It's Been A Long Time!

Hi All,

Well I can't believe we have not blogged for so long, no excuses we have just been so busy with another part of our business. We are not complaining, it just took us a bit by surprise the interest it created and the work it brought along, all good though.

Our alpacas are all doing really well and this years cria's are growing up just perfectly. The grass is still just about growing here with this mild weather we have been spoilt with, although we have been bringing the alpacas in overnight now for the last few weeks, we can't help it as we can sit looking out of the window directly onto the alpacas in the barn, it's just fantastic.

We have a local craft fair that we are attending in December so our knitter is working her fingers to the bone and my workshop is buzzing with crafts that have been made ready for the Christmas craft fair. We are currently in the process of update our website with an online shop that we are hoping to go live with soon, so watch the space for announcements of that but in the meantime here is a couple of pictures of the woodworking I have been creating, sorry we don't have any pictures of our garments, I forgot to take the pictures and now that we have sold out of everything I will have to take some when they are next available and before they get posted off again......this being in demand caper is just great.

If anyone has any questions about our craft's then please feel free to contact us. We can create almost anything from a picture, so if you have that favourite picture that you would like re-creating in wood then give us a call to discuss your requirements. WillowBank Alpacas & Crafts 01455 888646 or 07912 579041 if we do not answer please leave us a message and we will return your call as soon as we can.

Well that's all for tonight, be back soon.

Another Full Australian Birth

Hi All,

Well the weekend brought us a new cria from another one of our Australian girls. Wellground Cyan was really making us wait for this cria, she decided to hang on for another 3 weeks past her due date before letting her secret out. Saturday morning at 07.30 Wellgroung Cyan gave birth to a beautiful Solid Light Fawn Female that we have called WillowBank Adelaide.

WillowBank Adelaide has some cracking genetics in her pedigree, her sire Eringa Park Lionheart ET has certainly put his stamp on this geurgoeus cria, WillowBank Adelaide is also made up from the likes of, Cambridge Buckingham, Jolimont Commisario, NWA Ltd Ruffo, Eringa Park Show Time, Jolimont Gianmarco, Jolimont Sculptor, EP Cambridge Peruvian Spartacus to name but a few, so we are very excited about WillowBank Adelaide.

Well that's all for this morning, we have lots to be getting on with around the farm so must crack on, back soon with hopefully more news of some more births.

Bye To Wellground Close Encounter

Hi Folks,

Well not allot has been happening since my last blog. We are still waiting for our next cria's to be born and after an earlier influx's of cria's things have slowed down. Cyan one of our Australians is no coming up to 3 weeks ever her due date, which is frustrating as we are very keen to see what she gives us, I'm sure she will have her cria when she is ready, we will just have to be patient.......

We are really desperate for rain and as we can't remember the last time we actually had a decent amount, the weather men/woman forecast heavy rain over the last couple of days but we had a quick shower and that was that.

Our fleeces have gone down south ready for the GWR Show and we are keeping our fingers crossed for this years show to see how we get on.

I returned Wellground Close Encounter to Rob and Les at Wellground Alpacas the other Sunday which was a pleasure. Wellground Close Encounter had been with us for a mating and he worked his magic like a true professional. Wellground Close Encounter sure is an outstanding stud and certainly puts his stamp on his offspring. Rob and Les looked after me with their kind hospitality as always, even if Les took the mickey out of me for having a thick moment with loading the truck full of things, rather than the ease of putting it in the now empty trailer......I blame that on being dumb struck by the quality of their up and coming cria's, Thanks Rob and Les.

I will get out this weekend and get some pictures of the alpacas, they are looking really well and the cria's are growing fast, oh we also have two new mouse catchers to introduce to you, so I will be back soon.

More Births And Pictures

Hi All

Well I was going to blog last night as I had previously mentioned in my last blog one thing led to another and before I knew it, it was time for bed. So without delay here is the blog that we are trying to catch up on.

So here we have WillowBank Unknown!

