Oak Grove Alpacas

Oak Grove Alpacas Moves to Aiken

2010-08-16T07:01:00.010-04:00

We say a sad goodbye to our home and friends in Michigan

It has been a long time since I have posted a blog entry. My reasons for this are quite understandable. Since my last post in March I have graduated from college, began searching for a job, and have relocated to Aiken, South Carolina. Back in March my husband learned that he was being transferred to South Carolina on August
16Th. For a regular household, this was a difficult move to make in such a short time. To move a farm with 2 kids, 2 dogs, 3 cats, and 27 alpacas it was an enormous task.

Our first challenge was to find a home in South Carolina. We quickly discovered that it was going to be very difficult to sell a house in Michigan in the current economy. We also discovered that Aiken, SC is polo country with many million dollar ranches in the area. This meant that we were faced with selling our home in Michigan at a very low price and purchasing a farm in Aiken at a much higher price. At the beginning of July we still hadn't found a solution to this problem. Luckily, my clever husband put an ad in the local paper searching for pasture land. This lead us to a wonderful 12 acre property in Vaucluse, SC.

Our new home in Aiken, SC

Vaucluse is a very fitting place for an alpaca farm and fiber arts studio. It is a former textile mill town. The only establishments in the town are a post office, the abandoned mill, and 2 churches. Surrounding these are tiny houses built buy the mill for workers. Most of these homes have been well maintained, making the village a quaint community.

Finding a place to live was just the beginning of our moving challenges. Although the property we selected was a former ranch with a barn, many improvements had to be made to make the farm habitable for our alpacas. In July we had workers replacing the barbed wire fence with 2 x 4 fencing, adding power to the barns and out buildings, adding hydrants and automatic waterers, and constructing an additional run-in shelter for one group of alpacas. To complicate matters, I had to manage all of this from 800 miles away in Michigan. I am happy to report that all projects were successfully completed before our move date!

In addition, finding a mover and an alpaca transporter was also not so easy. Moving companies do not usually move farms. The typical Mayflower moving truck that you see going down the road can hold about the contents of about 3 normal houses. We managed to completely fill the truck with the contents of our house and farm! Moving also entailed a complex plan for transporting the various animals at the farm. We needed to hire a transporter who could safely transport 27 alpacas in the August heat. The vet had a big job to do ensuring that all of the alpacas had the proper health tests to be allowed into the State of South Carolina. The cats and chickens all needed carriers to safely ride in (tip- your local animal shelter has lots of extra pet carriers).

We finally began our journey on August 3rd. The moving truck arrived and loaded all of our belongings, including a custom made chicken coop (shown getting loaded on the truck above). On the 4Th of August the kids, myself, my mother, and the 2 dogs left in 2 cars to make our way to South Carolina. My husband, Victor, stayed behind to load the alpacas, cats, and chickens.

(Our dogs at the Holiday Inn - This was quite an adventure for them!)

On August 4Th he and Eddie our transporter spent an entire morning loading the various animals into trailers and carriers. I am thankful that I was not present for this job! They started at 7 AM and were finally on the road by 1 PM. To minimize the stress on the animals, they traveled without stopping and arrived at the new farm at 3:30 AM the following day.
Unloading 27 alpacas into unfamiliar pastures at 3:30 AM is not an easy task! We managed to get everyone in the proper pastures and only let 5 escape due to an open gate! Luckily they only wandered across the garden area to be near another pen of alpacas. A little grain encouraged them to go back into their own pasture.

I am happy to report that everyone is settling in to the farm nicely. The alpacas are enjoying their new pasture land, the chickens love the dirt floor in the new barn, the cats barn have not run away, and the kids have started their new school. I have even begun putting my looms back together and plan to begin a few projects soon! Although the summer has been exhausting, we are very happy at our new farm!

