Blizzard's from DQ are Better

Saturday's storm left us with about a foot of snow...the nice dry fluffy kind. Then came today's storm...about another foot of snow...the heavy wet kind. These are the days when you wonder what made you become a small-time farmer in the first place.

Alpacas are wise animals...they step outside just for a minute and then it's right back into the barn.
After Saturday's storm, we were able to snowblow a track for the alpacas to go out and walk for a bit, but now it's back to square one.

In the interest of being scientific...I present Saturday's snowline (dirt line in the crosssection), with today's accumulation thus far...

As the happy owners of a killer snowblower (Cub Cadet with tank-style wheels), we are in as good a position as any to handle what Mother Nature can throw our way. But this snow, well, it was certainly pushing the limits. First pass with shovels and snowblower was at 9AM. Second pass was at 1:30 PM. Now...we're just waiting it out.

But here's the philosophical view of our snowy situation... As an office dwelling worker (even though it's a home office, ya still gotta work), I don't have too many reasons to venture out into the elements. But now I do. The animals need me. To lug feed, water, hay, clean up after them. And in return they give us fleece to spin, weave and sell, and hopefully four new babies in June. I know much more about how things work in our year and a half of full-time small-time farming....when the sun comes up, when it goes down, and when it looks like rain. I've learned what good hay looks like and the smell of a great sweet feed.

And even in lousy weather like this...making a plan to deal with the snow, doing the best you can, and still losing the battle...well, it makes one feel alive. And I guess that's what it's all about.

Time Flies

I can't believe it's been this long since we've posted anything new. It's definitely a case of "The Cobbler's kids go barefoot".

I guess I'll try to re-construct the highlights from this Fall. In late September I (Len) decided to go to a workshop to learn how to handweave. After all, we're raising animals that produce fleece, and Jo's been hand spinning for a bout a year now. I thought it time to get in the game. So I spent a week in East Berlin, PA at The Mannings. It's pretty much the Mecca for spinning and weaving in this area. At the end of the class, I ordered my own loom, after getting the confidenc ethat I could do this on my own. It took about 6 weeks to arrive, and I was glad I could still remember what I had learned. Here's a pic of the loom and a scarf in progress:

It's been pretty interesting since I can design and previsualize the project on computer using a free download software. The scarves have been coming off pretty regularly and most are selling as soon as they're finished. I do plan to put some on the website as soon as I can get a respectable inventory of material done.

We also participated in 5 weekends at Weaver's Orchard on Rt. 10 just south of Green Hills. We had a stall with a couple of animals for people to see and touch. Jo brought her spinnig wheel and demonstrated hand spinning. We had a craft for kids, learning how to use a drop spindle to spin yarn. We also had a basic inventory of Alpaca products to sell, from finger puppets to socks and rugs. For no more inventory than we had, we did pretty well. The weather didn't cooperate very well, though. We had at least two weekends wash out and a third ended early because of high wind. It was a good experience though. I'm sure we'll do it again next year. When we would arrive or leave, everyone got a kick out of our transportation mode. We just loaded our two boys into the back of the minivan and rode them down the road to the orchard.

Tools of the Trade

We're coming up on our one year anniversary of having the alpacas come to live with us, so I thought I'd do a series of posts on different pieces of "equipment" we have come to rely upon.
Alpacas are generally "easy-keepers". They don't require very much in the way of gear. What we have found is that the gear you need to keep your farm tidy is mostly in the way of self protection and preservation (which at my age becomes more and more important), and cleaning implements you may already have.
This is the Walmart $3.99 Shrub Rake. My husband got 2 of these for Christmas last year from me. Some men get sweaters and neckties, Len gets Shrub Rakes or Poop Rakes as they're known by alpaca owners. These things do the job. They are as close to perfect as you can get to accomplish the daily manure removal.
The Poop Scoop...this is an item I've not been able to find except at Alpaca Shows. It is a plastic dust bin that sells for under $20. The combination of the Walmart Shrub Rake and one of these bad boys makes the scooping quick, convenient and effective. In the background is a wheelbarrow that we already had that has a persistent tire leak.
PVC Pipe...A miraculous invention. Cut it in half lengthwise and you get a feeding trough...or dig a ditch in front of the barn, stick it in the ground and you have a gutter to redirect rain runoff.
Gloves...Do not skimp here. These gloves came from Tractor Supply. They were around $23 dollars. I have never in my life paid $23 for a pair of work gloves. It felt insane at the time. Here's the hitch...I have never regretted paying the $23 for the gloves. They fit and they feel good. You'll thank yourself if you buy a good pair of work gloves.
Gates...Someone told us early on that you never have enough gates. They were right. We put in two more gates than we thought we needed. I wish I had put in an additional two mid-span between the pastures.
A good travel mug...Thanks to one of our TV commercial clients, Dr. Borja at the Spine & Wellness Center ( http://www.spineandwellness.org/ ),I've been using this coffee mug for years. Do I take it to the barn to feed and scoop poop? Yup. Isn't that unsanitary? Yup.
Barn Coat...Some women get jewelry. Alpaca women crave barn coats. This one came from Cabelas; a surprise Christmas gift from Len. Waterproof shell with a sweatshirt hoodie thing lining. Knit wrist cuffs. One great coat.
Boots....Don't skimp on gloves and don't skimp on boots. These are "Muck" brand boots. I think they are the "Garden" model. These came from Weavers Store in Fivepointville (truly a shopping Mecca http://www.weaverstoreinc.com/ ). They cost in the neighborhood of $60...yikes. When you're tromping around in the snow and mud, you'll be glad to have nice dry feet. A tip: buy a size larger than you need. That way, you can practically "jump" into them, and removal is so much easier.
That's it for now. I will try to be a little more consistent in posting our alpaca adventures.

