Today I am heading north to Portland with Jo.
We are going to do some non alpaca work in the green city. Did you know Portland is the greenest city in the USA? With San Fransisco in second place.

1. Portland, Oregon. 23.1
Electricity: 7.1 Transportation: 6.4 Green Living: 4.8 Recycling/Perspective: 4.8
America’s top green city has it all: Half its power comes from renewable sources, a quarter of the workforce commutes by bike, carpool or public transportation, and it has 35 buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council.

2. San Francisco, California. 23.0
Electricity: 6.8 Transportation: 8.8 Green Living: 3.5 Recycling/Perspective: 3.9
See how San Francisco turns wasted roof space into power, here.

How the Rankings Work:
Raw data from the U.S. Census Bureau and the National Geographic Society’s Green Guide, which collected survey data and government statistics for American cities of over 100,000 people in more than 30 categories, including air quality, electricity use and transportation habits. We then compiled these statistics into four broad categories, each scored out of either 5 or 10 possible points. The sum of these four scores determines a city’s place in the rankings.

Electricity (E; 10 points): Cities score points for drawing their energy from renewable sources such as wind, solar, biomass and hydroelectric power, as well as for offering incentives for residents to invest in their own power sources, like roof-mounted solar panels.

Transportation (T; 10 points): High scores go to cities whose commuters take public transportation or carpool. Air quality also plays a role.

Green living (G; 5 points): Cities earn points for the number of buildings certified by the U.S. Green Building Council, as well as for devoting area to green space, such as public parks and nature preserves.

Recycling and green perspective (R; 5 points): This measures how comprehensive a city’s recycling program is (if the city collects old electronics, for example) and how important its citizens consider environmental issues.

Want to read about more green cities? Then follow this link.

We currently have a young girl staying with us from the UK called Immogen and while she is with us it is her 19th birthday - to celebrate we all headed out to nearby Historic Jacksonville and took a tour of the town using Segway people movers....



I have always thought Segways looked a bit "nerdy" but they are great fun and if you ever get the chance I urge you to have a go.....

You may know that the being a member of AOBA (Alpaca Owners and Breeders Association) enables you to buy JD products at a discount. Not that I can really take advantage of that myself as i have all the John Deere products I am ever likely to need.

One of my favourites is the JD Gator it is a real work horse and I would be truly lost without it here on the alpaca farm.

Over the holiday weekend we transformed it into a mobile beer deliver vehicle.
A small horse trough fits perfectly into the back into which we lowered two half kegs of ale from the local Caldera micro brewery. Which just happens to be where my eldest son Jamie is working during his summer vacation.
Then we linked in the CO2 to pump the ale from the kegs and through an inter-cooler that really chills the beer until it comes flowing ice cold from the taps.





Maybe I should start a competition here for the most innovative use of a John Deer Gator?

I spent most of today on the road - leaving home at 5am to drive to Portland for a meeting and to collect two alpacas who were in Portland for breeding's. One was our own Latte who is now safely home and the other was Abby for some friends of ours who farm in Grants pass.
By the time I was home it was almost midnight and I was well and truly bushed... another great insight into the alpaca lifestyle!

My meeting in Portland was with Mike Safley of NWA. We talked about the IAC programme and how the first EPDs were going to be previewed the following day at the Parade of Champions Auction truly exciting times in the US alpaca industry.

The trip was fortunately uneventful. However, there were some interesting distractions along the way that meant I had no chance of falling asleep. I did see what is without doubt the biggest pick up truck I have ever seen on the road. Someone had taken the tractor unit from a big rig and made it into his personal pickup truck.....well check out the picture below.

The image you see here today is the 999th photo image I have loaded into this alpaca blog which has become some strange combination of habit and labor of love. I am no longer totally sure who reads my alpaca blog and who doesn't anymore.

Google appears to like my blog most of the time and guess they are just grateful for all those lost souls who create content for their Goliath.



Here you can see the irrigation canon in action and get some idea of just how far it can throw water ...the answer is a little short of 100 feet which is pretty darn impressive. In the background you might just be able to see the tip of Mount Ashland which still has snow on the peak. I say just because the valley is full of smoke today, probably from some of the fires in northern California. But I can't be totally sure. The air quality is dreadful and we are all hoping it will blow through soon.

