soap bars.

 

Since today is the last day of 2006, I am reflecting on things that I have accomplished.  I have completed several knitting projects and won a placement at the fair with a handknit lace alpaca scarf.  We went to a two shows and met new people.   We also attended the type conference and some workshops at shows.   This year we placed 2nd with all our entries.  Next year I hope to go to at least 3 shows and place 1st in something.  We had our fiber analyzed using the ODA2000.  The ODA2000 analyzes the fiber and gives you a report for each animal.  It also shows how the fiber changes in micron throughout the year.  Ours showed significant jumps mid year through the growth.  I attribute that to my feeding the gang extra thoughout the winter so they wouldn't feel cold.  I probably did not need to do this and this year I am resisting the urge to feed extra.  Because the winter has been very mild, so far, I have been able to stick to my plan.  Hopefully I will continue this and see an overall decrease in our herds average micron count for 2007.   Our herd has grown from 3 alpacas at the end of 2005 to our current number of 8 alpacas.  Our breeding animals are all haucaya and our goal is to breed fine fibered black and gray haucaya alpacas.  I believe our present animals will help us reach this goal.  Below I have some of the projects completed in 2006.  The white sweater and brown scarf our knit from our alpaca yarn from our animals.  The fuzzy scarf is lavender alpaca and fun fur.  The felted bag is made from wool with an acrylic trim.


Below are my unfinished works in progress.  I have way too many unfinished projects and have vowed not to start anything new until at least one or two of these are complete.  Below is a red alpaca cardigan which is done being knitted except the collar and needs to be put together.  I have the cuff of one white alpaca fingerless glove.  I have a mitered square bag that is about half done.  I also have half of a mohair lace scarf that will be a gift for a friend that is celebrating being cancer free this year.  Hopefully, next time you see these projects they will be complete. 



So I am thankful to the fine friends and support I have had this year.  I feel blessed every time I look out at our quality herd that is a joy to work with.  I am looking forward to this year's crias and hope that they are healthy.  A recap of our goals for 2007 are:
1.  Reduce the herd average micron count.
2.  Have no more than 3 knitting works in progress and complete the 4 unfinished projects.  
3.  Attend 3 or more alpaca events.
4.  I will blog at least once a month in 2007.

                 Happy New Year!

I just love the  Fall colors and I believe the alpacas enjoy the dropping temperatures.  The flies and oppressive heat seem to be firmly behind us now.  This fall has brought many changes here at Nobella farm.  We have sold both Elizabeth and Serena, our mother/daughter suris.  Because we want to stay small, it did not make sense to have both the huacaya and suri breeding program.  We have made the decission to concentrate on the huacayas with an emphasis on black and gray.  Then we added two proven huacaya females, Madison and Lacey.  Both females have male crias at their sides.  Madison has a white cria, Cloud Walker who is super inquisitive and Lacey has Jolt of Java, a deep coffee brown cria.  Madison is bred with a summer cria expected.  Lacey will be bred to Gaston, if he is ready.  I just love looking out and seeing the colorful alpacas amongst the fall foliage.   

Pictured below is:
Cloud Walker, Madison, Carina, Lacey, Java