Can Spring Be Far Behind?

Good morning!  After a glorious morning shoveling snow yesterday, I am convinced that as much as I hate traveling in snow, being out in it is an amazing experience!  Snow covered everything around me, glistening in the sunlight and the deep blue sky overhead.  It was wonderful!  My dog was so happy, she kept turning around in circles, prancing all through the newly-fallen snow.  We both had a good time!

On a more somber note, Ppperuvian Delite, the very first alpaca we ever purchased, passed away yesterday in Oklahoma.  Bucky went searching for her when she wouldn't come into the barn for breakfast. . . In the lower part of her pasture was some taller grass that we couldn't mow as low as everything else because it had been too damp.  He found Delite there, looking as if she had just found a really soft, comfortable place to sleep.  She was a wonderful female, produced some fantastic babies, and was rated a "9" in the original import records.  We loved her.  She hadn't been able to produce for a couple of years because she couldn't nurse (no milk), but she was our Grand Damme of Diamond Triple C.  We will plant a beautiful tree in her honor come spring, and always remember that she was the alpaca that started us on our great adventure with camelids.  Rest well, dear Delite.  We will miss you.

What a beautiful weekend around these parts!  Tomorrow it is supposed to be 62 degrees!  Can't beat it.  We've been putting up the lights on our Christmas tree, decorating with lights outside, and Saturday we washed windows.  Not bad work, though I'm a little slow at it.  Wrapping presents also is time-consuming, but it is fun to make packages into works of art.  We got one of these little 8-1/2" screen ASUS computers to track time reporting at Coltrin, and all the software is now loaded on.  Tomorrow: its debut.  Looks to be a real workhorse.  Thursday I get to drive to Virginia to collect Wilson from the university, and will spend a day with the alpacas, as well.  It doesn't get much better than this!

We got our Oklahoma cameras up and functioning today!  What a thrill -- and the end of  a very long saga.  Internet speeds in Oklahoma being what they are, it was tricky to get it set up so we could watch the alpacas.  But with some expertise from Josh at Digess, and a wonderful PTZ camera (that's "pan/tilt/zoom" to you and me) -- it's like being right at the farm.

The Diamond Digest is going to press this afternoon, so watch for your issue in the mail before Christmas (with a little luck).  We have a lot of fun with this newsletter, and this month feature Snuggler's Accoyo Brioni -- our newest, full Accoyo herdsire.  He is a true-to-type Accoyo like the ones imported by Don Julio:  density par excellence, strong white genetics, and a large macho conformation.  Watch for his offspring!  They will definitely impact the future of tomorrow's alpacas.

We are having a great "Just Desserts" season with our new cria.  Featured in our Winter issue of the Diamond Digest are:  

Diamond Lemon Meringue (10/5/08)

GLA Peruvian Sensation x Diamond EasterEgg

Diamond Peanut Butter Fudge Parfait (10/11/08)

Terilynn's Peruvian Houdini  x  Diamond Peruvian Forever Summer

Diamond Apple Cinnamon Streusel (10/19/08)

Sunset Hills' Andean Gold x Diamond Butter Cream

Diamond Iced Pumpkin Bread (10/27/08)

Enchantment's Monjeau x Straightfork's Peruvian Promise

Watch for pictures of these lovelies, and we will be updating this weekend on several other new births at the ranch.  Meanwhile, if you haven't already seen it, there was  a fabulous clip from the CBS Evening News on Monday, 1 Dec 2008 where Katie Couric spoke about alternative investment options -- notable among them:  Invest in ALPACAS!   If you'd like to watch this segment, click on this link:  

I'm finally back!

Well, it had been so doggone long since I contributed to my blog that the whole world has changed! Old blogger is out: new blogger is in! So we are sort of starting from scratch. That'll teach me. We raise alpacas on two farms -- one in Virginia and the other in Oklahoma. We have our own line of alpaca yarns, Natural Echoes (tm), and we spin our fiber from special animals into custom yarns. It's a blast! Though alpaca yarn is an excellent choice if you want to dye it, we use only the natural colors of our alpacas. Currently it is available in natural off-white, natural light fawn, natural dark fawn, natural brown, natural grey blend, natural rose grey, and even natural black. You will never have to worry about these yarns fading or the dye coming out or looking uneven over time. The yarn will remain as beautiful as when it was on the alpaca!

We have published a book which is getting a lot of attention . . . . it's called CAVERN OF BABEL, and it features the adorable (though somewhat self-centered) huacaya heroine, Buttersby and her sassy suri sidekick, Meander. It was written by Albert Packard and illustrated by Shawn Boyles. Check it out on Buttersby's website, www.buttersby.com, and you can place orders for the book, join Buttersby's Fan Club, get T-shirts, etc. We think it is a great story for "middle readers" (ages 8-12).