We hope you all had a wonderful Valentine's Day! It was fun here at the ranch.
Of course, we love alpacas every day. 💝 It seems like everyone who has an alpaca boarded here brought their alpacas special treats-- apples, carrots, celery, carrot tops. Not all of them like every treat, but everybody likes one thing or another.
A local news crew from Channel 34 came by to chat about the alpaca fiber industry. They brought their cameras, asked lots of questions, and of course, took time to play with the alpacas. Rufus loves having his pictures taken, and Penelope had to talk to everyone.
It seems that Covid has opened up a whole new avenue for owning alpacas. Most of the people who have bought alpacas over the last several years have been folks approaching retirement looking for a new career after they retire from their professions. In the last year, since Covid, we have met many people who are younger, maybe mid-career, who have discovered that since they can work from home, they can do that anywhere, and they want to get to their dream sooner than they had originally thought possible.
Olivia is an attorney who recently bought Nightengale. The two of them really hit it off the first time she came to visit! They go for walks and take selfies together while they wait for their cria next summer.
Mimi is really excited about getting started with her new venture. She has been a talent agent in Hollywood for a whole bunch of years, and has decided to let her "inner rancher" follow her dream.
Neither of these ladies is giving up their day jobs-- they are boarding with us for now-- but you never know when the moment will arrive to spread their wings further!
Way to go, Ladies!
Speaking of Valentines.... Some of you have asked about Kallie's puppies and how they are doing. I recently got pictures of 3 of the little darlings, so here they are. The puppy families really have a knack for glamour shots! Look at these beautiful babies!
Here's Odie 💗
And Thomas 💗
And Gracie 💗
I don't know how Kallie could ever have puppies this pretty again, but I imagine she will want to try it again in the next year.
I'll keep you all posted.
Covid has had a way of bringing projects and talents to light that we didn't have time for before. Not only are people making their alpaca dreams come true, but they are doing some remarkable things with
alpaca fleece. My friend Karen got some white suri fabric from me a couple of years ago when she was busy, cut the sewing project out, and put it in a drawer.
Having extra time during Covid, she pulled it out of storage and proceeded to create this
GORGEOUS JACKET! Karen has always been a beautiful seamstress, but the suri has taken her skills to a whole new level! Every seam is picture perfect. I haven't seen it on her yet, but I imagine
it will be stunning. We love you, Karen!
The wind has not been our friend recently. I've heard that from so many friends. Here at Windy Hill, we take wind to the extreme sometimes. Not long ago it knocked the tops off of several sections of wooden shelters, as well as ripping 17 tarps! Yikes!
Because of the shelters being down on a rainy day, I moved this group of pregnant mamas to Pasture 1 so they would have cover and dry hay. They loved being in a new pasture-- so much to discover! They really liked the view from the southwest side of the pasture. They could look at the show boys, the big dogs, and everyone walking by was an opportunity to beg for treats.
Our Ventura County 4-H group has started again. We have several young people who are interested in working with alpacas this year. Now that 4-H has opened up to in-person meetings again, they came out to start learning about alpacas. We are doing a combination online/in-person curriculum this year, and including all age groups. We hope to be able to partner up with a couple of other 4-H alpaca projects in different parts of the state next fall to put on an Obstacle Course demonstration at the Gold Country Gathering in Grass Valley in October. It's so much fun working with motivated young people!
It's time for show season again, and this spring we will actually have some shows we can go to. The California show was not able to happen this spring, so we are going farther afield. We'll start in March at the Alpaca Owners Association National Show in Grand Island, Nebraska, then go the next week to Kansas City, Missouri to the MOPACA show. I have never been to MOPACA, so this will be fun.
We have a gap of about 10 days, then the Alpaca Futurity Show is also in Kansas City. 3 or 4 of our show string will go to that very elite show-- that's VERY exciting!
After the Futurity we'll bring everyone home for a breather, then off we go to Denver, Colorado to the Great Western Alpaca Show. This year GWAS is hosting 2 shows concurrently, so we'll get more bang for our buck! The Denver show is really fun-- it's one of the biggest shows in the country. In between Kansas City and Denver we are shearing almost our whole herd here at home, and the ones who go to Denver will be sheared after the show by shearers who come to the site just for that purpose.
I love show season.
We get to show off our alpacas and see how they stack up against all the other ones of that age, color and gender.
We also get to connect with all the other alpaca breeders around the country and share stories, buy and sell alpacas, and have a good old time. It's great.
Honestly, I don't know what's better-- Show Season or Baby Season.
We'll get home from the shows just in time for babies to start being born. Another glorious aspect of raising alpacas! Babies will start coming the end of May, and will probably go through
part of September.
You never know what color or gender you will get! It's like Christmas every time! I hope you will call us and come see the babies
when they start.
And if you have a desire to attend an alpaca show, give me a shout and I'll share all the exact dates and venues where you can find us. We love having extra helpers. 😉
Remember that Farmer Don has chickens of every shape and size in his barnyard. If you are looking for a hen or 2, he might have what you are looking for. He has some colors I have never seen before!
I think he is also going to have Labradoodle puppies again before long, so if you are interested in either, let me know and I'll put you in touch.
Have a lovely February. Stay warm, dry and healthy,
wherever you find yourself.
Cyber hugs to all!
Cindy
Cindy Harris • Alpacas at Windy Hill • www.alpacalink.com
7660 Bradley Rd. Somis, CA 93066 • 805-907-5162
