It's August already!

Holy cow, how time flies! Lessee, what's new in the world of my alpacas? We're pretty sure both Holly and Princess are pregnant. Not exactly what I wanted as far as Princess goes but we'll be sure next spring when she does breed with Legend that she's fertile.
I had a productive weekend a little while back as far as fiber goes and got some carded and dyed and spun. I used the Kool-Aid method and dyed some pink and purple and then blended it in my carder to make a really pretty heathered batt that I then spun. Of course then life intervened and I haven't worked on it since. I'm hoping to get enough of it spun that I can make a baby item of some sort. It's so soft and the colors are very delicate. I'll post a picture in a little while.
Other than that, not much happening. Show season is gearing up but I won't be showing anyone. Mark just can't compete with the big dogs and I don't have the extra money anyway so I don't see the point. I did sign a new consignment contract and my alpacas should be making their web appearance on Alpacas of Nottingham Hollow's web page soon. Sue has an Alpaca Street web site as well so I'm hoping they'll get some traffic when posted. Who knows? It's a buyers market right now, not a seller's so it's probably okay that mine just hang out for the time being until the economy recovers. As long as I can pay the agisting fees, we're good! And I'll keep working on winning the lottery so I can buy my dream farm. Yeah, that's the ticket!
I get to go visit my kids in October, I can't wait. I'm sure Perl is a very big girl now and I can't wait to see how they are all doing. Hopefully I'll get some good pictures to post on their sales flyers with them in full fleece.
Oh, speaking of fleece. I sent my fleece's off to a mill to be made into yarn. I should have that back by October as well. I'm excited. I hope it turns out as well as I'm thinking it will. I have all kinds of crochet projects in mind for that yarn when it gets back! I will do my best to keep the posts up to date. Till later!

How things change!

Mark Anthony glued to mom Holly. Isn't that the sweetest face?

Wow, how things change in two months! First, our pacas have moved to Virginia. The wonderful farm they were staying at sold their entire herd and we had to find them a new home. So they are frolicing with the Alpacas of Nottingham Hollow now. I'm not sure Mark is so thrilled by the idea since he's been weaned from Mom and put in a separate pasture, but I think he'll be okay. Mom is pregnant and due in April and she needs to keep everything she's getting for the baby. Princess isn't quite sure what to make of it either but she's got a couple of maidens her age there and they share a pasture. She doesn't know yet that she's got a date this month with a hunk named Amerikhan Legend. She's been very interested in the boys lately so hopefully everything will go well and we'll have a new baby next year at this time from her. With their combined fleece characteristics we should have a beauty!

Sadly the chickens had to find a new home. We had to change our homeowners insurance and the new company wasn't real thrilled to find "farm animals" on the property when they came out to do the assessment. So, in order to keep from having our insurance cancelled the chickens had to go. They went to live at the former Charmed Alpacas. They don't have alpacas any more but they still have chickens. Which means I now have to add eggs back to my grocery list. But I don't have any more poop in my back yard so I guess it's an even trade off.

The VAOBA show in October was fabulous. I assisted in the fleece show again this year and learned even more about fiber. I got to listen to David Barboza judging the fleece and couldn't have asked for a more enjoyable and educational experiance. The VAOBA store setup this year was amazing as well even though I didn't sell anything. And Princess didn't win anything in the spin off either though I did get some great comments about her fiber. I wish I had a better 2 oz. to send in but her prime is so matted I'm not even going to be able to use it I don't think. I am carding her seconds and will use it for either needle felting or wet felting. It's like working with cotton candy though because it's so fine.
I bought some yarn at the show as well but I haven't found a project for them yet. I'd love to do a vest but since I'm only slightly above beginner when it comes to crochet and knitting and I haven't made friends yet I'm not sure I'm going to be able to pull it off. I'll keep working though!

Other than that, it's getting to be winter in Virginia and it's cold so I'm not inclined to be outside that much which is perfect for working on all those projects that have piled up!