Christmas Day at JandJ Alpacas

JandJ Rufus

It was a very wet Christmas morning but the sun came out for a few minutes to take photos of our wet & muddy alpacas. Rufus is out in the paddocks with his brothers & still manages to look cute even when he's wet. 

Our  cria are all turning 6 months & still with their mothers. They have the large shed & with the weather being the way it is have been shut in some nights & sometimes in the day when it has been really bad. 

We let the alpacas out Christmas morning & could watch them while we were having Christmas dinner but shut them back in for the night before it got dark

JandJ Swift

JandJ Daley

JandJ Spirit

JandJ Gem

We're here tomorrow - come & see us

Made-It Market, Guildhall, Cambridge - 24 Nov 2012

Can't wait to go to Cambridge even though it's a really early start & late evening. I hope it stays dry as Cambridge is lovely when it gets dark & with all the Christmas lights.

Fab day at Southwell Minster

We had a fab day at Southwell Minster yesterday. 

Our stands have had a repaint in Hardwick white & the scarves look really lovely on them. After trying on all the new colours of Bridget Cowl I decided that this year, the colour which suits me best is Ruby Tuesday & Jess who always loves grey picked Persia & Clementine, so wearing our scarves we were ready for the public. What a lot of people there were, even though it started off as a rainy morning I think everyone had decided to come out & go shopping! so many people. 

We had some lovely comments about our new scarves, everyone loved Bridget Cowl, Genevieve Cowl, Meringue Scarf & Pillows of Comfort Scarf  & some went out in bags with new owners, some went out being worn & some went out as prezzies.

Southwell Minster - Crafts for Christmas - Saturday 3rd November

Really looking forward to this event, I love Southwell Minster. Can't wait to show everyone our new Bridget cowl in all the colours we now have knitted.

Lana, Luminaria & Clementine

Couldn't resist taking this photo, my pale colours together!

Bridget Cowl in Destiny

Just listed our Bridget Cowl on Etsy & Folksy so I thought I'd add it on here as well, gorgeously soft scarf.

Autumn Collection

This is the first of this years Collection of scarves & cowls. I have searched the internet for new designers who will allow us to knit their beautiful patterns in our gorgeous alpaca wool. 

This first cowl designed by Elena Rosenberg is called Bridget Cowl & knits superbly well in alpaca because of it's drapey nature. We have knitted it in Lana, Thea & Barbers Pole our colours from the past couple of years & it looks fab, really easy to wear & perfect for all ages. 

Bridget Cowl in Lana

We now have our new colours back from the mill & Valerie is quickly knitting one of each of these as we are at our first event in Stamford on Sunday.

The colours we have added this year are - Frazer - white, Kitt - beige, Lucia - light fawn, Charity - mid fawn, Ruby Tuesday - dark fawn, Dragonfly - mid brown, Buck & Nell - grey, Celmentine & Persia - grey, Celeste - black, Hope - black, Kiki - black, Nell - black & Sapphire - black, lots & lots of gorgeous soft alpaca wool to knit.

What's in the basket?

Had a little photo shoot in the the field with the alpacas last week, our gorgeous new scarves & cowls for this year. 

Can you guess what we carried the scarves in? 

Blade, Daley, Wallace & the basket!

JandJ Daley

I'm finally blogging about our last &  probably the cutest little alpaca of 2012. He was born while the Olympics was in full swing & obviously we had to name him after our favourite Olympian, Tom Daley. He was born on 30th July at 12.15pm, second cria for JandJ Wren & another boy, a nice & easy birth but he did come out with a bit of a bent front leg. This sometimes happens we think it is when the cria is a little cramped inside their mum but it usually sorts it's self out after a week & with Daley this is the case as he has 2 beautifully straight front legs now. He is gorgeous, fabulous crimp in his fleece & so sweet looking, very like his mum.

