Philly's Blog       Winter 2011/2012

(You'll remember that Philly is our biggest friendliest Alpaca, now a well-established Head of Marketing, with Treacle as her deputy)

The products of this year's Shearing which took place in May have all been at a local wool processor to turn it into fantastic CARDED FLEECE - perfect for spinning and felting. The fleece is now here and the quality is even better than last year.  It comes in  'MATS'  which are much larger this year (approx 90cm x 75cm) so they are priced at £7.50 for approx 250 grams, or £27 if you buy a Kilo.  This time they are available in BLACK, a rich BROWN mix, or a fantastic FAWN mix which looks like a swirl of caramel and vanilla ice cream, but feels as light as candy-floss. I made a significant contribution to that one, along with all the other fawn and white girls (and boys).

 Well it has been a funny winter so far. We have only had to use the barn a few times as the weather has been so mild.  However Pete and Jane are getting a bit anxious . We are eating loads of hay, as the summer grass growth was so poor. It looks as  though we might not get through the winter with the current hay supply from Bertie our local supplier. The ground has become really muddy. We are due to have toes clipped and wormimg injections soon, which will have to be on a day when we are not wet and muddy. Some chance at the moment! The oldies seem to be doing OK so far this winter, as it is mild they have not had to wear a coat yet. As for the three little ones, they are doing well, growing fast. Jane and Pete will have to make a decision about what to do about Dilbert in the next couple of months, as he will be 6 months old in January and developing male tendencies!

Some really good news. Crumble, Igor and Monty have been sold to the living farm museum outside Maidstone called Kent Life. They will be a great pull for visitors to the farm museum.

We have sold lots of this years carded fleece to people via our web site. Recently we have sent fleece to Rugby, Finland and a local lady from Hastings has bought loads for making into clothes. It is great to see that our fleece is so popular with spinners and felters.