We also took our fleece up to MorningStar mill to have it processed.  Becky decided to have it made into rug yarn.  She’s anxious to get to her loom and start turning out alpaca rugs!

Although we had no intention of buying any more animals after our spree at last year’s auction the animals offered such superior genetics and the prices were so good that we couldn’t resist improving our herd even more.  Thus Jack’s Kingpin, Tony’s Celebration, as well as Ascot, Amelia, and Beatrice were added to The Alpacas of Spring Acres’ herd. Many of you undoubtedly know of Kingpin’s and Celebration’s many championships.

We now have two champion herd-sires: Kingpin and Princeton. We also have several other potential champion herd-sires but they are still too young to be offered: Aerosmith and Dundee.  We plan to use all of them extensively in our breeding program.  They will also be made available to other breeders, provided the dams are judged to be good “receivers” of our superior herd-sires’ genes!

Following the TPC, we entered Chase, ¬¬¬¬Celebration, Jacinda______ in the 1st All Suri National Alpaca Sweepstakes show, which was also held in Findlay, Ohio.  Chase  and Celebration  both won a Blue Ribbon, while  Jacinda took a 2nd Place.

And then there came the latest additions to our farm. Becky and Jaime were sent off on a simple mission to deliver four water samples to the Holmes Laboratory in Millersburg, Ohio for Camelid drinking water analyses. They returned six hours later with these three “critters”! I think they are little dogs!They are brother and sisters and inseparable, so I guess we’ll have to keep them Any suggestions for names?

Needless to say, their arrival aroused a great deal of interest in our curious alpacas:

As well as the kittens –who may be somewhat horrified with  their new roommates.

(But not our 10 year old tomcat Kiki. He’s just been around too long to let anything as trivial as three new dogs bother him!)

Beside, Estes Park is the gateway to Rocky Mountain National Park so you could go a few days earlier and get in some hiking and sightseeing in the beautiful Rockies..

The inconvenience is more than made up for when we sit on the deck in peaceful quiet at the end of the day (no noisy neighbors, cars, motorcycles), or sit by the greenhouse with a glass of wine enjoying the view of our alpacas and garden. Or wake up to the sound of birds chirping, roosters crowing, geese flying overhead. It’s a kick to drive up the driveway after work and see the deer in the fields (outside the biosecurity fence –but oh I wish they wouldn’t nibble on our corn crop!), wave at the horses in their pasture, and scatter the free-ranging roosters who are constantly trying to get back into the chicken pen with the hens!

Barn Site Before

to this:

State of the Art Barn

And from this:

Pasture View Before

to this:

Pastures After

There is still much work to be done -to the fields, the pastures, the fence lines, the gates, and other structures. There is a lot of construction debris to be cleaned up, landscaping to finish, grass, hay and other fields to plant. And in between all that the alpacas and llamas need constant care. Slowly and surely we are getting there. Someday soon we hope to be able to enjoy our evenings, sitting on the deck with a glass of wine and simply watch our critters in the fields.

Fortunately we have Sabrina, one of our most loyal farm hands. She is always ready to keep watch over the construction and lend a paw as needed.

Sabrina on Guard!

No, no, the nails are too short, they won't hold!

Okay- who took my keys?

No they hadn’t stolen them. Both Becky and Jaime have been making jewelry (mostly necklaces and bracelets) for years now. They scour gem shows and antique shops to find their materials, and then make up the objects as the spirit guides them. When they lived in South Carolina they would offer their work for sale at various craftsmen shows and fairs. They have an extensive collection of necklaces. And they are all one of a kind, individual pieces.

Here are some examples of their work:

Since moving back to Ohio and working hard at constructing and establishing the new farm they’ve not had much time to indulge their creativity. But hopefully as the construction winds down and the routine work on the farm settles down they’ll begin creating again. Ultimately some of their creations will be offered for sale in the farm shop and online. (They claim they won’t sell the illustrated pieces -but then everyone and everything ultimate has a price!!) Until then, if any reader has an interest in any of their pieces, or would like to commission a special piece, please go ahead and contact us. We’ll have one of them call or write you according to your preference.

We visited several farms (The Alpacas at Windy Hill, Dry Creek Alpacas ) from San Diego to North of Los Angeles. There are some very nice animals there, particularly Monteggio of PVA at Dry Creek Alpacas. It struck me that the alpacas of Southern California live under some rather hash circumstances -dry, hot, brown, sandy, generally flat, and very little grass if any. Thus I would think that nature would have weeded out the weaker, less adaptable animals and what is left there must be strong, environmentally adaptable animals who would do well on our verdant, hilly farm with a variable climate more similar to what their ancestors were used to in South America.

While in California we were introduced to the controversy among Alpaca owners concerning the elitists who think only a Peruvian animal is top quality and Bolivian or Chilean animals are something less. I was not aware of this difference of opinion. And I don’t quite understand why it should be so. After all it only depends on “what side of the mountain” the animals lived. I don’t suppose the wild animals (before the Peruvians started their ranches) respected the various countries’ borders and only mated with alpacas on their side of the border! Furthermore, as I understand it, there was an active smuggling enterprise taking animals from Peru to Bolivia and Chile for sale during the period when Peru stopped exporting animals.

If any readers can educate me on the arguments from either side I would certainly appreciate hearing from them.