The dancing leaves of autumn.

As we find ourselves among the dancing leaves of autumn floating in the chilly breeze, we reflect on the year in these words that fill the page, and we are thankful.

It has been some time since we have last posted. We’ve had a number of eventful things happen since then that we’d like to share with you. Here are a few updates!

Our first mill spun batch of alpaca yarn from our herd, processed by us, Bluebird Fiber Co. and Mystic Water Fiber Mill.

In late March, we picked up the first batch of our alpacas’ yarn from the Mystic Water Fiber Mill. As relatively new alpaca farmers, it has been a really neat experience to see the fiber transform through various stages of processing.

Quite a bit of time and effort go into every stage, from growing the fleece on the alpacas’ backs all the way through to handmade finished garments. So far, it has been a very rewarding experience and we look forward to sharing more of it with you in the future.

In May, we had our annual shearing day with Top Knot Shearing which went very well. If you follow us on social media, you will have seen the post and may recognize some of the photos included in the album below. The Top Knot team always does a professional, gentle, efficient job, and we appreciate partnering with them to have the alpacas sheared every spring. Check out some of the photos of all that fiber in the gallery below!

In late May, we had our first cria (baby alpaca) birth of the season, which also brought some heartache, as any animal owner can eventually relate. Mocha, our 10-year-old black female alpaca (also Marvin’s mother), went into premature labor with complications and, unfortunately, she wasn’t able to recover. She had an adorable jet-black little fluff ball that we named Mochy, in her honor. While Mochy survived the birth, the stress of being a low birth weight and the loss of his mother made feeding and bonding difficult. He wasn’t quite able to pull through and, sadly, passed after a short time. 

It was very hard losing the two of them, especially as the firsts we’ve experienced with our herd. We are also very thankful to have had the time we did with both of them. We will value the experience gained through this difficult aspect of farm life, and we will be using Mocha’s beautiful black fiber for a special project to remember them by. We hope you enjoy the photos included of Mocha and Mochy in the gallery below.

In June, we were happy to welcome two new members to the herd: Ginger, cria of Abby and Marvin, and Misty, cria of Molly and Phaethon. Thankfully, their births were textbook, uneventful, and both crias and mamas made it through healthy and strong. It has been a joy watching the two crias grow, bond with each other and the rest of the herd, play, pronk around the pasture, chase each other and the chickens, and explore. Each has their own unique ‘personality,’ the two are the best of friends, and they are growing fast! It’s quite fun! 

As of July, Hello Bluebirds and Bluebird Fiber Co. are one year old! The year went very fast and we have had a lot of fun exploring different aspects of art, creativity, fiber, and farming. Both of our books “From Blossoms to Beehives” and “From Marvin to Mittens” have reached their one-year mark! We have a collection of coloring pages from each of them in our shop and as free downloads.

We have enjoyed experimenting with different iterations of products, coloring, and activity pages, as well.

In fact, we are excited to share that we have recently shifted the downloads format to a full printable downloads library. Now, instead of having a weekly/monthly download, subscribers to our e-newsletter can access the Free Printables Library and download as many items as they wish at one time.

Our 2021 Autumn Collection Greeting Cards

Items include a variety of our original coloring pages, activity pages, and current collection offerings such as our current Autumn Collection of printable greeting cards hand-illustrated by Jacqueline Bance and designed by our team.

We will add new offerings over time, and we have some fun holiday specials coming up, so if you aren’t yet a subscriber, be sure to sign up! 

So, that’s a summary of what we’ve been up to this year so far. As we look ahead, we have a new creative publication in the works that we look forward to sharing with you (likely spring 2022), and we will be leaning into the fiber-aspect of what we do much more as we continue to explore the alpacas’ fiber, yarn, and life on the farm. 

Finally, as Thanksgiving is coming up next, we think of gratitude. Writing this post has also been a nice opportunity to reflect on the year so far, and to recognize the many things that bring us gratitude. 

There is much to be thankful for and if you feel so moved, we courage you to take a few moments to jot down some of the things in your life that have been meaningful, memorable, that bring you joy, and for which you are thankful for this year. If even the smallest things, like the dancing leaves of autumn on a chilly sun-filled day.

We hope you enjoyed our updates and are so thankful to have you here with us on the journey! We look forward to sharing more of these creative, nature- and fiber-filled adventures with you! Warmth and gratitude, until next time.

~Hello Bluebirds