https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.comFashioned for a Fine Futurehttps://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4653We will be shearing alpacas. Come.... hang out, enjoy. This event is F R E E! Come Join Us March 25, 2023 from 10-2 10702 Arapaho Drive, Redding, CA The public is invited to watch the annual harvest of alpaca fiber. There will be fiber artists demonstrating their skills and the boutique will be open to purchase alpaca and alpaca themed items.Sat, 04 Feb 2023 20:54:55 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4654Free to the public! Join us for an alpaca show! Merced County Fairgrounds, in the Hilmar Cheese Barn There will actually be two different types of shows. The first part of the show will be the WALKING FLEECE SHOW. In this show a fiber judge will evaluate the fleece on the animal. The will be looking for consistency, length, fiber diameter, consistency of color, and handle these traits are judged against a standard. The second part of the show will be the HALTER SHOW. The judges will be lo...Wed, 24 Nov 2021 17:54:58 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/58485-4-21 Cosette had her cria. We named him Cinco. He was born close to Cinco de Mayo and he was Cosette's fifth cria. His dad is Spinosa.Tue, 11 May 2021 04:33:04 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4729Yes we really did have a wet winter but all the plants enjoyed it after years of drought. The roses are fantastic this year. I have in excess of 250 roses. Well actually I quit counting at 250 and have probably planted another 100 since then. I love it when they all start blooming in the spring. Well truly I love all the flowers.Wed, 10 May 2017 00:03:16 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4727SAND was born on 4-15-17. Weighting in at 15.4 pounds and I think she will be Bay Black or Dark Brown when shorn. She is the result of breeding Delight who is medium brown with a grey back ground and Spinosa who is black. Really nice girl with a beautiful head.Tue, 09 May 2017 22:38:34 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4728Wow another girl. That's three in a row. Having said that I have probably just jinxed the rest of the year to boys. That's all I've had for the last 3 years. It took a few days to come up with a name for this high spirited and inquisitive little girl. Well really not so little she was born at 20.8 pounds. Her mom is Cosette and probably one of the smallest alpacas on the ranch and had one of the larger crias born here. She is full sister to Delgado who looked like he was a medium rose grey...Tue, 09 May 2017 23:03:05 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4704What a wonderful delivery on the only non-rainy day this week. Arapaho Bisturi's Delight gave birth to Arapaho Spinosa's Afternoon Delight. Born around noon on 4-15-2017 at 15.4 pounds. She was a little cold at first but is up and playing with the other crias. She is less than an hour old in these pictures.Tue, 09 May 2017 22:38:03 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4726Here is the much awaited first cria of the season. Asia has broken the boy pattern and hopefully has started the new phase of female crias. The last three year all the crias have been male. They have all been outstanding but you can only have so many studs. Asia is a medium rose gray female out of India and Vantaggio. She is very crimpy and very dense. I think we'll redo this breeding.Tue, 09 May 2017 22:28:17 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4486Come visit us at Lambtown in Dixon next weekend October 1 and 2, 2016. It's a wonderful fiber festival at the Dixon May Fairgrounds. Looks like lots of vendors this year.Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:10:36 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4485What a wonderful day. We had over 600 visitors. They were able to walk through the pastures and visit with the alpacas. We were giving talks and Steve and Lin from Lassen View Alpacas were here to help and talk alpacas to the attendees. Fiber Artist were demonstrating spinning, weaving, carding and bobbin lace. Hot dogs, chips and water were available as well as wine tasting for the adults with a big thanks to my neighbor Matson's Vineyard. We had a Kid's of all ages activity area where yo...Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:08:29 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2834Saturday September 24, 2016 Come Join Us It's Fun and it's FREE! Join us for our 6th annual open house on National Alpaca Farm Days. We are joining alpaca ranchers across the US and Canada opening our ranch so you can meet the alpacas face to face. Walk through our pastures and experience the gentle nature of our alpacas. Bring your camera to take pictures with the alpacas. Learn about the alpaca and the life style directly from your local alpaca ranchers. Watch demonstrations of s...Mon, 26 Sep 2016 04:07:51 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4257Join us on Saturday, March 26,2016 from 10 AM to 3 PM Rain or Shine LEARN about alpacas. WATCH the annual harvest/shearing of their fiber. SEE fiber artists processing the fiber. SHOP in the boutique for alpaca products and gifts. ASK about our SPRING ALPACA SALE ENJOY a beautiful day in the country. Where: Arapaho Rose Alpacas 10702 Arapaho Dr Redding, CA Sat, 12 Mar 2016 03:12:57 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4155I want to thank Colleen for the great class on weaving a scarf. Fun was had by all and some beautiful scarves where created.Wed, 18 May 2016 05:03:04 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4078This is the third time I have hosted a fleece show in my garage. It's also a great way to be sure the garage gets cleaned at least once a year. The good news is the fleece show was only a week before the Open Ranch and National Alpaca Farm days. This cleaning is a step in getting ready for that event.Mon, 21 Sep 2015 06:51:39 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/4077This is the 6th year we have participated in this festival. The festival staff came by and told us that people are calling them to make sure the alpacas will be here this year. :)Mon, 21 Sep 2015 06:42:15 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3789April 11 & 12, 2015 Dixon Fairgrounds, Dixon CA F R E E A D M I S S I O N !! You and your family are invited to the Tenth Annual California Classic Alpaca & Fiber Show. CALPACA returns the Premier California Alpaca Show again this year to the DIXON Fairgrounds April 11 & 12. A multitude of ranches from all over California, Nevada, Oregon and Arizona will be represented. What better way to learn more about the alpaca industry than to talk to alpaca breeders and meet 200 alpacas face to f...Sun, 05 Apr 2015 18:06:06 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3788SATURDAY, MAY 16TH 10am to 3pm $80 Includes all supplies - Pre-registration required at mycopigments.com/upcoming-events or email questions to Alissa Allen mycopigments@gmail.com Many wild mushrooms and lichens contain permanent, intensely colored dyes. In this workshop, you will explore a multitude of local dye mushrooms. Wild foraged fungi and ethically harvested lichens will define our palette. Using 10 species of urban and woodland fungi, along with eco-friendly mordants, we wil...Sun, 05 Apr 2015 17:49:35 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3786Sunday April 19th 10 AM - 2pm Instructor: Colleen Harvey-Arrison, treadledancer@gmail.com $20 Non-Members No weaving experience necessary. Please email for your reservation. BRING: A lunch. If you plan on practicing on a pre-warped loom, please bring yarn and a stick shuttle (if you have one) WORKSHOP DESCRIPTION: Colleen will be demonstrating weave structures most commonly use on a rigid heddle loom: Anything but "plain" plain weave Finger Controlled lace Weaves Pick up ...Mon, 06 Apr 2015 10:07:53 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3774Join us on Saturday, March 26,2016 from 10 AM to 3 PM Rain or Shine LEARN about alpacas. WATCH the annual harvest/shearing of their fiber. SEE fiber artists processing the fiber. SHOP in the boutique for alpaca products and gifts. ASK about our SPRING ALPACA SALE ENJOY a beautiful day in the country. Where: Arapaho Rose Alpacas 10702 Arapaho Dr Redding, CA Sat, 12 Mar 2016 02:55:23 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3206The results are in..... Commercial Halter: Amelia Second Place Cora Lee Second Place Gypsy Sixth Place Lindbergh Fifth Place Commercial Division of Fleece Show: Amelia First/Color Champion Malika First/Reserve Color Champion Mulan First/Reserve Color Champion Calif Dreamin First/Reserve Color Champion What a fun show. At the herdsire auction I was high bidder on a great breeding that will bring new genetics to my herd. I also purchased a beautiful Black Suri that is ...Tue, 01 Apr 2014 01:31:16 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3205WE had a great day with the Red Hat Ladies. They came to meet the alpacas and to observe us spinning and shearing. Despite the bad weather we were able to find dry alpacas and it didn't rain during their visit. What a fun day. Tue, 01 Apr 2014 01:20:44 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3186Shasta Land Trust had an fund raising event at the farm today. It was a beautiful day and I made lots of new friends. Shasta Land Trust was founded in 1998 as a non-profit organization dedicated to permanently conserving open space, wildlife habitat, and agricultural land. We demonstrated shearing, spinning, weaving, they brought their lunches and watched the shearing and visited the alpacas in the fields. What a wonderful day.Sun, 23 Mar 2014 01:45:59 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3180The AAUW- Empowering women since 1881, presented the Women in Stem Conference for 6th, 7th and 8th Grade Girls at Shasta Collage. This is the 4th year we have participated and the first year we have been asked to be a presenter. Our topic was Animal Husbandry. I'm not sure how well the presentation went