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| Me and Rumm Pudding |
Ready for a random fact that I haven’t shared with you recently? My family owns alpacas, between 30 and 35 of them. And this past weekend, my Dad was showing four of them in the Chicagoland area. Since John has never been to an alpaca show (I’ve been to one) and it’s always nice to see family, we made the trek to the Lake County Fairgrounds to check things out.
Alpacas are related to llamas, and I like to think they’re a smaller, nicer version of llamas. It’s been a while since I’ve seen the alpacas, and I forgot how cute and fuzzy they are.
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| Perfect Rumm |
My Dad (and technically Magical Farms, where these alpacas are boarded) brought Rumm Pudding, Perfect Rumm, Pale Ale, and Midnight Delight to show. By the time we got there, Perfect Rumm had already won Reserve Color Champion in his color class. That means he took second overall for true black male huacaya alpacas. Midnight Delight also won a blue ribbon.
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| Pale Ale |
We did get to see Pale Ale strut his stuff. He took 3rd in his age and color class. The first and second place winners in his class ended up being first and second overall for their color, so he clearly had some stiff competition.
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| Midnight Delight and Rumm Pudding |
What possessed my parents to “get into” alpacas? To be frank, for the tax benefits. Then there’s the side benefit of the fleece, which my Mom and sister use to knit hats, scarves, mittens, and blankets. We also have to amazing woven alpaca rugs in our bedroom. And, of course, an alpaca is much cuter than a bar of gold. Sure, a bar of gold doesn’t need to be fed or cared for, but where’s the fun in that?
Will John and I ever get into the alpaca biz? Definitely not in the near future. Though it’s fun to hear updates from my parents and help them pick names for any newborn alpacas.
