If you haven't checked us out, you must go and see what my husband has done. He's made our website and he has done a FABULOUS job! Our address is www.shadysidealpacas.com and it just amazes me the things he can do with a computer.
He has all the pages put in and something on every page, now I realize that this seems like how a website should be, but that is what you pay a company to do, not what you do yourself at home! There are pictures of our girls with our alpacas and our mission statement as well as a farm history even! I love it and I can't wait til we get more visitors so that they can leave us messages to let us know what they think.
Alpacas are truly changing our lives. And only for the better.
Monday, October 26, 2009
Monday, October 19, 2009
Busy busy days
Well it was a busy weekend. The wife and I skirted a whole lot of fleece this past weekend. Though we are not sure that we are not being much pickier about our skirting process than others. We are also willing to admit that we are likely slower than people who have been through 100s of fleeces too. I would like to thank Anita over at Windswept Farms for allowing us to go through a couple of the fleeces they had sitting around.
While I'm on the note of fleece, Michelle attended a needle felting class at Windswept Farm this weekend and seemed to have a good time. She has been showing the process to the kids and I as well. We've had mixed success but it is a learning process. We would really like to get to go to a wet felting class as our first attempt at wet felting came out differently than we expected.
Lastly this weekend was finally our prep for winter weekend. I have put up some blockades using wood and straw to help block out some wind in an area of the barn for our boys. We also put down a nice amount of straw for them to lay on to keep cozy. I have plent of extra incase we want to add more. I was happy to find my neighbor had plent of straw and lives right accross the street from me. So it made life a bunch easier. Lastly we changed to the heated bucket and got that plugged in.
While I'm on the note of fleece, Michelle attended a needle felting class at Windswept Farm this weekend and seemed to have a good time. She has been showing the process to the kids and I as well. We've had mixed success but it is a learning process. We would really like to get to go to a wet felting class as our first attempt at wet felting came out differently than we expected.
Lastly this weekend was finally our prep for winter weekend. I have put up some blockades using wood and straw to help block out some wind in an area of the barn for our boys. We also put down a nice amount of straw for them to lay on to keep cozy. I have plent of extra incase we want to add more. I was happy to find my neighbor had plent of straw and lives right accross the street from me. So it made life a bunch easier. Lastly we changed to the heated bucket and got that plugged in.
Thursday, October 15, 2009
It's alive! ...kind of...
We have finally got a domain name for our farm. However, the one we had hoped for is taken. We were able to get www.shadysidealpacas.com however and it's a very fitting name. We both now have email addresses with shadysidealpacas.com on them so we are ready to roll.
The "kind of" is the part that is still needing some work. The domain is ours, but now I have to get the web site up and running. I'm hopefull I'll have something up simple tonight.
Please feel free to stop over there and check it out as we get things going. We have some items we already want to get in a store.
The "kind of" is the part that is still needing some work. The domain is ours, but now I have to get the web site up and running. I'm hopefull I'll have something up simple tonight.
Please feel free to stop over there and check it out as we get things going. We have some items we already want to get in a store.
Wednesday, October 7, 2009
I haven't poked myself yet!
As my husband had mentioned previously, we purchased some materials to begin the felting process when we visited a larger farm during National Alpaca Days. Beverly (the lady who was spinning and felting at that farm) was nice enough to show me how the process works and what to expect...she also told me that I would, indeed, poke myself at least once with that sharp little needle.
I haven't done it yet...yea! And the kitten seems to think I know what I'm doing already.
I must be doing something right, because I've intrigued my 11 year old daughter enough for her to say, "That's cool! I want to learn how to do that!"
Hopefully, I can keep going with my felting without poking myself, but then again, maybe it would just be better to get it out of the way so I can stop thinking about it when I'm working. We'll see...
After this, I'm going to have to try my hand at wet felting.
I haven't done it yet...yea! And the kitten seems to think I know what I'm doing already.
I must be doing something right, because I've intrigued my 11 year old daughter enough for her to say, "That's cool! I want to learn how to do that!"
Hopefully, I can keep going with my felting without poking myself, but then again, maybe it would just be better to get it out of the way so I can stop thinking about it when I'm working. We'll see...
After this, I'm going to have to try my hand at wet felting.
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
A quick note on the past weekend!
Hopefully anyone that reads this spent a little time visiting alpaca farms over the past weekend. This is the largest event put on by AOBA that I know of and the best chance people can really have to learn about the alpaca lifestyle.