JandJ Sparkle

Sparkle is a very long awaited little cria. If you have read the other blogs you will know that we were very lucky to raise Drew's Spirit or Spirit as she is known. Drew was so poorly when she gave birth & had to have an operations when Spirit 4 months old, but both pulled through & Spirit grew to be a pretty little alpaca. As she was so small we decided that we would not mate her at 2 years old but leave her to 3. We mated her 2 years ago but unfortunately she did not hold so last year we tried again, fingers & everything crossed, we watched & waited. On 21 July at 12.45 she had a little black cria, we watched the birth hoping all would be ok & it was & even better than ok because the little cria Sparkle is a beautiful black girl just like her gran Drew. She is fab but very small but then so are both her mum & gran.

JandJ Wallace

There has been much discussion about Wallace's name which is why I have not blogged about him. He was born on 17th July, straight forward birth but we really were amazed how huge he is, definitely the largest cria we have had, with really long legs. He is McKenzie's boy so James gets to pick his name, although I pick his sister McKenna's name last year. I really wanted another name beginning with Mc but instead he is called Wallace after William Wallace so the Scottish connection is still there. 

Wallace really does not like having his photo taken so it took ages to get one without his ears completely back!

JandJ Blade

The weather was very kind to us on our open weekend, we met some lovely people & sold some of our gorgeous girls & boys.

JandJ Blade at 3 days old

 No cria had been born on Saturday so we were really hoping for a birth on Sunday & Mississippi did not disappoint us, she gave birth at 10.45 on Sunday morning. After being shut in the shed & the top of the field on Saturday we decided before we opened to the public to let the alpacas have the whole paddock & of course they all went down to the rolling pad at the bottom. So JandJ Blade was born down there & then had to be carried all the way up the field into the shed so we could keep an eye on him & where everyone could see him. It was an uncomplicated birth but he was very noisy being born, moaning away even before he was fully out, not had that before. 

He is Comet's second cria & Mississippi's 5th, her daughter Destiny is also in the paddock due in the next couple of weeks, she is the image of her mum, at a distance it is hard to tell them apart. Blade is a very forward little cria, friendly, always comes to see us, very inquisitive. He is a gorgeous colour, a little like great grandma Plum, a plumy, mahogany colour. 

Open Weekend

The sun is shining as I write this & I hope that it will for at least part of the weekend.


The alpacas are in the big sheds, so we can all be dry. The mums & cria, & mums to be have the big shed & paddock so they are in & out & it only takes a minute to herd them in if it starts to look rainy. They were happily out most of yesterday in all that rain very unlike them.


McKenzie is looking very uncomfortable, a cria today after 11 would be perfect, Mississippi & Miss Scarlett are also over 11 months so we will have to wait & see.

JandJ Bruno

On Thursday 28th June, Miss MoneyPenny gave birth at 9.20 it had been a straight forward birth & all looked well but the cria looked a little weaker than the others. He had a lovely pink mouth so we left them in the shed with the other alpacas to bond & to get up on his feet. 


We went back to check half an hour later & Bruno hadn't moved much from where he had been born, still laying flat out, this is not normal so he obviously needed help. Miss MoneyPenny was pawing at the ground around him & moaning, as his mum even a first time mum knows that this is not what normally happens. Martin started to rub him with a towel & turn him over, bend his legs into cush (sitting position), propping him up on a bed of hay, he kept doing this for 30 mins with Miss MoneyPenny looking on. We left him sitting in cush for another half an hour, newborn alpacas usually get to cush position in about 10 to 15 minutes on their own. When we went back he was happily sitting there & Martin just helped him stand, holding him for a few minutes until he found his feet. Twenty minutes later Bruno was feeding & wandering round the shed the past couple of hours behind him. 


He is JandJ Affinity's first cria & a very similar colour to him, Bruno has very bright black eyes & the longest eyelashes I have ever seen on an alpaca.

JandJ Archie

On Sunday 24th June at 12.45 Ani finally gave birth to Archie, it had been a long & slow birth lasting all morning. I think that most births are very similar, it's probably that most of the mums to be do not show that they are about to give birth but we were watching Ani very carefully for any little tell tale sign. At the end Archie was just eased out a little.He is the first cria out of our stud Comet who is a handsome boy just like his father Van Dyck, with the same face & curly top knot. Archie is Ani's first cria & she is a very good mum just like her mum Skylark.

