Long time no see!

We've been busy with crias, the market and summer fun in general.

As you know, we've had four alpaca boys born on the farm this summer.

I could not help thinking of boy bands when I watched them in the pastures.

When I mentioned this to the farmer, he agreed with me

that we should rethink the names of our males.

So, introducing... 

THE BEATLES!

Harrison, McCartney and Lennon.

And this one is Ringo.



 

 Don't tell anyone, but my favorite is Harrison.

 

On the creative side, I've been experimenting some more with felting.

Here is one side

 

and the other side of vases I worked on.

The light blue with pink will need some embroidery to make the rose stand out a bit more.

 

 

 

And this vase was done on July 18th...when I was remembering that day 33 years ago when the farmer and I got married.

 

By the way! I've now joined the rest of the world and have a page on Facebook under the name of Zenitude Fibre Arts (spelling fibre the canadian way).

Come have a peak and 'Like' and 'Share'.

It would be great to reach 50 'Likes' before the end of the summer!

 

I hope you are enjoying your summer...

Number 4!

Nature knows best.

We've had three cria births so far this summer with one more expected...I secretly hoped it would have been born on Tuesday (my birthday) but it was not to happen.

 

But Jessie did the deed the very next day. So wedneday morning, a lovely little white cria was born as we watched from the deck.

 

 

Now, this little one is a bit of a miracle.

Let me explain.

You see, on Easter morning, last March 31st, we noticed something going on in the pasture and when we went out to investigate, we found a 5 lbs very very premature baby cria on the ground.

He was not alive when we got to him.

We checked our girls to find out which one had given birth and realized it was Jessie.

It's always devastating to loose an animal, especially one that looks perfectly normal.

But we know that this is part of life on a farm and we do our best to accept it as it is.

Still, we wondered what had triggered the premature birth.

Was it stress? Was it an injury? Was it an anomaly?

As the weeks went by, we were amazed that Jessie still looked huge and pregnant.

Till one morning, we saw movement...definite baby movement.

We were ecstatic! but also very confused!

Now, that she's given birth we can conclude that Jessie was pregnant with twins.

Twins are extremely rare in alpacas and very few survive. Most twins do not survive the 335 days of a normal pregnancy to even be born. Delivery of twins can be complicated as well. 

Her body aborted one but kept the other...Quite lucky that she was able to keep this one to full term.

 

And you might have guessed it...this is the fourth male born this year.

2013 is the year of the boys I guess.

 

 

Happy

I've been felting.

I've been making soap.

I've been reading and learning.

I've been dyeing.

I'm happy!

 

I feel very grateful for this time in my life. I've been allowing my creative side to take over and to guide me along. It's wonderful!

 

I've been playing with fibre and felting more scarves. I'm improving on my technique...still learning.

I'm quite happy with this black one.

It's Coco cria fleece, so it's very soft. I added a blue mohair blend bouclé yarn.

Another cobweb felted alpaca scarf in pink . Very light and airy. 

 

Both sides are different.

 

But I've especially enjoyed making these 'socks' over glass vases. Some have embellishements some do not.

 

They can be used for flowers or you could use them with a tea light candle for a lovely effect.

 

Square vases as well.

 

I even decided to use one of them for my birthday flowers that I got myself yesterday!!

 

 

The family came over with food, cake and surprises for this old gal. I had a wonderful day!