|
Thursday, February 09, 2012
Lonsdale Fall Extravaganza 2011
It's been a while since an update for all of you! But we have not been idle these past few months...
After the purchase of our new 3X Champion Suri male, Finally Friday, we began to turn our attention to many outlets for our wonderful alpaca products.
We are excited to have our items in several local stores and thank them for partnering with us:
- All Yarn, Lonsdale, MN
- Cranky Alice, New Prague, MN
- Northfield Yarn, Northfield, MN
We have also expanded our retail events for 2012 to give our customers even more opportunities to purchase luxury alpaca products from our farm. We have been hearing over and over again how much you love your alpaca socks, scarves, sweaters..... So in addition to ordering directly from our farm at any time, you can now also stop and browse at the above stores or at events in your area.... Check out our calendar page for a continually increasing list of events.... http://rosecrestalpacas.com/pages/790/rose-crest-alpacas--events-calendar
We welcome your requests. If we don't have it in stock, we will gladly look for the items you need. Just, call, order and pick up or we can ship it to you. Fast and easy luxury. (We take credit cards too!)
If you have a suggestion for a store that you think might like to carry our yarn or socks, let us know. Your input is an invaluable help to us as we serve our customers.
Our newest partner store... Northfield Yarn
Spriti of Brandtjen Farm Barn - site of a Fall event
Inside Brandtjen Farm Barn
Our booth at Brandtjen Farm - a great event!
|
|
Wednesday, November 16, 2011
In the loft.....
One of the enjoyable things we get to do on the farm is sell luxury alpaca items at boutiques and other events. Many are in arenas or similar areas, but sometimes we enjoy new and unexpected places to showcase our items. Such was the case in November at the Spirit of Brandtjen Farm in Lakeville. It is such a delight to see old friends and many new ones in our retail travels. We look forward to many repeated visits to Brandtjen Farm.
Check out our events page to see our schedule of planned retails stops. Check back often as we make frequent additions!
The multi-million dollar renovated community barn
|
|
Friday, November 11, 2011
Enjoying some "local" food
One of the great parts of the alpaca industry is getting a chance to meet some truly wonderful people. Rose Crest has been working in a brokering partnership with Marilynn now for several years. (Her husband Ian Watt has served as the president of the Australian Alpaca Association, treasurer of the AOBA board and owns Alpaca Consulting USA. He is a leading expert on alpaca fiber.) Though we have had brief opportunities to visit, Marilynn had never officially stayed at the farm before.
But from October 29 through Nov 1 we had the pleasure of spending some very special time and memories with Marilynn. We discussed alpacas, the industry, business ideas, caring for alpacas in a MN winter, the barn cats and many other topics. We also took Marilynn on a trip to a farm several hours north of us that had purchased some of her alpacas and introduced her to a second farm owner who had purchased from her as well before she headed on her way to Kinney Valley Alpacas in Wisconsin for the last couple of days during her visit.
With all of the "business", there was still time for fun and relaxation. A few of the highlights: MN Wild Rice soup, vomocka soup, kolacky, walleye, her first trip to a Perkins, a delightful meal at the Tavern in Northfield, hours of visits and she was able to join us for church on Sunday morning.
A truly delightful time and one we hope can be repeated soon. Marilynn has some beautiful animals in her herd on our farm including a number of rare 1/2 accoyo greys! Check out our sales list to learn more.
Trying wild rice soup
|
|
Tuesday, November 08, 2011
I have been looking through old photos from our farm and have run across many that made me smile. Our cat Moses had found the new pile of rock that we were going to spread in the alpaca pen. And our alpaca Romeo's curiosity at the strange site was peeked. :-)
I am posting a few others of my favorites here as well. Enjoy!
|
|
Saturday, October 29, 2011
Our daughter Victoria kindly put together a video of the birth of a special cria here on our farm this summer. Legacy, the grandson of our beloved late champion Nutmeg. What a wondrous delight to watch a new cria enter the world, take its first breaths and begin to walk on wobbly legs... Enjoy!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WM2towu6dCQ
|
|
Thursday, October 20, 2011
This month, we purchased a new beautiful 3x Champion (8 - 1sts too!) light brown Suri male for our farm. Because we were in the middle of an Open House, we purchased him via phone bid - an exciting first for our farm.
Friday is a beautiful male with twisted lustrous locks. We can't wait to use him in our herd next year!
|
|
Thursday, October 13, 2011
Welcome to our two little crias this week... Latte's little female cria on Sunday, Oct 9 and Pequina's little male on Thursday, October 13th - our last crias of the year.
No matter how many births we witness on the farm, I am always awed by them. Watching a newborn cria take its first breaths and try to navigate on its long little legs is truly amazing. Today I was watching as Pequina patiently and continually nudged her baby so that he would find the place to suckle his first drinks. She would cluck, turn her body and nudge him gently over and over to help him. Remarkable.
What a blessing to be able to witness this priceless and amazing first moments in the life of a cria.
|
|
Tuesday, September 27, 2011
It was growing dark last evening as I was finishing chores. I was about to head back to the house when I heard the pitter patter of little cria feet moving at a fast pace.
I looked out the barn window and saw our four little crias racing around the pen. They were weaving through the moms, darting in and out of the barn and running as fast as they could go. Their little ears were perked, their tails up and after a full-tilt run, they would happily pronk about at a slower speed with all four feet lifting off the ground at once.
It was pure joy to see those little alpacas so happy and filled with excitement. I smiled to myself and was thankful for a few moments to soak in their bliss. What a treat these little animals can be!
|
|
Monday, September 26, 2011
A perfect day for a hayride!
Beautiful weather, fall colors, hay rides, great help, alpacas and visitors.... What a nice weekend we had at the Open House. Thank you to everyone who visited and for the nice follow up emails we have been receiving.... And a special "thank you" to Ben, Tori, Anna, Sara and David for helping us out this past weekend.
We are still waiting for our two last crias of the year to arrive... They should be here any day. Join us this next weekend for another Open House Weekend on Oct 1-2 from 10 am - 5 pm. Back to baby watch!
|
|
Wednesday, September 14, 2011
In 2005, we decided to hunt for a hobby farm, where we could enjoy some acreage and keep Victoria's horse, Looky. After looking at many farms in the dead of winter in the southern Twin Cities, we found the farm we were after in Webster, MN.
We happily purchased the property and began work to prune trees, thin out brush, upgrade the barn and add white vinyl fencing for Looky to enjoy... Within a short time we brought Looky home... It was then that we realized he needed a friend. Katie, our full quarter horse mare, joined the herd.
After settling in at the farm, we discussed the possibility of using our small acreage for other animals - horses, cows, sheep, etc. But I wanted something I could care for easily and was apprehensive about animals we would sell for meat. (Too many city slicker genes and too much Bambi as a child.) While I enjoy hamburger, I knew I couldn't raise and name it and then eat it.
Several months went by. As a homeschool mom, I was always looking for new learning experiences for Victoria. After driving by a sign for an alpaca farm in our area, I contacted them to see if we could come to the farm for an afternoon. When Victoria and I stepped out of the car and saw those adorable alpaca faces, we were hooked.
After investigating and planning, we purchased our first 4 alpacas... 2 females and 2 males. So began an amazing adventure and the birth of our family owned alpaca farm.... Am adventure that has been filled with new friends, beautiful crias, tour groups, events and a wealth of fun.
|