5/25/11  In the morning we woke to rain, which this time of year is very odd for us, but the afternoon we were drenched and thunderstoms were beginning.  By 5 pm there were warnings of tornados, which never happens here and immediately there were 4 tornados in the area tha touched donw, one on Lott Rd, which is a block away, while all the madness was happening Brazil was giving birth to the "tornado twins"  my husband later named them Toree (short for tonrnado ) and Hailee (short for Hail, which was over 1/4" in size at the time).  Both are beautiful, happy and full of energy, keeping mama Brazil constantly running after them!

5/21/11  Went to pick up three gorgeous does, Hazel, a colored Grand Champion Doe, her daughter Carmella, a reserve champion doe and Jet, a girl out of a reserve champion.  A long, long day on the road by meself, but came back Highway 49, which had lots to see.  We off loaded right into the barn and my son and I started shearing, worming, delousing and trimming tails immediately.
 Look at those fleeces before we sheared, this is a year's growth, mine get sheared every 6 months, most of the fleece was matted and contiminated, only about 10 pounds is useable.




5/20/11 Shearing Day 2011.  We invited Wind Chime Farms and Jill Simon over with their alpacas aand llamas to shear.  We sheared 20 of our alpacas.  We started round 8am and finished by 3;30! Wow, we have alot of fleece!  Russell Ratti sheared, he daughter held the head, my hubby trimmed nails, I did vacinations and fiber collections.

The tack room was full of fiber, now to decide what to show, what to process and what to sell raw. And I must not forget what to send to AFCNA and the local Montesorri school!

    

4/19/11 Me and the kids are ready to head out to work and school, I have a little extra time so I decide to go give mama and the triplets new feed, grain and extra water for the day.  I knew I would be back at lunch to check on them and possibly let them out of the birth stall but I wanted to make all provisions were good to go.  The flock came to greet me as they do every morning except Oriole, when I walked into the paddock she turned the corner to greet me, and I heard a little cry, I thought immediately that one of the triplets escaped and she was carrying for them, because she is a sweetheart that way, except this one was brown with white spots! Yes, she had her baby girl by her side, dry, warm, nursing and fiesty.  The night before she didnd't want grain or to leave the paddock so we are certain she had here on the eve of the 18th as well.
Dippin Dots became her name as she has dots on each side, one on her foot and on the tip of her tail, Dot for short!  We can't keep them all so she is for sale as I am certain that I am going to keep Brazil and Spencers baby for the fall show, and possibly a kid from Rosemary or Sugar Cookie (although I think she might just be fat and not pregnant!)  to show this fall as well. But I might change my mind as she is absolutely adorable!

4/18/11 While out riding her horse Cortni uses her cell phone to call the house and inform me that "Big MAMA" is having her baby.  I hurried out to the paddock with a towel in hand to find Biance, a gorgeous white doe on the ground and her mama cleaning her up.  I move her into the birthing pen so she can get dry and keep warm. Soon mama starts to dig at the ground and lays down, here comes brother BAM BAM a nice healthy buck.  MaMa get's him cleaned up while Bianca is trying to nurse.  I suspected that she would have twins because last year she did when she was a rescue on poor nutrition.  Then mama starts digging again ( a sure sign of labor) and lays down, out comes a BIG boy Broderic with a little extra effort from a tired mama. As he is half way out mama bends down and cleared the mucous from his nose, while Bianca is still trying to nurse and BAM BAM is trying to stand.  Yes she did it, all unassisted with plenty of milk and they are all doing good!  Who says three is a crowd! We call it comfy!