WillowBank Unknown is not it's real name if you hadn't already guessed it, we are undecided what to call this fella so unknown is his nickname. I'm not going to go to much into the genetics tonight as I gave you your fill of genetics in the last blog, so pictures today and more genetics another day.

Next up WillowBank Scooby a Light Fawn Male

WillowBank Scooby has a fantastic presence in the herd already, he is not camera shy either as he stands here proud as punch watching for the birdie on the camera.

Following on we had another birth yesterday of another female cria, unfortunately we have not got any pictures of her yet so her picture will come soon, so for now a quick look back over the last few weeks and pictures of the cria's born.

Well that's all for tonight back again soon.

The Start Of Catch Up

Hi All,

Well its been such a long time since we did a proper blog about the going on's from WillowBank. So much has happened over the our period of absence, we have had cria's being born left right and centre, so without further-a-do I we will introduce you to them.

First up we have WillowBank Mishka a Solid White Female.

WillowBank Mishka's Dam is our very Wellground Megenta who gave us a first from last years Great Western Regional Fleece show, Mishka's dams genetics are that of Accoyo Remarque, EP Cambridge Assertive Lass, Jolimont Commisario, Jolimont Prima, Jolimont Conquistador. Mishka's Sire is Eringa Park Lionheart ET who genetics are that of Jolimont Gianmarco, Jolimont Sculptor, Jolimont Melina, Eringa Park Showtime, NWA Ltd Ruffo.

So with these genetics within WillowBank Mishka and from what we can see from her "persil white fleece" so far, we are expecting some good times ahead.

Second up we have WillowBank Polly a Solid White Female

Willowbank Polly Dam is Yuralee Katia of Cambridge who's genetics are that of Jolimont Manfredo, Jolimont Conquistador, Jolimont Ice Angel, Jolimont Serena, Yuralee Crysatalgen Kyle, Jolimont Maria Clair, Summerset Peruvian Sensation, Summerset Lucky Star. Polly's Sire is EP Cambridge Gianmarco's Masterpeice with genetics from Jolimont Gianmarco, Jolimont Sculptor, Jolimont Melina, EP Cambridge Patelin, Jolimont Encantador, Cambridge Carola.

Again some fantastic genetics within this beautiful female cria.

Third up we have WillowBank Wooley a Solid white Male

WillowBank Wooley's Dam is Pipley Court Bacardi who genetics are that of Cambridge Cajamarca of Blenheim, NWA Ltd Ruffo, Jolimont Palmina, Constance of Collingwood. Wooley's Sire is Wellground Killawasi's Keepsake with genetics from Accoyo Killawasi, ARU Cambridge Estelle, Katy of ARU Cambridge.

Some special genetics within these three birth we are sure you will agree, we are really pleased with what we have been given so far and yet we still have some more births to come with just as good genetics in those, so lets see what we are dealt from those.

We have had some more births, but for now we don't want to overload you all with genetics so we will post the pictures and details of the other births tomorrow.

So we are back in the world of blogging and getting ready for this years GWR show, we have some special fleeces entered this year with fingers crossed that we get a result and if we don't the experiance and knowledge gained will be reward enough.

Well that's it for today, back again tomorrow.

We Are Still Alive........

Hi Folks,

It's been so long since our last blog and tonight's is only a short one too. All our alpacas are doing fantastic and we are back into birthing time again.

Wellground Relentless our herd sire is now in full flow with his matings and we are getting spit-offs from his mating which shows positive signs. Relentless has really mastered the art of loving his females and gets on with the job. We are now offering selected matings with Relentless to those that have strict bio-security measures in place and of course this will be at our discretion.

We have lots of pictures and lots more to catch up on over the next few weeks so keep watching this space to what we have been up to.

Things have been a little bit manic here since our last blog and some things have not gone to plan but more on all of that stuff when I can say more!

Well take care all, and return soon.

What You All Looking At......

Hi Folks,

It's been a couple of days again since my last blog, so I thought I should try and slip in another one.

We have been dodging the rain showers that we have been gratefully receiving over the last few days although the ground just seems to keep soaking it all up and it looks like we have had no rain what so ever.

