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Monday, October 22, 2012

Not something I had considered.....

It has been awhile, and much has happened in our neck of the woods.  Fall is most definitely upon us and the wood furnace has been a comfort.  All of the rain that was denied us this summer has deluged us this fall, making those few sunny dry days delightful indeed.

A dear friend needed to find good homes for some of her fiber animals (I bet you can figure out which kind) and it was rather hard to say no to her given the situation.  Her business parter, at whose farm the animals lived, wanted to get out of the UP and head south after some life changes so he is selling out and wants to be gone by the end of November, hence the desperate search for homes.  I am honored to be considered a good home for those lovely ladies and they have taught me a few new things already!

Item number 1:  It is good to have friends.

Item number 2:  Having one good eye is a blessing.
(Luna, the alpaca in front, only has one eye...an accident we were told)

Number 3:  If you have two bad eyes, having friends is helpful.
(Star, the paca in front, has a cataract in one eye and very limited sight in the other.  She is Luna's mother...perhaps accidents are congentital for alpacas?)

Number 4:  Black is not ALWAYS black.  The golden brown alpaca's registered name is "Black Ice".  We call her "Soleil" because she is golden as the sun.  The wee cria next to her is a suri alpaca...also black.  (Brownish black is called Bay Black in alpaca speak.  Looks like dark brown!)  We have been calling her "dark matter" in fitting with the space themes but it is a bit clunky.  Have any suggestions???

The small white alpaca is "peggy Sue".  She came with that name and is a sweetie!  She has HUGE eyes, but wouldn't look at me when I wanted her too.

This is Lyra.  She is Soleil's daughter.  One eyed Luna looks on worried I am going to put eye medicine in her socket...she had an eye infection when we picked her up.  That sounds confusing I realize...but there is an actual eye sunk in the socket but it doesn't work.

We also have learned that it is easier to handle alpacas than llamas (they are half the size), you can pick up the leg of an alpaca to trim their feet (you have to lay on your face in the dirt to trim a llamas toes because they immediately lay down on top of their feet when you bring out the clippers), and alpacas are much more vocal than llamas with quite the range of tone from soft humm's to indignant squeals!

So, now Spinner's End Farm is home to two species of camelids (which seem to be getting along fine now after a brief altercation which put miss bossy Igraine in her place!).

5 comments:

  1. Nice looking bunch. Glad you gave them a home. We animals lovers are such a soft touch. You'll love the fiber mixed with angora.

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  2. Thanks for your note on Lambie Pie. I was then able to find your fascinating site and discover you have Southdown sheep! Now, that is exciting for me.

    So, now you are mother to Alpacas. They are sweet little creatures. We started breeding them in 1989, when alpacas were quite rare in So. California. We were lucky, we ended up with 16 girls and 4 boys. The wool was heavenly. We sold the girls and now only have our last male as a pet.(along with other critters)

    Mixing the wool with your delicious angora fiber is going to be a dream. I absolutely love, love angora rabbits, nothing cuter!

    Certainly wish I knew of some serious spinners around So. Ca. I have countless bags of luxury cleaned alpaca rovings for anyone who would like to drive by and pick it up. I'm pretty well spun out.

    Now I need to go read what else is happening on Spinner's End Farm.

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    Replies
    1. Hmmmm. This next shearing is promised back to the friend who gifted us the alpacas...I wonder how much postage is to mail alpaca fiber from So. CA to northern MI??? If I come across any spinners from sunny CA I will send them your way! Thanks so much for visiting!

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    2. Well...the farm is expanding !!! I adored the alpacas Lila and I visited here in NH...couple years back now. Really beautiful creatures and yes easier than llamas since they are half the size,...and so darn cute !!!! When you have a baby, I am coming to visit.

      Now, I am not complaining...just pining...I seem unable to find any pic or account of Duncan's birthday...you know the cake and his smiling 8 year old face. Can you believe he is that old?

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    3. Hi Bons-yes there are some birthday photos of Big D and some Halloween pics too....I'll try too get some up today on our new quick fast Internet connection....we finally broke down and went with a satellite dish because it will be ages before anything else will get here, if it ever does!

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