Farm News: 2008

Farm News Archive: 2006-2007

        12/29/08 - McKinley has also found a new home!  He will be joining Brittany Gibson's family on their southern Indiana farm.  He will be shown in 4-H and open shows with Brittany.

        12/5/08 - Well, Cattera has finally found a new home!  She has moved to Florida with her old pal SHAG Lakota on the farm of Tom & Carol Moody.       

        11/9/08 - The second Ridge Runner cria so far and the final one for 2008 is finally here!  Autumn Hill's Catanna, now owned by Doug Lunn of TN, gave birth to another little boy.  He is a gorgeous paint, with tons of spunk and potential.  His sire and half brother (maternal) are ALSA Halter Champions, so this little boy has a lot in store for his future!  Pictures to come...  Contact Doug for more information on this up and coming show winner! 

        10/31/08 - Breeding season is definitely underway here on the farm.  Taz is being rebred to Ridge, and Cattera is up in Crawfordsville being bred to Silver Moon Tresor.  April has decided to retire herself from the breeding herd, so she is staying open.  McKinley is growing like a weed, and has found a new sport in chasing the barn cat, Autumn, around the pasture!  There is still time to bring your best female for a breeding with MRLF Ridge Runner, so contact us for more information!

        10/17/08 - After much thought and deliberation, the new baby has a name.  Introducing Autumn Hill's McKinley.  We've decided to go with a mountain theme for Ridge Runner's crias, so this little guy is named after the tallest mountain in the US (found in Alaska).  He is growing like a weed and has tons of energy.  Ralph has once again taken a shine to him, and is being a wonderful "uncle".  I hope to have updated pictures of him sometime this weekend. 

        10/13/08 - We finally have a cria- a little boy!!  Sometime between 11am and 1pm today, Taz decided to quietly have her cria out in the pasture, without any notice for the humans!  By the time we found the little guy, he was already up and walking around.  Taz is being a great mom, very protective and standing like a statue to let him nurse.  The rest of the herd is being nosy as always, but Taz is a good spirit.  He doesn't quite have a name yet, but we're working on it.  More pictures can be found on his web page.

        10/3/08 - I wish I had cria news to report, but Taz is holding out.  She is officially due 9 days from today, and we are all very excited.  Keep an eye on this page for a birth announcement, and please feel free to email me if you would like to be put on the list to receive an email with pictures as soon as the cria arrives!  We have started trying to breed April to Ridge, but they aren't really in the mood to cooperate, so April may get to visit a friend's farm for yet another outside breeding.  In other news, we officially have an Etsy store online.  Many of the items in our web store, as well as several new ones, are listed on the site.  It is an easy way to purchase one of our beautiful finished fiber items.  Once I get our yarn and roving back from the mill, it will all be listed on the site, too. 

        8/26/08 - The 2008 show season ended with a bang at the Indiana State Fair.  Moreo and Ralph went head to head in the Non-Breeder Adult Alpaca halter class: Moreo won 1st, and Ralph got 2nd.  Ralph went on to win two more 1sts in the performance classes.  He won the Adult Costume class, beating the 3 llamas that were competing.  He also won the Novice Public Relations class, where he was the only alpaca showing against 42 llamas!  He did very well in the other two Novice performance classes, but just not quite well enough to place.  Bluff also did very well, placing 2nd in Medium Wool 2-yr-old Female, 4th in Over the Hill Obstacle, and 7th in Adult Showmanship. 

  Now that the show season is over, we can start thinking about breedings for the fall!  We just confirmed that Bluff is bred to Ridge and due in late May 2009.  Taz is also due with the first Ridge baby in mid-October, and is starting to get really big!  I hope to breed her and April to Ridge again in October.  Cattera is going to Mark Smith Farms in Crawfordsville to be bred to his new super-suri male, Silver Moon Tresor.  Cattera is still for sale ($1,500), and will be even after she is bred to Tresor.  This is a great chance to obtain a beautiful breeding female, and have a little suri cria next fall.

        7/27/08 - Well, the Ohio State Fair has come and gone.  It was a long and tiring weekend, but definitely worth it as always.  My fiber entries placed extremely well:  1st in Advanced Double Ply yarn, Versatility Spinning, Felted Accessories, and Woven Accessories, and 3rd in Knit Accessories.  The fleeces didn't do too bad: Ridge placed 5th and Bluff placed 6th in a huge class of Double Coat Adult (over 24 months) fleeces.  The actual show went pretty well too:  Bluff and I placed 5th in Young Professional (Younger Adults) Showmanship, 2nd in Novice Public Relations (her first performance class, and out of 15 entries), and 3rd in Walking Fleece.  Moreo didn't place in his performance classes, but he gave them a good try.  Ralph placed pretty much the same as last year (3rd in Advanced Alpaca Pack and Obstacle, and 4th in Public Relations), but the classes were twice as big!  He also placed 2nd in Open Costume (only alpaca in the class), and in the top 15 (out of 50 or so llamas) in Leaping Lama! 

In other news, we brought home a new alpaca from the show, too.  Alejandro, fondly referred to by his previous owners as "Big Al" has joined our fiber alpaca herd.  He's only a little over a year old, but is already much taller than our other two boys.  He already gets along great with the llamas!

Now all that is left for the rest of the summer is to finish skirting fleeces to have processed, and to work on obstacles and the costume in preparation for the Indiana State Fair!