Whilst we were enjoying a nice cup of tea I spotted the alpacas looking for something, I managed to grab a quick picture of them doing so. It soon became apparent of what they were watching but unfortunately the batteries went flat in the camera to catch what happened next.

The alpacas had spotted two hare's in the paddock and proceeded in chasing them around the paddock for two laps before the hare's managed to escape through the stock fencing, it was quite amusing watching them all pronking around after them and very good to watch how the alpacas had started to work together in trying to corner the hare's before there great escape. I wish I had a video camera it would have been nice to have watched it again and to share with you all how the alpacas worked as a team.

Relentless our herd sire has been working his magic again and has an appointment with another of our girls this weekend when I am off to give Lisa a hand, so hopefully some more pictures to come and an updated picture of Tilly our 13kg cria that was born a couple of weeks ago, she has come on really well and has the most amazing fleece, lets just hope she keeps this quality as she grows up.

Well that's all for tonight, back soon.

Herd Sires.....

Hi All,

Well my last blog again was so long ago. I can't wait to have so more time on my hands when I change jobs in the next few weeks. Today we have been ear tagging our Ryeland Lambs and this years cria's so far.

Our herd sire Wellground Relentless has been working his magic today on one of his girls and has had fun working it all out, good lad Relentless you show them what your made of!!

We are really excited to see what Relentless will produce for us. Relentless's genetics consist of EP Cambridge Samson as his sire, EP Cambridge Peruvian Spartacus as his grand sire and Jolimont Amatea as his grand dam. Relentless's dam is Wellground Ruffo's Reflection, NWA Ltd Ruffo is her grand sire. So some good genetics in the mix.

Our other herd sire Wellground Tchaikovsky is just as stunning and also packed with quality genetics with Silverstream Czar of Anzac as his sire, ILR Alpine Fibre's Brutus as his grand sire and Peruvian Hemingway as his great grand sire. Tchaikovsky's dam is EP Cambridge Assertive Lass, with Jolimont Commisario as her grand sire and Jolimont Conquistador as her great grand sire to name just a few. So some exciting times coming soon when these cria's start hitting the ground.

In the middle is Wellground Tchaikovsky a Solid Mid Fawn, standing here proud with his pals, on the left we have WillowBank Killawasi's Spirit and on the right of Tchaikovsky we have Cambridge Kazuo. Both Spirit and Kazuo are potential studs on the horizon with genetics including EP Cambridge Gianmarco's Masterpiece, Jolimont Gianmarco, Jolimont Sculptor, Jolimont Encantador, EP Cambridge Stormcat, NWA Ltd Ruffo, Cambridge Cajamarca of Blenheim, Jolimont Palmina to name but a few for these two boys.

Well that's all for now, I'll be back soon.

News, News, News

Hi All,

Well again the time since my last blog has flown by. I just don't seem to find the time at the minute to try and keep it up to date, hopefully soon this will change as I am pleased to say that I have found a new job and have handed in my notice with my current employer. This has not been an easy decision to make as I have worked for this company on and off for over 12 years but with all the travelling involved and the long hours which really doesn't give me much time to do anything else when I get home, it has finally had to come to and end.
So moving onto pastures new in the next few weeks will be culture shock but I am also looking forwards to the new challenge ahead and with the job being just 20 minutes up the road instead of the 1hr 30minutes if I was lucky to my current job, this should make a pleasant change and increases my time spent at home considerably.

Anyway that's enough of that news. Moving onto alpaca related news we would like to wish Lisa and Dave all the very best with the three boys they purchased from us and we delivered to them last Saturday.

Here is Lisa and Dave helping to unload there three boys (L2R) Wellground Gieves, WillowBank Killawasi's Image and WillowBank Coco just leaving the trailer to their new home. We are so pleased for Lisa and Dave who are over the moon with the boys and has fulfilled a dream of owning alpacas for pets.

Gieves seems to have taken a real shine to Dave and I think these two are going to be inseparable. Well done guys and all the best for the future.

