Auction Preparations, phew!

Been busy getting ready... read about it here!

http://locolindy.blogspot.com/2009/09/auction-time-again.html

A Second Job

People sometimes ask, "what do alpacas DO, what are they FOR?" and we politely explain that they are raised for their fine and luxurious fiber which is shorn once per year. We also discuss how they are gentle and interesting animals to have around, easy on the land, etc. We mention that they are routinely eating in S. America, but not routinely here.

Another job that they can and do perform is to act as guardian animals for smaller herd animals. We recently sold a male, Friday, to watch over 4 miniature babydoll sheep. Awwww, they are so adorable!

The owner was thrilled with him, but reported that Friday and the sheep were petrified of each other! She was concerned that he was unhappy without another alpaca, and opted to purchase Jack as well. (Alpacas will bond with other herd animals, but are always happiest with another of their own kind!)

I was glad when I returned to the farm to deliver Jack to see that Friday and the sheep were hanging out closely together. Jack and Friday were happy to be reacquainted but quickly went back to grazing!

Mirian was, of course, more infatuated by the owner's cats though she did think the sheep were pretty cute, too!

Often Seen!

The name of our farm, Seldom Scene, is appropriate in many ways*.... we are a bit off the beaten path (but only 15 minutes from I-64!), have had many unusual animals which aren't common around these parts, and at times I don't get out much. But... this fall we'll be quite visible! Here are some of our plans...

Fall Calendar of Events

September 11 and 12- Extreme Progeny Alpaca Auction, Mountaineer Racetrack and Casino, Chester, WV. Watch here for more information on our two beautiful auction girls, daughters of Accoyo Maverick!

September 18 and 19- Midway Fall Festival in Midway, KY. We'll be there with alpacas and lots of beautiful alpaca products including hand-felted shawls, hats and scarves! Demonstrations of spinning and felting.

September 26 and 27- Alpaca Farm Days and Harvest Weekend at Shaker Village at Pleasant Hill, Several local farms will be there with lots of alpacas, yarn, fiber, demos, etc.

October 17- Open Farm Day with Free Demos, Door Prizes, Alpacas for Sale, Special deals, etc.

October 14- Felting Class to be offered in the Seldom Scene Studio!!!! I've had people asking for a class, and since felt has regained it's rightful status as my favorite fiber endeavor, I'm ready to do it! More details forthcoming soon, mark your calendars now!

November 6-19- Medical Mission Trip to Peru with Quechua Benefit. Our daughter and I will be travelling to the altiplano of Peru to assist on a medical mission. Please make donations of over-the-counter medications for us to take along (aspirin, tylenol, advil, etc.) or help the cause through $ donations! (If so, please mention Mirian and I as it will help to offset our costs).

December- Weekend Open Houses at the farm

Always feel free to call us for any information about these events- 859-428-8883.

Sorry I haven't posted in a while! What was I thinking, trying to have TWO blogs? It's doable in slower times, but with back-to-school and other stuff I can't keep up.

Please come over to my other blog, Loco Lindy, where I've been posting lots of fiber projects lately! Also, you can follow me on Twitter- @locolindy.

If you're thinking about attending any auctions this fall, I think that theExtreme Progeny Auction will be hard to beat in terms of FUN and EDUCATION! We've got two fantastic daughters of 419 Peruvian Accoyo Maverick consigned to the auction, and they both sell with breedings to the Light Huacaya Extreme Progeny Herdsire, El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo!

A Word about Accoyo Alpacas!

Lindy and Paul with Don Julio Barreda at the Accoyo Ranch, November 2000

Accoyo... schmoyo... that's what some say and what I USED to say... until I visited THE Accoyo Ranch in Macusani, Peru and met Don Julio Barreda in the flesh, saw hundreds of his incredible alpacas, and began to raise huacaya alpacas of Accoyo descent. Hopefully I'll find time to say more about this incredible visit to Accoyo next week.

Here's what I knew about them before that visit in November, 1999. They sold for a lot of money. They were highly touted by some of the more "monied" breeders in the business. I didn't especially like some of their type. Nor did I understand density! When we went to look at Accoyo Augusto at Magical Farms to consider him for breeding, I didn't comprehend what I was seeing and feeling, and instead went away thinking that Augusto had a lot of guard hair (really NOT, it's just that he was soooo dense that his primary follicles were a bit more obvious than on some of the less dense and coarse (mostly unimproved) Chileans that I was accustomed to seeing at that point.

Okay, I'm almost out of time with a plane to catch out to the National Elite Auction. I could write volumes, and others have about Accoyo alpacas. I'll leave you with this simple thought: top selling alpacas of all time.... (not including suris, huacyas only)....

1. Peruvian Accoyo Legacy (sold to Virginia Alpaca Farm, half interest for $750,000 with Crescent Moon Ranch). Broke another record years before at $165,000. Now deceased...

