Breezy Family Fun
Memorial Day weekend means the beginning of summer for many people. It’s the start of the pool season in Virginia which usually goes hand and hand with a barbeque or two. The family was out of town and Alpha worked, so firing up the grill for me, myself and I was a little pointless. And the sun and I don’t have a great relationship (I, being the pale variety of human.) so the pool wasn’t particularly enticing. What is a girl suppose to do?
When she hears about an Alpaca Farm open house.. well, the situation becomes obvious right? I hightailed myself out an hour to visit the animals.
The trip was somewhat boring. An hour with no one to talk to and and a “300 greatest rock songs” countdown is not an ideal journey, but the scenery past the beltway was beautiful. Next time when I am not so worried about missing my turns, I’ll appreciate it more.
The farm was small and there didn’t seem to be anyone else there. I was worried that I had come at the wrong time. Luckily, the owner Alex, was near his bird pen and saw me drive up. He greeted me kindly and we immediately saw the animals.
Alpacas are beautiful. At least, Alex’s alpacas are beautiful. Graceful, lithe and fuzzy. Alex gave me some feed and I was slightly bombarded with animal affection, though once my resource was gone I was no longer popular. Fickle beasts!
Alex answered all of my questions and upon hearing that I was a spinner he offered to sell one of his fleeces that had a stress fracture. When alpacas are stressed the hair becomes weaker and tends to break at that point. It’s makes a crackle sound that isn’t usual for fleece. Since I am relatively new at spinning and I figure I couldn’t hurt the fleece anymore with my own spinning stupidity, I accepted. Would it be a tragedy if I had bought a perfect fleece and mucked it up badly? I’ll reserve the ‘perfect’ for when I am more experienced.
Alex tried to sell me on buying an alpaca and while I was not averse to the idea, my pocketbook is prohibitive to any such costs at this time. It was very sad. After meeting the animals, Alex had to meet up with a gentlemen installing a pond in the back and I was introduced to co-owner and wife Heather.
Heather led me into their shop, very chic and filled with Alpaca knick-knacks. They had the furry little animals made from Alpaca fuzz which are nearly irresistible. Again the pocketbook made me resist. I had an excellent time with speaking with Heather about alpacas and their farm and what life was like. She was initially afire for horses, but an riding accident put those plans on hold and then they discovered alpacas. Serendipity!
I purchased the fleece. It’s a beautiful caramel color from a yearling named Lilia. I shall clean and spin it soon. Maybe in a few weeks, I’ll take up a skein or two while visiting the new cria (baby alpaca).
