February 13, 2010: Well, we survived the blizzard of 2010 yesterday. We got 5" of wet snow way down here in southeastern Alabama. We are only 90 miles from the Gulf of Mexico and here we are with snow on the ground. Amazing!!! The alpacas are not too sure exactly what snow is. Most of them have never seen snow before and evidently the ones that were born up north have forgotten about snow. They would walk around looking at the ground and then stop and look up at the sky as if to ask, "What the heck is this stuff?". They kinda walked around with their back legs spread out (for stability I guess) and they looked like big four-legged ducks waddling around. The babies were even funnier as they tried to stand underneath their mothers. Some of them are close to weaning age, so standing under another alpaca is not going to happen. But it was funny to watch them try anyway. The sun is out bright and the temperature is above freezing today, so the snow is melting and all that will be left before long is a big wet mess. At least the results of our blizzerds don't last too long...

January 17, 2010: Last night, RFD-TV broadcast a segment on alpaca ownership. In and of itself that was not too much to get overly excited about. However, what was really nice was the fact that the segment featured a local alpaca farm. Wanda and Jerry Sanders' alpaca farm (Alabama Peanuts & 'Pacas) was the location of the segment and was very well presented. We were a little surprised during the segment when Jerry was talking about how alpaca owners in the local area are always willing to help other owners. He related an incident with a new owner in the area that needed his help birthing their first cria. He didn't mention the other farm by name, but he was referring to our farm and the cria in question is about two years old and doing just fine. Thanks to Jerry's fast action, he helped us save our first cria and made our introduction to alpaca husbandry a positive experience. We send along our congratulations to Wanda and Jerry for being chosen to represent the local alpaca farmers on the RFD-TV segment...

January 14, 2010: During November and December 2009, a syndicated television segment called "It's a Green Christmas" was made available for local stations to air if desired. Approximately 100 stations in major metropolitan areas around the country did choose to broadcast the segment. However, regretfully none of the stations in our local viewing area felt inclined to do so. The segment presented alpacas as an eco-friendly livestock and fiber industry and shows some of the advantages that alpaca ownership provides. It only runs approximately 3.5 minutes, so if you would like to view it online, you may do so by clicking here. If you are concerned about the lack of local coverage of "Green alternative" television segments, please get in touch with the television stations in our local viewing area and tell the management that you are disappointed with their coverage, or lack thereof...

January 1, 2010: Happy New Year everyone! Well, we have just come through a very difficult year for all of us in the alpaca business. Do I have any regrets about going through those hardships with the alpacas? Absolutely not! We have all our alpacas in good health and, even though we didn't get to do all we had anticipated during the past year, we did accomplish several milestones we had set for ourselves. One of the major things that we didn't get done was get our barn built, but that was bacause our house in Huntsville is still on the market. However, the alpacas are doing just fine using their temporary shelters as a buffer against the elements, so, no big deal. The important thing is that we are still here, our alpacas are still here, and we are looking forward to the coming year with anticipation that it will be a better year for us all...