We put some of our old junk ( I of course mean treasured family momentos) into a yard sale today and came away with $125 which I was very pleased with. Until my eldest son spotted that I had in fact sold his old bicycle and demanded his share of the loot. Thats my boy !!

Step one is to get yourself some great alpaca seed stock and then have them carefully transported to your new farm using a reputable alpaca transport company. Pick this company wisely and sleep well at nights

Step two is to make sure you have just enough hay to get your alpacas through the winter with a safety buffer just in case. With gas being so expensive its best to load as much hay as possible on the trailer.

Step three is to make some very well researched breeding decisions based on what you know about your alpacas. Their bloodlines, histograms and EPDs if you have them. Remember breeding is not totally scientific it also involves some common sense.

Finally, make sure you shear all your alpacas every spring and then get that alpaca fleece to the AFCNA Fibre Cooperative in New Mexico. Do not let it accumulate in your barn.

Today we are celebrating Millies graduation.......so another quiet day on the alpaca farm.

Not much happening on the alpaca farm today as we are all going to watch the Ashland High School Graduation - Class of 2008.

Which includes our one and only daughter Camilla Rose Stewart.






Having graduation in the park reminds you just what an amazing state Oregon is and how wonderful it is to live among the trees.

Mulberry Alpacas want to remind everyone that National Alpaca Farm Day September 27-28, 2008. The 2008 AOBA marketing committee has designed a good plan to increase awareness of alpacas.
AOBA member participation is critical to making these days a success. The goal is for the public to easily find an alpaca farm or ranch in their area to visit on Sept 27th or 28th. This will give all alpaca farmers an opportunity to share their passion for alpacas and meet new people interested in learning about breeding livestock.

Remember however if you are an alpaca farmer (and AOBA member) you need to visit the AOBA web site and pay up if you want to be on the official AOBA Alpaca Farm Day website.

Now of course to participate in National Alpaca Farm Days you do not need to register for the special web site and pay over your hard earned money in fact you don't even have to be a member of AOBA....but you will have to undertake some marketing effort of your own or very few people will be coming to visit.

We put in quite a bit of effort last year and basically operated a petting zoo for two days so I think we will be giving it a miss this year. As always make sure that your alpaca marketing decisions are conscious decisions and assume nothing.

About 5 years ago, back when I was an alpaca farmer in England I remember seeing a letter to one of the newspapers during a very wet spell of " English Summer " weather saying :

"We have been promised global warming and I want it now!"

It was quite funny at the time...anyway my point is that just as "jet lag" has become "time zone fatigue" I have now noticed that "global warming" has become "catastrophic climate change". And that is what has no doubt caused the very long and wet spring/summer that we are now experiencing here on the alpaca farm in southern Oregon.....

Just as taking an umbrella with you is well known to prevent rain. I was hoping that by running the irrigation on the alpaca pastures I would prevent rain....it failed.. and the rain came anyway. But not until the afternoon by which time we had done a whole series of outdoor chores which had been on the to do list almost as long as there has been a to do list. As rain came we gathered up the washing that was drying outside and scampered inside.... with some sense of satisfaction..

There is no doubt that farming keeps you in close contact with the seasons and the weather forecast. Enjoy your long weekend.

Just like some parody of the worlds most anxious expectant father I am now pacing up and down all morning waiting for the two pregnant alpacas Minne and Sorpressa that are due to give birth to their cria (baby alpaca)... to actually get on with it......

Everytime it looks like something is about to happen it turns out to be false alarm...I think this is one of the soundest reasons I know for using the services of an alpaca breeder to agist your alpacas and then you can relax and enjoy the news...once it is all over.

Second only to getting someone else to shear your alpacas while you watch...oh sure enough its fun the first couple of times but after that the novelty does pale and the shear (pun intended) hard work of it all starts to kick in...wow I sound so stressed today.

Last night I discovered that the AOBA elections failed to reach a quorum ie 30% of the membership so will ow have to be conducted all over again...what a pain and what a waste of resources. Regular readers will know I have my disagreements with the AOBA BOD from time to time but when it comes to voting we all have a duty to stand up and be counted. If not then save yourself some money and become an Associate Member.

