http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php Copyright 2012, Beatty Beatty en-US SPHPBLOG 0.4.8 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100809-000550 It has been a busy summer.

We sold all 5 of the goats and I miss their goat antics. I never imagined how sweet and tender goats were. They all went to awesome loving homes.

We also sold an alpaca, Angel Lily. She will go to a new alpaca farm owned by the Raglands. Angel Lily will reside here until next summer when they have their farm set up. So I have not had to part with her yet.

We have had a new addition. We purchased Jag, a male Bengal cat, to breed with Samantha. Let me tell you from experience, you cannot have a female Bengal who is not fixed in your house. She would spray our clean clothes before I got them hung up. That is a very hard smell to get out of your clothes. We built a large cat run, which is now the home to Samantha and Jag. I miss having Samantha in the house to cuddle with, but I really enjoy not having the odor and I still get to sit and play withn her in the run. We are hoping to have a kitten or 2 by Christmas. The combination should produce beautiful kittens. Jag has very large rosettes and Samantha has very clear rosettes. Both have beautiful coloring.

From what I can tell, there is 1 sugar glider in the pouch. The bump is getting bigger and is starting to move. It looks to be only one this time, but we will be happy to see the new joey whenever it is ready to explore out of the pouch.
]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100809-000550 Beatty Mon, 09 Aug 2010 04:05:50 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=08&entry=entry100809-000550 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100617-234745 We have 2 Nubians, Lucy and Ethel, that we use for milk. They produce enough milk for our family of 5. We adore Lucy and Ethel and anxiously awaited the birth of the babies (and our milk supply). We had to breed them last winter to freshen their milk. Thank you to Glen,who loaned us his male boer, Simba, to use as a stud. We ended up having 5 kids. These pictures are of Brownie.
I love this picture. Those long ears are just flapping. It reminds me of Dumbo.....Brownie says, "If I flap my ears hard enough will I be able to fly?"
Reach...Reach.. If I could just be a little closer, I am sure I could eat that leaf.
]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100617-234745 Beatty Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:47:45 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=06&entry=entry100617-234745 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100617-233725 We have been told we are on the way to owning a petting zoo. The latest addition to our farm is actually a small critter that lives inside. I do not like rodents or birds, so the fact that I even have a bird cage still amazes me....awe, a mother's love. When my daughter asked to get a sugar glider for her birthday, I did not know how difficult they would be to find. We managed to find a breeding pair (Munchie and Ringo). These 2 are not hand tamed, but they had 2 joeys in the pouch. Luckily, one was a girl, who my daughter named Fantasie and will remain here. The other one was a boy and has been sold. They are very interesting animals. They are nocturnal and marsupials. They bond with the owners and are quite cute. The require a lot of loving, but they are getting plenty of that here. I believe there is another set of Joeys in the pooch,so we will get to watch a new set grow and be able to spoil them, until they find a forever home. This is a picture of Petrie, the boy that we sold. ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100617-233725 Beatty Fri, 18 Jun 2010 03:37:25 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=06&entry=entry100617-233725 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100424-002043 Shearing day 2010. I am not a morning person, so I try to not to do things that involve the early morning hours, which to me is anything before 9am. So when the shearer was scheduled to be here at 7am and we started at 8am, I was not totally awake. I am pretty sure that Rocket is not a morning alpaca either, because he was the first alpaca and the only one to spit. Of course, he aimed for and hit me. Luckily, I had learned from last year, that it is a good idea to bring out another sweatshirt(another male had target practice last year). I will say that after having to wash my face with the hose, I was wide awake for the rest of the day. I even tried my hand at shearing Starlight Grace and Sheeza. They did not look great and I learned how well super glue works on cuts (sorry, Starlight). But I can now say, I have tried shearing. The shearer starts at the belly. Usually the area that the alpaca lays on is trash. However, the sides and the back (the blanket) are the first quality fiber. This fiber is bagged carefully in order to keep the integrity of the coat, especially if you plan to show the fiber. While the alpaca is strapped down, we try to get as much done as possible. I take the opportunity to give the yearly CDT shot and the monthly dewormer. Jim trims the toenails. Some alpacas will need their teeth trimmed at this point also. The fiber on the neck is the seconds. This fiber is great for felting, but I do not use it for yarn. Pepper Ann....all naked. I always think they look so silly at first. They have such long thin necks when they are shorn. Cupcake is my curious alpaca. She will be one of the first to come up and sniff you and then give you a kiss. However, she was not enjoying the shearing. Her eyes tell it all...."Please let me off this table". Once again....I must thank our wonderful family and friends for helping us shear. We could not do it without them. ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry100424-002043 Beatty Sat, 24 Apr 2010 04:20:43 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=10&m=04&entry=entry100424-002043 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-132326 Samantha must have been thirsty . ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-132326 Beatty Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:23:26 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091220-132326 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-131427 The alpacas have not left the barn for 2 days. They really are not impressed with the snow. I made them go out so I could get a picture of them, but they would not go far. On the other hand the dogs are loving the snow. They are having a great time jumping and playing in it. I heard that this was the most snow that this area has had since 1953, I know it is the most snow I can remember. ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-131427 Beatty Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:14:27 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091220-131427 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-130634 Two teachers purchased hats from me to keep their heads warm during playground duty. They look so cute. I am also happy to announce that I have some purses and stockings on display at a gallery in Richmond. I was thrilled to hear that she liked my "art". Wow, I thought of it more as a hobby and she said "art" ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-130634 Beatty Sun, 20 Dec 2009 18:06:34 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091220-130634 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-125634 Your first alpacas always have a soft place in your heart. We first purchased 2 pregnant females (Hannah and Pepper Ann) but when Hanna had a boy cria (Outlaw), we realized we needed to get another young fella to keep Outlaw company. We all instantly fell in love with Fable. So Fable was the 3rd alpaca we purchased. We got to watch him grow, as did our farm. We got to that point, that many farms find themselves in....too many boys. So when Bluebird Gap Farm (a park that is an educational, working, farm Hampton) needed and alpaca to spoil we knew Fable would be perfect. We were right. He has grown to be a lovely alpaca and is very happy at the park. We got to visit him last month, as we delivered a new alpaca to them.
Boots will also reside at the park. Here is a picture of him meeting his other pasture mate, Expresso the llama. Expresso did not know what to think of the new little guy. We have talked to the park and they have informed me that all 3 are getting along great. ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry091220-125634 Beatty Sun, 20 Dec 2009 17:56:34 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=12&entry=entry091220-125634 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry090929-175043 We spent Monday at Young McDonalds Farm. Once again we demonstrated fiber and felting to the people at the fair. We really enjoyed the fact that it was Homeschool Day. I had a blast sharing how our farm works perfectly as a way to bring in an extra income and how the kids work side by side with me on the farm due the gentle nature of the alpacas. The kids asked some great questions....way to go information seekers. Over the 2 day period, We went through about 175 plastic bags that we used to do our felting demonstration. WOW...

