Six minutes on that table and look what happens...

That's all it takes to shear an alpaca- walk it from the pen, lift it onto the table, tether back and front legs, stretch and secure as someone holds the head. Once settled, toe nails are cut and shearing begins . Shear one side then  roll the alpaca and shear the other. Check teeth, administer vaccination and wormer if appropriate then release. 

Meanwhile the useable part of the fleece, which is the majority, is taken from the shearing table and placed on the sorting table where three other people rapidly skirt and grade the fleece to its relative batch in less than six minutes.

6 min is all it takes to transform our stunningly beautiful 'teddy bears on legs' into ' Pink Panthers'. Now we must wait 3-6 months for the 'look' to return whilst enjoying the comedy of our Panther romping around inthe sun enjoying the freedom of their summer clothing.

Why do we leave the top knots on? Because it's cute- shave the topknot and  they look a bit like 'Old Nick'. You can't sell an alpaca with a shaved topknot!

Happy new hair do....

Well that's done, we knocked off shearing the last alpaca about 1 ish, having made good progress since 6.30am. Good breeze over night ensured all were dry this morning. We got a good start and Freya and Linda had al the remaining alpacas in their place adn running smoothly through the holding pens ensuring the shearer kept moving without a break throughout. A big thanks to all who took part in  rounding up, shearing , sorting, grading and tidying up. Couldn't have done it without you. Go get showered and enjoy!

All there is to do now is clear up. For the rest of the summer we live with the 'Pink  Panthers' until the regrowth rounds them back into cute Teddies. Mind you with those ears now their main feature these girls look pretty cute!

Busy busy busy... From the crack of sparrows

We begin shearing yesterday afternoon having shredded up a number of alpacas overnight Tuesday for an early start. Unfortunately the weather was against us for most of the day. So as we can't shear wet alpacas we delayed starting until the afternoon. In between showers we had just enough dry to get through about 40 before rain stopped play. 

We were all up at the crack of sparrows this morning to find our shredded alpacas a bit damp to kick off straight away. We got them outside in the wind for an hour while we all tucked into bacon sarnies and Bobs your Uncle we got the table busy by 8.30am. The weather has been perfect today with bright sunlight and a gentle breeze to keep the alpacas dry. Finished about 7.30pm after a full on day. 'Twas ever thus! Dinner now then bed.  We shall all get up at the crack of sparrowfart and do it all again tomorrow.

TOFT poo picking machine

TOFT Poo Picking Machine- Only thing missing is the engine. Runs on normal fuel intake with cake and coffee supplement! 

Seriously I always smile when I pass these rigs. We have them placed all over the farm in strategic positions for clearing the hard standings, small home paddocks, isolation paddocks etc. A £40 wheelbarrow and a £7 snow shovel. Yours truly has been known to invest in several snow shovels in July and August when he sees them in the sales at less than £7 outside small DIY outlets and garages. Well, we just can't have enough of those boys floating around to shovel up the Alpaca poo. Simple but, oh,so effective. After almost 20 years of picking alpaca poo we still haven't found anything better than a cheap plastic snow shovel for scooping up the 'beans'.

Of course we do have an old Wessex sweeper/scarifier that works off the PTO on the tractor for cleaning the bigger paddocks. I mean lets get real, there's almost 70 acres of alpacas  at TOFT !

TOFT Easter Open day

The TOFT Easter Open day took place yesterday. The Manor was running with Yarnies and fans of TOFT Studio TOFT Alpaca Stud and the TOFT Coffee Shop. The people started arriving at 9.30am even though we didn't officially start until 10am. By 3.30pm 6-700 people had been through the gates around the farm and back again. A huge TOFT thanks to all our helpers and staff who created a wonderful atmosphere in the shop, on the farm and with the alpaca walking. Happy Easter one and all and a huge thanks to our 'rellies' the TILLEY clan for giving up the time to steward and help the proceeding run smoothly.

Here is my incredible Mother in Law Myra joint in in the Alpaca walking. She's a real TOFT treasure and the best a man can get. Thanks again one  and all and we look forward to seeing you all again in August.

