Autumn 03 Newsletter
Greetings to all our Alpaca Friends and Family!
Singletree Farm in Chino Valley is settling into Fall after a very hot and dry summer. Our beautiful trees are shedding at a furious rate, (much to the pleasure of all the alpacas), covering the pastures with heaps of swirling gold and red. Our alpacas consider these crisp offerings a “gourmet” addition to their daily carrot and apple treats. When they aren’t munching down on them, they delight in rolling in the piles as fast as we rake them up!
We just irrigated our fields for the last time this season and are now waxing about how quickly the seasons fly by. Farmer Jack’s challenging efforts to keep the pastures green the past few months, are now focused on planning new additions to the hay barn and girls domain, while Kathleen is getting ready for our annual “Alpaca Christmas Boutique” and eagerly looking forward to the birth of two crias due in December.
New Arrival!
Hot Lips of Bolivia blessed us with a gorgeous golden light brown female cria out of Sansa on October 7th, much to the relief of Kathleen, who had been waiting (and waiting) for this baby since September 19th. Well, it was worth the wait, as we think she’s our best yet! We hope her new owners will put her on the show circuit next spring, as we believe she definitely has what it takes to be a showgirl. (Yup, much to our delight, she has already been sold!) Hot Lips is being bred back to Sansa for a Fall-04 cria. Anyone interested in “Futures”?
Big Farm Day Coming!
Singletree’s 2nd Annual Boutique & Open Farm Day is set for November 29th & 30th. We will be joined by five local Alpaca Farms to showcase fiber products and “talk alpaca”. Jack will be giving barn tours while the rest of us inaugurate the holiday season by demonstrating spinning, weaving, felting, and selling lots of warm & cuddly alpaca textiles. Join us from 10a.m. ‘til 5p.m. for hot cider, even hotter chili, holiday shopping and lots of fun alpacas!
Look for changes to our website too!
The “New Breeders Info” page will offer the latest info on alpacas available for sale; health and care tips; fiber processing info; tax issues; and lots of helpful tips to get you started in this wonderful world of alpacas
Our web-store can be viewed at www.humontherange.com or www.singletreealpacas.com and is being updated with all the new products we are offering this year. Plus…free gift-wrapping and shipping in December for orders totaling over $50.00. Order your “Glittens” now! We also carry Eileen Davis’ alpaca books “Alpacas as a Business” and “The Alpaca Business Plan” These two books are a “must have” for the new breeder .
November is also “training month” for our show alpacas who will be attending the Southwest Regional Alpaca show in March. We practice trailer loading, show-ring manners, and help them develop social skills by taking them on short trips in our community. On Nov. 12th we will be taking our annual trip to the Chino Valley Library to introduce them to thirty or so six- year-olds. They love this, as all the kids bring them carrots to eat. We also take small bags of fiber for the children to take home and give a short educational talk on alpacas. We also take our alpacas to nursing homes once a year. It’s amazing what a difference these gentle animals can have on patients! We received a call from one gentleman who told us his bed-ridden mother hadn’t responded to anyone in over a year until we brought our alpacas to the home. One alpaca kiss brought not only smiles, but she couldn’t resist petting the alpaca!
As we count our own many blessings, We wish all of you a very happy Thanksgiving and joyful holiday season!
Kathleen & Jack Baldwin
[_private/disc1_aftr.htm]