Auroville - an intriguing place near Pondicherry

2010-03-27T22:39:00.003-04:00

On our visit to Pondicherry we went to a town called Auroville. This community began in 1968 by people inspired by the teachings of Sri Aurobindo. The city is home to about 2000 people from about 45 nations. One of the big focuses of this town is making the world a greener place. Citizens are busy creating many interesting inventions that can conserve our natural resources and recycle items that we already have. Although we were only allowed to see the areas of the town that visitors are allowed into, we enjoyed our visit and left wanting to learn a bit more about the community.

In addition to conservation projects, memebers of the community make beautiful artwork! Clothing, handmade paper jewelery, musical insturments, and many other items are made by the community. The jewelery below caught my eye. It is made from recycled newspaper. After the tsunami hit Pondicherry, this project was started to help women of the town begin a new life.

Another amazing sight that we encountered on our visit was a banyon tree. This tree was so amazing that it deserves a blog post of its own. I will share the details later.

Here are photos of the Wellpaper Jewelery that I purchased:

A closeup of the necklace I bought

More of the necklace

Braided hoop earrings

The entire set!

This is a video about the ladies who create these items and a bit about how they are produced.

Infosys Tour - Bangalore, India

2010-03-20T00:25:00.003-04:00

Below are links to a few photos and videos that I took on our tour of Infosys, Bangalore. It was very interesting to learn about the company.

Here is a link to the photos I took on the tour.

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October Wedding

2009-10-06T10:31:00.004-04:00

As a designer, many fun projects have a way of finding me. Last month was no exception. While sitting at my booth at the Michigan Llamafest I encountered a nice lady who was going from booth to booth matching color swatches to yarn. A short conversation revealed she was planning her daughter's wedding, which was to be held outside, in Michigan, in October. She wanted to have shawls made for the bride and the 3 bridesmaids. Knowing that I could probably get the project done within her timeframe, I volunteered my services.

As luck would have it, I had two yarns in my studio that matched her color scheme perfectly! I had had one of the yarns around for a couple of years because I was not sure what to do with it. I am learning that eventually every yarn will find its perfect project. For my red skeins, this was it. They had found their special purpose!

One month later, I am finished with the shawls. Below are a few photos of the results!

A photo of all 4 shawls (sort of difficult to see because they kind of match my dining room)

Close-up of the bridesmaids shawls (I have learned that a paint chip is an excellent tool for matching colors)

The bride's shawl - alpaca and silk that I brought back from my India trip. It is very, very soft!

The loom being threaded for the bride's shawl

In the beginning, all shawls start out looking like this!

Michigan International Alpacafest

2009-09-25T08:44:00.005-04:00

This weekend Oak Grove Alpacas will be attending the Michigan International Alpacafest in Flint, Michigan. We will be showing OGA Marie, OGA Peruvian Aquinas and OGA Peruvian Dash. Our daughter, Annelise, will take our beloved Cee Cee into the performance class for the first time. They are sure to win a blue ribbon!

Please visit us at the show! For details go to http://www.alpacafest.org/.

Stew for a Chilly Summer day

2009-08-27T13:52:00.001-04:00

Today it is in the 60's in Michigan. Someone mentioned that it was a good day to make chilli, which got me to thinking about what kind of stew or chilli I could concoct. All week long my nice friends have been bringing me veggies from their gardens so I decided to come up with a recipe using the items I had in the house. This recipe was based on a vegetarian squash stew but I customized it to work with the veggies I had on hand. Give it a try!

Turkey Squash Stew
By: Michelle Waling

PREP TIME 30 Min
COOK TIME: 1 Hr 30 Min
READY IN 2 Hrs
SERVINGS 4

INGREDIENTS
1 pound ground turkey
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large white onion, diced
1 tablespoon ground cinnamon
2 tablespoons chili powder
4 cloves crushed garlic
1 tablespoon cumin seeds, toasted
2 tablespoons fresh lemon juice
4 large tomatoes - peeled, seeded, and coarsely chopped
1 medium summer squash, peeled and diced
1 medium sweet potato, peeled and diced
1 cup chickpeas, cooked or canned
1 cup water
salt and pepper to taste

DIRECTIONS
In a large heavy-bottomed pot, heat olive oil and saute the onion for a few minutes. Add turkey and sauté until cooked. Add the cinnamon and chili powder and continue to saute for another 2 minutes. Mix in the garlic and cumin seeds, saute for 2 minutes more before adding lemon juice and the tomatoes. Mix thoroughly so the stew doesn't get too chunky.
Stir the squash, chickpeas and water into the stew. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Let the stew simmer for 1 hour, or until squash is tender. Stirring occasionally throughout the cooking hour, and add more water if necessary. The finished stew should have a nice, thick stewy texture.