2/18/11   It's been sometime since we updated. So alot has happend, but alot always happens on a ranch, at least we made it though the holidays.  I did open an Etsy store and have been selling alot of angora fleece and some alpaca yarn.  We got our new angora buck, Spencer in from Oregon.  He was the color champion at the Black Sheep Gathering in 2011, along with a nice little doe bred back to him, Brazil.  They are both gorgeous, from Carol Ronan.  They both have gorgeous fleeces and blue, blue eyes, those kids are due in June, along with alot of other kids.  Right now we are waiting for the arrival of Pueblo Princess' new cria, also known as Pumpkin and the most spoiled in your face alpaca here!  This year I am not going to rebreed her, she's not quite as freindly when she is bred, I want to enjoy her personality for awhile and give her abreak, let's hope for a little girl with her attitude!  It's been a long cold, wet winter, but not without issues.  Alethia, came to us with tape worm that has taken a toll on her, she became anemic with alot of weight loss, she is not in the recovery process.  Greystone was on a "breeding Lease" and got a pretty serious case of coccidia, fortunately that's all it was, it could have been alot more serious, but bloodwork came back negative for all other parasites.  We also lost a female cria due to pneumonia, unfortunately this wet nasty weather, kept the critters in shelters for weeks on end and after extensive antibiotic therapy we still lost her.  Unfortunately one of the downfalls of raising livestock is the losses.  She will be missed. RIP Sweet Pea

11/7/10  We are entering the winter season and preparing the beginning of our first angora goat breeding season.  In preparation, Ken has put new roofing on the hersires shelters.  We finished shearing the angoras yesterday with Gerald Darling.  Boy can he shear, one angora goat takes him about 5  minutes to shear!  We are still waiting on one cria from Cordelia, hopefully it will wait until today's storm has passed.  We are glad to see the extra rain and glad to see the grass is greeing up, but I would like for this baby to be born on a dry day.  Our next cria won't be born until February.

11/6/10 Just ordered a new electric spinning wheel.  Yes, I said electric.  With close to 40 alpacas (not counting the cria due next year) and 15 angora goats, I won't be able to hand spin all of my fiber, but definately want to make some big chunky funky yarn to sell at shows.  Possibly and online store!  Also ordered some Jaquard dye to make some vibrant wonderful colors.  Might give it a try on Sunday during the storm coming in!

10/24/10  We just finished the Gold Country Gathering in Grass Valley California.  We walked away with mixed feelings.  The male that took first place two weeks ago, took 5th place!  The judge said he was too wet to tell, can I say "duh" it poured 8 inches of rain.  And our male who took 4th two weeks ago, came in 2nd and would have taken Reserve Champion she said if he wasn't matted, weird, but oh well.  Just a reminder that judging these guys is all subjective.  One of the best parts of this show was that I bought a new Ashford wild carder.  Used to card fiber but also designed to blend different fibers....PEFECT

10/9/10 Alpacamania was a blast.  One of my personal favorite shows, it's small, yet not too small. The vendors are fantastic.  I love the see Usefull Llama supplies, there, save alot of shipping.  I'm sure they were glad to see us too, LOL.  Annihilation took a 1st, the judge, Ken Hibits said he was definately a male who had it "all"  Very exciting for us.  Made a trip up to Dean and Dorothy Ottens place to see how their new pups were doing and look over the herd.  Boy do we love their littel Max, who by the way took Champion at the Futurity!

