2010 Futurity Sale and Show

It was an eventful weekend for us in Oklahoma City, the first time the ultra-competitive alpaca Futurity and Auction had been held at Heritage Place in 8-10 years (I think!). My good friend Deb of Seven Springs Alpaca Farm and I took our animals together and I drove the motor home with trailer in tow. All went smoothly until we were a bit north of Tulsa, and had a blow-out on the motor home. We felt thankful to maintain control and get to the side of the road safely! Five hours later the appropriate tire had finally been located and changed, and we barely made it in time to check in our animals and get to the annual fundraising banquet for Quechua Benefit.

I worked hard to get the word out on our subsitution animal, Xxxtremely Sweet, one of our herd's best young females, who was Lot #51 out of around 75 in the sale. It wasn't difficult, as she is an eye-catching girl and the armload of blue ribbons and purple banners helped to get attention for her as well. In the end, she was one of the higher selling females at $21,000, purchased by Jim Webb and Sharon Brown of Virginia Alpaca Farm.
I was on cloud nine as the auction began, as I had the shock and honor of being awarded the Craig Wilkins Memorial Sportsmanship trophy! I can't say enough about the strength, friendliness and integrity of the Wilkins family, and very much appreciate them honoring me with their special award that is in memory of their beloved son. Congratulations to them as well for selling the high-selling alpaca at $77,000!
We ended up buying two sale lots, first a 13.8 micron white female, Hummingherd's Amazilla. Our finest foundation female, Dulce de Leche, came from Hummingherd in Idaho and I have always admired the Gedney's emphasis on fine fiber.
We also purchased a stunning dark fawn son of Snowmass Matrix, Snowmass Nebula! Nebula is young and has lots of maturing to do, but what a beautiful and exciting male to add to our stable of Thoroughly Bred Herdsires (co-owned with Stuart and Michele Ray of Catalpa Creek Alpacas).
I got to show Xxxtremely Sweet one last time, and she did not disappoint. She won first in the brown yearling female class, then was awarded Reserve Champion Brown Female! We couldn't have been more happy for Jim Webb and Sharon Brown of Virginia Alpaca Farm, and are glad to have her younger brother, SSF Serendipitous, winning championships for us already.

The weekend was fun once we settled in, and it was so great to reconnect with long-time alpaca friends from all over the country. It's now time for me to concentrate on breeding strategies for the rest of the herd, birthing crias, and getting ready for the Kentucky Fiber Festival. I also had an order for 100 felted soaps, so I've got lots of work ahead of me!