Check me out!

Here she is! The little girl who brought up so many good genetic questions the other day on Twitter. The Murphy’s Law baby. The one I just knew was going to turn out this way.

You see, in the alpaca business, a blue-eyed white is not really the desired outcome. This white with blue eyes is linked with deafness. (We don’t know yet if little Roulette is deaf.) It occurs about 25% of the time when you breed two animals who both have the white spotting gene. It is complicated and you can read more about it here.

Normally I would NOT breed a black female with a white face like Blakeny, Roulette’s mom, to a male with the white spotting gene like the tuxedo grey male who is her dad. But in this case, I had one breeding to this spectacular male and I needed to use it right then and she was the only female who was open and who even remotely would work. The odds were in my favor for a beautiful black or grey cria – a 75% chance. So I played the Roulette wheel.

The general consensus (or common myths) amongst alpaca breeders is that the female blue-eyed whites are very friendly and that they have amazing fiber. We can usually breed them to black males with no spots and get awesome colored cria who are not deaf.  So welcome to the fold my little Roulette, and thanks so much to Roni and Brad at Providence Alpaca Farm for taking such good care of my little sweetie.

What can I say? I like to gamble?

I admit I’m nervous and I’m rambling… We are shearing the alpacas tomorrow. The head count is hovering near 100. We have never sheared 100 alpacas. In 2009 we sheared 77. Every year I get nervous, and every year it goes off without a hitch. Maybe it’s like putting on a big Broadway production. Whatever the correct metaphor, it IS a big event.

So far I’ve labeled the black and brown bags (that’s only about 15% of the way finished since most of our herd is fawn/light). I have to order the food and make the brownies.

Last night my young son made my day year when he actually said to me, “Mom, can I help with shearing day? I’ve always wanted to. It looks like fun.”

Oh yes he did.

He was sick last year. I remember one year him helping a grown up who was sweeping up the debris. (but that was not really fun so he lost interest after a few hours)

I hope super-shearer Marc Loffhagen and I can come up with a cool job for him this year. My son showed me his muscles and he is pretty strong so we shall see…

If you are interested in following along with the shearing madness I will be tweeting all day on Saturday from my @AlpacasLive Twitter account. If you are interested in purchasing alpaca fiber you can email me at katy (at) alpacafarmgirl (dot ) com. Bulk pricing is available in for 9 lbs. and up. Individual fleeces (2-4+ lbs.) are available as well in white, fawn, greys, brown, and black on a very limited basis. Visit our Etsy shop for alpaca yarns and more fiber. Visit our Alpaca Farmgirl shop for alpaca teddy bears, blankets, socks, and more.

Now I’m off to label the fawn bags…

I just caught the tail end of Tuesday night’s AgChat on Twitter. But they came up with a super idea about how we can thank farmer and ranchers for the hard work they do growing our food. With Thanksgiving this week, it seems like the perfect time to thank the hard-working farmers out there.

On Wednesday morning use the hashtag #thankafarmer to share what you are thankful for on Twitter. This will begin in the morning from 10am-12pm CST. The goal is for it to be a trending topic, but go ahead and thank farmers all day. We want people to reflect on what great things farmers and ranchers produce that we should be thankful for  each day. It will also remind folks where their food comes from.

If you don’t have a twitter account, you can do the same thing on Facebook, or a blog about it. As Troy Hadrick said on his blog, Advocates for Agriculture, “The point is we need to take the day before Thanksgiving to give thanks for all of our blessings, especially the safe, affordable, abundant food supply we enjoy in this country. It doesn’t happen by accident, it happens because of the world’s greatest farmers and ranchers that live in this country.”

Happy Thanksgiving!

This weekend I am at SAFF (Southeastern Animal Fiber Fair) in Asheville, NC. Today I am taking a class called “Painting with Wool”. Doesn’t that sound romantic? I will be taking pictures and posting them on Alpaca Farmgirl on Tumblr, Facebook, Twitter, and eventually – here.

Now it’s time to hear what you fiber divas have been up to – Share your fiber adventures below in the Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival.

Fiber Arts Friday Blog Carnival!

