The Alpacas...It's Good To See Them Again!

As you know, I have done a couple of posts about the sweet Alpacas at Windy Hill Ranch

in Somis, California here and here.

Well, I visited Windy Hill Ranch again but this time there was a different purpose for my

visit.  The Alpacas had been given their spring haircuts...

And their fur had been spun into beautiful soft yarn.

The yarn I chose was from this sweet Alpaca named Yuletide...

I am told by her owner Alison of Two Trees Alpacas, that Yuletide  is very sweet but
she is also a diva of all divas!  Yuletide has given birth to seven crias and is said to be
a magnificent mother. But, a diva nonetheless!  Everything is on her terms. Yuletide rules!

Hmm, a diva loves the camera.    Look!  She's giving you her special smile...

I was thrilled to spend time with Yuletide(and friends)...

And have some of her yarn...

I love that the label around the yarn has her picture on it.  I chose the natural and the

hand-dyed light pink.  Alison does an amazing job with yarns.  The naturals are beautiful

and so are the yarns she hand paints and hand dyes.  I will probably just knit a scarf

from this yarn.  It's really too hot to think of making anything big like a sweater right now.

While at Windy Hill Ranch I snapped a few other pictures of the gentle, charming
Alpacas with their spring/summer haircuts...

Cute, cute, cute...

One of several herding dogs finding a cool place to relax...

Here is Alison with her most recent little cria.  Such a sweet little baby...

I really want to say a big "thank you" to Alison who was so kind to walk all over the

ranch with me and introduce me to her Alpaca family.

Alpacas are absolutely the most sweet and charming animals!

Now it's time for me to get busy and do a little knitting...

Have a great week!

I Went To Visit The Alpacas Again

I visited the Alpacas at Windy Hill Ranch again today and I couldn’t believe how
many little babies were running around! They certainly are cute! I’m going to let
the pictures do most of the talking. You will see mostly babies with a couple of
new adult friends whom I don’t think you met last time. At the end of the post is
a little someone special. Enjoy!

This little one followed me everywhere and kept talking

to me.  He (or is it a she?) loved to be stroked and

would rub up against me.  So precious!

Here's a new adult friend...

Here's my little friend again...

Oh, those lips!

Here's another new adult friend...

Just look at this face...and those lashes!!!

There seems to be a family discussion going on...

 

Here's my little friend again...

 

 

 
Do you remember the last post I did about the alpacas when I showed a picture
of a little cria being born...HERE .

Well, I found the sweet little girl again...

It's hard to believe I watched her come into this world...

She is so beautiful...

She looks so solid.  But I understand there is a bit of a problem...

her mama doesn't have any milk so they have to feed her

through a tube.  She is so cute and I sure hope she will

be ok.

It was so lovely visiting the ranch again. I hope you enjoyed seeing the sweet and

gentle alpacas and their babies. 

My attention had to be somewhere other than blogging the last couple of weeks

but it's good to be back and I'll be checking in with all of your blogs too.

A Visit To Alpacas at Windy Hill Ranch

I had the most glorious morning. I went to visit the Alpacas at Windy Hill Ranch.
It was a lovely drive along the coast and then on country roads of farms and ranches. 
It was beautiful. So many of the farms now use windmills in their fields which is
wonderful to see. The long narrow road that leads to Alpacas at Windy Hill is dotted
with orange groves, fields of sunflowers, queen anne’s lace and vineyards.

And then, I saw what I was looking for...

I pulled in the driveway and quickly jumped out of my car and walked toward the
pastures. The first thing I saw was this mama and her new baby.

I was very fortunate because Cindy, who owns and runs the ranch, was right there and
told me that the baby had been born just a few minutes earlier. Cindy is great!  She
educated me about the Alpacas and their babies which are called cria. I was a bit shy
about intruding on a new mother and her cria so Cindy picked up one of the little
crias and brought her over to me...

The little baby was so soft and delicate and her mama watched every move we made.

Cindy said I could walk all around the land and into the pastures. She didn't have to
twist my arm. I immediately began to wander around.  Here are a few of my new
friends...

While I was walking around and taking pictures, Cindy came over to tell me that a
mama alpaca was in the process of giving birth and if I hurried over to the next
pasture I would be able to witness the wonderful event.  I was so excited. Cindy’s
husband Doug was in charge of this delivery and he was fabulous.

Mama is cleaning her newborn...

Just ten minutes later...

She's ready for her closeup now...

Forty minutes later she wanders

over to meet everyone...

.
Several crias have been born this month. Here are a few...

Well, it was such a lovely day but it’s time to say goodbye for now...

It’s so difficult to say goodbye.


Cindy, thank you so much for letting me visit and educating me about these gentle and
sweet animals.

You can read more about Alpacas at Windy Hill right HERE.  Be sure to scroll down to
read Cindy’s story about how she came to raise Alpacas.
This is a woman who made her dreams come true!

Thank you again to Cindy and Doug.