Yesterday was a very exciting day--the day our baby alpacas arrived at our farm, their new home.  There were several mechanical and transportation problems, but they arrived about noon.  Both the boys are about 6 months old.  One is weaned the other is still nursing.  He brought along his mom for a week or two.  She is gorgeous and a lot more friendly than the babies.  She has had a lot more time to learn about people and the good things they can do for her--like feed her and give her treats.  All three of them were dirty and wet but gorgeous and I loved them all as soon as I saw them.
Unfortunately, yesterday, and today for that matter,  were and are very rainy days so the fields are sinks of mud.  Mack built a lovely loafing shed for them, but they seemed to like being out in the rain better than being inside. The boys are soaked and taking on a red clay mud hue even though they are a lovely cream or off-white color (excellent for fiber because it can be dyed).   Like little kids, alpacas lie down and refuse to move when they are scared.  Needless to say we had a little of that going on yesterday, which did impact the color. The mother is brown and doesn't show the dirt at all.  She is very well behaved in addition to being a very elegant creature in her looks, bearing and personality. 
I have always wanted to have some animals just for their fiber.  Since I love everything about the process of making clothes (and taking care of animals) it didn't seem right not to start from scratch. Sheep were what I expected to get eventually--alpacas seemed out of range--and then suddenly the opportunity to have alpacas dropped into our laps and we jumped on it.  We have been busy studying up on everything we can find about alpacas.  Mack and I are looking forward to learning from our boys as we move forward together on training and everything that comes with raising two beautiful and intelligent additions to our family menagerie.  Pictures are below--aren't they cute and ooooh, so wet!