August at the Ranch

2009-08-25T10:01:00.001-04:00

OGA Luxor

Now that August is at an end it is time to get ready for the fall alpaca season. I am busy making a few shawls and jackets. I am also spinning alpaca yarn for a custom order. The resulting sweater should be very pretty. I have so much to do and so little time!

Meanwhile the alpacas, chickens cats and dogs are all enjoying the nice Michigan summer weather.

Strato's Special D'Vincent

Getting out of the heat for a bit!

Roosters Showing Off

And finally the spoiled dogs are hangin out in the house:

Facebook Your Photos - Axel & Mac

Enjoy the last days of summer - it will be winter again before we know it!

Facebook | Your Photos - Taj Mahal, Agra, India

2009-08-11T07:37:00.002-04:00

None Of the photos that I took do the Taj Mahal justice. It must be seen in person to fully appreciate it.

Michael, Annelise & I. The temp was well over 100 degrees during our visit.

Mom, Dad & Annelise

To see the rest of our pictures visit my facebook album:

Facebook Your Photos - Taj Mahal, Agra, India

New Yarn!

2009-07-27T08:32:00.005-04:00

Now that I am home for at least a few days it is time to get working! I arrived home to two giant boxes of alpaca yarn that has been made for me at a great Michigan yarn mill called Stonehedge Fiber Mill. They have created beautiful sport and fingering weight 100% alpaca yarn in white, beige, fawn and black. I have ended up with a whopping 61 pounds of it! I am imaginging all of the great products that are going to be created in the very near future.

Imagine that each of these cones has about 2 pounds of yarn on it. It should keep me busy for quite a while.

In addition to finally having my own yarn processed I also had the opportunity to locate a source of silk yarn in Bangalore. Shortly before returning to the US I paid a visit to my 'silk man' and purchased a few goodies. The combination of soft alpaca and shiny silk is a great mix that I use often. My silk purchases will surely not go to waste! I am considering creating a few alpaca/silk weaving kits - If interested send me an email at mvwaling@gmail.com.

Beaded and sequined silk - I have a few ideas for this already. It won't sit in the studio for long!

A few of the colors I purchased. I was trying my best to find colors compatable with my natural colored alpaca.

A shot of all my new silk

This is a multi color single. I'll find some use for it eventually!

Facebook | Your Photos - Mehndi

2009-07-12T01:52:00.001-04:00

On our last night in Bangalore Mungala came over and put henna on our hands. She then helped us dress in our saris and fixed our hair in Indian style. We had a mother/daughter portrait taken at the photo studio. I didn't get pictures of us when we were all dressed up so I will have to wait until my mother brings the pictures to me August 1st!

Facebook Your Photos - Mehndi

Facebook | Your Photos - Jaipur

2009-07-04T00:30:00.001-04:00

After visiting Delhi we took the train to Jaipur. I really liked this city. There were amazing sights to see, great shopping, elephant rides and camels!
To view my photojournal click here:
Facebook Your Photos - jaipur

Facebook | Your Photos - Delhi

2009-07-02T23:37:00.001-04:00

Our stay in Delhi. I was ill and it was 115 degrees outside so the photos aren't the greatest. I took many shots of the countryside and people from the train that goes fron Delhi to Jaipur.

Facebook Your Photos - Delhi

Facebook | Your Photos - Ganga's village

2009-07-01T01:40:00.004-04:00

A couple of Sunday's ago we were invited to lunch at our driver, Ganga's, village. We all had a great time!

