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Sunday, January 01, 2012
Thanks to all of our customers and friends who visited the farm in 2011; may you have a bright and prosperous New Year in 2012!
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Saturday, December 24, 2011
Jesus is the Reason for the Season! Enjoy this special time with family, friends and special foods and gifts!
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Thursday, December 15, 2011
One of our customers, Julie Sellends (they bought their starter herd from us this year) mentioned that she was putting some of her new alpaca yarns at the "Shop the Northwest"...when I asked about it, she told me that this is an online farmer's market which has now opened a storefront in Richland, WA...so we trotted right over to check it out and it is FABULOUS. We instantly connected and they were delighted to take some of our newly created items for the holiday shopping season. Come check us out!
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Wednesday, December 07, 2011
The comments we are getting about our newly enlarged store are so encouraging...our hard work is beginning to reap the rewards...almost everyone who visits loves the new mittens and flap hat sets that we had made this year...and who can blame them; they are so beautiful!
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Sunday, November 13, 2011
Whew, it's over; the Alpaca Breeder's Co-Op (ABC) of the Tri-Cities Annual Holiday Bazaar was a huge success; we had visitors streaming in even before the doors were scheduled to open and they bought a little of everything in sight. All vendors reported heavy sales as people were seeking the unique gift this year. Thanks to all our customers and visitors for making this such a success!
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Wednesday, November 09, 2011
Busy, Busy week ahead...the 5th Annual Alpaca Holiday Bazaar sponsored by the Alpaca Breeder's Co-Op (ABC) of the Tri-Cities is scheduled for this Saturday...always a fun time...customers shopping while dad and the kids play with the alpacas! Can't wait to see what new items all the vendors will be bringing this year.
So Collins is busy cleaning out the shop/barn for the event...thank goodness we re-located our store down to the main level this summer...now it opens into the main event area and leaves even more room for other vendors...
Even more fun is the reno going on of our B&B space into our Fiber Arts Studio...Dede, my retail space designer is coming today to finalize the plans...most of the furniture will stay so it will still be a comfy space where people can come and relax while they work on projects...the new Feltloom we purchased with Sondra Grumbein (Tres Aguas Alpacas) and Jerry and Rita Uber (Uber Alpacas) will be front and center in place of honor...we are also moving weaving looms, spinning wheels, sewing machines, knitting machines, our growing library of books into the area.
So be sure and stop by for a visit this weekend!
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Friday, October 28, 2011
Lolita's Beautiful 2011 Cria
10/28/11 - Update from WSU; the cria had a blocked urethra which prevented him from urinating; will test for the reason. Shouldn't the vet have picked up on this?
10/28/11 - Collins went back out to check on our beloved cria and found that he was no longer breathing. We are both very distraught; made an immediate decision to take him to WSU for a necropsy. Long day, bad trip.
10/28/11 - We have been so worried that the cria does not appear to be interested in nursing today; so we gave him a little bit of milk, which he took readily. His ears are up and he is alert; we are hopeful.
10/27/11 - The cria is not improving; so today Collins took it to Dr. Oliver's office. He was dehydrated from the diahrhea and they gave him two bags of solution to rehydrate his body. When I got home last evening from my 3-day trip out of town at 11pm, we gave him another bag of solution. It took about 45 minutes to run the entire bag in. He is still very lethargic, and of course, Lolita is VERY unhappy to be in the barn isolated from the other girls.
10/26/11 - Yesterday, Collins took a fecal sample in and the results came back today that he had coxxy; we treated using the vet's recommendation. Continue to monitor closely. Doesn't seem to be nursing regularly.
10/25/11 - Collins noticed Lolita's cria was spending time in the barn instead of outside today and that he has developed diahrhea; will need to monitor carefully. This is our most beautiful cria produced this year; a full LCA Quechua son out of our color champion winning dam, Lolita; he's a beauty. Collins talked at length with Brenda; I am out of town.