but I know the alpacas were a hit. The goal of this conference is to encourage girls to continue their education beyond high school. We talked about the history of the alpacas as well as...Thu, 20 Mar 2014 01:45:57 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3043It was a beautiful sunny day in Redding so decided to tackle more leaves. This time down the drive way. I had a plan blow the leaves up against the pasture fence then pick them up. My "girls" got in on the act. They were pulling them through the fence and eating them, yum yum! No worries they are ok leaves. The dogs stood by to watch. Fri, 03 Jan 2014 01:21:31 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/3009I know snow is not unusual but it is unusual in Redding. I have a whole new respect for those of you that live in areas are cold and snowy all winter. I really don't enjoy hauling warm water or bucking hay in the snow. Fingers cold, feet cold, you know it's cold when you go into your walk-in box to warm up and it's at 33 degrees inside the box. There is a reason I live in California at 500 feet. Who thought when we were 110+ this summer that the rain chains that looked so neat would freeze?Mon, 09 Dec 2013 00:27:16 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2936 Good and bad news. Had to take a Fantine to UC Davis (Vets School). A week ago last Thursday, Fantine was what I call "ADR" (ain't doing right). It happened the day I had the group from Endeavor out. In the morning Fantine moved out with the rest of the herd but as the morning went by she just started to fade. Thankfully Lin and Steve Murray were here helping with the event. We were all in agreement she wasn't right, took her temperature which was normal, she was eating but when we looked at h...Fri, 01 Nov 2013 18:33:06 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2935Doris has a variety of physical limitations and is in a wheel chair. In 2012 she came with her mom to the NAFD event. Her mom tells me she still talks about being here and has fond memories of that outing. In 2013 Doris received some money from a relative. When her mom asks her how she would like to spend it. She remembered her trip to the alpacas and wanted to share that experience with her friends. Her mom, Marna, called to see if it was possible to bring a group of 35-50 challenged y...Fri, 01 Nov 2013 18:32:30 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2928What a great show and fun time I had at Gold Country Gathering alpaca show. Well maybe I had such a good time because it's probably one of the best showing I've had. I took the same 6 alpacas that went to AlpacaMania, Fantine, Amelia, Gypsy, Terra, Cora Lee, and Cosette. We took 2 Reserve Color Champion, 4 First Places, 1 Third and a 4th Place. Some of the animals we competed against were the same as last weekend but there were many new farms represented. I'm so proud of my girls. I also e...Wed, 30 Oct 2013 17:57:39 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2885I just have to say I always enjoy the Alpacamania show in Central Point Oregon. It's always fun to reconnect with people you haven't seen for a while. It's even better when you go into the show ring and get good placement. I believe the alpacas I took to Mania this year are the best I've ever taken. There were 6 in all. Amelia (suri) took First Place in Fleece and Halter. Terra,Gypsy and Cora Lee also got First Places in the halter class but I did not enter their fleeces. Cosette took a...Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:38:44 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2886This is the seventh year we have had a booth at Lambtown in Dixon, CA. It's interesting to observe the cycle of interest in the attendees. Several years ago when the economy first took a down turn you saw people getting back to the basic like knitting and crocheting. The following year the people were looking for rovings the year after that they wanted fleece and this year they were back looking for yarn. I wonder if the cycle is cyclical? Well we didn't bring any yarn this year so miss...Wed, 16 Oct 2013 02:55:59 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2793This weekend was the Palo Cedro Honeybee festival. We have been participating in this event for the last 6 years. We take alpaca products and a couple of alpacas each day. We are spinning and weaving in the booth but by far the biggest attraction is the alpacas. We normally bring alpacas that are going to the fall shows. How better to socialize them than by being petted by every stranger attending the festival. We swap out animals each day. Attendees remarked we treat the alpacas bett...Tue, 10 Sep 2013 18:54:38 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2750I joined fellow weavers and spinners at Ide Adobe Day in Red Bluff. We wore period dress of the 1850's. I can tell you I have a whole new respect for those people and the cloth they wore. It was a reasonably hot day probably around 100 degrees. We did get a spot under a lovely old oak tree that provided lots of shade, it