We have a baby Girl!!!!!

	Her name is Meilee ( 'MY lee' ). She was born finally three weeks late on Sunday, 6/12/05 at 2:30pm, weighing in at 11 lb, 7 oz.

More About Us:
Brad and I grew up in cities just outside of Boston, MA and have Associate’s Degrees in fields that we were not working in – Raini in Floriculture and Brad in Electrical Construction. We spent the next 20 years working in various fields – landscaping, nurseries, roofing, electrician, retail and most recently as an executive secretary and a sales manager for an insurance agency. Living in the cities and working in corporate America was fine but we knew that it wasn’t where we truly wanted to be.

Then one day… it happened!

Brad had owned a seasonal cabin on Sheepscot Lake for 12 years and we spent many weekends and vacations there. We had gone to the Windsor Fair, spent time driving around the area enjoying the rural scenery, and took many trips to Hussey’s General Store during that time. We had been driving down the road to Hussey’s, as we had several hundred times before, but never noticed the animals until one cloudy afternoon I saw them. We stopped and met Dawn & John Brooker to inquire about a visit for my daughter and niece to see the “llamas” and that is when the education began ~ they’re alpacas!

We had gotten the bug and gotten it bad. Within 18 months we had planned a move up here and to buy 3-4 alpacas to have and raise as a hobby.

We found a cape with 2 garages and 65 wooded acres – not a farmhouse with a barn as we set out to do. But that didn’t concern us because we learned how earth-friendly these little guys are and knew we could make it work.

We bought the house in November 2003 with the plan to move in the following June/July when our daughter finished her school year and Brad would come up the following summer. We bought our first alpaca in December 2003 then a few more in February, then a few more in March…

we thought we could stop at 3 or 4 alpacas, which quickly grew to 6, thought that would hold us for a few years until we could clear a few more acres for pasture. Well, we are now at 11+ our new baby making 12!

We also have a terrific Great Pyrenees guard dog named Blue. The cleared area around the house is about 3-4 acres, which is a perfect spot to temporarily house our alpacas. Since this was only a temporary area, we weren’t going to build a barn and would need an economical shelter for the ‘pacas.

Brad set up two portable carports (the metal tube frame, canvas cover type) and a simple fence on the front lawn. This has proved to be very cost effective, met our safety needs and is aesthetic as well.

The transition went well. I am a stay-at-home mom and official alpaca caregiver, my daughter loves her new school even with the population of the whole school being only slightly higher than how many were in her grade at the old school and Brad found a job selling farm insurance with an office in the house.

Both of us have a background in horticulture with minimal animal experience but have found that moving into raising alpacas has been a field we can handle and love too. We attribute a lot of that to the wonderful aid we have throughout the industry with the education offered and moral support.

Never have we experienced such a bond of people helping others to succeed.

Our plan is to have a visitor-friendly farm for families to come visit, enjoy and learn. We believe in educating as many as we can of these beautiful creatures and their luxurious, warm fleece and to share the experience of farming. For an idea only lightly mentioned as something to consider doing in 15 years or so as to plan for an early retirement, we are doing it now – a wish that has became a reality. We wake up every day thankful that we are doing this. Yes, there is some planning and work involved, lawyer and accountant visits, medicines and dung to deal with, and having to realize that you can’t buy all those cute little faces – but we have found it to be so worth it. We have never been happier!