We did make if over to one larger farm in our area and learned a little about spinning and needle felting. We have been wanting to do some felting and purchased a needle felting kit from someone at the farm doing the demonstrations.
If you did not get out to other farms and are still looking to learn about alpacas do not give up. Most of the farms are more than willing to meet with you and talk with you. There is also a large online community. One of those gathering places is Alpaca Nation where there is lots of information, especially in the forum area. There are many other places to get information though so if you need more information or can't find what you are looking for do a little hunting and you should find what you wanted to know.
We did make if over to one larger farm in our area and learned a little about spinning and needle felting. We have been wanting to do some felting and purchased a needle felting kit from someone at the farm doing the demonstrations.
If you did not get out to other farms and are still looking to learn about alpacas do not give up. Most of the farms are more than willing to meet with you and talk with you. There is also a large online community. One of those gathering places is Alpaca Nation where there is lots of information, especially in the forum area. There are many other places to get information though so if you need more information or can't find what you are looking for do a little hunting and you should find what you wanted to know.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
A good fiber day to all!
Well it has been an exciting week for sure. We almost stepped out and purchased two more fiber boys but considering many financial factors we have decided to wait though it would have been a good step toward increasing our fiber output.
I have been involved in many discussions about alpacas and fiber farming as a viable alternative to breeding programs. I think it is sad to see when farms with great animals are so focused on breeding for money that they likely many times let fiber go to waste and destroy less than premium fiber. BTW, let me know if you have 1sts, 2nds and 3rds that you do not want as I may be willing to pay to have them shipped to my farm.
Anyway, I look forward to working with and networking with many other smaller and fiber farms while we all try to make a business out of the true reason for us to keep alpacas as a livestock. If alpacas are not kept for fiber, then they sure are an expensive pet! I read something like that posted elsewhere but I think it is very fitting.
Contact Me if you would like to share links to blogs or other web pages. I am mainly looking for others working toward building good fiber farms though. A good blog is being kept by at http://alpacasprings.blogspot.com.
I have been involved in many discussions about alpacas and fiber farming as a viable alternative to breeding programs. I think it is sad to see when farms with great animals are so focused on breeding for money that they likely many times let fiber go to waste and destroy less than premium fiber. BTW, let me know if you have 1sts, 2nds and 3rds that you do not want as I may be willing to pay to have them shipped to my farm.
Anyway, I look forward to working with and networking with many other smaller and fiber farms while we all try to make a business out of the true reason for us to keep alpacas as a livestock. If alpacas are not kept for fiber, then they sure are an expensive pet! I read something like that posted elsewhere but I think it is very fitting.
Contact Me if you would like to share links to blogs or other web pages. I am mainly looking for others working toward building good fiber farms though. A good blog is being kept by at http://alpacasprings.blogspot.com.
Friday, September 11, 2009
The great choking alpaca!
Well we've found that alpacas are grain eating maniacs for sure. They act as though they have never had anything to eat when we get it out. They are very funny and it is the easiest time to get them close enough to you to do other things.
However, it is good to always take caution when feeding grain to them. Make sure someone is there watching them until it is completely gone and they are finished chewing and swallowing it. My wife had to deal with this for 30-60 minutes just last evening and there is only one thing I can think of worse than being remote and worried on how things are going and that is dealing with it! My wife had a real work out and got several kicks and stomps while trying to help.
In the end she did a great job. The alpaca seems no worse considering the whole ordeal. If anyone reads this and has ideas on how to keep from having grain get stuck I would appreciate the feedback. We have thought maybe we need to keep grain up off the ground but with our current set up this is where we feed them.
Oh and on a fun note, I made a temporary extension of the pen last night so the boys have a small area of new grass to mow. They really seemed to appreciate it but didn't think there was enough room or grass for them all to be there.
However, it is good to always take caution when feeding grain to them. Make sure someone is there watching them until it is completely gone and they are finished chewing and swallowing it. My wife had to deal with this for 30-60 minutes just last evening and there is only one thing I can think of worse than being remote and worried on how things are going and that is dealing with it! My wife had a real work out and got several kicks and stomps while trying to help.
In the end she did a great job. The alpaca seems no worse considering the whole ordeal. If anyone reads this and has ideas on how to keep from having grain get stuck I would appreciate the feedback. We have thought maybe we need to keep grain up off the ground but with our current set up this is where we feed them.
Oh and on a fun note, I made a temporary extension of the pen last night so the boys have a small area of new grass to mow. They really seemed to appreciate it but didn't think there was enough room or grass for them all to be there.
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