Winter is a magical time here on the ranch. We get snow here in Northern New Mexico from the end of October until late April or sometimes early May. The ranch turns into a winter wonderland of white snow and evergreen pine and juniper trees. As the temperatures drop, the humans tend to spend more time indoors, but the alpacas love the cold and snow.

They have nice heavy fleece coats at this time of year and will sit out in the pasture after a snowfall or during a snow fall. Some love the snow more than others and Harmony is the most adventurous of our girls. She will head out into the pasture in the morning after breakfast and eat snow for dessert. I am not sure why she does this, but she will spend an entire hour grazing on snow then run up to give you a cold snowy kiss. Ellie and Satin will also join Harmony in snow grazing, but they don’t take it to the high art that Harmony has.

As the herd plays in the snow, I keep busy in the studio after my barn chores. I have just placed a new warp on my big Rio Grande loom and will have new area rugs woven from alpaca yarn to sell in the shop. Also on another loom in the studio are kitchen towels which are quite popular. These babies stand up to constant use in the kitchen while adding a pop of color to any decor.

We are slowly getting the online shop up and running and hope to have yarns, fiber, rugs, towels, scarves and other handwoven items as well as some knitted things to warm you up this winter from Casa Fiberworks. Stay tuned and I will let you know just as soon as the store is ready.

Happy winter time.

Rene and the herd at Casa Alpaca