To view the rest of the photos of our visit go to this link:

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Facebook | Your Photos - pictures from my mom's camera

2009-06-20T12:57:00.003-04:00

Jungle pictures from my Mom's Camera. Most are different from the ones I took
Facebook Your Photos - pictures from my mom's camera

Facebook | Your Photos - Jungle Retreat

2009-06-20T10:29:00.001-04:00

Part 1 of our trip to the jungle in south India. It is a magical place. Details of the trip are included in the photo album below
Facebook Your Photos - Jungle Retreat

We turn up as unexpected visitors

2009-06-16T00:30:00.003-04:00

To view the rest of the photo album click here:

Facebook Your Photos - We turn up as unexpected visitors

Yesterday we went in search of a silk worm farm. Because our driver couldn't figure out what we were talking about we ended up at a Jaquard weaving factory. The factory managers were nice enough to give us a great tour of their factory! There are many small weaving shops in Bangalore. You can hear the looms clacking away when you walk down some of the streets.

The link above gives a great explaination and many photos of the jaquard weaving process. Weavers - I appoligize if I have mixed up any of the details! Feel free to correct me!

The jaquard factory managers explained to our driver that we wanted to visit the silk worm farm. We plan to go to the country and visit one soon.

Facebook | Your Photos - India day 1

2009-06-14T10:25:00.000-04:00

Facebook Your Photos - India day 1

Facebook | Your Photos - Indian wedding

2009-06-14T10:20:00.000-04:00

Facebook Your Photos - Indian wedding

We Have Made it to Bangalore

2009-06-13T20:18:00.004-04:00

After a long journey we have arrived in Bangalore India. We stopped in London for 7 hours on the way. Not wanting to sit in the airport for 7 hours we decided to take a risk and go into the city. We took an express train to Paddington Station. It only stopped at 1 place so we thought we could probably find our way back. I made the jetlagged kids do a few laps around the Paddington area to keep them going. It was a nice are with lots of people. We had a hard time adjusting to the traffic on the wrong side of the road. It was hard to cross streets! They did have a Paddinton Bear shop at the Paddington Station. We look forward to seeing more of Londoon at the end of our trip.

After our layover we bourded the plane to Bangalore. It is a long 9 hour journey from London. While over Iran someone on our plane had a medical emergency. I was sure we were going to have to make an emergency landing. Wouldn't that have been interesting! Luckily we made it to Bangalore without having to stop.

We saw many sights on our first day in Bangalore. India is kind of overwhelmeing at first. The traffic drives everywhere with no regard to lanes in the road stopping etc. Somehow everyone manages to get around with few accidents. You need to have a driver for sure!

We are attending a wedding today so our we went shopping for pretty Indian clothing on Saturday. Our first stop was the sari shop. The items in the shop were amazing! Saris are very cool. They are woven in patterns especially made to be wrapped. At the end there is an extra section to make the top. These items are hand woven and put anything I have ever made to shame! The detail in every one is incredible. Ther are hundreds of them in the shop and each one is different. Most ladies wear them around all of the time. They look so pretty in them. I ended up buying 3 saris. One is being made into a mini sar for Annelise. One is being made into one for me. The last I have kept as fabric. I will take photos of all when I get them back from the tailor. I also purchased about 6 silk scarves. I could have spent way more but these items were a little pricy. I think my bill was about $350 for 3 saris and 6 scarves. They are truely beautiful and I would have felt really bad if I didn't buy them.

After our visit to the sari shop the salesman took us around the corner to the weaving shop where everything is made. The use a dobby loom. It was very interesting to see the fine silk warped. They know what they are doing. I took video of the weaving shop too. I will try to upload it soon.

We are attending a wedding today so we then went shopping for a Salwar Kameez for me to wear. I found 2 that are full of beading and very pretty. They were far more inexpensive than the saris so I bought them both. I think I can get away with wearing one of them in the US. I will post some pictures of me wearing my outfit when we get dressed for the wedding this morning! I wish we dressed like this in the US! Everyone looks so pretty in these outfits. You hardly see anyone wearing western clothing. I can understand why.