Some of the other animals in the Young McDonalds farm were so cute. I loved watching the goats climb on their display and the baby pigs were adorable. ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry090929-175043 Beatty Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:50:43 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090929-175043 http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry090929-172006 For those of you who had seen the old Virginia State Fairgounds, the new sight is a beautiful sight. It is spread out on a beautiful piece of land in Caroline county, right near Kings Dominion. The horse area is on one side of Route 30 and the midway and livestock is on the other side.

We had our 2nd National Alpaca Day at the Virginia State Fair. We really had a great time and met a ton of new people. It amazes me how many more people know about alpacas now. When we started our farm, I remember comments like "what is that? A cross between a horse and a deer?", "Do you raise them for their eggs?", and "Oh look at the llama". This year most people knew what an alpaca was.

I was extremely proud of my "little farm kids". I did not grow up a farm kid so it always impresses me that they will tell young and old about our farm. We all have memories of the state fair. My childhood memories consist of walking through the buildings collecting pencils and coloring books from businesses (since it was always rainy) and then enjoying a hot pizza at Anthony's with my family on the way home. My children will remember sharing information and meeting people at their table (and of course, the kettle corn, the pig races, and our favorite this year, the lumberjack show). ]]> http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/index.php?entry=entry090929-172006 Beatty Wed, 30 Sep 2009 00:20:06 GMT http://www.virginiarosealpacas.com/pblog/comments.php?y=09&m=09&entry=entry090929-172006