Magic & Swift

Magic

Swift

JandJ Swift

Swift with a milky mouth

Last Friday, where has this week gone! Skylark gave birth to a beautiful little girl called Swift. As Skylark is my alpaca & one of the original 4 she is very special to me & I was determined to see the birth. For a not too big alpaca she is always huge at the end of her pregnancy & we have often seen bulges of legs appear on her stomach, when we sheared her back at the end of April she looked ready to give birth.
Skylark always gives birth later in the day, only once with Wren it was 11am, with the other 4 it  has been between 1 & 2.30 so I kept watch. At 2.30 nothing but she was so uncomfortable & by 3 we definitely had an alpaca on the way,  Swift arrived at 3.30 much to my relief. 
Swift is beautiful, gorgeous shiny jet black & because of this very hard to photo.Skylark's cria are named after birds so we have Raven, Wren, Robin, Ani & Kitt. Swift was up & trying to feed within 15 mins Skylark's babies are always like this, especially the girls, they whizz around on the first day & then become calm & relaxed like their mum. 


All day Clementine has been uncomfortable so I am hopeful for another birth tomorrow. She is 11 months & 6 days & so are Miss MoneyPenny & Ani, all are pregnant to different sires.

First cria of 2012 JandJ Magic

Yesterday morning in all that horrible weather our first cria of the year was born. Luckily when the weather is bad & the babies are due or are a newly born we often shut our girls in the barn overnight to protect the cria more than anything else as we have mums who would like to be out in all weathers with their cria at the bottom of the field but we also have mums who like the warm & comfort of the barn & wouldn't dream of being out in the rain! 

 Gem & Magic at 7 hours old

Motherly love
In the background Skylark, Ani, Miss MoneyPenny, Clementine  & Spirit

Anyway our first girl to give birth is Gem, this is her first cria he was born at 9.20am & we watched the birth along with the other girls in the barn especially Clementine who kept checking him. Gorgeous little dark brown boy who we've called Magic.Gem is a brilliant mum & Magic is doing well, he had to have a coat on last night as it was so cold & we are hoping that he will get chance to go outside tomorrow if it stops raining long enough.

JandJ Freya

Last but not least a week later the last cria of the year was born. Flora had quite a long labour but eventually at 9.50 Freya was born, she is Flora's first cria. Freya is a beautiful black little girl always likes to be at the front looking at what is happening.

JandJ Caspian

We had to wait another couple of weeks for the second to last cria of last year. Lana Caspian's mum is very sneaky, she does not like us seeing her give birth. When Clementine, Caspian's big big sister was born I was checking Lana every hour & when I went to check her near a bunch of nettles a little cria stood up! The next year she snook big sister Kiki out at 7.30am. Caspian is the closest to seeing the birth I have had, he had only just touched the ground, he was born at 9.45 & Lana gave no indication she was in labour as normal, she is a very good mum, keeps her cria close & is very attentive. He has always been very photogenic & cute & very inquisitive.. We took him to the Newark & Notts Show & he was in a class with Henley, Hen came 2nd & Cas came 4th a very good result.

JandJ Enya

Gem was humming last night & a new cria is imminent.

Gypsy with Enya, Divine & Flora

JandJ Enya was born on 19th July at 10.30, text book birth, her mum Gypsy is a very experience mum she has had 4 cria with us before Enya, Lana, Deacon, Murphy & Malachai. Gypsy babies are now given Irish names so Enya was a good choice for us an we like Enya's music.Up and feeding within an hour, Enya is jet black with a beautiful head & has grown into a gorgeous little girl.

JandJ Avalon

We were so busy watching Treasure being born that we missed Avalon, he was in a different field as he was born early at 10 months 2 weeks and 5 days & his mum Raven had not yet been moved into the field near the house. Avalon was fine, up and feeding he is Raven's first boy, Eden and Persia are his big sisters all of them are jet black just like their mum. He is always at the front of the pack like big sis Persia & is a handsome boy.
Avalon went to the Newark & Notts Alpaca Show & came away with a 1st rosette, he was very good in the ring & all day & we were very proud of him.