2. Accoyo Royal Fawn- Sold to Maple Brook Farm and Double O Good for $600,000?

3. Accoyo Augusto- Sold to Five Star Alpacas for $220,000?

Accoyo America Auction- always one of the top selling average sales of the year....

The list could go one, get the picture?

National Elite Auction

Dear Friends,
As active participants in the alpaca industry for nearly 15 years, we have always prepared for a softer market (simple supply and demand), and that time has come with our crazy economy. How have we prepared? By giving generously of our time as industry leaders, learning about fiber, traveling to Peru and conferences nationwide to maximize our education, and partnering and networking with knowledgeable people all over the country and the world. Most of all, we have selected and bred to the BEST, most sought-after bloodlines, promoted them through shows and active participation in auctions, and through solid customer support! Every livestock industry has several levels of animals (show-seed stock, registered and grade), and we have always strived to offer high-end seed stock for our customers.

El Nino's Accoyo Michelangelo and winning Offspring

The National Elite Alpaca Auction is a first-class event which we have participated in for 3 years, and this year we proudly offer two outstanding daughters of El Nino’s Accoyo Michelangelo (above). Michelangelo’s offspring earned him the 2008 Extreme Progeny Herdsire of the Year, as well as the high-selling entry at the 2009 AOBA National Auction! His skin has been tested by Dr. Norm Evans as having one of the densest follicle counts in the country at 105 follicles sq/cm. Michelangelo’s offspring excel in the show ring, auction arena, and are now breeding and producing. Simply put, this Accoyo bloodline is one of the most solid you can find in the alpaca industry today. (Michelangelo is co-owned with North Coast Alpacas and Likada Farm.)

Lot #13, SSF Peruvian Bounce, is from a female (CMR Peruvian Na Tay) that we purchased from Rachel Hendrickson’s herd in AZ a few years ago. Na Tay just gave us an outstanding true black female from our newest black sire, Snowmass Nova’s Private Reserve. Bounce herself is elegant and stretchy with a very fine and soft-handling fleece. We recommend breeding her to Private Reserve (complementary, as is the choice of any of our world-class sires, OR you may use a Michelangelo breeding on another of your females). Lot #50, SSF Accoyo Noel, represents one of the hottest niches in our industry, a FULL ACCOYO FAWN. Quite simply, Accoyo genetics add value!Her dam is MA Accoyo Princess, one of our herd’s foundation females. Noel shows the potential to excel in the show ring, with great “type” and an elite fawn fleece. Another Princess daughter, SSF Accoyo Drama Queen, is our #1 female and has produced offspring that we have sold to some of the top farms in the country! Noel is unrelated to 419 Accoyo Maverick and this combination (Michelangelo and Maverick) is producing some wonderful results! She sells with a complementary breeding to Maverick or ANY of our sires (OR you may use a Michelangelo breeding on another of your females).

We haven’t really yet promoted another exciting fact about Michelangelo- one of his male offspring, SSF Cheshire Cat, is on his way or has just arrived in England! We sold champion brown Cheshire Cat last year to Ben Harford of Ashcroft Alpacas in Cotsold, Great Britain, where he will soon be standing stud!

Anyone who loves the alpaca industry as we do knows that there will be a strong demand for top breeding stock for years to come…. We feel that these Michelangelo daughters can help to infuse your herd with the fiber fineness and density and soundness that you’ll need to excel into the future. If you have any questions, please feel free to call me at the farm at 859-873-8352 through July 26 or on my cell at 859-983-8808 after that. Tim Vincent with Celebrity Sales is excellent to work with for phone or proxy bidding, so feel free to call him at 503-704-9229 for assistance!

Thanks for reading about our outstanding consignments to the National Elite. You can learn more about the auction itself by checking out this link- it should be a great time with lots of great alpacas, seminars, food, friends, and fun-ALL FREE!
Sincerely,

Lindy and Paul

On a roll with felting!

Last week on my other blog I shared some recent felting projects and talked about having a creative rush without a lot of time to follow my urges. Well, it seems that positive intentions have resulted in both additional time AND continued inspiration!
I've been doing even more felting, and had a particularly great time making this hat! It is made from hand-dyed alpaca fiber, with the embellishments part merino and part hand-dyed and handspun alpaca.

Not a very patient person am I, but I am FINALLY learning to put unfinished projects aside occasionally when I get "stuck." I needled in the flowers last night, but didn't know what else to do the hat and it needed something. This morning I immediately had the idea for the lady bug and spiral, as well as the dotted band and handspun line on the brim.

After needle felting, I got the entire hat wet again with hot soapy water and wet-felted it again very gently with a palm sander (be sure to read up on safety precautions if you try this). I can't decide whether or not to stitch the edges like on the last one, but that can wait.