“When the sun gets hot and the moon gets hazy, good girls go bad, and it gets crazy!” — Unknown

This photo was taken of our some of our Fairhope Alpacas herd that is boarding in North Carolina with our friends at Augustyn Acres Alpacas. (I can’t fit all of our new alpacas at our farm in Alabama.) Melissa Augustyn was kind enough to bring out the camera and capture this moment as Shawnee was breeding one of the girls. The other girls gathered around, telling him, “Me next! Me next!” The hormones on them, I’m tellin ya.

Of all the pictures I have seen over the years, this one is the most defining of alpacas. Alpacas are really all about having babies and being pregnant. I love cria, so I love that about them.

I saw the quote above and it just seemed fittin’. Check out Sunday Citar on the Fresh Mommy blog. Tabitha is delightful, and her blog has amazing photography.

The 4th of July is coming up. I’m going to the beach, what fun plans do you guys have? Leave me a comment and tell me what you will be up to.

Benny Is A Grandpa now!

The little alpaca in this picture is now a grandsire. As a cria (baby) there were many nights we didn’t expect him to make it through until the dawn. I kissed him goodbye twice, sure that I would be greeted by a lifeless body in the morning.

But he was the “Energizer Bennie”. He just kept going and going and going. Despite several bouts with pneumonia, IV’s with total protein nutrition, and a medical file 2 inches thick, Bennie was determined to be well and prosper. And multiply!

I got a call from his owners at Willow Glen farm this week saying that he was now a grandpa. It does my heart good to know that Bennie is well and that his line continues. Bennie was one of my favorite alpacas, of course we grew close with all the time spent together. I grew to love Bennie & hated to see him go when he left.

In his case I like to think love made all the difference.

Read more about my adventures with Bennie.

“The greatest happiness of life is the conviction that we are loved – loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves.” ~ Victor Hugo

The heart knows the soul better than the mind does.

~ Pat Rodegast

This was my favorite quote floating around Twitter this week. Perhaps because it fits into my life these days. Perhaps because it fits well with the novel that is consuming my thoughts. Either way, alpacas are the most soulful creatures I’ve ever come across.

They make an indelible mark upon your soul.

“It is the soul’s duty to be loyal to its own desires. It must abandon itself to its master passion.” Rebecca West

The moments of happiness we enjoy take us by surprise. It is not that we seize them, but that they seize us. ~ Ashley Montagu

Isolde and her new cria

Tiana

Tiana and Isolde

We recently welcomed this little cria (baby alpaca) to our herd. Dam, Isolde, is a good momma to this precious Magnum daughter. The last picture above is one of my favorites.

It is the nature of babies to be in bliss.

~Deepak Chopra

Yesterday a cria was born on our farm. (A cria is what you call a baby alpaca). It comes from the Spanish word for “creation”. This little bundle of joy belongs to our friends, the Bowens, whose farm is Humming Star Alpacas. A few of their alpacas are being boarded with us while their barn is being built. We are grateful to them for sharing their alpaca dam, Doe, with us. Doe has brought us lots of fun moments. She is full of personality, and has one of the loveliest alpaca faces that I know. She was even on the cover of our regional newspaper in 2008 with her friend Walker in an award-winning story about alpacas.

Welcome little girl! Can’t wait to find out what the Bowens will name her. Sired by none other than our signature herdsire, SCA Peruvian Magnum, she looks like a great combination of her two parents.

First steps

I love her pretty little face! It will be fun to watch her grow.

“A new baby is like the beginning of all things – Wonder, Hope, a dream of possibilities”.

~Edna J. LeShan

Words like “dam” and “cria” got you stumped? Check out the Alpaca Glossary of Terms.