Camps are Filling UP

Meet Buster, he is our new little boy.  He is excited about meeting the campers.  All of our younger alpacas will be working with the campers.

Below is Frederica and Delilah.  Some of you might remember Delilah.  she is usually very easy to handle.  Frederica was born in the fall, she is fiesty and extremely playful. 

Pippi and Freja will be there with the campers, too!

Pippi

Freja and Pippi.

Time to to Work on Those Day Camps!

In the summer, I am so busy with Alpaca and Nature Day-Camps that we conduct here on the farm.  They have been very popular and have many repeat campers.  The campers learn all about alpacas and how to train them, how to spin their fiber on a spinningwheel, weaving, sometimes knitting, and fiber education.  Each camper has a note book full of information to take home with them at the end of camp.
Because so many campers come to numerous sessions, I have to have every session fresh with new material for them to learn.  That is what I am working on right now for this summer.  I am getting ready to make up some sample projects.  I absolutelly love the day camps and they bring a nice summer income to the farm.

Campers working with the alpacas.Freja gives alpaca kisses!

A finished triangle loom project!An alpaca negotiates the obstacle course.There is a great deal of satisfaction in spinning.

Getting Ready for Alpaca and Nature Day-Camp

It is exciting to be thinking of summer and the next sessions of Alpaca & Nature Day Camp!  I have sent out a letter to the previous campers.  Now I am going to work on our new knitting unit.   I am making sample of patterns.  Last year the kids made their own knitting needles and I am thinking of doing that this year.  I will be making up a terms sheet for each area we are working with the campers.  The campers will be doing barn chores, halter training, alpaca anatomy, planting a garden, harvesting a garden, working with alpaca fiber, spinning on a spinning wheel, weaving on a loom, skipping rocks in the stream, other nature on the farm.

I am Back once Again

Winter has been really hard here at Sycamore Creek Farm. The snow is beautiful and welcomed as a blanket for our plants. However, the alpacas would like some area where the snow is not covering the ground so they can kush. The problem has not been the snow, rather the subzero temps. The alpacas, for the most part have enjoyed the cooler weather, but I have not. Despite three pairs of gloves, my fingertips freeze within a few minutes. It is hard to refill the heated water buckets and to clean up the more than frozen poop. As I find myself bitching about winter on the farm I know that my heart is in this farm and there is not another place I would rather reside.
I love my walks along the frozen creek. On those walks I get to know the other critters that reside on the farm. Their tracks show their playful side. I come across places where they have stopped to play in the snow. I see the tracks from the deer walking down the center of the frozen creek. Our critters are very active in this bitter winter weather.
We are having a mid-January thaw, so the temps will improve, but the mud will and wetness will be the new factors to deal with. Of course, that means there will be new adventures too.