Now onto a final bit of news for today and I am pleased to see that after the announcement of Rob's Alpaca Blog from Wellground Alpaca Stud coming to an end, that Rob and Les have returned with something new, exciting and fresh on the scene with the launch of their Wellground Alpaca Video Diary, what a fantastic idea. Although the video diary is still in it's early stages, this will be something special to follow. If the video diary is anything like the blog they used to post then this will soon be followed by many. Great idea guys, good to have you back.

Well that's all for now, but when the rain stops and the sun shines, I will try and get some new pictures of the 13kg cria that was born, who has now been named "Tilly"

13kg!!!

Hi All,

Well those of you that read our blog would have remembered me saying that Alice one of Australian females was holding onto her cria. Alice, who genetics include EP Cambridge Stormcat as her Sire and NWA Ltd Ruffo on her Dams side.

We are pleased to say that after 23 days overdue at 19.00 last night Alice gave birth to a Solid White Female, now this was not the easiest of births as the cria is absolutely massive weighing in at 13kg that's 2 stone!! Lisa had to assist as the cria was understandably stuck, it was a normal presented cria but she still took some pulling even the back end wouldn't come out on it's own.

These are not the best of pictures as they were taken in our birthing quarters under the heat lamps. The cria's Sire is Wellground Legend of Spartacus a Scottish National Fleece Show Supreme Champion. So putting those genetics in the mix with EP Cambridge Stormcat and NWA Ltd Ruffo we are keen to see how this cria will develop.

Alice and daughter are doing really well and the cria is now running rings around Alice in the birthing quarters. We have decided to keep them both in today as the weather here is not the good and we would rather keep them in.

Well that's all for this morning, the barn still awaits for attention.

First Signs Of Shearing

Hi Folks,

Well today has been a manic day. I rushed back from work a little bit earlier today as we had our friend Sam coming to shear our sheep. Lisa had already been up to our other land and fetched the sheep back in the trailer and had got them ready in the barn for Sam's' arrival.

We only have six ewes and Bertie the ram that needed shearing so for a professional like Sam this was going to be a quick pit stop.

Sam has managed to fit us in to his busy schedule, He has approximately 20,000 sheep to shear and had already shorn 300 before calling into us. Well with Sam shearing like a trooper it was all over in a blink of an eye. Thanks Sam you are a star.

The barn was soon cleaned up and disinfected after the sheep had been in again and so to was the trailer after we had taken them back to the other land, I can't even recognise them as our sheep now, mind you I have the same problem with the alpacas when they are shorn, talking of which our alpacas are being shorn next Thursday so it will be good bye to those big beautiful fluffy coats.

I think the boys were unsure who these strange looking creatures are, by the faces that were being pulled you would have never of guessed that they were together only a couple of hours ago.

This picture is for Debbie at Barn Acre Alpacas, as you can see Debbie Kazuo still has his dirty beard and has now taken up wading in the water trough and then getting himself grubby from the dust piles....he is a first class tramp!!

Alice is now three weeks over her predicted birthing date and still she shows no signs of anything happening in the near future, well I guess that's alpacas for you, they like to keep you guessing.

The barn alterations are starting to take shape and we can start to see how it's all going to work for us, this is one of those jobs that we have been meaning to do for a long time and never got round to it, but no we wish that we had done it sooner and benefited from it sooner. Lisa is still keeping the whip cracked over my back to get the barn finished before shearing, but with seven day weeks at work and Sunday being my only day off this week, it's going to be close. Not even a bank holiday Monday next week as I have got to go into work, so again it's return home and work on the barn until it gets dark, which gives me about two hours an evening. Never mind the new carousel system we are creating will all be worth it in the end.

Well I must dash as the cat of nine tails has struck my back again and I hear the barn calling.

A Change For The Better.

Hi All,

Well it has been a busy weekend for us as we have decided to redesign the inside of one of our barns. We have been meaning to arrange the barn since last year, as it was not working for us how we would of liked it to.