Three Bags Full

It's more like 8 bags full. Besides the new arrivals each year, this is where your breeding decisions, feeding and supplement programs, and farm facilities all come together...on the fleece table. For the past three days, we have been washing and drying Flirtation and her son Gabriel's fleeces. It is a labor intensive process...First, you must skirt the fleece. This means laying the fleece out and picking out hay, dirt clops, guard hair, and any other yucky stuff that you see. Then the fleece gets washed 3 times in small batches in garment bags. Then the wet fleece is placed back on the skirting table to air dry. What you see here is Gabriel's fleece, washed and mostly dry.

Wednesday night the fleeces will get put through the picker...a medieval-looking torture device that rakes the fleece through 600 razor sharp spikes. This prepares it to be carded on an electric drum carder that we share with two other farms. You can also hand card the fleece at this point as well to prepare it for spinning.

Our plan is to create an Oedipus yarn (mom and son's fleeces mixed), and then solar dye it in our yet to be created solar dye boxes.

The Girls Go to Summer Camp

Yesterday we took Cassandra and her cria Izzy and Flirtation and her cria Jewel to Hilltop Alpacas for breeding. Kathy Kenworthy once again helped us out by allowing us to hitch a ride in her trailer up north. Here are one of Kathy's girls, Flirtation (big white alpaca), her cria Jewel (little white alpaca), and the top of Izzy's head. Cassandra had already decided to lay down and enjoy the ride.

Hilltop Alpacas also runs a summer camp. It is a huge beautiful place. Here is one of the main camp buildings.

Hilltop has strict health procedures for incoming alpacas. All of the animals had to be vet checked, blood tested, and fecal tested for fitness to stay at their farm. It's good practice for everyone...protects their animals and ours, too!

Here are the girls checking out their new digs. They'll be gone a little over a month, and then we'll go pick them up.

And Then There Were Three

Finally I got a pic of all three new crias together. The dynamic has been pretty funny. Chief (on the right) has decided that the new little girl is a fun little push toy. He just walks around behind her and nudges her round and round the pen, until she has to lie down and rest. Izzy kinda jumps around everyone, trying to figure out what she can do at the same time. We're still debating the name on the newest girl. It's taking a bit longer this time.

Name That Cria...

We were surprised around noon on Tuesday to find an extra little wobbly head sitting with the group of girls out in the field. We were expecting our final cria of the year from Flirtation, our Legacy girl, but not so soon. Sure enough, our newest girl was laying right in the middle of their dusting pile, covered with dirt.

After taking her back to the barn for weighing and clean up, she showed signs of being pre-mature. She was very sleepy and unstable for a long time. It took her over four hours before she would stand and nurse.

Two days later, now she's very perky and gaining back weight she lost on her first day in a very typical fashion. Now with two Crias in maternity, we haven't had time to give her a name yet.

"Chief" has been off the supplimental bottle since Sunday, but his weight has been like a Yo-Yo. Trouble is, "Izzy" our 7-week old likes to run him all over the field every time he gets out. And Sonya, his mom, is very nervous and protective. If he tries to nurse while other animals around, she is constantly moving, trying to keep them away from him. He can't get any quality time nursing when everyone is together, so we still have them isolated for most of the day, now coming up on three weeks. I can see the dynamics changing already with the addition of the newest girl. This morning, Chief was pushing her around the pen like she was a toy to play with. Now Izzy has stepped back a bit, even though she's older. Hmmm...