I think I better go take break this expectant watching stuff is getting to me.... see you all tomorrow. When hopefully we will have exciting news!

With two alpaca females close to giving birth I hate to leave the farm but...

I somehow damaged a disk in my neck a while back and finally I have had to give in and throw myself at the mercy of the medical proffesion. So I am going to have an epidural injection of steroids to reduce the swelling and get the pain under control...back tomorrow.


Adrian

Sadly Phoebe died this morning. She was too sick to recover and Howard Miller a neighbor and truly wonderful vet put her to sleep. She died at home safe and surrounded by the family who all loved her so very much.

One of the joys of being in the alpaca business and self employed is that you do get to do your own thing and when spring is in the air then it can be very enjoyable. Especially now that laptops are so affordable and connect wireless from just about anywhere in the house.



We are now getting into the cria watch time of year and our first two new arrivals should be here sometime this week I hope......we really don't want to be doing shearing on two overdue mothers if at all possible!

"Travel light in life, take only what you need; a loving family,
good friends, simple pleasures, someone to love, someone
to love you, enough to eat, enough to wear, and a little more
than enough to drink, for thirst is a dangerous thing."

Today I received a request for Alpaca Helmet liners for US troops. here is the email from Debra Edwards.

We are getting ready for my son Taylor's deployment. He is a Cavalry Scout with the 1st Infantry Division out of Fort Hood, Texas. He will be deploying sometime in June. He is coming to California for 10 days in May. Can hardly wait to see him.

He is deploying to Afghanistan, where we do not know yet. I understand he will be in the mountain region, which gets below 0 degrees in the Winter. From what I hear helmet liners would be a great comfort for the troops. I was reading a request for wool helmet liners and thought alpaca helmet liners would be even better! I have enclosed instructions on making the liners. They request that the fiber be non-flammable.

My son's platoon has 20 soldiers, his troop (Company) has 78 soldiers and the Squadron(Battalion) has 500 soldiers. Whatever you can supply would be so very wonderful and so very appreciated by our soldiers.

My cell phone number is 805 625-2661, if you have any questions.

Thank you in advance for your support of our troops and my very heartfelt thanks for your interest in my son.

Sincerely,

Debra Edwards

Here are the instructions for those of you who can crochet...

Support Our Troops…Crochet a Helmet Liner

Materials:
Size K and H hooks
6 oz. soft worsted weight 100% wool yarn
Accepted colors are tan, brown, olive, gray and black (black is
preferred and was requested)

Size: Adult Large
Crochet Notes:
Made in rounds – that is, do not join and do not turn.
Other Notes:
The headgear our military issues are usually made of
synthetic fibers or blends and our troops in places like
Afghanistan, Iraq and Kosovo are still cold. Please use a soft
100% wool worsted weight yarn to keep them warm.

Rnd 1 ...........Form a ring around your finger, work 6 sc in ring
Rnd 2 ...........2 scs in next 6 sts (12 sts)
Rnd 3 ...........(sc in next st, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (18 sts)
Rnd 4 ...........(sc in next 2 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (24 sts)
Rnd 5 ...........(sc in next 3 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (30 sts)
Rnd 6 ...........(sc in next 4 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (36 sts)
Rnd 7 ...........(sc in next 5 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (42 sts
Rnd 8 ...........(sc in next 6 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (48 sts)
Rnd 9 ...........(sc in next 7 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (54 sts)
Rnd 10 .........(sc in next 8 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (60 sts)
Rnd 11 .........(sc in next 9 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (66 sts)
Rnd 12 .........(sc in next 10 sts, 2 scs in next st) 6 times (72 sts)

Work over 72 sts until piece measures 7 inches.
Chain 22 ,skip 20 sts, continue working around until piece measures 10 more inches.
Fasten off and weave in ends. Attach yarn anywhere in face hole and sc around with
H hook. Fasten off and weave in all ends.

Pattern designed Aunt B © 2005. All rights reserved. Copies may be made only for the purpose of donating helmet liners to our service personnel. For additional patterns and helmet liner project information go to Skein Lane’s community page.