Alpaca Days with friends...

 

Alpaca Days was so much fun this year, filled with many friends stopping by and making many new ones too! We met many new folks that have moved to the area and are seeking the more natural lifestyle as well as people stopping by to see these crazy creatures they drive by everyday. We met people who got me talking about bees and you know how much I love to talk about them!                                                                


Tim was a big help to our friend, Mickey. He helped her get her yarn into a ball that she has from her sheep that she takes care of at Booth Memorial Park. I plyed some Alpaca over to it to make it more softer. She then began to knit a skinny scarf that came out beautiful!

On the left, is a small sample of what we have to offer, needle felted items. I met two ladies new to Needle Felting and their excitement 
reminded me of when I first learned this very cool craft.

"Norman" was a little disappointed when it was all over, he was enjoying the extra hay and occasional pumpkin munchkins he was getting, until next year buddy! That's because we have decided to close the farmstand until next year, get caught up on some much needed projects. I am very tired and so is Tim, one can only push until it takes its toll. We will not have a Holiday Open House this year, instead we will enjoy our family. I will have many things listed on my Etsy shop and can get anything made you might need for that special Holiday gift. Tim and I are home usually on the weekends so don't hesitate to stop by!

Alpaca Days are coming!

Alpaca Days are coming this weekend, Saturday, September 24th and Sunday, September 25th. We will have the farm stand open and the boys will be ready and waiting for their visitors (and they have promised me no spitting at each other!). The local newspaper listed us as well as the other farms that will be joining us. The following is who and what we will all be doing:

*Alpaca Hill Farm, 8 Willow St., Seymour, visitors can meet 9 alpacas, a pony, muscovy ducks and herd guardian Kramer, a Great Pyrenees. The farm will be open on Saturday, September 24 from 10 to 5 and Sunday, September 25 from 12 to 5. It has for sale soft yarns and roving and alpaca felt in a variety of colors from its own animals as well as garments made from alpacas, cuddly alpaca toys and alpaca bears. They will have a fiber arts demonstration for kids too. Visitors will learn about alpacas and their care, and can pet and feed the alpacas. Those seeking additional information may visit www.alpacahillfarm.com or call 203-888-1526 or 203-215-8878.


*Coon Hollow Farm, located at 156 Punkup Rd. in Oxford, the public is invited to meet Tim and Dawn Sotir’s seven alpacas, Llama, Olde English "Babydoll" Southdown sheep and other farm friends. They will be opened on Sat Sept 24 and Sun, Sept 25 from 10 to 4. There will be spinning and felting demonstrations as well as beverages and snacks. The family farmstand will be filled with hand-spun yarns, alpaca items, felting kits, honey, eggs, goat’s milk soap, items made from beeswax, herbs and more. Those seeking additional information may call 203-881-1986 or visit http://www.coonhollowfarm.blogspot.com/.

"Royal Eminence"

*Dream Come True Farm, 82 Freeman Rd., Oxford, Mike and Pam Blasko will feature alpaca handspun yarns, wool for spinning, spinning wheels, goat milk soap, woodworks, maple syrup and handcrafted gift items. The public can obtain information on small farming. Those seeking additional information may call 203-736-2630. They will celebrate National Alpaca Days and Connecticut Alpaca Days on Sunday, September 25 by hosting an open house from 11 a.m. to 4 p.m. at their farm. http://www.pamsfiber.blogspot.com/
*Hubbell Farm at French’s Corner in Shelton (White Hills) is an 1825 farm that retains its original barns and outbuildings, vintage tractors and farm equipment. Visitors can view alpacas, a llama and sheep and purchase herbs, herbal products, sachets, dream pillows, alpaca and sheep raw fiber, yarn, felting kits, soap and more. Also available is roving in natural colors from the farm’s sheep and alpacas and wool dyed on the farm. The farm will be open Sat and Sun, those seeking additional information may call 203-929-2052.

Beehive Update...

Our bees did so-so this year with just one hive out of three making it. However, the one hive that is making it is doing great as well as the one I manage at the Nature Center. The one hive to the left, is shown with two feeders. I find that feeding on top helps with other bees "robbing" from my bees. The smaller box on top is the super which I will check at the end of the week for our harvest honey.

 They are frantic these days to get the pollen and honey made for the winter season ahead. The traffic is unbelieveable at the hive entrance. I still keep the hive reducer on for 2 reasons, first to keep out mice as well as other unwanted guest and to help the guard bees have a smaller area to guard and reduce the risk of another area hive stealing their honey reserves.

These last two shots are of the bees coming in with loads of pollen on their legs. If you look really close or even blow up the picture you can see the beautiful orange and yellow pollen. So all in all our bees have done well, I once again have  learned so much from them and am still amazed by  what these little, hard working insects can do...

Introducing "Ophelia"!

 We have finally named our little lamb that was born this spring. I had such a hard time with this one. Her personality is not liked any little girl ewe I have ever had, this one is tough and stands up for herself. She's quite a tom boy in ever way, so it was hard to give her a flower name which my Babydoll line is, named after flowers.




 I looked at sites and went through all the names and nothing came to me until I started reading about Shakespeare's "Ophelia", and then it hit me, that will be her name. Ophelia named all the flowers and this is how this little girl is! As you can see in the pictures, "Ophelia" takes what is hers, jumping in the trough to get her fair share of hay, going under and between the legs of the others to get to the food first...she's one tough girl!
Here in this picture she has her butt up in the air getting deep into that trough to get what is hers! She does this everyday and will take food even out of the alpacas mouth!

I caught this great picture of all three generations of my "Babydoll" Southdown girls. "Ophelia" is on the left, her aunt "Lily" behind her, her grandmother "Belle' in the middle and her mom, "Rose' is on the right. I was trying to get pictures of "Ophelia" and they all posed for me, what luck!

Hurricane aftermath...

 Well Hurricane "Irene" came and went with much fury and damage to Connecticut. Many people lost everything, suffered heavy damage and came together as a community and helped each other out. We lost our tree "Coon Hollow". We watched many a raccoon raise her babies in it and my time as a coon rehabber taught me so much about their natural ways. This tree is who we named the farm after...(sigh)...



We had so many branches down, kindling and firewood everywhere! We have much cleaning up ahead of us...

Leaves littered our property everywhere. The alpacas and sheep came out towards the end of the storm and enjoyed the humid warm rain and munched on some tasty leaves...

Our neighbors lost a big old maple that came down. It was old and dying and landed perfectly in their yard and didn't touch a thing! Here is Tim helping our neighbor Tom cut the tree up. Thankfully for our neighbor's who ran a generator and kept our fridge going and cold! We suffered through 6 long days without power. Sitting every evening with a Coleman camp lantern and feeding baby squirrels. Towards the end it was getting tough to get water to the animals, but we got threw it and it is behind us now as an old memory!