A note about this blog:
Just how *do* you go about getting into the alpaca lifestyle when it seems near impossible due to lack of funds or lack of a farm? How on earth do you learn to care for these tranquil creatures once you get them home? This journal documents how we started from the ground up with next to no funds and no knowledge, and how, with the help of very supportive breeders and friends, it is possible to make a dream come true! Join me on this very honest and personal journey. ~Roo~

A Serious Look…

Posted by roo on April 22nd, 2009 — Posted in Serious, Ophelia, Mazara

When Rachel sent notice that she was unable to keep the arrangements we had made to bring Demi to Ohio later this month due to other urgent things unexpectedly popping up, I took the plunge and left the very next day to take Demi up there and bring Mazara and Serious home.  A 10 hour drive turned into an almost 12 hour drive each way, because Linda’s farm is actually NOT on the way as I first thought, but OUT of the way!

I picked Demi up on Saturday, she cushed down as soon as the van began to move and after an hour of seeing absolutely nothing of her, I began to get worried.  I figured out very quickly however, that she was just relaxing, laying stretched out on her side until I stopped the van, then she would lift her head and give me a horribly dirty look over the back seat before disappearing again and waiting for me to take off.

During the last three hours she began standing up a lot, looking around urgently, laying back down, and I knew she had to pee.  She occupied herself by munching on her hay, but she did not once pee, what a trooper!

We arrived shortly after dark, Rachel and I opened the back of the van and after contemplating the situation for a moment, Demi did an amazingly high antelope leap onto the driveway and galopped off, leaving us standing with our mouths open, wondering how on earh she did not knock herself out on the back door of the van with her head.  She must have only just cleared it, leaping a good 5 feet high through the air.

On Sunday morning Rachel took me to see her alpacas, and I got to briefly see Ophelia - how she has developed into a beautiful young maiden - she has a more mature face now, but is still just as pretty as when she was when I saw her a year ago as a youngster.  She’s a ‘kisser’ as Rachel calls it, loves to nuzzle your face with her velvet muzzle.

 

Serious is such a pretty boy (above, with Ophelia) - he has a presence about him that speaks loudly ‘I am a prince!’, and he seems to glide with an elegance, not walk.  His colour is hard to determine because it appears to be a very dark glowing copper, very velvety, so I’ll need to wait for his fiber to grow in a little before I can determine whether he is a medium or a dark brown.  Either way, he is just beautiful and seems to have inherited his daddy’s head.  The quality of his fiber is hard to determine right now - it’s very fine like Mazara’s, yet in the past few days he has begun to grow crimpy fiber underneath.  Time will tell, but I am FAR from disappointed with this young man! 

Rachel helped me load Mazara and Serious, and an hour before noon I set off again, back to Alabama.  It rained and stormed like crazy for a good 8 hours of the trip, but I kept a good pace, I wanted to be home at a reasonable time.

At Linda’s we ran at full speed to the barn, Linda carrying Serious, me being lead by Mazara as she tried to keep next to her cria, because it was storming hard and the lightning was so severe that I saw sparks flying several times.  Mother and baby were put in an empty stall where they spent the night safe and secure.  I returned the following morning to take some pictures and to set Billie to work on breedings, but that’s a separate blog :)

Ophelia & Mazara

Posted by roo on February 16th, 2009 — Posted in Ophelia, Mazara

With all our organising of the animals to be moved from SC to AL, and with the recent events, I have neglected to introduce our newest addition, MAR Ophelia.  Rachel sent me a photograph of Ophelia a long time ago, and I instantly loved that pretty little face.  When I was in Ohio in July last year I was finally able to meet her, and found that she is just as pretty in real life as she is in her pictures.  We made the decision to purchase her in time to take advantage of the tax benefits for 2008, and to secure her before she was bred so that she was a little less expensive. Ophelia will be bred for the first time to Rachel’s newest herdsire CHASE TAVERN BODIE this coming Spring.

So, Ophelia, I’m sorry that it’s taken so long for your official introduction, but welcome to Moonwood Farm! And thank you Rachel, for sending these pictures just recently, a nice surprise in my inbox.
 


Ophelia, with Mazara in the background