Below are a few photos of our first day. I have much bigger album on facebook. If you would like to view them my Facebook name is Michelle McCabe Waling.

The streets of India

THe Bull Temple in Bangalore- we got blessed and everything!

Fruit seller. There are wonderful pineapples, mangos and papaya here!

The sari loom - this is the fine silk warp wound on the loom

The man running the loom

Our sari salesman behind him are all of the saris

Annelise getting fitted for her mini sari. SHe is going to look so cute! SHe would like to have next years school picture taken in it. St. Joseph school ought to love that!

Some of the pretty shawls! I may need to buy a few more!

More shawls!

The dobby loom. There are many handmade items in this country. I really love that about India!

Coming soon - the wedding adventure!

Wedding Shawls

2009-05-30T07:48:00.004-04:00

I have been weaving wedding shawls for the last week. I used an 80% alpaca and 20% silk yarn as the warp. The weft is an extremely fine silk yarn that my Mom bought for me in India. This yarn is about 1/2 the size of sewing thread. Weaving the 2 shawls with such a fine yarn is taking a long time!

Silk Thread Next to Sewing Thread

Winding the Warp onto the Loom (Luckily I have a Long Studio!)

All 528 Threads Threaded Through the Loom

View of Warp Wound onto the Loom

Finally Weaving!

Once I wet finish this shawl it will be less shear than is is now. The shawls are extremely light and delicate. They will be beautiful when finished!

Making Plans for India

2009-05-29T09:25:00.008-04:00

During our morning chat on Skype this morning my Mom and I were busy making plans. Our first adventure outside of Bangalore will be a visit to the Jungle Retreat. The Jungle retreat is located in Mudumalai, India near the Nilgiris Reserve. The reserve is home to wild elephants, deer, leopard and many other wildlife. We will go on a safari organized by the Jungle Retreat. I am hoping that they stock cobra anti-venom just in case. Running into a cobra is one of my biggest fears ever! We have decided jeans, sturdy footwear and perhaps beer would be good to bring with us.

In addition to the safari there is some sort of elephant camp near the Jungle Retreat. It looks like a place to get an up-close view of an elephant for sure!

Below are a few photos from the Jungle Retreat web site. I will post my own pictures when I get back from my visit. One of the best things about this place is that the best room at the resort only costs about $68.00 per night!

The view from one of the rooms. The resort is in the mountains

The pool

Hopefully this will be our room

Elephant Camp

More Elephant Camp

Even More Elepahnt Camp

The Dining Area at the Lodge

I feel the need to re-read a couple of Hemingway books to get me in the mood for our jungle visit. I may just stop by the library today!

Almost on my way to India

2009-05-26T13:27:00.003-04:00

In just 2 weeks I will be leaving for my trip to India. I am busy gathering up the items I will need while I am there. I am going to try not to pack too much since I will need to lug anything I bring through the Airports by myself. Packing light is difficult for me. I feel the need to bring everything I own on vacation.

So far we are planning to visit: Bangalore, Mysore, Ooty, Delhi, Jaipur and Agra. On the way back we will stop in London for a few days.

I am a whimp about driving here in the US. I can't imagine how I am going to deal with Indian traffic. I am putting all my faith in Gunga, my parent's driver to get us around safely! Here is a funny clip about driving in India:

Up to my knees!

2009-05-25T08:04:00.005-04:00

Spring at the farm means there is a ton of work to be done. One big job that needs to be tackled every year is getting our garden in order. The garden area doubles as our alpaca poop storage area. Luckily, alpaca beans don't smell bad. Our deck is about 75 feet from this area and you would never know what lurks in our 'garden'. A few passes with the rototiller turns the alpaca beans into really nice looking soil - ready for a few veggies to be planted. I was a little worried about planting veggies directly into the poop - I didn't want anyone getting ecoli from my food. She said that because alpacas are vegetarians we are safe.

Before I can get to the rototilling job I must get rid of all of the weeds that have popped up this spring. The area we are talking about is about 25' x 100'. Cleaning it up is an enormous job. I already did some work a week or so ago and now I am finishing up.

