I am still in a very hot and humid Florida getting some R&R after the AOBA Affiliate Congress meeting in Nashville.

Back in Oregon on the alpaca farm Jo tells me that all is well Macario is keeping on top of the irrigation system and the new dog (still without name) is starting to settle in. Apparently the first year of his life was spent alone without contact with humans or other animals...so our place must be quite a contrast for him....

JP has started cutting the hay field for our second cutting of the year so when I get home I need to let him know just how much we need of the stuff ourselves. You might recall how I was saying in a previous alpaca blog entry just how much hay prices have been shooting up of late and that 100 lb bales are going for almost $20 in California.

Well today as you probably know is the last day of July and tomorrow is a whole new month.
How they roll on by when you are busy.

I will be up early and heading for Oregon courtesy of Delta Airlines in the morning so won't get an opportunity to get to the Blog until later in the day.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

I am currently in Florida enjoying the Kennedy Space centre which is truly amazing. i wasn't so sure what it would be like but I am very impressed and recommend a visit if you are ever anywhere near.

Meanwhile back on the farm the barn cat has had four kittens so my theory that the only two left were both male be seriously flawed....

Also in a moment of mad passion my wife Jo has rescued a Chesapeake Retriever from the animal pound where he was almost into his last day on death row..... he doesn't have a name yet and is nervous as can be...but enjoys swimming....not quite sure what Gifford my Australian Shepherd will have to say...but will find out more when I get home on Wednesday.

We have also had a short e-mail from Gaia our Italian alpaca farmer who has promised to send more details soon as she is farm sitting in the UK and with luck she will have Internet access.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

The affiliate Congress has ended and was very succesful. So I am optimistic that some real progress will be made before the next meeting.
Today I am travelling to Florida to spend some time with my older brother and his wife.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

In Nashville today with the Affiliate Congress ...we are meeting with the AOBA Board (alpaca owners and breeders association) and hoping to get some direction agreed so that we can establish working groups to focus on the key projects.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Spent most of today travelling to Nashville for the Affiliate Congress meeting which starts at three pm and runs till late.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

My last day on the farm before heading off to Nashville at the crack of dawn tomorrow.
So a very busy day with admin and paperwork.
Then sorting out what needs doing on the farm each day until I am back on August 1st.
Keep an eye on things while I am away.......

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Today was areal scorcher of a day so it was gratifying to see the alpacas taking full advantage of the field shelters and deep shade they offer.



But then there is always one isn't there?

The alpaca that has discovered that when the wind is in a certain direction then some of the irrigation in the next pasture will be blowing their way!



Now I am sure he feels nice and cool but i dread to think what that dirty irrigation water is doing to his fleece....yes I dread to think about it and so i won't.

The rest of the day has been totally hectic and just too stressful to recount here in the Blog..
I am sure tomorrow will be more relaxed and enjoyable than today..... hope you had a great day!

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Today started with one of the more mundane but essential tasks of alpaca stewardship and that was cutting some toenails. This morning Macario and I did the nails of the boys who range is personality from those who don't even know its happening and couldn't careless. To the totally paranoid who fall to the floor and pull their feet underneath themselves as fast as possible.

I then had to answer a couple of queries that had come in over the web, one concerned with the use of Atroban on alpacas suffering from mites and one concerning which plants are poisonous to mites.

In answering the second question I discovered that tomatoes are poisonous...well at least the leaves and stalks are and for many years we thought the fruit was poisonous too...hey what sort of a day would it be if I didn't learn something new?

This afternoon I spent some time preparing for the affiliate congress conference which is in Nashville at the end of this week. While I am away for six days I will be completing the Blog remotely so it will keep going but it wont be about life at Mulberry Alpacas..

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

I know this isn't alpaca related but then it sometimes helps to look at the broader picture. It can make you very grateful for what you have even if it isn't perfect.

Here I am in southern Oregon running irrigation on the alpaca pastures 24/7 meanwhile back in the part of England where we used to live it has been raining for almost 8 weeks in some places. This has caused really bad flooding. And the flooding crisis continues with thousands of homes losing water and electricity supplies.



Up to 350,000 people in Gloucestershire will be left without running water by tonight (Monday evening), as the Severn and Thames rivers threaten to overflow.
The Environment Agency said water levels on both rivers had exceeded those of devastating floods in 1947. Supermarkets are handing out bottled water which is rationed to 2 liters per person per day.



Talking about alpacas and National Alpaca Farm Day briefly I heard this morning that we are on track to have Ted (The State Governnor) sign the declaration. So it looks like it is going to be official here in Oregon.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Don’t ask me how these things happen they just do and over the last three years I have grown to accept them.
But by some mere gossamer thread over the internet a Russian designer who works with knitted garments and sometimes alpaca has produced some stunning designs. I can’t speak to how marketable they will be in North America or even what they might cost but….well you be the judge here are four examples of his work.

Barbarian Knitwear

Who is Alexander Serafimov?
He graduated from the polytechnic in engineering and had several responsible but not particularly creative jobs. However, he had very wide interests including art, literature, ancient history, entomology and karate. He began designing clothing entirely by accident.

One day, his wife was preparing to knit herself a new dress. She was looking at a German knitting magazine called Verena. Alexander looked at the illustrations and suddenly realized that all of the images were familiar to him, "I had been turning over the pages of a huge book dedicated to the history of photography all over the world. One picture among others was one of the first color photos, showing an Alps resort around 1912.

There were so many happy, rosy-faced skiers (of both sexes), standing under snowy spruces, dressed in sweaters much like those I saw at Verena's pages. Men were decorated with manly crosses, rhomboid shapes, snow-flakes, with reindeers galloping from right shoulder to left. Women shamelessly tried to tempt men with flowers (of species unknown even to inveterate botanists), satin-stitched on their shoulders and breasts."

He realized that while everything else has evolved the world of knitwear design was very conservative. He describes being "literally seized" with the aspiration of fighting against this conservatism.

His philosophy of design is to give a "wee bit of a shock" but he does not consider himself particularly avant-garde. His engineering background helped him to design a novel fastener which you can see integrated into his designs.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Today is the regular meeting of SOJAA

Quite a few members were away so there were only about 20 of us at the meeting today. For farmers like me who don't get out and about on other farms as much as I used to its good to get together with other farmers and catch up on all the news.

One of the most interesting ideas to come our today's meeting was that we will be hosting a Marketing Seminar and Workshop in early November if all goes to plan. Its going to be a "one size fits all" event so whether you are new to this business or have been in it for twenty years there will be something for you.

In fact while I am typing I think it would be a good idea to maybe survey the members to try and discover what the most interesting areas are. I know some members want to know more about the web...and we all know that takes longer than 45 minutes. While others are interested in actually learning how to talk to prospective buyers either on the farm or at a show.

In a way its a shame we can't get this event in place before the September national Alpaca Farm Open Day. But as I sometimes say "you can do anything you want but you cant do everything you want........"Meanwhile back at the ranch the temperature has climbed back almost to the seasonal norm and the irrigation is in full flow.

The big question is do i irrigate the hay field one more time on Monday and Tuesday or do I leave it so that we can take a second cut sooner rather than later.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

For some reason there is an inbalance between demand and suppply in the market for orchard grass this year and while some growers I know have sold their entire production for $3.50 per bale and are very happy prices here in southern Oregon are now up to $7 per bale (thats for a 65 lb bale.

Meanwhile down in California in the horse areas grain and feeds tores are selling 100lb orchard grass bales for $18.95 and alfa;fa for $13.95.

Now that is a whopping $380 per ton !!

Prices like that might not impact the alpaca breeder to much but if you have horses or cattle thats a significant part of your costs...

If anyone has an explanation as to how this has happened i would be delighted to hear it.

Meanwhile its the regular meeting of SOJAA tomorrow so i need to get my act together.

Happy farming.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Here is a question for all you alpaca breeders and fanciers out there. How interesting would it be if there was one web site that contained 99% of every article ever written about alpacas?

That would be pretty cool wouldn't it....no wondering where you saw it first or when, just go straight to the horses mouth and find it.

Well its food for thought but I think there is an angle there....watch this space.

The electrical storms and rain of the last two days have now gone and the sun is starting to peep out from behind the huge white fluffy clouds that have slowly but surely replaced the storm clouds.

The alpaca pastures certainly appreciated the watering but I think the alpacas are pleased to see the sunshine once again.

On Saturday its the local alpaca affiliate SoJAA meeting near Medford so I need to go and do some preparation for the meeting now.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

Todays Blog has nothing much to say about alpacas...I am sorry its just the way it is.

This morining I was busy extending the dry lot area around the barn so that I can completely get rid of the dreaded weeds that keep pestering me. Like the star thistle.

Anyway, what is the Blog about? I hear you say....

Today its all about the tree swallows that came here in the spring to raise their little family.

I just love watching these guys (and girls) swoop and glide with amazing precision and as you are about to see split second timing.











These guys catch thousands of bugs everyday to feed themselves and their youngsters...it was a privilege to watch such a stunning display of flying and parenthood.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.

The grand event is almost upon us but there appears to be precious little by way of preparation in this neck of the woods. Its the Bi-monthly SOJAA meeting this Saturday so it will be interesting to see what people have planned if anything.

Which leads me into alpaca marketing in general and how difficult it can be to see the wood from the trees sometimes.

The high level debate that is rolling on at the moment is how to balance between putting resources into marketing alpacas and how much into alpaca fibre.

This is going to be one of the main topics at the upcoming Affiliate Congress meeting with the AOBA board.



Here in Ashland its the farmers market today and in near by Central Point the County Fair is just getting underway and is a five day feats of animal and craft shows so I will definitely go by at least once.

This afternoon I am delivering a feeding trough to Hazel and Scott together with some paperwork for the alpacas we delivered at the weekend.

Click here to take the Mulberry Alpacas survey.
Adrian Stewart - click here to go to Mulberry Alpacas.
Click here to register for the Mulberry Alpacas Newsletter.
Click here to find out about National Alpaca Farm Day 2007.