The Z

Zigmund's been here a week now. He's doing just fine.

He has separation anxiety. I leave for work a little less than 2 hours before everyone else in the house gets up. A couple days a week, Paul takes our youngest son to preschool. So, Zigmund has been alone a few times this week.

He's still doing just fine. There was one morning that he made a mess on the floor and chewed up a pen, but the other times have been good.

He's laying next to me on the couch now, resting his big head on my lap. He must have a pretty strong watchdog instinct, too, because he follows me and the boys around, always keeping a watchful eye.

I love my Zigmund.

I have news....

You might want to sit down.

We're getting ANOTHER dog.

Check out Zigmund posts from last summer. Zigmund still hasn't found his "furever" home, and hasn't been doing well as of late. Thankfully, the Shelter from the Storm folks called us today, and asked if we'd be interested in taking him in again....permanently.

We're getting ANOTHER dog.

I'm super excited. I love Zigmund....he was really sweet, a little goofy, and I'm really glad we were able to make a difference for him.

We are officially done with fostering, though. Four dogs in the house is downright ridiculous.

We're getting ANOTHER dog. WELCOME HOME, ZIGMUND!!!!!

Happy New Year!

I hope everyone has a wonderful 2010! Someone posted this on my Facebook page, and I thought it was too good not to share: "May your BEST day in 2009 be your WORST day in 2010"!

We went to a sledding party at our neighbor's place yesterday. This is the view of our farm from the top of their sledding hill. It's a good distance away - maybe 1/4 mile? Anyway, I thought it was a neat picture.

A few reflections on 2009:

We suffered our first herd loss this year, when Willow died. Both my husband and I were having second thoughts about this alpaca business. She was the only cria we were supposed to have last year, and she died. That was a major setback.

Instead of throwing in the towel, we dove into the deep end of the pool and bought 4 more girls (Meridian, Kacie, Millie, and Roni) as well as Muireach, our junior herdsire. Check out our new AlpacaNation page to meet them. Two days after we bought Meridian, she had a beautiful female cria. We were already excited about the cria because it's out of Invicible's Brookhollow Superstar, and to have a female cria was the icing on the cake. We've named her Felicja, which is Polish for "fortune" or "luck". Thank you to Joanna Stephens from Robasia Alpaca Ranch for help with the translation!

Our raspberry crop all died too. What a bummer that was, as we should have had berries in 2010 to sell. I'm not exactly sure what happened - they were mulched, watered, etc. This year, I'm going to make a trip to the bare root room and pick out the stock myself (and plant it directly). I'm also going to plant more.

Our first peach tree (planted in the yard in 2004) died too. Maybe I was lulled into a false sense of security with the warm winters we've had over the past several years. Good thing we've got lots of other types of trees planted (plums, pears, apples, paw paws) that should thrive in Wisconsin.

2010 will be a challenging year for us. This is our third year in the business. We've been hemorrhaging money for the first two years, and it's time we start bringing in more than we spend. We are well positioned for it though - most of the major expenses like animals, fencing, and equipment are behind us. We did pretty well with our holiday sock sales, and our new redesigned website will have an online farm store added soon. We're also hoping to sell some Muireach breedings too.

After two years, I'm still glad we did this. It's been a lot of hard work, a lot of money, but it's also incredibly satisfying. I have no regrets.

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!

Merry Christmas, everyone! Santa was good to us this year - we just got 3 new alpacas from Dougherty Creek Farms! They are Silly Millie, DCF Veronica, and DCF Kacie. We are really excited about these girls. Pictured at left is Silly Milly and Kacie, the mother / daughter pair. Both are beautiful. Milly is dense, straight, and conformationally strong. Kacie is still very young, but she looks like she'll have the same excellent conformation. Kacie's fiber is fine and showing some crimp, and we're hoping she'll do well next spring in the show ring.





Veronica is pictured at right. (We call her Roni). We are tremendously excited about this animal. Roni is dense, crimpy, with an incredible staple lenghth. Roni's fleece is incredibly soft - it's hard to keep your hands off of her. Roni will be bred to Ferrari's Excel later this spring, and that should be an outstanding cria!

May you all have safe travels this Christmas. In case you're wondering why I'm blogging on Christmas morning, it's the calm before the storm. My boys haven't gotten up yet!!

New website / socks & scarves

A quick December update:

-Our redesigned website has been unveiled! Check it out, and tell us what you think: www.offbeatacres.com. Paul and I did it together (he handled the artwork / layout, and I did the text and pages). Let us know if you need help with your website, we're contemplating a side venture to our farm.

-Thank you to everyone who bought socks and scarves for Christmas!! Our sales were outstanding this year. We are even starting to see repeat customers, who can't get enough alpaca wear!

Hate Christmas shopping at the mall?

Come out and visit our farm store! We have a nice selection of Extreme Alpaca socks, casual socks, and dress socks, as well as scarves, yarn, and roving.

Alpaca fiber is known for being luxuriously soft and warm. Alpaca socks and scarves will keep your feet warm in our cold Wisconsin winters.

The yarn and roving is made from our own Offbeat Acres alpacas. If you enjoy knitting or spinning, there is nothing like working with real alpaca fiber.

Prices range from $16 - $26 for socks, $16 for roving, $26 for a 200 yard skein of yarn, and $30 for scarves.

Avoid the hustle and bustle of Christmas shopping, enjoy some peaceful country air, and do your Christmas shopping at Offbeat Acres. We will also deliver to the Madison area. Gift wrapping available too!

Lil Willow

Willow lost her battle over the weekend. It is sad, but it's also part of this business. Alpacas are ultimately livestock, and stuff like this is going to happen.

There are a few silver linings. Willow did not suffer, or go through a major decline. She was a little slow to get in the barn for the morning feeding, but that's it. She was sunning herself in the pasture, and it looked liked she died in her sleep.


The other silver lining came from the UW Vet Hospital. The vet who saw her back in August told us he would be interested in doing a necropsy when she passed. We didn't think much of it at the time, but decided to take him up on the offer. Paul said the doc was very excited to get her, and promised to treat her with utmost respect. The doc is doing research on alpacas with heart conditions, and will be able to learn a lot by comparing Willow's X-rays and test results from her August exam with the actual heart and how it's grown over the past few months.

Good bye, Willow. Rest in peace.