was still uncomfortably hot. We rejoiced when the breeze came off the Sacramento River. It was a lovely day, got to talk to lots of people interested in the crafts if the p...Sun, 18 Aug 2013 21:24:32 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2707What a lovely day we had making felted scarves. It is amazing how a group of people with the same resources can create totally one of a kind scarves.Sun, 04 Aug 2013 01:45:27 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2685Farm visitors love meeting the crias. These two visitors got to hold Magdalena and Sparkle who are both about 20 days old. You can see the joy in the kids faces. Here is where you create a memory.Sat, 27 Jul 2013 19:50:49 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2672The temperature's are rising but that didn't stop us from enjoying ourselves. When went into dyeing frenzy mode. We dyed in crock pots single colors, multiple colors, we did fiber, roving, sock yarn and silk. We also painted rovings and yarn. We did subdued colors, and wild colors. While we were waiting for the dyed products to dry, we spun, carded, picked. It was a great day.Sat, 20 Jul 2013 01:07:43 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2657Had a fun day off the farm. Met with some friends and visited the Tuscany Heights Lavender Festival. You could buy a $5 ticket to cut your own lavender. They said you can cut all you want. Probably not the correct thing to say with alpaca people with lots of fleece to protect. Richard the owner even let us pick some of his private reserve found in his back yard.Sat, 13 Jul 2013 22:52:27 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2656Shear Bliss is a big 20.8 pound bay black cira. Couldn't wait around for us to see her be born. She was up and nursing waiting for someone to come out and say hello.Thu, 25 Jul 2013 10:52:23 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2655Magdalena was named after a famous female contortionist. Why you ask? Well she was a bit like a pretzel on delivery day. Her presentation was two front feet and no head. She was upside down with her head back and her legs some how wrapped about her head. Thank goodness for vets with small hands, Betsy was up to her arm pits with both hands getting her turned around for delivery. Magdalena was a healthy cria with good energy but seemed to be unable to nurse. All the correct instincts b...Sat, 13 Jul 2013 22:38:53 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2583Can my girls pick the wrong days to deliver. This week has been unusually warm for Redding that is know for it's warm weather. Our temperatures over the last week have ranged from 106 to 113. We set a new record for the highest LOW temperature on record. That would be a mild 87 degrees. You guessed it NOW was the time for Contessa to deliver. She had a small 12.7 pound female we named Sparkle in honor of her July 4th birthday. She has interesting markings at first was white and she had ...Fri, 05 Jul 2013 23:22:02 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2580Have you ever thought about the wildlife that still has to find their food no matter what the temperature is. They don't have air conditioning and swamp coolers like we do. This little robin has been at it all day finding food. The current temperature is about 109. The second picture is of another bird that was around too. Anyone know if this is a juvenile robin?Wed, 24 Nov 2021 22:35:34 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2576Meet Lindbergh the latest edition to our suri herd. Born this morning at 6:59am and survived his first 106 degree day. He is a big boy 21.8 lbs. I know mom, Sunny, has to be a happy camper as he was riding around perpendicular to her back bone for the last week or so. It looked so uncomfortable to me with either a knee or elbow sticking out. Ouch. We named him Lindbergh after Charles Lindbergh as his father is Piccard and his full sister is named after Amelia EarhartWed, 03 Jul 2013 15:42:40 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2538Dallas is the newest edition to Arapaho Rose Alpacas. He was born to Clarisse and was sired by Sentinel. Weighing in at 18.9 pounds. He is up and healthy, nursing and ready to go out and meet the rest of the herd. He seems to have great density and his crimp looks great.Sat, 15 Jun 2013 21:40:32 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2532Camp Love-a-Lot is a is a two-week summer day camp for youths ages 10 - 15. Each camper is teamed with a dog waiting for adoption. The camper is responsible for feeding, cleaning up after, and training their dog while at camp.Sun, 16 Jun 2013 01:17:17 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2489This is the time of year the Guinea hens start sitting on their eggs. It's also the same time we mow the long grass. It's not unusual for us to come too close to a Guinea's nest and they abandon it. This year in anticipation I got an incubator. When they abandoned the nest I slipped the eggs in the incubator. So far 8 eggs have hatched. The brighter