4/18/11 While out riding her horse Cortni uses her cell phone to call the house and inform me that "Big MAMA" is having her baby.  I hurried out to the paddock with a towel in hand to find Biance, a gorgeous white doe on the ground and her mama cleaning her up.  I move her into the birthing pen so she can get dry and keep warm. Soon mama starts to dig at the ground and lays down, here comes brother BAM BAM a nice healthy buck.  MaMa get's him cleaned up while Bianca is trying to nurse.  I suspected that she would have twins because last year she did when she was a rescue on poor nutrition.  Then mama starts digging again ( a sure sign of labor) and lays down, out comes a BIG boy Broderic with a little extra effort from a tired mama. As he is half way out mama bends down and cleared the mucous from his nose, while Bianca is still trying to nurse and BAM BAM is trying to stand.  Yes she did it, all unassisted with plenty of milk and they are all doing good!  Who says three is a crowd! We call it comfy! 2/18/11   It's been sometime since we updated. So alot has happend, but alot always happens on a ranch, at least we made it though the holidays.  I did open an Etsy store and have been selling alot of angora fleece and some alpaca yarn.  We got our new angora buck, Spencer in from Oregon.  He was the color champion at the Black Sheep Gathering in 2011, along with a nice little doe bred back to him, Brazil.  They are both gorgeous, from Carol Ronan.  They both have gorgeous fleeces and blue, blue eyes, those kids are due in June, along with alot of other kids.  Right now we are waiting for the arrival of Pueblo Princess' new cria, also known as Pumpkin and the most spoiled in your face alpaca here!  This year I am not going to rebreed her, she's not quite as freindly when she is bred, I want to enjoy her personality for awhile and give her abreak, let's hope for a little girl with her attitude!  It's been a long cold, wet winter, but not without issues.  Alethia, came to us with tape worm that has taken a toll on her, she became anemic with alot of weight loss, she is not in the recovery process.  Greystone was on a "breeding Lease" and got a pretty serious case of coccidia, fortunately that's all it was, it could have been alot more serious, but bloodwork came back negative for all other parasites.  We also lost a female cria due to pneumonia, unfortunately this wet nasty weather, kept the critters in shelters for weeks on end and after extensive antibiotic therapy we still lost her.  Unfortunately one of the downfalls of raising livestock is the losses.  She will be missed. RIP Sweet Pea11/7/10  We are entering the winter season and preparing the beginning of our first angora goat breeding season.  In preparation, Ken has put new roofing on the hersires shelters.  We finished shearing the angoras yesterday with Gerald Darling.  Boy can he shear, one angora goat takes him about 5  minutes to shear!  We are still waiting on one cria from Cordelia, hopefully it will wait until today's storm has passed.  We are glad to see the extra rain and glad to see the grass is greeing up, but I would like for this baby to be born on a dry day.  Our next cria won't be born until February.11/6/10 Just ordered a new electric spinning wheel.  Yes, I said electric.  With close to 40 alpacas (not counting the cria due next year) and 15 angora goats, I won't be able to hand spin all of my fiber, but definately want to make some big chunky funky yarn to sell at shows.  Possibly and online store!  Also ordered some Jaquard dye to make some vibrant wonderful colors.  Might give it a try on Sunday during the storm coming in!10/24/10  We just finished the Gold Country Gathering in Grass Valley California.  We walked away with mixed feelings.  The male that took first place two weeks ago, took 5th place!  The judge said he was too wet to tell, can I say "duh" it poured 8 inches of rain.  And our male who took 4th two weeks ago, came in 2nd and would have taken Reserve Champion she said if he wasn't matted, weird, but oh well.  Just a reminder that judging these guys is all subjective.  One of the best parts of this show was that I bought a new Ashford wild carder.  Used to card fiber but also designed to blend different fibers....PEFECT10/9/10 Alpacamania was a blast.  One of my personal favorite shows, it's small, yet not too small. The vendors are fantastic.  I love the see Usefull Llama supplies, there, save alot of shipping.  I'm sure they were glad to see us too, LOL.  Annihilation took a 1st, the judge, Ken Hibits said he was definately a male who had it "all"  Very exciting for us.  Made a trip up to Dean and Dorothy Ottens place to see how their new pups were doing and look over the herd.  Boy do we love their littel Max, who by the way took Champion at the Futurity!

