December 2016
November was a busy but happy month. We celebrated the first anniversary of the Coco Alpacas wool shop with our customers on Saturday November 12- many people came along to enjoy our spinning and tapestry weaving demo and enjoy a few drinks and nibbles.
Then we participated in Black Friday on November 25th. It was the first time that Church Stretton had been involved and a lot of the local shops took part. We had a good day giving discounts on selected yarns and felted gifts, and we had a special offer on our gorgeous socks. Black Friday seemed such a success for the town I am sure it will carry on in the future.
December is, of course, action packed. It started with Shrewsbury market on Friday 2nd. Over the weekend (Saturday 3rd and Sunday 4th December) we are at the Christmas Food and Craft Fayre at Weston Park, near Shifnal. Alpaca socks, hats, scarves and gloves are perfect for this weather and people are snapping them up as ideal Christmas presents. It’s so beautiful when the weather is frosty and bright, and we’ve had some lovely days recently.
I’ll be at Ludlow for the Tinsel Tuesday markets on December 6th, 13th and 20th, from 10am until 4pm, so see if you can make it- a Christmas market always helps people to get into the festive spirit.
The alpacas are very happy in this cold, dry weather – they certainly didn’t like the persistent, driving rain which fell in torrents a couple of weeks ago- it took the poor darlings three days to dry out. Of course, they could have kept out of the rain and stayed in the barn, but the lure of the great outdoors was just too tempting!
We’ve had an amazingly dry, mild Autumn, and the grass continued to grow well into November. I’ve only recently had to start feeding hay to the herd, but now they need plenty of it as it replaces fresh grass in the winter months; they like soft meadow hay. Mottram Hay & Straw, a local hay supplier, produces excellent Alpaca meadow hay – the animals love it!
The baby alpacas (cria) will be weaned at the end of December as they will all be six months old. It’s a stressful time for them, but the mums breathe a sigh of relief! It’s a chance for them to rest, relax and put on some weight.
The shop has been busy in the last month and it will be hectic in the run-up to Christmas, so we have decided to open 7 days a week. Our Sunday hours are 11am to 4pm.
Coco Alpacas events for December
Sat December 3 – Sun 4 – Weston Park Xmas Fayre
Tues Dec 6- Tinsel Tuesday, Ludlow Market
Tues Dec 13 -Tinsel Tuesday, Ludlow Market
Tues Dec 20- Tinsel Tuesday, Ludlow Market
May I wish you a very Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
Best Wishes
Jane