side is they will assist in the snake problem.Sat, 01 Jun 2013 00:36:24 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2488While the roses are beautiful this year this is the second year that I've had snakes. Yikes! I hate snakes! Have been here for 35 years and last year was the first snake year. The good news is this year the snakes have just been scary 2 gopher, one king and 1 rattler. Last year they were all rattlers. The most amazing thing about the gopher snake yesterday is that it had gotten into my little chicken hutch where I keep my chicks until it's "SAFE" for them to go out into the real world. ...Sat, 01 Jun 2013 01:15:51 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2417The pasture is tall and it's time to mow. So I decided to get the lawnmower out and clean it up before I mowed. It's always nice to have a clean machine. Well you probably already know this. I did but forgot. ArmorAll works great on vinyl to get it nice and shiny clean. Well it also makes it really slick. Really slick is not so good when it's on a lawnmower seat and you are mowing hills. HOLD ON. I almost slid out of the seat a couple of times. The grass was so tall I couldn't se...Sat, 04 May 2013 17:18:34 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2395So it's time to get the irritation (opps) irrigation going. I've spent the last few days checking and fixing the water to the pastures. I guess I never fully appreciated how much time and effort it took when someone else was doing it. It's pretty easy to figure you have a problem when you turn on the sprinklers and there is a flood of water bubbling up from the ground. Sounds easy enough dig a hole cut the pipe, make the repair and your done. Well not really. First problem I'm digging ...Fri, 26 Apr 2013 02:24:18 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2372Back from the California Classic Alpaca Show in Pleasanton, CA. We had a great show with Summer coming away with the Color Group Award. Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:43:04 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2337I've been busy getting my youngsters ready for show. Amelia is my "wild card" the first time on her halter she had a tantrum and THREW herself on the ground. (Got to love those suri''s) She actually doing really well now. She will be joined by Cosette, Hugo and India. Actually, I'm taking 8 to the California Classic Alpaca Show in Pleasanton April 13 & 14th. Drop by the stalls and say HI!Tue, 09 Apr 2013 20:35:10 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2340Last week we got much needed rain probably about 3 inches here at the ranch. The good news is I got 2 pastures fertilized before it rained. Following the rain we have had some great warm weather that has just made the pastures and the weeds pop. So today was reserved for mowing. When I went through the girls pasture a couple couldn't resist finding the tasty bits in with the dead leaves.Sun, 21 Apr 2013 10:22:16 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2310Spring is always a busy time around the ranch. Crias's being born. Getting ready for shows. Getting the irrigation ready for another year. Fertilizing pastures and OH Yeah, Shearing. A couple of year ago I moved my shearing to mid March with the plan to have everyone but the show string sheared before April first. I did that because it is not unusual to have a day or two in April that's about 100 degrees. The pastures are drying out and the alpacas are finding places to have dirt baths. ...Tue, 09 Apr 2013 17:04:23 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2247Several of us got together to dye a variety of fibers this weekend. The weather was glorious and we had a great day. It was fun to see the results of each person's color selections. What's really fun is to read the name of the color and have an idea in your mind what it will look like when you haven't seen a color chart for that color. Today that color was Pistachio. I was expecting a green color like the pistachio inside the shell. Wrong, the color had a lot of blue undertones. Very ...Mon, 11 Mar 2013 01:49:29 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2230Daisy was born, at a friends farm, to a first time mom who rejected her. I don't mean she just was a little slow in figuring out motherhood. She would NOT let Daisy nurse. The farm tried diligently to bond the mother and daughter. The vet suggested drugging the mom and putting her into the twilight zone. They tried this for days. They followed the vet's instructed and increased the dose until the mother was so out of it she was staggering around. That is until Daisy tried to nurse. Then sh...Mon, 04 Mar 2013 21:10:36 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2249We have been having a very mild winter here in Northern California. The end of 2012 brought lots of rain actually some flooding with record setting snow fall (for time of year) like 162% of normal. Then a warm dry beginning of 2013. Mother Nature has a wicked sense of humor, The trees are in bloom and it looks