As you are all aware trying to keep the stress levels down with alpacas is an important role of keeping alpacas, so making the handling areas as least stressful as possible was our aim with the barn. We are creating a carousel affect within the barn allowing all the alpacas that we require to be handled for husbandry duties or shearing to be moved around to the appropriate stages in the barn and then released into a final holding bay before returning back to the paddocks, this will hopefully reduce any unnecessary running around, reducing the risk of any injury or stress.

We are very conscious here not to put any animal under any unnecessary stress and are very keen to make the experience for the alpacas as comfortable as possible and obviously a bit easier for us to manage.

The alpacas are all looking fantastic out in the paddocks and we are due for shearing on the 2nd June so getting the barn completed before then is the aim. Lisa assures me that I will have it finished!!

We have an alpaca that is coming up to 2 weeks over her due date this Thursday, so again we have been on constant look out trying to catch any sign of birthing, so we will keep you posted with the progress of Alice.

The Pedigree Ryeland sheep are now going up for sale, if any one is interested in a nice starter flock of 6 ewes with lambs at foot and a proven Pedigree Ryeland Ram then please feel free to get in touch.

Well that's it for now, more later with the progress of the barn and Alice.

Don't Put All Your Eggs In One Basket!!

Hi All,

Just a quick blog tonight as we wanted to share a couple of pictures with you all of some strange going on's.....

Lisa was out cleaning the chicken shed out when she noticed a bit of que forming in the shed as to who was going to lay their eggs first.....well that soon turn out obvious as three chickens got into the same box to lay and a fourth was stood looking to see if she also could fit in with them!!

So maybe you can have all your eggs in one basket......well chicken shed anyway.

Lisa then noticed that the girls in the birthing paddock were also up to strange happenings and managed to take this picture of a two headed alpaca......

We have been discussing the going on's and the only thing we can put it down to is that Jayne must have put something in the water when she came......is this your revenge for us having Tchaikovsky...... only joking Jayne we are just having a silly day.

Well that's all for tonight, back soon.

The Sun Is Out Again

Hi All,

Well the sun has been out again here all day which is perfect for getting the grass growing again after the rain.

We have had Naomi our work experience girl here with us again today, so we made good of her time here and set about completely mucking out and stripping down our top barn. Naomi must have arms like an orangutan this evening as she trundled backwards and forwards for must of the day with the wheelbarrow, to the muck heap. Now for a young girl Naomi is certainly not scared of a bit of hard work and doesn't shy away from getting stuck in.

Once we had cleared the barn it was no rest for the wicked as it was time to Lambivac our sheep and lambs, we are going to be selling our small flock of Ryelands as we just don't have the time to give them as all of our time is taken up with the alpacas.

As it had been sunny all day we decided to see if Tchaikovsky's fleece had dried and take some pictures. We are both really pleased with him and I think Lisa has already fallen in love with him......

Lisa and Wellground Tchaikovcky

Relentless couldn't help himself and just had to get into the picture, Tchaikovsky stood like a true gentleman for Lisa and even let her have a cuddle.

I tried again to take a fleece shot but as most of you are aware this is near on impossible to achieve, I had taken several pictures of his fleece and settle on this picture, it gives you a little idea of his fleece but it does his fleece no justice what so ever.

Now as Relentless had stood so nicely whilst all the attention was being given to Tchaikovsky, it was only far that we took his picture. So here is Lisa with Relentless standing proud for his cuddle.

Well that's about it for today's jobs, I'm off to have a bit of a chill out as it's back to work tomorrow and I'm already thinking of that alarm clock going off at 04.30.

Take care all.

Tchaikovsky Arrives

Hi Folks

Well the time has gone by so quick, I couldn't believe that it had been 3 weeks since our last blog entry......that's not good.