 

4/18/11 While out riding her horse Cortni uses her cell phone to call the house and inform me that "Big MAMA" is having her baby.  I hurried out to the paddock with a towel in hand to find Biance, a gorgeous white doe on the ground and her mama cleaning her up.  I move her into the birthing pen so she can get dry and keep warm. Soon mama starts to dig at the ground and lays down, here comes brother BAM BAM a nice healthy buck.  MaMa get's him cleaned up while Bianca is trying to nurse.  I suspected that she would have twins because last year she did when she was a rescue on poor nutrition.  Then mama starts digging again ( a sure sign of labor) and lays down, out comes a BIG boy Broderic with a little extra effort from a tired mama. As he is half way out mama bends down and cleared the mucous from his nose, while Bianca is still trying to nurse and BAM BAM is trying to stand.  Yes she did it, all unassisted with plenty of milk and they are all doing good!  Who says three is a crowd! We call it comfy! 2/18/11   It's been sometime since we updated. So alot has happend, but alot always happens on a ranch, at least we made it though the holidays.  I did open an Etsy store and have been selling alot of angora fleece and some alpaca yarn.  We got our new angora buck, Spencer in from Oregon.  He was the color champion at the Black Sheep Gathering in 2011, along with a nice little doe bred back to him, Brazil.  They are both gorgeous, from Carol Ronan.  They both have gorgeous fleeces and blue, blue eyes, those kids are due in June, along with alot of other kids.  Right now we are waiting for the arrival of Pueblo Princess' new cria, also known as Pumpkin and the most spoiled in your face alpaca here!  This year I am not going to rebreed her, she's not quite as freindly when she is bred, I want to enjoy her personality for awhile and give her abreak, let's hope for a little girl with her attitude!  It's been a long cold, wet winter, but not without issues.  Alethia, came to us with tape worm that has taken a toll on her, she became anemic with alot of weight loss, she is not in the recovery process.  Greystone was on a "breeding Lease" and got a pretty serious case of coccidia, fortunately that's all it was, it could have been alot more serious, but bloodwork came back negative for all other parasites.  We also lost a female cria due to pneumonia, unfortunately this wet nasty weather, kept the critters in shelters for weeks on end and after extensive antibiotic therapy we still lost her.  Unfortunately one of the downfalls of raising livestock is the losses.  She will be missed. RIP Sweet Pea11/7/10  We are entering the winter season and preparing the beginning of our first angora goat breeding season.  In preparation, Ken has put new roofing on the hersires shelters.  We finished shearing the angoras yesterday with Gerald Darling.  Boy can he shear, one angora goat takes him about 5  minutes to shear!  We are still waiting on one cria from Cordelia, hopefully it will wait until today's storm has passed.  We are glad to see the extra rain and glad to see the grass is greeing up, but I would like for this baby to be born on a dry day.  Our next cria won't be born until February.11/6/10 Just ordered a new electric spinning wheel.  Yes, I said electric.  With close to 40 alpacas (not counting the cria due next year) and 15 angora goats, I won't be able to hand spin all of my fiber, but definately want to make some big chunky funky yarn to sell at shows.  Possibly and online store!  Also ordered some Jaquard dye to make some vibrant wonderful colors.  Might give it a try on Sunday during the storm coming in!10/24/10  We just finished the Gold Country Gathering in Grass Valley California.  We walked away with mixed feelings.  The male that took first place two weeks ago, took 5th place!  The judge said he was too wet to tell, can I say "duh" it poured 8 inches of rain.  And our male who took 4th two weeks ago, came in 2nd and would have taken Reserve Champion she said if he wasn't matted, weird, but oh well.  Just a reminder that judging these guys is all subjective.  One of the best parts of this show was that I bought a new Ashford wild carder.  Used to card fiber but also designed to blend different fibers....PEFECT10/9/10 Alpacamania was a blast.  One of my personal favorite shows, it's small, yet not too small. The vendors are fantastic.  I love the see Usefull Llama supplies, there, save alot of shipping.  I'm sure they were glad to see us too, LOL.  Annihilation took a 1st, the judge, Ken Hibits said he was definately a male who had it "all"  Very exciting for us.  Made a trip up to Dean and Dorothy Ottens place to see how their new pups were doing and look over the herd.  Boy do we love their littel Max, who by the way took Champion at the Futurity!