Fiber Fun ~ Alpacas, Camels and Sheep, Oh My!

 

Every year for the past 4 years I make sure to attend the two-day East Mountain Fiber Farm Tour. It’s interesting to visit all the different farms, see their set-ups, visit with the animals and people, learn about the different fiber/fleece/wool. And every year the Fiber Tour has a contest to win a huge basket filled with lots of great items for Fiber Artist. But the only way to get a chance to win is to visit at least 7 farms on the tour. There are usually between 10-12 farms participating, so it’s fun to choose which ones to visit.

You can see photos and the post from my first Fiber Farm Tour in 2008: Fiber Farm Tour

This year I almost forgot the date, but Val of Fantastyk Voyage called me up and said “Let’s Go!” So we piled into her car and headed out. First stop on our tour was Camelot Farm where I always make sure to pick up a skein or two of their super soft, natural camel wool for my upcoming winter knitting projects.

It’s always fun to photograph the odd and unusual looking camels.

The only camels they have now are Dromedary camels, which are one humped.

I was a little sad when I discovered that one my favorite camels, a young male Bactrian (two-humps) camel named Gobi, died last year when he became cast underneath a pipe rail fence trying to reach some grass on the other side. I have a photo of him on my 2008 Fiber Farm post. His owner had given me a puff of his fiber that had blown off onto the ground. I’m glad I still have it now.

Gobi ~ Fiber Farm Tour  

There’s an even better photo of him (taken with my new camera) in this post:

Camel Ride

I’ve always had a soft spot for camels ever since I can remember, after learning about the military’s early interest in creating a Camelry Cavalry for forging new ground across the west in the 1800’s. So, I was sad to discover that the Rio Grande Zoo ended their 25 year contract with Camelot Farm due to budget cuts. The Ro Grande Zoo is the first place I ever had the opportunity to ride a camel.

In fact, I rode a camel even before I got back on a horse after my ACL surgery.

Do you remember my first camel ride? My post is here:

My Camel Ride 

 

They also had some friendly horses, too.

After leaving Camelot Farm we visited 6 more Fiber Farms, seeing animals such as angora rabbits, fiber and dairy goats, sheep, llamas, chickens, and lots of dogs, cats and kittens. Here are some of the photos from the Fiber Farm Tour:

Don’t you like this lady’s pretty hair accessory?

This is a carder, one of the steps to processing fiber.

And adorable cria, a baby alpaca.

This was the friendliest alpaca Val and I have ever met. She purposely wanted to be petted and sought out affection. Awww!

Same friendly alpaca.

This alpaca was in desperate need of a teeth trimming.

By the late afternoon, the winds picked up and the smoke and a few dried up, dark rainclouds blew in. The alpacas and this llama moved inside the barn and viewed the skies with interest.

Looking outside the barn through the doorway, you can see the foreboding skies.

Alpacas have the most inquisitive faces.

I really liked the salt and pepper markings on this Nigerian Dwarf goat.

This sweet Romney lamb was very friendly and soft, too.

This guard llama seemed very interested in me and my camera.

I bought my daughter Jen, The Chicken Girl a special gift at one of the farms.

It’s safe to say that she loves it.

 

After we visited our last farm we registered and entered the gift basket contest at the Yarn and Fiber Store and, because we were famished from all our farm-hopping, Val and I decided to enjoy a relaxing sit-down dinner at a local Chinese restaurant, before heading back home.

All in all, a really great day.

And thankfully the smoke wasn’t too bad on Sunday until late in the afternoon.

Speaking of smoke, one of the weird things I’ve noticed since the smoke from the wildfires arrived last week, is that during the day, it’s eerily quiet around here. Not a bird to be heard…or seen for that matter, except for a few ravens and a hummingbird or two. And the sounds that we do hear seem muffled somehow.

Isn’t that weird?

A resident of the west mesa, just above Albuquerque, saw my You Tube video of our smoky skies here on the other side of the Sandia Mountains, and sent me a link to his video to view. Wow! And I thought the smoke was thick here!