With one thing and another we have been so busy it has been a mad house here for the last few weeks, although the best part of the last few weeks was Thursday just gone. Apart from having a medical appointment that interrupted the day, the day was soon brightened up with the arrival of Rob Rawlins from Wellground Alpaca Stud and our additional herd sire "Wellground Tchaikovsky"

"Tchaikovsky" will be running along side our other herd sire here "Wellground Relentless" "Tchaikovsky" pedigree is just as impressive with "Silverstream Czar of Anzac", "Peruvian Hemingway", "EP Cambridge Assertive Lass", "Jolimont Commisario", "Jolimont Conquistador" all of which are in his genetics. We are hoping for something special from this young lad when he matures.

I have been putting of the blog until the weekend so that I could try and take some pictures of our new boy, although I am not complaining the heavens have opened here and we are in the middle of some persistent rain, which is much needed for our grass growth but unfortunately has put Holt to any pictures as fleeces are a little soggy.

I promise to get some pictures as soon as the sun comes out and the fleeces have dried as we are keen to show his fleece off.

Jayne from Zanzibah Alpacas has been stopping with Rob & Les for the week and we were pleased to see that Jayne came along for the trip up north with Rob to drop off "Tchaikovsky". We were privileged to see the hats that Rob talks about on his recent blog and we can confirm they are amazing, you have to see them to appreciate the styles and quality of the craftsmanship that Jayne has put into these, I'm sure she will be selling her garments.

Well I leave you for now as my woodwork is calling but will return soon with pictures of our new boy "Wellground Tchaikovsky" thanks again to Rob & Les at "Wellground Alpaca Stud" you guys certainly know how to produce those top genetics and those show winning alpacas.....

Take care folks.

Supreme Champions

Hi All

Well we have just been reading Rob's blog at Wellground and what a fantastic bit of news we read.

Our Stud here at WillowBank, Wellground Relentless is really proving to be something, not only is his father a Supreme Champion EP Cambridge Samson but his brother has also just been awarded Supreme Champion.

We will not be taking any of our alpacas to halter shows this year, to reduce the risk of infections being passed on from any other alpacas. We will be attending fleece shows with our fleeces so lets see how we got with them.

Relentless will be available for stud services this year, we will publish more about his services later.

Our Boy "Relentless"

Well that's all for now back soon.

Wellground Tchaikovsky

Hi folks,

Well what a difference 24hrs can make, well maybe more than 24hrs as myself and Lisa had been discussing for awhile now that we wanted to try and get ourselves another top herd sire here at WillowBank.

We currently have Wellground Relentless as our herd sire, who we are just starting to introduce to his girls, as he is now becoming of age. Relentless will be staying here at WillowBank as we have no intention of selling him in the near future but to enable us to have different quality genetics within our breeding program, it was decided that another herd sire would be the obvious answer.

So it was time to talk to our good old friends Rob & Les at Wellground, as we and I'm sure you are all aware have some excellent quality males for sale. Now we knew we had got to move fast as the fantastic prices they are offering wouldn't take long before they all became sold, luckily for us the one we had got our eye on, was still available and after some talking about his bloodlines and fleece quality, it was an easy decision to make.

We are now going to be proud owners of Wellground Tchaikovsky who as a solid medium fawn with Silverstream Czar, Peruvian Hemingway, Jolimont Commisario and Jolimont Conquistador within his pedigree we believe we should be looking out for some amazing cria's coming through in 2013. I have just noticed as I write this that Wellground Tchaikovsky is actually born on my birth day last year, so it must be fate that he comes to us.

Onto other slightly less exciting things, we have only got two more sheep to lamb, then that's lambing over for this year. It will be then time to clean out the barn and disinfected after the sheep have been. We are due to start birthing alpacas again in May but knowing alpacas as we now getting to realise, it could be anytime!!

We had post today saying that Lily has been allocated a place at our village primary school and that her time to start is the 1st September, that's only just over 4 months away.

Both myself and Lisa can't believe our little girl is growing up so fast and now the letter talks about buying school uniform, she our precious little girl going to school.....I could almost shed a tear......Well that's enough of the emotional stuff where is Top Gear on the TV for some man stuff........only joking at least she will soon be old enough so we can start changing her rent.....only joking she is moving out at 16......seriously only joking we love her to bits and will cherish every moment of her life growing up into a young lady.