like spring, but I know when I get ready to shear in mid March she'll change her mind and send lots of rain.Mon, 11 Mar 2013 14:19:40 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2222So did you like the movie "Les Miserables"? Well so did we. We named Sierra's female cria Fantine (Anne Hathaway's Character) we also have Cosette and of course Hugo named for the writer Victor Hugo. Fantine was born January 20, 2013 at 19.5 lbs. She is an early bird as she was born about 7 AM. Guess mom forgot to read the page of the book about "normally" birth between 10 and 2. Who cares she is a beautiful medium fawn cria that is very dense and appears to be very crimpy. Her color...Sat, 02 Mar 2013 23:48:50 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2051Well I guess our due date was wrong on Sedona. She had her cria today and it's not a premie. I was out of town and my granddaughter Shelby was on baby watch. She returned home and not 10 minutes later her dad called and told her there was a baby on the ground. She thought something had happend to Bentley or York in the 10 minutes she was gone. He said no, "it's a new baby!" She and her twin, Mariah, run to the car for a wild ride to see the new baby. They lives just 5 minutes away. W...Sun, 03 Feb 2013 10:56:39 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2023NessaRose finally had her cria. I shouldn't say finally because she was actually a few days early. I predicted she would be born on the 28th as my niece was visiting and like clockwork there is normally a baby born when she is here. So the morning of, December 28th at 8:51 AM Nessa had, GypsyRose Lee, a beautiful female cria that is medium fawn. Her sire is KTL El Torro. Fortunately, Nessa decided to have the cria while we were cleaning and feeding. This meant we were there to watch t...Fri, 18 Jan 2013 02:14:27 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/2001OK so we didn't get a White Christmas, BUT, we did get snow here twice in the last couple of weeks. Snow is not unusal here since the mountains are just a few short miles away. It's not unusual to have the roads closed going north, east or west and on the rare occasion south. Redding is a little lower so we occasionally get snow. If we are lucky once or twice a year we might get some. So when we do get snow it's a BIG deal. I love the snow and love it even more when it only last a day...Mon, 14 Jan 2013 13:08:42 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1956We have just finished our first two "Weave an Alpaca Scarf" classes. This class is designed for you to learn to weave. You learn the basics and terms of weaving and the basic weave pattern. It's just a fun easy class to learn the basics. Colleen Harvey-Arrison taught our first classes. She pre-warped the looms with alpaca yarn. The students chose two colors for thier scarf which sported a few small stripes. Everyone had a great time and completing their alpaca scarves. Some of the s...Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:41:30 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1959Here is our fall line up. 10-4-12 Cosette (dsg)female from Elphba (bb) and LV Vantagio (dsg) 10-2-12 Hugo (lf) male from Windy (bb) and LV Vantagio (dsg) 10-9-12 India (db) female from Citrine (mf) and Skywalker 10-26-12 Bentley (mf) male from Bonita (bb) and OVA Vyper (mb) 10-29-12 York (mb/lb?) male from Kiss (mb) and OVA Kiernan 11-28-12 Terra (bg/lf) female from Hevaeh and White Saber (w) Still to come: NessaRose. any day Sierra Feb 13 Tuula Feb 13 Sedona Feb 13 Wed, 26 Dec 2012 21:57:18 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1962Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:45:36 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1963This is the "Friendliest Alpaca Show in the World". Mon, 17 Dec 2012 21:35:09 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1961It's always fun to have a booth full of alpaca fiber, rovings, and yarn at a fiber festival. We were way busywith lots of returning customers. What a fun day enjoyed with other fiber enthusiats.Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:39:00 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1958What a great day. We opened the farm from 10 to 4 for people to experience the alpaca lifestyle. The pastures were opened to visitors to interact with the alpacas. Though the alpacas were shy in the begining they warmed up and stood, kushed or walked up to visitior for attention. The day on the alpaca ranch was filled with various activities for people to enjoy. We had spinners, weavers, shearing talks, basis alpaca talks and free food. Some people spent the day. One comment, "I feel ...Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:44:10 +0000https://www.columbiaalpacabreeder.com/article-list/1960Every year we take a few alpacas to our booth at the local Honeybee Festival. It's a good way to get your show string alpacas bullet proof for the ring. After hundreds of hands on experiences a one on one with the Judge is "no big deal".Mon, 17 Dec 2012 20:22:07 +0000