Amidst all of the other busy-ness of springtime, we have had a special situation to deal with the past few years with one of our dams, 5Peruvian Aymara. Aymara somehow developed a problem with her udder. (Possibly mastitis after a stillbirth? We just don't know), and starting about 4 years ago we had problems getting her babies "hooked up" and nursing. Her udder gets very large and tender, and ultimately only one teat is functional. To get her to the point where she'll allow the cria to nurse on the one teat has required milking her out (which she HATES), warm compresses, banamine, isolating her with cria, bottle-feeding the cria, and any number of other methods which take almost daily, round-the-clock tweaking for at least a few weeks.
Ultimately, we have been able to make it work and the trouble has been worth it because Aymara is one of our most outstanding dams, having produced multi-champions SSF Peruvian Pablo (above, owned by The Criation Station) and Barbaro (below, co-owned with RobAsia Alpacas) and others.
The biggest help to this process has been, without a question, "Nanny." A little over two years ago, we purchased a large group of alpacas from a woman getting out of the business after the death of her husband. She mentioned that one of the females was no longer able to have crias, but that she would "adopt" other's crias and eventually come in to her milk. I was skeptical, but when we were having trouble with Aymara's newborn I asked our farm manager to go pick up Nanny and put her in with Aymara and her cria.
It was and is amazing to watch Nanny as she immediately starts giving the targeted cria all of the signals that she is willing and able to nurse it- sniffing the cria's behind, staying nearby, positioning herself just so. She always defers to the dam and the crias do seem to know who mom really is, but she is right there when the baby needs an extra drink! We tried to use Nanny to help with our last bottle cria, but unfortunately she had started bonding with another cria first and just never attached to the one in need. This time, she seemed to remember that Aymara is a special situation.
Last Monday, "Rachel Alexandra" (one of our first crias from Snowmass Nova's Private Reserve) was born to Aymara and we were super-prepared and excited. We had Nanny already in the maternity ward with the older crias moved out, we had frozen colostrum saved from another dam, plasma ready to give orally within the first 3 hours, etc. The cria, a beautiful dark brown female(!), was born strong and lively and has stayed that way with supplementation with Vit D. milk. She's nursing on both Aymara (with her one good teat) and Nanny (who is just now starting to lactate a little), and we are ready to discontinue bottles since she's gaining about a half a pound a day. The whole process can be challenging and often frustrating, but I think that Aymara and Nanny are learning to trust us and our goodwill toward the cria and we are able to relax and know that this process can work! It is very satisfying, and I'm looking forward to putting the three of them out together in the pasture with the other crias soon.
Lest you think that Nanny is an angel, I must say that 99% of the time she's a real pain! She is an older import female from Bolivia who is very set in her ways and fearful, and she responds to any quick moves by spitting profusely, screaching, and peeing! Still, she's absolutely worth her weight in gold....
I'm not always the most motivated or self-disciplined person in the world (not news to those who know me!), and I've been needing to make some felted soaps for the Truly Bluegrass shop for some time. Dropping off fiber for processing at Flaggy Meadow last week got me excited about working with my fiber again and boy did I get a lot done on Sunday!
I made felted soaps galore. 
Cat balls with a bell in the middle.
Mirian and I made a prototype for a Cat Mat. Sushi loved it but Munchie felt that it would be great for dogs, too.
I was excited about a new, original idea I had... felted coasters using space-dyed rovings. They look nice with a bit of zigzag stitching around the edges. (Those newly-acquired sewing skills are coming in handy). 
These and other items will be available soon at Truly Bluegrass,here at the farm, and at my Etsy store. I hope I can keep this groove going for a while!
Luna herself earned a Reserve Color Championship her very first time out, at the Heartland Classic, placing second and reserve behind a Michelangelo daughter! Hmmmm, that tells me that a Michelangelo mating might be just the thing! (Yes, it's included with purchase, or choose from any of our other sires! Sinbad would be a wonderful possibility as well, adding Nautilus, Caligula, Hemingway, and Sunipani to the mix!).
Luna's dam is a daughter of THE Accoyo Legacy (now deceased), also a Herdsire of the Year and foundation behind many top animals in the industry! Legacy's Lexi is a gorgeous dark fawn, and was a great mother for Luna, her first cria.
Even though we live in a rural county, there are children growing up in our area who are completely out of touch with farms, their food sources, and exposure to animals. Fourth graders, I believe, are ideally receptive to learning about these things and I was very impressed with some of their great questions and attention.
We talked about the alpaca's use and origins, their habits, and defenses. I demonstrated my spinning wheel and let them all try treadling on it. They got to pet our 4-day-old cria, Ginger Spice. Each child left with a little bit of roving- what a thrill that was for some of them! Hopefully they'll go home and tell their parents about all that they learned and saw today- who knows, some may become alpaca breeders or at least consumers of alpaca products someday!
I started with a felt sheet, purchased from the Kentucky Alpaca Association and processed by Flaggy Meadow Fiber Works. This was a great surface for needle-felting! I keep a good stash of my own hand-dyed fibers, and needled on the design and stitched in some tiny beeds.
Then I sewed a little border about 1/2 inch from the edge to give it a little more finished look and put a hanger on the back. I look forward to doing more of these quick and easy little projects and plan to sell some in my Etsy store and at Truly Bluegrass in Versailles.