Well that's all for tonight, I need a tissue for my eyes as I can't see the keys on the keyboard anymore.

Enjoying The Sunshine

Hi Folks,

Well we think we have managed to fix the computer, it seems to be running well with no shutting down issues, although I don't want to say that to loud!!

It has been a fantastic last few days with the weather and I hope this is the sign of things to come. Lily has been out playing with the hose pipe cooling off the dogs, well I say dogs, Jack the Elk hound went and hid under the caravan, Otto the German Shepard kept her distance which left Molly the Border Collie who is mad for the hose pipe, to take all the glory of getting wet. Molly goes absolutely mad for the hose.......

Well that tired out those two for a short while a certainly cooled Molly down. Our two new cria's of this year are really growing up well and are starting to cause havoc in the paddock. I still find it amazing how you can just watch the cria's all day long as they get themselves into mischief, as I sit here and type this blog they keep running past the window skipping around.

The above picture is of WillowBank Farley he was sired by Wellground Killawasi's Keepsake and is a beautiful light fawn, we real have fallen in love with this little fella. The picture below is again Farley with his mate WillowBank Barley who is also sired by Wellground Killawasi's Keepsake, the two may look Innocent but the other alpacas say they are trouble!!

Whilst I was in the paddocks taking the photos, I sat on the ground enjoying the curiosity of the alpacas as they wondered what I was doing, they came close to have a sniff and a nibble then stood tall to look around. I took the next picture, I like it as there is something about the picture, I think it's something to do with the clear sky behind her head and the angle it was taken from. Maybe it's just me, but I like it anyway......

This is Wellground Cyan, she is absolutely fantastic with an amazing fleece, understandably as she is the daughter of Cambridge Buckingham. We are very keen to see what she produces this year as she has been mated to Eringa Park Lionheart ET, another fantastic stud from Wellground Alpacas.

Well that's all for now back soon.

We Have Got Computer Problems!!

Just a quick one as we have serious computer problems.....For some reason our computer keeps turning itself off and then wont restart. Very strange and very annoying. We are trying to get it fixed, so apologies for no blogs. This blog has taken several attempts to get to this stage. Enjoy the weather all, we will be back soon.

More New Births

Hi Guys, We have finally had rain over the last couple of days, which we are grateful for as we need are grass to start growing, it's changed colour so this rain should hopefully bring on the new growth.

Well that's enough about the grass. We have had our first lambs born from our Ryeland Sheep yesterday, we were going to blog last night but the pictures that we had taken didn't really turn out very well so Lisa has taken some more today.

They are just starting to go fluffy around the bottom of their legs and around their eyes, they will soon be just bundles of fluff.

Lily couldn't resist having a little cuddle with one of the lambs, she really enjoys seeing new life appearing on the farm.

Now there must be something in the water around here as these two lambs are little boys, just like our first two cria this year, they were also little boys. We must be due some girls soon....please.

we have also for a while had a chicken that had been sitting on some eggs, well today she allowed us to see what she has been cooking.

She has four chicks in total, but she was only allowing two to pose for the camera. We will get some more pictures as they start to venture out and about.

Well that's all for tonight, I need to search for the sun cream for tomorrow predicted sunny spell.

What's Happened To My Paragraphs????

When I wrote the last blog it had paragraphs in it but someone seems to have stolen them.......

More Hours In The Week Required.....