To participate:

1. Add the permalink to a specific blog post that features something Fiber Art related, rather than your general blog address and not your Etsy store. (Please DO put a link in your blog post that takes us to your store though.)
2. Link back to Fiber Arts Friday from your post so that your readers can come and see everyone else’s projects! Use the button or a text link to http://www.alpacafarmgirl.com.
3. Visit as many of the other participants as possible and leave comments! That’s what helps us all connect!

Love this funny look at Twitter! Follow College Humor on Twitter.

Colt McCoy

This week I’m gearing up for the National Alpaca Conference and Show. This year AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) is hosting the Second Annual World Alpaca Conference in Cleveland, Ohio June 3-7. It is to be held at the I-X Center and will include an International Fleece Show, National Halter Show, Fiber Arts Competition, Vendors, Fashion Show, the Annual AOBA Auction, and much more. It’s like Disney World for Alpacas Lovers!

Yours truly will be attending this fabulous event where I’ll be blogging & Tweeting. My usual Twitter name is @AlpacaFarmgirl. For this event I will be switching over to @AlpacasLive. If you would like to follow along with what’s happening at the Conference, just keep visiting this site and follow on Twitter for live updates and TwitPics. They say there is wireless internet access throughout the venue, and it is my intention to do interactive LIVE blogging during the Auction. If you have questions you should be able to login and ask me. I will do my best to post prices as we go.

Now – to skirt my fleeces to go to the fleece show and halter train Colt McCoy to get him ready. Yes, I am that much of a procrastinator! Sponsorships still available for Blog Coverage of next week’s events. Advertisers will receive excellent coverage as this event will have a full year’s “shelf life”. Contact me at katy (at ) alpacafarmgirl.com for more information.

A few weeks ago, I Tweeted that I was making crab cakes for dinner. Many of my Twitter buddies thought this sounded great and asked me to share the recipe. The thing is – I just take them out of the freezer and put them into the oven. (The cat has now escaped the bag!) It’s that easy. No real recipe to speak of. The key is the source:

I am married to a world-class crab cake snob. He hails from Maryland where they “know” crab cakes. We enjoyed many a wine filled, romantic, seafood dinner during our courtship. We ordered crab cakes frequently, most of the time they didn’t meet the crab cake snob’s standards. (We weren’t in Maryland.) Oh, we ate them, but they weren’t usually quite up to par.

Fast forward a few years. I’m very pregnant, with a preschooler playing at my ankles. There are several alpacas in the back yard. I’m watching QVC. An adorable, brunette QVC hostess with a pixie haircut is hawking crab cakes. “They’re delicious”. OK. “They are easy”. OK. “They have colossal pieces of lump crab meat in them”. Hmm.

At this point I am thinking, “What a shame DH is such a crab cake snob or I would order these.” Then cute little hostess comes out with this story, “When my son was born, I could hardly ever find time to cook dinner. But with these crab cakes, I just pop them into the pan and they are done in minutes. They’re easy. Delicious. And it feel like you’ve made something special without taking up much of your time.” I just about broke my leg waddling to the phone to place my order.

I was a little apprehensive that crab cake snob wouldn’t like them. But he LOVED them. Now he brags on them. It’s really hard to find restaurant crab cakes that are this good. They really are delicious AND easy. We have them at least once or twice a month at our house. Here’s all you do: Thaw for several hours up to a day. Then you can either pan-fry them, or put them in the oven to bake. The last few times, I have brushed a little butter on top and baked them at 350 for about 20 minutes.

Chesapeake Bay Gourmet now has their own website, and even Oprah raves about these crab cakes. I also like to give them as gifts during the holidays. This weekend I’m taking some to my parents.  Dad just broke his ankle and this will be something that will be quick and easy for them to prepare. Try these crab cakes once and your family will think you are a genius!

You can tell I’m hooked on these crab cakes. To see what other bloggers are hooked on this week, visit Hooked on Houses’ Blog Party.

If you try these crab cakes or if you’ve already had them, please leave a comment and tell me what you think!

The other day one of my Twitter friends asked, “What is March Madness?” She thought it was a sale at Target or something.

This made me realize that some people don’t know what they are missing by not following the NCAA Men’s Basketball Tournament. As children, girls have their fairy tales that inspire their dreams, hopes, and expectations. For boys (and girls), sports can do the same thing. March Madness is a marathon drama that plays out on the hardwood.

