Late Winter Hiking

We had a great llama trek last week with Gayle and Emily from Louisville. A lot of people don't think about hiking in the winter, but it's actually a GREAT time to be outside! The temps can be so pleasant with a few light layers to take on and off, and you can SEE so much more without foliage on the trees. There are no insects, and it feels extra nice to be outside!

Emily and Gayle helped us move some alpacas to a new pasture. Cherry Bomb, our 2010 bottle cria, enjoyed checking out Emily!

The Kentucky River is just beautiful right now, it's the prettiest shade of green and is very clear. Let us know if you'd like to schedule a llama trek- we only need a day's notice most of the time! The first show of the season is Southern Select on March 4th and 5th, our first spring alpaca crias are arriving at the end of March..... and then on to shearing in April

Southern Select Success for Seldom Scene!

It was really good to get back to Shelbyville, TN this past weekend after missing the Southern Select last year, and as always our southern friends made us feel kindly welcome. The glorious weather was a big bonus, too!

We hadn't shown since last spring at Nationals, so I was looking forward to testing a mostly-new show string of young alpacas. My expectations were high, but even after over 15 years of showing, I still have to remind myself not to be "barn blind." Our animals didn't disappoint, and we had one of our very best showings EVER!
With 6 animals showing (plus production classes), we earned:
Fawn Male Color Champion- SSF Peruvian Jolly Mon (above, just sold to Craig and Michelle Embry of Rolling Ridge Alpacas, so glad Craig could be there to see Jolly's big win under judge Amanda VandenBosch)

Brown Female Color Champion- Xxxtremely Sweet- her 3rd championship!
Reserve Light Color Champion- SSF Serendipitous (above)- I have SUCH high hopes for this gorgeous male, and he's off to a super start!
1st Place Brown Female- SSF Rachel Alexandra (above, with our farm manager, Sue, who did an excellent job handling at her first show).
3rd Place Black Female- SSF Happy Hour (above)

3rd Place Beige Male- SSF Hopalong (placed behind the champion and reserve!)
And, the best part of all! We did great in the production/group classes, which are the true indication of the quality of a farm's breeding program:
1st Place Get of Sire- Accoyo America Sinbad (6 entries in class)

1st Place Produce of Dam- Snowmass Sweet Serenity

2nd Place Breeder's Best Group of 3- Jolly Mon, Serendipitous, Rachel Alexandra

Farm Activities

I taught a hat felting class this past weekend at the Seldom Scene Fiber Studio- what fun! Read here for all of the details, and please note on the calendar that I have scheduled two more felting classes, one in March and one in April.The alpacas all look wonderful right now, and I'm getting psyched up for our first show in quite a long time, the Southern Select, which is the first weekend in March in Shelbyville, TN. Some of our show line up includes the animals shown here!SSF Jasper

SSF Rachel Alexandra

From L- Rachel, Serendipidous, Jasper, Hopalong, Happy Hour (f)

SSF Happy Hour