Raven & Avalon

JandJ Treasure

My girls are humming away in the field this morning especially Miss MoneyPenny & she's not due first. Gem is looking at little more ready & the sun is shining, it's probably the best day of the week to give birth but I think that it is unlikely to be today but she's being watched every hour.

 JandJ Treasure was born on a  lovely sunny July morning at 11.35. She is Thea's first cria and we watched the birth & it took time for her head to come out quite a large head, it's always interesting we have large heads, small & huge cria & when the grow up they all seem about the same size. Treasure certainly doesn't have a large head now but a very cute teddy bear head she is very pretty. She's a very dark chocolate brown colour (which is always the best colour to make scarves out of it's so popular) & all one colour which is different to her mum Thea who is the only girl we have with a large spot on her back. Thea's also claim to fame is that she had the best micron baby fleece on the farm & we have made gorgeous scarves from that so we will be interested to see what Treasure's stats are.

JandJ Marvel

Marvel was born at 10.05, his is Dream's second cria & we watched the birth, it was a different birth to everyone we have had. All was progressing well & we had what we thought was the nose coming through as normal but it was in fact the top of Marvel's head, so the came head out but no legs & then a minute or so later the legs came out what a relief & then the rest of a huge cria. Marvel has grown into a very handsome little alpaca no bigger than all the others & has now moved on to a new home with his brothers Nayte & Flynn.

JandJ Divine

JandJ Divine is Destiny's first ever cria & she decided to have her just after dinner the same day that Lumi had Flynn. We watched the birth & all went well, Martin just eased her back feet out, Destiny had done all the hard work. Divine is like her mum & grandma Mississippi a beautiful black girl. Destiny always has to come over & smell you when you are near, she has a gorgeous soft gentle temperament & I hope that Divine will be just as friendly, at the moment she is a little shy but she is still just a little cria.

JandJ Flynn

I really must catch up with last years cria as our first of this year is due on Saturday!

JandJ Flynn is the first ever multi coloured alpaca we have had & hopefully he will not be the last, he is so cute. He is Lumi's 5th cria & all have been beautiful, she is the only white alpaca we own & with Hornblower our black stud as his dad we did wonder if we would get a different colour & we were definitely not disappointed. He was born at 10.30am all calm & quiet, Lumi is always the calmest chilled out mum. From the beginning his colours were interesting & as he has grown they have got better, he has 4 gorgeous little brown feet & his face has pretty freckles.

JandJ McKenna

McKenna was born on Sunday 9th July at 11am, we watched the birth & it all went well, she is McKenzie's first cria, McKenzie is a lovely friendly alpaca & she has made a very good mum. McKenna was up & feeding in an hour or so but was a little slow. She is my favourite of this years cria very cute. She walked with her mum but not on her own for the first 3 days, didn't go off & play with the other babes & spent her time sitting, so I spent time sitting watching her & talking to her, as sitting on their own & not running off when you approach at this age in very unusual. On day 3 she started to run around just like all the others & has done ever since, yesterday when we let them out into a new paddock McKenna was definitely the fastest. She is a gentle cria, has a beautiful face, all curls & is always at the front to be first at the gate to see me.

JandJ Cinder

Cinder was born on July 2nd at 8.45 & was up & feeding within the hour. She is not at all like her big brothers Firefly, Dragonfly & Ember who are very calm & not bothered about anything & does not look like them they are grey & brown. Cinder does look alittle like her mum Orch & sister Butterfly but doesn't make squeaky noises like Butter who we do call Squeaky. Cinder is very inquisitive but a little apprehensive so I hope over the next month or so when we halter train her she will gain some more confidence.

New photos of our alpacas taken last weekend

  JandJ Flynn

JandJ Topaz and JandJ Chastity

  JandJ Nettle

JandJ Chastity JandJ Golden Wonder & JandJ Henley

JandJ Rufus

JandJ Rufus is so cute & very like his brother Finn, whose photo is on our leaflets. We just missed his birth. His mum Vermillion is a reddish brown, hence her name & always has pretty cria. She has had 6 cria with us 4 boys and 2 girls & as

 she is our oldest alpaca at 15, we have decided to retire her this year.

Rufus is now 6 months old, a lovely red brown colour & a little smaller than the rest but still has a gorgeous face.