Hi Folks, Well it's been sometime since our last blog, lets just say that champagne certainly had a kick to it!! Joking aside since our news with getting our planning permission its been none stop. We had visitors constantly for the following three days wishing to congratulate us on our news, people from the village are so pleased for us that we succeeded and that our determination is starting to pay off. So after the visitors stopped coming it was time to move things up a gear and start to promote our business and show we are serious about what we are doing. It's been all go visiting potential customers, making calls, emailing people and working on the website, which is still under construction with lots of hidden pages which are almost ready to be revealed. Along side of the office work, we have been busy with plenty of husbandry jobs with the alpacas, rotating alpacas around the paddocks, muck spreading one of the paddocks and repair works to fences that the horses have damaged but that's another story, so don't get me started on that one!! One of the jobs that we have been desperate to spend more time on, was halter training our stud boy "Wellground Relentless" Relentless is due to start working this year and although we had already started training him, it was time to see how much he had remembered. Well he was a little unsure to start off with but after about 5 minutes he settled down and walked like a real pro, strutting his stuff to the girls. "Relentless" will be available for stud services, subject to bio-security checks. I know this sounds harsh but we are doing everything we can to reduce any risk of infections on our farm, so like minded breeders will I'm sure agree this is a must for any considerate breeder offering stud services. Prices for "Relentless" will be available soon, this is one of the pages that is hidden on the website at the moment. Now anything that we can do Lily seems to think she can do better..... well as you can see from the picture below, Lily decided that it was time for "Bertie" our Ryeland Ram to be halter trained...... it's a good job that "Bertie" is like a dog and is more than happy to be with you all the time. Lily was last seen disappearing around the paddocks with "Bertie" it was a bit of who was actually leading who...... We have a little break from alpaca births at the moment but that doesn't mean we get any rest as we are up throughout the night checking our sheep which are due to lamb any day now. Our alpaca birth start again in May so just as the sheep are finishing the alpacas will be starting again.

That's all for now, but I must try and find more time to keep the blog up to date.

The Waiting Is Over.....

Hi All,

Well today has been the best day in our lives for a long time.....from making the decision to take up alpaca farming back in 2005 doing all our research and visiting different alpaca breeders gaining valuable husbandry skills to eventually purchasing our own alpacas.

Today we got the news we have been waiting for......we won our appeal and have been granted temporary planning permission for our agricultural dwelling to enable us to run our alpaca farm sufficiently.

It has been a very stressful time in our lives getting to this point but it has all been worth while, we can now concentrate on running our alpaca farm without having to worry about what was going to be around the corner.

We have been waiting for our dream to finally start to take shape properly and today we have taken that first step in doing just that.

Thank you to Jeff & Sheila from "Easterwood Alpacas" who started us off with our real first hands on experience of alpacas through to Roger & Pauline at "Pipley Court Alpacas" and not forgetting and how could we forget Rob & Les from "Wellground Alpacas" Rob and Les have listened to us at our lowest points throughout this journey and have always encouraged and supported us as best as they could, thank you guys you have been our rocks.

So for those of you that are out there just starting out on your journey's, keep fighting don't let anyone bring you down, keep your dreams in the front of your minds and push push push to make them come true, we have and we are now starting out with our passion, for alpaca farming.

It can be done and we wish everyone success when starting out. For those of you that read our blog and have supported us with comments, thanks to you guys too, we hope to try and meet as many of you as we can throughout our journey and wish you also great success.

That's all for now, the champagne cork has just popped.

Another Arrival.....

Hi Guys,

Well a week has passed by already since our first cria of 2011 was born and yesterday morning again at around 06.30 saw our second cria be born. "Wellground Killawasi's Keepsake" has worked his magic again, another boy though which is a shame, but nevertheless a healthy cria is important to us.

Here he is below enjoying the sunshine throughout the day, with our first cria introducing himself to the new kid on the block.


It has been such a fantastic couple of days with the weather, feeling the sun on your back helps lift your spirits and makes you realise that spring is just around the corner. Seeing the new cria in the paddock brings back memories of last years cria's and the joy that came with it.

We have some very busy times ahead of us this year with various adventures we have on the go, some interesting projects that will hopefully get people talking and show a different diversified side of alpaca breeding, all very cryptic but very interesting, more on this later.

Just a couple more pictures of the new cria's enjoying the sunshine. It's the turn of our Ryeland Sheep next to give birth to our lambs, so a little break from cria being born then it's back to the alpacas, although knowing alpacas they will more than likely surprise us with some early birth just to try and catch us out.

Well that's all for now, back soon.