He sent me Alpaca socks! I checked my mail today and I had

1. Alpaca socks (and they are the softest damn socks you ever touched!),
2. the July/August copy of Hobby Farms with a bunch of Alpaca info in it, including an article by Adrian,
3. a brochure with a lot of Alpaca history, which I haven’t read yet, and
4. I swear to god(ess)(es) I am not making this up… A BAGGIE OF ALPACA FUR! I guess it is called Alpaca wool, but it is SO SOFT.

So, now I feel like I have almost petted an Alpaca! Thanks Adrian!!!

Now, if I could just spend the night in a yurt, I’d be happy. Anyone wanna send me a yurt vacation?

It has been quite awhile since I’ve posted about Alpacas. (If you missed the original conversation, you have to read about my plan to live in a yurt and own some Alpacas. Well, tonight, I got an email from someone that owns an Alpaca farm in Oregon. He was fascinated by the fact that the photo I posted when my sister first told me about these adorable, soft footed animals is apparently now the number one result for the search “Alpacas” in Google Images. Of course, the first thing I did when I got home was check that I’d credited the site the photo came from. (I did.) Then I tested out the search in Google Images and he’s right!

The part of all this that actually made it blog-worthy though is that Adrian (who sent me the email) actually has a great site with lots of information about, and photos of, Alpacas. I didn’t see it when I was first searching for info, but I enjoyed looking over it tonight and thought I would share it. The name of his farm is Mulberry Alpacas. Go and visit!

They really are SO cute. If I ever break down and leave the city, I think I HAVE to have some of my own. (However, I know now, after reading through Adrian’s site, that owning a single Alpaca is a bad idea. They prefer to be in groups.)

I’ve been busy. OK? Just busy, that’s all. Here’s a quick recap of what I’ve been up to since my pre-cocktail pawty post.

And that’s just the stuff I can remember off the top of my head!

No no, not a yurt shaped like a pentagon!

This morning I was thinking about yurts again. (For those of you that are relatively new to my blog, I do that occasionally.) The new train of thought started at the dog run a few evenings ago. An acquaintance was talking about buying land upstate and building a cabin. I said build a yurt!!!

That got me thinking about the fact that I may never live in a yurt because I may never actually leave New York. My NYC dream used to be to build a house on top of a building. A little house with a white picket fence and a yard. That’s what a real penthouse is, you know… a house built on a roof. I’ve only been in one real penthouse so far, but it was quite nifty. Anyway… I’ve combined the old dream and the new dream and now I want to build a YURT on top of a building in NYC.

Now, I just need to be wealthy enough to buy some good roof rights and then have a yurt made out of some sort of sound blocking material. Cool.

PS I’ll let go of the Alpaca idea if I go with the pentyurt.

OK, so my sister thinks we should buy Alpacas to roam around on the land she is buying (where I am fantasizing about building a yurt). How cute are these things???

The other night she pasted the following into IM from the site she was reading:

• Alpacas are never bathed, and they still have no odor. Alpacas dung doesn’t even have an odor.

This seemed too good to be true, but THEN she said:

• They also tend to all poop in the same spot in the pasture/paddock, making it easy to clean up after them.

And followed that up with another copy/paste:

• Alpacas are not aggressive animals, they are easy to raise, very hardy and require minimal shelter. They are earth friendly animals with clean habits and a wonderful natural curiosity. Alpacas make a variety of sounds such as clicks and snorts but are best known and loved for their humming.

Add all that to the fact that she told me a week or so ago that they have soft padded feet (instead of hooves) and I have a hard time believing these animals are REAL.

So, if I eventually live in a yurt, maybe I’ll get an Alpaca. hee hee

Alpaca photo borrowed from alpacainfo.com.

I wasn’t serious when I said Maybe I Will Live in a Yurt, but believe it or not I’m actually considering it now.

T & I have been thinking of leaving the city for a little while. (And, NO, I haven’t heard anything regarding the contract in Virginia.) One of the places we consider when we periodically discuss escape is Indianapolis, because my sister lives there. And we love her. Even though she never updates her blog. (hint hint)

So, she’s buying this house on a big piece of land. And I’m in need of some relaxation and a NEW JOB. And T wants to change schools. Maybe I will build a yurt on her land and we will live there for a couple years. When we move back to NYC, she will have a nifty guest house!

Of course, T said on her blog that she was “so not living in a yurt,” but she is changing her mind. We were designing circular floor plans a few days ago.

So, it COULD happen.

What? It could happen! http://yurts.com/