Sports are a metaphor for life. There are some inspirational lessons that we can all take away from the NCAA Tournament. Incredible story lines play out during the tournament. Here are 7 tenets we can takeaway from March Madness that illuminate the human condition and enhance our lives.

1. Hard work pays off. Your blood, sweat, and tears CAN make the difference in whether or not you succeed.
2. Teamwork is essential to success.
3. Fairy tales can come true. The Cinderella Story plays out every year in one form or another during the NCAA Tournament. This year 3 of the 4 number 12 seeds beat the number 5 seeds in the first round. Inspiring to say the least.
4. The little guy can prevail over the big guy. Small business owners often feel like they can’t compete with bigger businesses with more resources. David does beat Goliath in the Tourney. This year small school Siena’s amazing win in double overtime with powerhouse Ohio State comes to mind. (I know. Siena who?)
5. Strong Leadership is essential to success. Pay attention to the coaches. We can learn from them.
6. We are all a part of something bigger than ourselves.
7. When times are tough, having something to believe in brings communities together. Michigan State will play in the Championship. In Michigan. With all their economic woes, the people of Michigan have rallied around their team. They will be able to forget their problems, even if only for a few days or hours. Their team has lifted their spirits!

What do you think? What do sports do for you? Leave a comment and tell us what you think.

Pronking

After one of my Twitter friends said that “Pronking” sounded dirty, I figured I’d better explain what it is. Pronking is a verb that describes the alpacas’ version of skipping. Most of you are familiar with PePe Le Pew doing this when he’s in love. It is like hopping around with all four feet hitting the ground at the same time. There is a kind of “Boing! Boing!” feeling to it. Alpacas do this when they are happy, most often around dusk. Cria (baby alpacas) are most likely to pronk. But it is really heartwarming to see the older (even very pregnant) alpacas pronking in the fields. Truly a joy to behold.

Alpaca pronking pictures above and just below were taken and shared with us by Carolyn Hitchcock of Cameron Mountain Alpacas. Thanks Carolyn!

Above photograph of Raven by Flossie Carmichael of Gentle Grange Alpacas Thanks Flossie!

Above pronking pictures shared with us by Ray Lassiter at Titan Alpacas. Thanks Ray!

Above and below pronking pictures by Carolyn Hitchcock of Cameron Mountain Alpacas.

So, what do you think? Does pronking look like fun or what?

Don’t miss Extreme Pronking!

On a recent search through my favorite new medium, Twitter, I found that several people were asking this question. They had seen the commercials and couldn’t understand why this would be an appealing choice for anyone.

I thought I’d take a stab at answering their question here. People buy alpacas for many different reasons. If you ask 100 alpaca breeders to tell your about their journey that lead them to alpacas, they will all tell you a different story. Here are some of the top reasons why a sane human might invest tens, even hundreds, of thousands of dollars into livestock.

Financial Reasons

• Investing in alpacas has great tax advantages. (read more here and here)
• Alpacas can be insured for theft and full mortality. How many other investments can you say that about?
• Alpacas compound, growing your investment regardless of the stock market’s performance or the economic climate. (read more)

Lifestyle Reasons

• Own your own business. Work for yourself.
• Get out of the rat race, set your own hours, work at your own pace
• Rural or semi-rural lifestyle
• Work with animals
• Work outdoors

But why alpacas?

• They are easy keepers. You don’t have to be a 25-year-old cowboy to handle them.
• You don’t have to kill them. (No slaughter)
• They don’t try to kill you. (Passive animals)
• They have a luxury fiber, perfect for making yarn, fiber arts.
• Have you seen them? Never underestimate the power of CUTE!

I hope that clears up the mystery a bit about why people invest in the alpaca business. If you don’t like animals or if you love the city life and never want to leave it, alpacas probably aren’t for you. My husband and I formerly lived in the concrete jungle. Now we are in a semi-suburban area less than an hour from two different cities. We have had alpacas for nine years and have found it to be very rewarding, both personally and financially. Feel free to contact me, Katy,  for more information at alpacas@bellsouth.net. Visit our farm website too!

If you’ve ever thought of raising alpacas (or if you do) leave a comment as to why YOU would do it?