        6/28/08 - The computer has been having issues, so there is lots of news to report!  Most importantly, Catallegre has found a wonderful new home out in Connecticut.  He's going to be a show llama and future herdsire.  It will be sad to see him go, but he'll have a wonderful home.  In other news, the show season is really starting to shape up.  Bluff and Ralph went up to Fort Wayne to the Allen County Open, and came home with some great placings.  Bluff and I placed 1st in Adult Showmanship, and she placed 1st in Medium Wool 2-yr-old Female and Grand Champion Medium Wool Female.  Not bad for our first time in the show ring together!  Ralph put up a good fight in the Novice Performance ring, but didn't quite do well enough to place.  He was the only alpaca at the show!  He was wonderful, too.  The next weekend Bluff and Cattera went to the Vermillion County Fair to a new ALSA show.  Bluff didn't want to behave in her halter class, but she still placed second, and was the biggest llama in the class!  Cattera behaved like an angel, and came away with a 1st place ribbon, despite being 7 years older than the other entries in her class!  We're gearing up and preparing heavy for the Ohio and Indiana State Fairs now.  Lots of obstacles to learn and perfect, and tons of fiber crafts to finish!

        6/3/08 - The animals are all shorn and much happier in the heat.  Look how great Catallegre looks with his new hair cut!  Bags and bags of fleece are piled in our craft room, just waiting to be skirted and sent for processing.  It will all be turned into yarn once again, but I may have some sent back as roving to sell and spin.  Our second show of the season, the Ohio River Llama Festival, was a huge success.  Catallegre won Medium Wool Juvenile Male, Cattera won "Just a Brown Llama" Class for the females, and she and I won Adult Showmanship. 

        5/8/08 - Summer plans are starting to shape up.  Llama shearing will take place May 26-28, and the alpacas will be shorn May 29.  Our second show will be on May 31, and we'll start breeding April to Ridge on June 1.  It's going to be a busy week!

        4/27/08 - With the addition of a new breeding female (Bluff), we are quickly running out of room on the farm.  So, I have reluctantly decided to offer one of our fiber alpacas for sale: Marley.  He makes a great fiber animal and pet.  Check out the For Sale page for more information.  He is priced to move!

        4/19/08 - Well, the show season is off to a great start!  Catallegre, Bluff, and Ralph (just for the company) spent the day at the Marion Co. Fairgrounds for the Kentuckiana Show.  The two llamas really cleaned up in halter too!  Bluff came away with a 2nd place, and Catallegre placed 1st and 3rd!  Both classes were very large and competitive, and it was the first show for both llamas!  What a way to start the season, and I'm sure this streak will continue throughout the summer.  I'm sure I will regret this later on, but I am leaving Catallegre's sale price as is ($750), even after his wonderful placements at the show.  So, you need to decide now: do you want to take the blue ribbons home or should I, because I know he will get quite a collection this summer!

        4/13/08 - The show season is about to officially begin for our farm: we make our 2008 debut at the Kentuckiana Llama Classic next weekend (April 18-20) at the Marion Co. Fairgrounds in Indianapolis.  As I've been thinking and planning for the rest of the season, I have finalized the show string for summer shows.  Catallegre will be shown in halter, shorn and walking fleece, and open performance; Bluff will be shown in halter and shorn and walking fleece; Ralph will be shown in alpaca halter and open performance; Cattera will be shown in halter and adult showmanship; Moreo will be shown in halter and open performance (select shows only).  Depending on how fleeces look in May, Ridge and/or Catastrophie may be entered in shorn fleece.  That makes for a busy summer, but it will definitely be worth it!

In other news, I have slashed sales prices for Cattera and Catallegre for a limited time.  Until June 2008, they are each priced at only $750! (no multiple-purchase discount however)  These are both outstanding llamas with a lot to offer a new farm, so please check them out!

        4/1/08 - Spring has sprung, and our herd is doing a bit of rearrangement.  Catanna has left for her new home, and Bluff has joined ours.  Catallegre and Bluff are getting ready for the Kentuckiana Show April 18-20, and we are preparing for The Fiber Event in Greencastle April 11-12.  Ridge is also raring and ready for the breeding season to begin.  We're already planning on breeding one of our own females to him in May, and have openings for outside breedings.  For the spring breeding season only (until June), we have lowered his breeding fee to $350.  Don't miss out on this great opportunity to breed to a beautiful male.

        1/9/08 - Well, the new year has finally arrived, and with it a new llama for our breeding herd.  I have been searching the globe (so to speak) looking for a new breeding female, and ended up finding one right in my backyard.  Overman Bluff and Fluff is a beautiful red and white paint that is just as sweet as can be...and HUGE!  Just like we like around here...  I'd like to thank Doug and Kamilla Overman of Overman Llamas in Lafayette, IN for allowing me to purchase this gorgeous girl.  She'll stay at their farm until spring, and will be added to our show string shortly after that.  With Taz home for the summer, Bluff should be a good replacement for the summer shows. 

With the addition of the new girl, I really must make room in our pastures!  So, prices on Cattera and Catallegre have been cut in half until he is weaned in March.  This means they are just $1,000 each, or $1,500 together.  Such a great deal for two amazing llamas.  I have updated pictures of both animals on their individual pages. 

In other news, I have finally constructed a page for our new WEB STORE!  There are several different scarves, hats, and bags available for purchase- all handmade and 100% unique!