Weeds Eveywhere!

Front of the garden, not yet weeded

More before photos

All these need to go too

And this too- Eveything behind the chives in the middle is alpaca poop!

This is the pile of pulled weeds - it was double the size when I finished

I tried out a new bug band bug repellent. I think it worked well but it smelled like citronella. This gave me a headache after a while.

While I was working our new dog Murphy wandered near the alpacas. He has been here 2 months and the alpacas are just noticing him. They are saying 'Emergency! A strange dog is in the area'. Murphy could care less about the alpacas. He was just happy to be near me in the garden.

Meanwhile, Vic is busy working on his lawn. He loves the lawn like it is one of his kids. This looks much easier than garden weeding doesn't it? The entire family refuses to help with my weeding task - it is that bad.

This is our fabulous rototiller. We bought it 9 years ago when I was pregnant with Annelise. This is a machine that I can start with one pull after it has been sitting for the entire winter! It is worth every penney we paid for it.

The rototiller's first pass through the garden. See how nice the dirt looks after being tilled.

This job gets ugly once you get to the poop area. This picture shows my leg sinking into the poop 1/2 way to my knee. Yuck!

Making Progress!

After doing all this work I was too tired to actually plant my veggies. Today we will do the planting. I will post the results in part 2!

Fiber Friday

2009-05-04T07:26:00.005-04:00

My dear friend Kathy and I had 'Fiber Friday' last week. We began our field trip with a visit to one of my favorite mills - Pufphaff's Fiber Processing(http://fibermill.yurtboutique.com/). Owner, Sue Pufphaff, helped me to turn 60 pounds of alpaca fleece into pretty roving. With Sue and Kathy's help I created about 10 3 color 70% alpaca/30% wool blends. They will arrive at my house in a few weeks. It was a great help for me to have friends around to help me pick the colors! It is hard to make these choices on your own.

The second stop on our Fiber Friday tour was The Yarn Garden in Charlotte, Michigan - http://www.yarngardenmichigan.com/. The Yarn Garden is a store with plenty of inspiration. I fell in love with a beaded silk yarn. I am inspired to spin my own beaded silk yarn or possibly a beaded alpaca/silk. I also found a pattern for a felted cloche hat that I am excited to knit. If I would have bought the proper knitting needles I would be knitting already! Kathy bought a new book - stitch and Bitch Nation. This book has many fun, easy to knit patterns. We decided it was a good investment.

The last stop on our tour was supposed to be Old Mill Yarns in Eaton Rapids, Michigan - http://www.oldmillyarn.com/. Unfortunatly, they were away at the Marayland Sheep and Wool Festival. We may need to take a road trip to this event next year!

This little trip helped me to accomplish my goal of getting all of the raw alpaca fleece out of my house. I will have new, pretty roving for sale very soon!

Below are a few photos from our trip:

The natural colored bags of fleece are mine. Somehow a kitty got involved in this picture too!

Wool everywhere! Mine is at the back of the room.

These are a few of the dyed wools that we chose to blend with my alpaca.

Alpaca fleece paired up with the dyed wool

Sue's Carding Machine (It magically turns fleece into roving!)

YOu might think I am crazy but I have created a blend with these colors! The idea is that mixed with white I will have a sherbert blend. If not, I will have the retro 80's blend!

Our favorite mill owner Sue.

She was off for a haircut after our visit. Did you do anything rash, Sue? If so, send me a picture.

Oak Grove Alpacas Shearing Day - April 27th

2009-05-03T08:46:00.004-04:00

We were lucky to have beautiful weather for shearing day! It was about 75 degrees and dry. Dry weather is the best for shearing becaause the alpacas are cleaner and you don't have to worry about wet fleece going into plastic bags.

We sheared a total of 23 alpacas. Our team of shearing help consisted of 2 shearers, Dave and Katie, two helpers, Timothy and Trenton, my husband Victor and me. It took us about 6 and a half hours to shear our whole herd. 8 years of experience makes the job go smoothly.

Below are a few videos of the process: