Amazing Alpacas

Today we had a most excellent, beautiful, fibery day!  Our homeschool group had a tour of Bush Garden Alpacas in Terrebonne, OR.  It was such a beautiful day and so much fun.  The owner, Maryann was funny and engaging and has a great way with kids.  It turns out she homeschooled some of her own kids, so no wonder!

First we got to feed and pet the males who are apparently a little more friendly than the females.

I just can't get over these faces.  You don't get much cuter than that!

Inside Maryann's shop we got to try out the drum carder, feel various samples of wool and alpaca, see how a swift works (my kids have lots of experience with that!), watch a spinning demo and a needle felting demo.  It was so thorough and well done I would recommend this farm tour to anyone coming to Central Oregon. And the best thing of all was that the tour was free!  All of us bought a little something in the shop, so it Maryann did well in that respect.  It was just so nice to be welcomed into her home like that!

Maryann sells kits for these cuties. 

I did come away with a couple of things, though I don't have a photo just yet.  I got some hand-dyed red alpaca roving and a skein of alpaca from one of the females on the farm.  It's all lovely stuff and makes want to get out my spindles and give it a try.  Seriously, I'm thinking about spinning wheels even more now! 

Tomorrow's a busy day, but I'm sure I'll be up tonight trying to think what to post tomorrow.  I'm working on several things that are Christmas gifts and won't be able to show them here til after the holidays.  I'll have to come up with something to post about.  Stay tuned!