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Enjoying Life’s Simple Pleasures on Simplicity Farm By Wendy Eaton Here we are, just two years after starting our venture into the world of alpaca farming, and life is good!! Our dream has finally come true and we are living it each and every day! We feel so fortunate and often have the urge to pinch ourselves to be sure this is all real! It seemed so impossible a few years ago, when we first decided starting an alpaca farm was what we really wanted to do. We knew it would bring us true happiness and fulfillment, but it seemed so unattainable at the time. A bit far fetched. A bit insane! There was so much we didn’t know, so much we would have to do, and so many expenses! But we knew this was the life for us, and we were determined to find a way to make our dream come true. We made a plan and worked it hard for about a year. We read every website, book, article, magazine & brochure we could find about buying, breeding, taking care of and investing in alpacas. We talked to and visited as many alpaca farms as we could, attended every alpaca event in New England and researched every avenue we could think of for start up capitol. We did it all! The more we learned, the more confident and passionate we became about moving forward. 
Once we secured our start up funds, the transformation of our property from a house
in the woods, to a farm with a pasture began. We cleared an acre of trees, built a
barn and had an electric fence installed. Then the fun part – we purchased our first
breeding female and a few short months later she won the color championship at our first
show!! Talk about validation that we had made a good purchase! After the show, all we
had to do was wait for her to be bred (she was a maiden), along with the other female
we bought (she had recently given birth to our first cria on the farm where we purchased
her), so they could come to live on our farm.Finally, on a cold day in November of 2003, our alpacas were delivered to our farm. We stood in amazement staring at our beautiful creatures, as they investigated their surroundings and new herd-mates. It was one of the most incredible and satisfying moments of our lives, second only to the birth of our children! It has only gotten better each and every day, as we share our lives with them! My husband, Blake is a master carpenter/builder in his ‘real life’. He has been building and renovating homes for almost 20 years, and loves what he does. He owns a successful contracting business and has a reputation as one of the finest builders in our area. Unfortunately, the physical demands of building homes is very hard on his body. We know he will have to retire from his chosen profession earlier than the typical age of 65, if he wants any chance of living his later years without constant pain and discomfort. We had been searching for a ‘retirement’ business for him to get off the ground over the next 10 years or so, and alpaca farming was the perfect fit! He can continue to enjoy his god-given talent of building, but on a smaller scale, by building small barns, shelters and sheds for clients, while being home with his family more and enjoying his newfound passion for farming. I am a full time mother of three. As much as I love my job as a mother and ‘family manager’, I’ve always felt as though there was something else out there that I was meant to do. Something that I could feel equally passionate about and would fulfill me in a different way than parenting does. When I discovered alpacas several years ago and started considering life on a farm, I knew immediately that this was the way I was meant to live! It encompasses everything that I find valuable and pleasurable in life – family, friends, animals, gardening, creating (through cooking, crafts and knitting) and natural living. We feel strongly that raising our children on a farm is the perfect way to instill certain core values in them. Growing up on our farm, they are learning to enjoy and be proud of a hard days work, to be compassionate and responsible for another life, and to notice and appreciate life’s simple pleasures like, the change of seasons, sunrises and sunsets, watching the flowers bloom, the birds come and go, nourishing our bodies and enriching our lives with the things we grow and raise ourselves, appreciating and conserving our natural resources and understanding and respecting the circle of life. Our family’s relationships and bonds are strengthened as we spend time together nurturing our animals, enjoying the great outdoors, traveling to agricultural events and learning to create with the fiber, foods and flowers harvested on our farm. Good old fashioned country life on a farm – that’s what we wanted, dreamed of, yearned for – and that’s what we have, thanks to alpacas! We are so blessed! |
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