'Ansome is as Ansome does- TOFT Suris

Sometimes whilst you are busy 'doing' the alpacas strike a pose that just demands you grab your phone and show that you care. Here TOFT Dolce- an elegant young lady in the weaner field just knows she's photogenic and so I obliged. Enjoy

TOFT Character in the making....LORD EARL GREY

Thus is Lord Earl Grey posing for the photies this morning in the wind. He's a 7 month Old Grey Suri. We rarely get a grey anything in the TOFT herd anymore as we breed for pure colour to produce a predictable pallette from which to blend our yarns. This boy's father was a solid dark brown Suri called Solsitice who although not the finest had lustre in spades.  His mother is stood beside him here. She's a very fine dark fawn girl with a slight touch of white on her nose. 

This boy is a lot finer that his father which he must have got from his mother along with a great deal of density but he has lustre in spades which is definitely his fathers bequest. So all in all he's a tidy wee boy and a bit of a character at the moment.

Will he grow to be a stud?  Maybe not but whichever way his fates decide he is certainly destined to adorn someone's pet paddock with a bit of colour. 

We have a lot of award winning Suris at TOFT in various colours. We have been breeding Suris for well over 12 years. We have a lot of girls pregnant for this coming season at very competitive prices with great discounts for multiple purchases. If you are seeking pedigree Suris to increase your herd or if you would like to start up with Suris as opposed to huacaya why not get in touch and come and see what TOFT Suris have to offer.

Every alpaca farm needs a 'Widdy'.

A little bit of magic and some respite from the alpacas yesterday when our Grandson Edward Lord joined me in the workshop with his new hammer to make a bird box. All made and hung up within the half hour and waiting for the birdies to come and settle in. A half hour with more moments of magic than Houdini ever enjoyed... Thank's Widdy for bringing your hammer. Lurve in spades... Dandad

Sad days and happy days

Yesterday was a bit if a sad day at TOFT unfortunately, when one of our females aborted her Cria at 5 months. It's the first time ever we have witnessed one of the girls losing her Cria during the winter. We do naturally lose a couple of pregnancies overwinter sometimes early, rarely late. February time is always the hardest for the herd. We rarely find the pheotus but with around 60 pregnant females per annum it is inevitable that with the joys of livestock ownership come the random invasion of the occasional sadness. 'Twas ever thus. The rest of the herd are solid as a rock and with a bit of luck the weather will turn soon and the happy days of spring will be among us.

Howling a gale, raining a flood but all things are good at TOFT

Woke up last night to find the neighbours tin shed on its roof blocking the lane. A quick knock on the door and a shocked neighbour's son in his underwear and myself in  dressing gown and slippers shoved the offending obstacle up the neighbours drive. 

Woke this morning to find all sorts of objects not where they should be and the weather howling again but the alpacas although a little damp, ( what's new at this time of the year?) were all in fine fettle ready for their chomp.

Racking up the head collars at TOFT

Busy everyday now sorting and shifting and humping stuff as we move into our new shed and get organised for the next ten years at TOFT. Collecting all the stuff in one place is a major challenge as 'secret squirrel' seems to have deposited stuff all over the farm. Time to open every black hole at TOFT get out the junk. Sort the useful and discard the passengers. 'Twas ever thus.

TOFT Woodsman badge for me

Windy but mild day at TOFT today but best of all a dry day. Perfect for 'doing' in the woods.  I must confess I am addicted to woodsmoke. The second it hits my nostrils I'm 11 again and on my first Scout Camp, running around in shorts and plimsolls wetter than a duck in a storm, desperately collecting kindling, blowing embers to get the dinner on and loving every single second of it. 

50 years later and I'm busy chopping, sawing, burning and clearing as you do... and within seconds I am there again. After a day of 'doing' I'm also as mucky as a chimney sweep and smell like an old kipper - Perfick !

Incredible what you find on an alpaca hurdle on a cold and frosty morning

Work this one out. We had a good frost this morning at TOFT but I've never seen anything like this in all my days. Frost is truly a creative wonder.

