As I finally got time to send out a little ranch news, we hunkered down for our first winter snow-blast and were disappointed. We are now looking at temps in the 50s for the next week while the East Coast in getting the snow...again!

It is amazing how fast time passes when you enjoy what you are doing. Our new website went public on the 20^th of December. It has been a good 18 years since the last one was built and yes, there is still much to do but in time it will get done. Everything does.

Thanksgiving was fun as we went to our daughter's home. This is the first time in many years we didn’t have the whole family at our house but as the children mature, we find that it is time to let them take over some of the family traditions. Kim and her husband Tom outdid themselves!

Christmas weekend brought family, friends and good food to our home where we celebrated this special holiday. It seemed that it took longer to consume leftovers this year yet my jeans are tighter than ever.

2010 left forever and 2011 arrived with giddy celebrations and many hours of explosions terrifying the dogs and assuring our inability to sleep but was totally ignored by the alpacas. Why would they care? They get food, shelter and attention no matter what day or year it is so noise means nothing to them. It’s those terrifying deer and cats that are sure to get them as their alarm calls would suggest.

The first week of January has pasted and Salvador is back from his month-long vacation at long last. It has been a long month and he was sorely missed by all of us. Good grief, this must mean I have payroll reports and those gaud awful tax returns to start working on! Could it be that time again?

We have had some new arrivals here at ATV. We were fortunate to get a lovely full Accoyo Suri male, Pucara Kahuna’s Accoyo Killara that is covered with dense, greasy and ropey locks. We have achieved the fineness that we have strived for over the years so he should add an additional dimension to our fleece program. We also added a beautiful Suri female, Chakota’s Dazzling Kwanita, from Amada Vandenbosch’s splendid breeding program. On the huacaya side, we added a sweet young female, Awesome Surprise from East and West Coast genetics that should grow into a special female.

As we look forward, we plan to have the one and only KOBE of PVA here during Spring of 2011 for a couple of months to do limited outside breedings at a reasonable price. We are VERY excited as he has rarely been available at this price and will in all likelihood, will never be again. Be sure to contact us soon to secure your breeding to these awesome genetics!

March 5^th is the NW Camelid Foundation Annual Banquet and Stud Service Auction being held at the Holiday Inn in Wilsonville to raise funds for research benefiting all camelid owners and boy do we have some special Herdsires for you to bid on! Take a look and come bid. It is tax deductible.

The Alpaca Research Foundation’s 2011 Super Stud Raffle is now open and raffle tickets can be purchased for $50 each. Wow, at that price, buy several! It too is tax deductible even if you don’t win. The winning ticket will be drawn at the AOBA National Banquet and you do not need to be present to win! Check out these top AWARD WINNING STUDS!

Stay tuned for more exciting news! 

Fall is upon us but we had one of the most beautiful Octobers in decades with a late warm and dry weather system over us. Oregon had little summer with a lot of rain so it was fun to take a couple of road trips under a blue sky after our “baby season”.

Our cria for the year have been delivered and there are now 20 Suri and 11 Huacaya growing vigorously. They play with abandon in a run close to the house to which only they have access. It gives them the opportunity to socialize with each other and become independent while getting the important exercise now that the animals are “off pasture” until Spring. It is hard to believe that time passes so fast and the breedings we planned less than two years ago are now ready to begin their halter training. Oh boy, are we ever going to be busy! I am very thankful for dependable help to work with me especially since I have acquired four animals this year that are not halter trained and it is not easy once they are over a year old! I want to thank profusely those breeders from whom I purchase animals that are trained.

We just completed our annual pasture application of composted manure. The mix which includes discarded hay and 25 tons of sand has been routinely turned for two years before we used it. This is the completion of the process known as “manure management. Let me explain the process: We “clean poop” with a rake and shovel in the loafing areas filling a wheelbarrow which is then unloaded into the Case Loader behind the barn. It is then moved to an open area beyond our old and very big “manure shed”. That “shed” currently houses all the equipment to manage our manure and it includes an UltraVac which was engineered and built by John. We use this awesome machine weekly during the summer to vacuum our pastures. The exquisite mulched material from this vacuum is unloaded in a private area for exclusive use in our flower and vegetable gardens. John’s newest acquisition, a Komatsu Excavator, should complete the fleet of manure management tools for years to come (I hope). We now use this excavator to turn and move product instead of the backhoe. November of each year the well aged manure is loaded into the International’s 13 yard bed and trucked to each pasture where it is dumped into piles. The Backhoe is then used to load it into the manure spreader which is pulled by a Kobota tractor and the compost is flung over most of our 14 pastures. A 3-gang hydraulic harrow (another of John’s inventions) is pulled with another Kobota tractor to pulverize and level the clods while lightly thatching. We then over-seed with orchard grass and again drag the harrow to cover the seed. Yahoo, a multi-phase job done until next year! Yes, it is labor intensive and takes several days due to daily routine chores but John, Salvador and I all have a part in doing it. It’s really fun to use all the equipment and of course, there is the pride we feel the next year when the grass comes up lush and abundant! Also, we have very happy and healthy alpacas since the pastures are chemical free.

John has been keeping busy year round manufacturing his wonderful watering system, The Frank Fountain. We now have 22 of them in use and I cannot imagine being without a single one. The alpacas have one in each stall and one accessible from each pasture. The horses have one in each of their stalls and one outside of their barn. The chickens and canaries each have their own trough coming from a fountain in their condo. John has even set one up for the wildlife so they have access during the freezing weather. We are blessed that he is an engineer as his inventions have saved us thousands of hours of work over the years.

We wish everyone a HAPPY HOLIDAY SEASON filled with many blessings….Lona