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Sunday, October 23, 2011
We welcomed a wonderful group of prospective alpaca enthusiasts to our farm yesterday for one of our quarterly seminars, "Alpacas for Fun & Profit". Some participants had met us at the Benton County Fair in August and wanted to know more about the "fun" or "profit" involved with these delightful creatures. They asked lots of questions and it was a very full day.
The morning was spent in the education center but the afternoon was spent out in the pasture with the alpacas; they enjoyed meeting some of this year's new crias and had an opportunity to observe "show time" for a group of adult girls, where we demonstrated haltering, leading, etc. using Camelidynamics methods of teaching.
Feedback at the end of the day was very positive; we may have won over some new alpaca enthusiasts! They are just starting their journey; I remember those days well. We are still learning every day.
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Thursday, October 20, 2011
Ok, so while waiting to show a client an available commercial space today over over in the mall area , I stopped in for the first time at Sheeps Clothing, a local yarn studio. There was a knitting class in progress and I had an opportunity to browse their book selections. Very nice studio!
In particular, I was seeking anything they might have on felting projects, and was blessed to find three recent publications, two of which I had seen in AOBA's Alpaca Magazine:
1. Felt Frenzy by Heather Brack and Shannon Okey includes 26 different projects;
2. Simply Needlefelt by Jayne Emerson includes 20 easy and elegant designs, and
3. Shibori Knitted Felt by Alison Crowther-Smith provides an introduction into the ancient art of shibori.
Oh my goodness, it will take a lot of time to work through all these wonderful projects; I can't wait to get started!
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Wednesday, October 19, 2011
Collins is having fun!
Well, we did it! Yesterday, Collins and I traveled to Bend, OR where we picked up our new needle "FeltLoom" ...we are so excited...We are bringing the wonder of technology to the wonder of these fabulous alpacas and their gorgeous fleeces. We and our new partners in the venture, Sondra Grumbein of Tres Aguas Alpacas in Benton City, and Chuck and Rita Uber of Uber Alpacas in Yakima, WA all went together to purchase the loom.
We plan to make a variety of custom one of a kind felted products. We think we will start with felted purses, laptop cases, phone cases, eyeglass cases, etc. that Nikki designs and Collins embellishes with his leather art. Won't that be fun?
But we also bought it for our customers. We wanted them to have a cost effective way to create beautiful products from alpaca fiber from the alpacas they purchase from us.
You can watch the FeltLoom in action by copying and pasting the following URL into your browser; scroll down until you see the video and just click on the arrow to watch it.
http://www.feltloom.com/feltloomrunning.html
Collins first saw a FeltLoom in operation in Denver in May, 2011 at the AOBA Nationals. We then spent a day in August at the Casa De Arboles farm in Monroe, WA owned Maggie and Jim DiUlio who had purchased one. They were kind enough to spend a day with us, teaching us how to make product with it. We came home so excited, and wrote about our experience in our next newsletter. The Lord has a way of working these things out, and the next thing we knew, we received an email from one of our good alpaca friends, Deb Steele in Walla Walla, stating that she knew where one was available. The rest is history; we contacted the owners, and yesterday went and picked it up.
The Feltloom weighs about 900 lbs. It was not an easy task loading it into the trailer; we ended up using an automotive jack. Unloading it was a lot of easier and it now sits in our shop. We will shortly be moving it into the Fiber Arts Studio where Collins and Nikki spend a lot of time together designing and making a wonderful variety of things for the store, The Leather Sandollar.
On our way out of town, we had lunch with the "Alpaca Whisperer", Marty McGee Bennett...she regaled us with tales of her latest travels and updated us on some new techniques she is now teaching in connection with her TagTeach approach. She got the first look at our loom and seemed suitably impressed.
The drive through the beautiful Oregon countryside was very calming to the soul; it was fun to get away with Collins for a day!
Example of Product That Can Be Made!
Example of Scarves That Can Be Made!
Laying Out a Project.
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