Where's the Chomp?

There's only one thing to do when the snow covers the ground as it did today.  Open all the hay racks and make sure that all the girls and boys get all the  chomp they can eat to cheer them up. Ironically if it had been cold enough for the snow to stay with us the boys and girls would look magnificent. As our world has dripped constantly from sun up to sun down they look like homeless souls lining up at a food bank. 

After a magnificent snow filled start all we are left with this evening is more mud and slop to wade through in the morn. I never thought I'd end up wishing for a prolonged freeze but we are all getting a little fed up with the wet. A week of hard frost and dry skies and we could get something done and put a smile back on our alpacas faces. 'Twas ever thus!

Damp dudes...on the ranch

Another damp day at TOFT today after what seems the dampest Xmas holiday ever. The mud is sucking at our wellies like a live animal and our beautiful pedigree alpacas look like damp dishcloths on legs. Hey ho...

TOFT Xmas Open day was a blast !!!!

Talk about lucky... After weeks and weeks of rain and damp the TOFT Xmas Open Day was blessed with dry weather. It threatened a few times but it never materialised and by 2.30 even the sun put in a guest appearance and warmed the cockles for an hour or so. Perfick!

The Tofties excelled themselves one and all. Kerry's pack of yarn hounds buzzed about like Santa's Elves on speed. Shirley and Caroline walked and talked their way around the puddles with the crowds. Uncle Keith combined his veteran car park duties with a stint as the man in red. Scott excelled as the TOFT happy Elf. Linda Freya and I kept a tight schedule moving with great aplomb on the alpaca walks. Tom, Adam Doug and Jules -the TOFT catering department jollied one and all into the sausage rolls and the atmosphere was... Very very Christmassy indeed. 

This annual Xmas fest seems firmly embedded in the calendar at TOFT. My wonderful mother in law and her daughter Sandra threw themselves headlong into Ding Dong Merrily the Bong. Auntie Lorna charmed one and all as the meet & greet lady. My Mum and Dad joined in the festivities toe ensure the octogenarians  were well represented and a great time was had by all. We had a great day on the ranch and judging by the reactions of our guests on Twitter, Facebook & Trip Advisor it would seem they did to - roll on 2016

A huge congratulations to Kerry and her ever expanding team of helpers and thanks to all those who came along to enjoy the day. Here's a few shots to cheer you up post Chrissy.

We hope you had a fabulous Christmas and wish you all a Happy and Prosperous New Year ! 

And finally in with the new....

At last I get the chance to spit and dish out a little shed envy. Our new shed is finished and I have been so busy trying to get it up and running in the lead up to Christmas that I haven't had tiime time to gloat. Not that I can really do it now as we still have a mass if internal work to do to get it all moving. 

We'd hadn't even got the LX in when Kerry and the TOFT yarn elves started to get busy moving the stock into the new packing areas. Christmas being the busiest of times for the TOFT Studio we have all been running around like Santas little helpers and it's hard to find time to keep everyone up to date. Anyway here's a few shots just to turn you a little green. Unless of course you've already got a great shed, in which case empathise with the workload. Internal shots to follow, when eventually we get tidied up in the New Year.

 

Lunch with the Monks...?

Shared my Chicken Ceasar sandwich and Skinny Latte Lunch yesterday with this group of Monkeys watching me. They had had obviously done a runner from the TOFT Studio and swung down the room preferring the ambience of the Cornflower Cafe! Needless to say I didn't share  ....even though they kept begging constantly with their eyes. Tough love !!

TOFT stud males this is your life....

From juniors through intermediates to adult- this is their life. Come the green grass and warmer days these Elite Champions and prizewinning TOFT boys will be looking for their own harem... Make a date to visit TOFT  and give your girls a valentine prezzy to remember.

TOFT Suris glow too, you know!

Yes, they do and the winter sun really does a job on their lustre...We have a very select prizewinning  Suri Herd at TOFT which is always worth a look at if you are passing. The Cornflower Cafe is open Wed-Sunday and offers some of the best Cappuccino and Cake in the Midlands!