Author Archives: cliffhousealpacas

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About cliffhousealpacas

Once upon a time, my dad drove by some funny looking animals standing on little dirt hills in a field. Thus, the dream of an alpaca ranch was born. Now, we are embarking on a grand adventure of raising alpacas and becoming fiber artists.

The best laid plans

Posted on October 10, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

After an unseasonably warm early fall, we woke up on Saturday morning to 4 inches of snow and white out conditions. Beautiful…the only problem? Saturday was the Cliff House Ranch open house. Then the power went out. Dad, the eternal optimist … Continue reading →

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Boogie is starving

Posted on October 7, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Below is a picture of Tuscany, Morocco, and Merlin. Do you see the scene stealer? What else is he trying to steal? Here, this picture is even more obvious. Oh Boogie. If a way to a man’s heart is through his … Continue reading →

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Brittany’s Story: 4 weeks later

Posted on October 6, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Four weeks have passed since she Brittany tried carrots for the first time. We tracked her down to see if she made any progress with her addiction. We found Brittany begging for carrots from strangers. She’ll take a carrot from … Continue reading →

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From start to finish: Part 4 – Washing

Posted on October 5, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Washing. It sounds straightforward, right? Well it’s not. This step is one of the easiest to get wrong, and the penalty for messing up is turning all your fiber into a big felted knot, completely ruining it (it’s like putting … Continue reading →

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Alpacas in sprinkler video

Posted on October 4, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

If you’ve ever wondered what alpacas look like when they’re playing in a sprinkler? No? Where is your curiosity? Well it’s a fairly tame sort of “playing” but it’s adorable.

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Does this make us official?

Posted on October 3, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

It only took us over a year, but we now have a sign for the ranch! Awesome, right? Dad took the old sign, turned it over, and used a router to carve in our logo. I spent most of the … Continue reading →

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Daddy’s boys are eating out of his hands, literally

Posted on September 30, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Dad has had a project recently, trying to teach the alpacas to eat their crumbles (a pellet treat) from his hands. Alpacas as a general rule don’t really approve of interactions with people, so it’s actually quite a difficult endeavor. … Continue reading →

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Random fiber word of the day: batt

Posted on September 29, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

If you quilt, or play baseball, you may have an idea of what a batt/bat is. In baseball, it is long piece of wood used to bean people who make you angry. In quilting, batting is the layer of filling … Continue reading →

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Fall barn cleaning

Posted on September 23, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

Note: Sorry for the lack of pictures lately, Dad is out of town. Mom keeps a very, very clean barn. The daily barn chores keep the place spick and span (cleaning: 2 horse stalls, the horse paddock, 2 alpaca stalls, … Continue reading →

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Annnnd…fail

Posted on September 22, 2011 by cliffhousealpacas

I finished the spinning project I’ve been working on. Unfortunately, it was supposed to be black and brown yarn with BROWN beads. Now I have 250 yards of the wrong yarn, and no more Brittany or Tulip fiber to work with. … Continue reading →

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